Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

, Preview , . • Coca-Cola 'Bott lers Motocross Finals Will Hannah and Tripes finally get.to play spectator? By Jim Gianatsis naheim Stadium will be the final race of the '78 AMA/Toyota Supercross Series and for the first time all year ~e , the . fans, will have no idea whatsoever who will wm. A t Ana h eim , the country's t wo fastest s tateside bombers probably won' t be racing . T hat's right , Bob Hannah and Marty Tripes say the y'll b e n o-sh ows for the fi n a l sta d iu m event of the yea r. "We planto b e ther e spectat ing , " e xplained the two foul weather warriors . The Hu rrica ne a nd the Typhoo n got toge the r just two weeks before th e An aheim event and st ruc k a mural agreement not to race . T he adversaries on the tr ack had beco me part ne rs off th e tr ack.. T he reasons th ey didn't want to r ac e at Anaheim were numerou s as they both explained in a b rief in terview a t th e Lake Whitney T r ans ·A MA. "Du ring the whole year on the circuit - not just th e Super cross Seri es, but the 250cc Nationals and th e Trans·AMA Series as well - the racing has been be tween Bob and me . No on e else really," said Marty. "Ou r showing up a t Anaheim won 't cha nge a th ing as fa r as t he Supercross Series is concerned . Our positions in the point standings will remain th e same no matter what the outcome of th e Anaheim race." ' Hannah holds a secu re 28 ·point lead in the Supercross Series point standings over Tripes. Even if Bob stayed away from Anaheim and Marty did show up to race, winning both his qualifying moto a nd the fea ture ra ce, the tot al amount of points he could win is 28. That would tie ' him in total points with Hannah. T he Championship would once again go to Bob though , by virt ue of more to ta l wins . Marty holds a sim ilarly secu re second pla ce in the point standings , so nothing would cha nge in th e Supercross Series over all sta ndi ngs for the two ride rs if th ey did appear a nd race. " . There is more to the Hannah/Tripes no -show at Anaheim , however , than the standings . Both riders are dead tired afte r a long yea r of racing . Hannah has ra ced more than 40 weekends in every possible motocross even t from Na tionals and Internationals to World Champions hi p Grand Prix in every class , local races and the Motorcycle Olympiad. His racing season will begin ea rly again nex t yea r with the Florida Winter·AMA Seri es. He just ca n' t give an y more - he deserves a break. " I'm tired of riding . I've rid den all th is year since the Florida Series, " said Bob . "Even Yamaha told me it wasn't necessary to race at Anaheim. " I'm sure there are people that want to see me race at Anaheim," he continued, "but the people out in Cal ifornia have already seen me racing there five times this yea r and Marty and I will be back again in January for the Oakland Supercross Series opener." It 's obvious that Bob and Marty have earned a month or two of rest after a wide.open yea r of raci ng and their real fans won 't begrudge them the break they deserve. Beneath these reasons there is an ulterio r motive - and that is controversial promoter Mike Goodwin. Goodwin has done a lot for motocross in America; in particular the now im mensely popular Supercross Series which he originated back in 1972 at the Coliseum in Los Angeles. It was difficult for Goodwin to get rolling but the last few yea rs hav e proved successful for him - much more successful than Hannah and T ripes feel he is letting on to the riders in the form of purse money. Both ri ders approached Goodwin weeks before the event and asked for a ppearance mon ey. "We've bee n putting ou t a lot of effort all yea r in the way of ra cing, and helping promoters ad vertise their events, and we ha ven't gotten anything extra out of it ." claime d Marty. Bob felt th e same. "I figu red Marty and I were worth something extra for the show we've been putting on all year. Goodwin doesn't think so, t hough'he certainly wanted us to help h im with extra publicity and promotion of his race for free. He wa nt ed me in Los Angeles right after' the Sears Point Trans-AMA race to do appearances for Anaheim. " - . Ma rty continued. "W e had been talking to Goodwin about the possibility of just Bob and I doing a match race together in addition to the Supercross. He didn't want to pay us anything for that as well , even though it would have been the highlight 01 the evening:" . . So there you hav e it - the reasons you won 't be seeing America's two top Supercross rid ers at Anaheim . Even if they came to race , their hearts probably wouldn't be into winning. Instead , they plan to pay their way in to the grandstands like everyone else and , for the first time ever, watch the show for themselves. "T ell our fans we're sorry we aren't riding, but we couldn't come to terms with Goodwin . We 'll see them again in January at Oakland." Without Hannah and Tripes to steal the show at Anaheim the racing certainly won 't be a ny less. Riders will-not be demoralized by a Hannah/Tripes onslaught as in the past and will go all -out to win the final Supercross r ace of the year. It just may tum out to be the best Supercross race ever. . Come to think of it ~ .. maybe the H urricane and the Typhoon had the right idea all along, to sit up in the stands and watch. , From an interview with Bob Hannah and Marty Tripes, Oct . 28, 1978. • •• .or will they star, at.Anaheim? By Charles Morey ' ob Hannah and Marty Tripes not . , race at Anaheim? The idea of the two .S ' AMA/Toyota upercross Senes leaders spectating inst ea d 0 f rlidiIng In th e , Coca-Cola Bottlers Motocross F inals and the Quaker State Oil Shot gun Shootout is shockin~ . . h 'l h I' d i J' , . . b . I . W let e reasons iste m rm s .mtervI.ew a ove are cert~m y valid . pomts why the foul weather warrrors might not want to ride , there are other factors that ind ica te th ey m ay decide to compete after all. One reason why Marty Tripes would decide to show up was given by T ea m H onda manager Terry Mulligan: "H e's under contract to ride th a t race - we're partial spo nsors of th e event . It makes it hard for him not to ride it without ~eopa rd izi ng his ca ree r with H onda ." . Likewise , Hannah's benefactors at Yamaha would like to see him r ace . Bob 's barga in ing position, however , is mu ch better tha n Ma rty's since he's brought Team Yamaha three AMA National Championships th is season: The AMA National Championship(Mr. PiB~ 25~cc MX Series Championship, .the AMA~ToY':lta , Supercross Senes Championship and the Trans·AMA MX Senes Championship. Yamaha could give him this race offas a bonus, should he so desire. But I don't th ink that's the case. Gianatsis talked with the two at the Oct. 28 Lake Whitney Trans·AMA. Since then , Marty Tripes, who cancelled his entry in the Anaheim event , has called AMA Commissioner of Professional Racing Mike DiPrete and asked that his entry be reinstated. ' In a brief phone ~on.versation with Bo~ Hannah on Friday morn~ng, Nov . 5, we learned that n~gouauons bet~een Tnpes/Hannah and Goodwin were to be resumed, following the Sears Point Trans-AMA event, on Monday, Nov . 6. "Goodwin sent us a letter, and he wants to talk it over," Hannah told Cycle News. The fact that the three have agreed to meet indicates a possibility, even a likelihood, that they will reach an agreement. ' ., . But it will have to be a fair settlement. All three participants in that meeting Hanna h, Tripes and Goodwin - are professionals. They love what they 're doing. T hey wouldn't do it , otherwise. They're all heavyweights in their ind ividual cat egories. An d they plan to do business . .. This article was written Friday evening, No v. J . Check the LAtest Poop column for a Mon day, Nov. 6 up date. • 21

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