Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

4·STROKES ONLY eo CN I-< IlJ ..0 S IlJ > o ..a.~__ ~. . . --~.01 )I 1116 AI /-j,r,/-. ~.,3rd~~~. ~ Annual U.S. ' 4 -STROKE MOTOCROSS NAT'L CHAMPIONSHIP Z OPEN PRO • SIDECAR PRO • SPORTSMAN OLDTIMER • SPECIAL "TWI N CLASS" Hondas ·Yamahas· BSAs·Nortons .Triumphs & the Ground Shaking CCMs ! SUNDAY· DEC. LITH CARLSBAD RACEWAY Ft8iuJtiJrg th ~t JDwu/4 DIt I.JJIl1/r, all: MARTY SMITH TOMMY CROFT "FEElS" MINERT ROLF TIBBLIN MIKE BELL-1976 Champion MARTY MOATES MARTY TRIPES GUNNAR LlNDSTROM-1975 Champion CARLSBAD, CALIF • (1-5 to Palomar Airport Rd • East to Track) Tickets at Gate • Open 7:00 AM. • 1st Moto 10:30 A M. For INFO & ENTRIES • Ca ll (714) 455-5865 '" au Ion HnOl1Y SHOP IIITERnATllIIHIl Promoted by: KNOBBY SHOP INTERNATIONAL & CARLSBAD RACEWAY • Jr. MXers looseon the streets Work's Performance has something NEW*! "\ .• Goat Breker is using it... Can you afford to be without it" Work 's Performance Products 20970 Knapp St. Chatsworth, CA 91311 213-998-1977 Winne r: 250 Pro Class at Dirt Digge rs Grand Prix o n 16 , ., " I have a kind of strong personality myself." OM: Motorcycle racing is extremely dangerous. When an insurance company insures the AMA or any other type of motorcycle raci ng they know they 're going to have a su bstan tial n umber of losses because of the very nature of the com petition. We feel we have an obligation to our competitors to insist th ey wear nothing but the safes t helmet, leathers, and at th e same time insist that the promoter providethe safest possible facility. To be p erfectly b lunt, it's terribly expensive to keep someone in the hospital. We'd m uch rather he didn't go there at all. Following th is vein , we feel the most stringent helmet tests are the Snell Foundation 1975 sta nd ards. Starting January 1, at every AMA professional event every AMA racer will have to wear a Snell '75 ap proved helmet. At least five companies now m ake Snell approved hel mets and our technical people have been told not to accept anyone entering without a helmet with the Snell '75 sticker. CN : Who ma kes the rules for AMA professi on al racing? OM : The rules are ma de in several different ways. We have a road race committee. fla t track committee and motocross committe. which all suggest rules which I then approve . We have a new form . designed by Bill Boyce, which is handed out at events for mechanics and riders who h ave suggestions. We 've received hundreds of these forms back with some real good su ggestions . In fa ct , th e suggesti on for the dirt track carburetor restrictor came from Mert Lawwill who sen t us his form . Another form came from road racing, which suggested racing in th e rain . The staff makes u p other rules . CN : Are you the last word in whether a rule is or isn't to be? OM: Yes, but what I've been doing is going to the board with rules 1 think could be controversial , for an obj ective viewpoint. I've told people, if you have something you want, changed to call me or Bill Boyce and we'll listen. We ta ke phone calls and letters very, very seriously. CN : What do you fo r esee as the biggest proble ms in you r job fo r 1978? OM : There are quite a few problems , but 1 don't look upon the problems as p roblems. 1 really believe most problems are opportunities in disguise. We ha ve quite a few sponsorship opportunities out there we will certainly seek. We want to upgrade ' the facilit ies, get more and bettertelevision , and have good t liaison with our promoters and our competitors. .. • Ii ' • J ~ , ., r , I There have been some ru mblings that some of the competitors weren't too pleased down at Pompano Beach . Florida that the AMA felt we had to take some stern steps against someone who d id n't appear to race. T he AMA's feeling at that time, and it still is, that if we're to make the sport grow we need more and better te levision coverage; and if we have a race called the Race of Cham pions which incl udes every champion physically possible to compete, then I think everybody has an obligation ' to be there, for the future of the sport and for t he be tterment of their own future. CN : How can a promote r get a $50, 000 p urse oh viousl y from a televisi on co n t r act for a n AMA san ctioned j ump-off, when the AMA cou ld only put u p a $16,000 purse for the AMA san ctio ned Race o f C h a mpio ns , wh i c h also was televised ? OM : I think this goes back to an opportunity we have to centralize our te levision negotiations so when we go to television networks as the AMA in conjunction with either one of those promoters, we must go in together very strong and convi nce the networks jointly that this is worthy of a lot of money. What this negotiation tells m e is that promoter B is better than promoter A at negotiating. Perhaps the television audience is m o r interested in spectacle than substance and they are more willing to pay fori spectacle than substance. Perhaps this is the problem. I don't thi nk the exposure from jump-offs is bad for the sport of motorcycling. TV contracts in the past have been handled in a rather casual manner. I am taking very firm ste ps to firm that u p and keep everything under a tighter rein . CN: But ca n you do th at right now without a pe r iod of allowing the promoters to get used to the wa y it's going to be? OM: I've already told them and we're seeing eye to eye on these m atters. C N : Do you find it d ifficult to be ob j ective at times when you h ave to deal with strong person alties of some of the p romoters ? OM : Not as long as they want to do it my way . Bu t seriously, I have kind of a strong personality myself and 1 fin d tha t most of the promoters that have a gripe or an opportunity, we'll work out what we have to work out. The only problem I'll have with them is me getting to know them and them' getting to know me. If there's any area in which I've been lax it's that we've been so busy I've not been able to go on the road, sit down with them and discuss their particular problems in their particular areas regarding their events. This is something 1 plan to do shortly aftef the awards banquet this month. CN: H ow do you lik e your job so far ? OM : It's extremely challenging, at times very frustrating and at times very rewarding. It's enjoyable by and large. I'm having quite a bit of fun. The thing that's exciting is that I can see the potential of the sport grow ing. It 's really just applying a lot of publicity programs, promotional programs and lining up new sponsors. This is a very marketable sport and it has not been marketed . My background is in marketing and promotion and that's something I think I can be most valuable to the AMA in doing. CN: When will we be seei ng results on this? OM: The board, before th ey hired me, asked how long it would take before they got results. I swallowed because 1 knew they wanted to hear six weeks. I said six months to a year. I really believe it will ta ke one full year before you have any really concrete resu• lts. L .. " I· t • I , 1 l f I

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