Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

soccer teams control it and that sometimes pushes us that much further behind. Those people are in there 15·18 times a year and they 're a good income for that stadium ; we're in there one time a year so we have to take last choice. If we can fit into their schedule, and there's an opening, we can have it. If not, it's too bad for us. They'd like to have us, but they 'd like to have us when they want us, not when we'd like to get in. This year we're going into Oakland on January 28 . I would rather rwt go in there then because I think it's too early in the year to start our racing season off. The riders are still coming off cold weather, they're not fully trained, and we may have more accidents and injuries because of it . But that's the only time we could get the stadium, so we have to go in and give it a shot and hope that if we do well maybe that facility will say, OK you can come in at another time again next ~r. , ' They don't know what we're going to do to the facility either. We had a problem last ' year at Pittsburgh: We went in there and because of 'a ll the mud and everything, it took so long to get it -all out, they thought they were going to have to cancel the baseball game. Everybody went overboard to .get everything in shape though and it all came out all ri~ht. But they don't want to run into that situation again so, they move_,us around and push us around still. We're not at the point that they're going to come in with a request for us to have a race at any of their facilities. When we do get to that point we can start calling the shots. Are riders ever paid start money out of the purse for any AMA National events? No, except for the USGPs. The FIM says all accepted entries have to be paid minimum start money and I think this year it was 500 Swiss Francs converted into dollars. In addition to that, if the promoter wants to negotiate with the World Champion or any ' other top rider . he can make additions over and above that amount. What about show money? A promoter usually won't pay "show" money. What he will do is pay a rider to come in and help with pre-race promotion or advertising, which is legitimate and a good way to do it. I think our system of not having start money is better than the European system . We put all our money in the p,urse which says if you're good enough to earn your money, you get it. In Europe what they're doing is Raying all their money to the top few riders. If you pay start money you have to take it out of the purse because it's the only place,it's going to come from . So if you have a $10,000 purse and die promoter takes out $5,000 to give to the top few riders, there's only $5,000 left. The people that are going to win the $5,000 that's left over are the same ones he gave the start money to in the first place. They're getting everything and the new young kids that have some talent and are finishing in the top ten aren't getting any money and they can't continue their racing. In this country we say,.here's the money, if you're good enough to win it , you win it. In motocross we pay dollars per point, which spreads it down further. This year some of the top riders are getting less for first, second and third place, but everybody in general from fourth on down to twelfth place is getting more because it's dollars per point, per moto. So you get paid for what you've earned in points all the way down through the top twenty . What are your feelings on paying everyone who makes the program something, anywhere from $50-$200, for a days work? You're paying the top 20 riders now and the rest of them work for nothing? If you want a socialistic system, or if you agree with the socialistic type of idea, then 1 think you could agree with that type of thing. But I don't necessari1y agree with that way of thinking . I think you ought to earn what you get. We don't even have enough money to do that anyway. You're talking about a National Motocross with a $10,000 purse and that's $5,000 per class. If you broke that down for 40 people then no one can survive . This way at least the people that are getting into the top 20 can possibly survIve. . jJ Another thing: When you look at the entries there are not many you could call "professional" riders . They all want to be pro riders, they all buy a pro license, but that's not their sole income. Out of the 80 riders that participate in a particular event on a particular weekend, there's maybe ~o of those guys that travel the whole circuit. Those are the , professionals." Those are the people who should get the bulk of the money because they're the ones traveling the circuit each week. The other guys are local riders who are trying to get to that point and if you give to everybody then the top 20 or ~o who are traveling aren't going to be able to survive .. . . . .. Do you have the same view toward the Winston Pro Series where you don't have 40 qualifiers or pl'Ol that travel the circuit? In the Winston Pro Series, I'm pretty sure that everybody in the final and the trophy dash gets paid. This year everybody who made the program was paid $50. ' The difference between that and socalled show or start money is that everybody has to race to earn his $50. In Europe you get paid just to show up. You can ride one lap, pull off the track, and you've got your money. This year in Stadium Motocross, everybod y who participated in an event got money. The way it ~orks IS that if you got eliminated in the qualifier event you got $~5. Anyone who was eliminated in the semis got $40 and anybody you didn't make money in the consolation got $45 .Do you think as the National Motoerc. circuit grows we'll see utra money paid out to thc.e riders that work their way to the gate to race in a National? It's conceivable- if the purses get big enough- that all 40 would get paid. I don't see paying any further back than that though. In my opinion you have to take care of the professional riders first. Those are the guys who are there every week. Secondly you have to take care of the other guys who are trying to get there. Their expenses aren't as great as the guys who are traveling every week. How do you feel about Pro racing? Is it a businea for ' the sake of making money or is it pure entertainment? We(the AMA) are not in it\o make money. We're in it to try and better the sport. Our income is turned back into services. We don't say that we're going to make a 20 percent return on our investment and put 15' of it in the bank. What we say is, for example: This year's budget was forecast based on our cost and hopefully getting some income so that next year we can increase our services again. We've cut back tremendously so we've got to come to the break-even point and then make some dollars. We are looking at the sport as entertainment. Everybody has to look at it that way. I think the riders are becoming more aware of it in that way -especially in the Stadium events. It's not that it's bad, but it is show business. My discussion with them over the past three or four years is that they have a talent and they 're lucky to be able to use that talent to provide a show for the people. There are a lot of people with talents that can't get into show business . If we didn't have Stadium Motocross those guys would be riding for small purses and they wouldn't be getting the salaries they're getting because the status wouldn't be there. I think the major manufacturers are looking more and more . toward the stadiums as a means of ' promotion because the exposure is there. Do you think Stadium Motociou could be limited due to the COlt of promoting and preparing for such an event? That's one thing that would limit it. The other is the times you could get into the different facilities. We can't grow as fast as some people think we can - and 1 don't necessarily want to grow that fas@anyway. It's been my philosophy over the past few years to add one or two events a year, good events, so you can build a solid base then when you do go someplace else you've got something to fall back on . In the past we've added on 10 tracks and lost seven of them . So you keep adding each year and never build up a good base. If you go in slow you can build your base. Weather is chancy too . Not too many people will invest a quarter of a million dollars with a 50·50 chance of pulling a rain date and losing money. Does Pro racing get as much support from the manufacturers as you'd like to see? I think so. We have a good rapport with most of the manufacturers and we've been working much better together for the past couple of years. They're putting a lot of dollars into motocross. That's one of the problems with the dirt track and road race circuit. Motocross is where they can see their return on their. investments. I've been talking to some , of the manufacturers to see what we can do to get them involved in dirt track and road race. We need some help there from manufacturers somehow, whether it's in the way of bikes or change of class, or restrictors , eitherway may get more brands on the tracks . Would limiting the Junior ela. to 500cc make that much difference? . My personal opinion is that it should be limited to 500cc and maybe further that the Expert class should be 500cc . We're going through a problem right now with insurance. We have a high injury rate and we .don:t . have an >insurance package . negotiated .yer for 1979 because of that. When we look at the statistics, a lot of it is Novice and Junior riders. The Amateur kid is coming onto a 250cc bike right away , which in itself maybe isn't too bad, but it could be he's not getting enough experience as an Amateur. Then he rides as a :Junior for a while, gets his points and jumps right up to a 750cc bike whiC;h' could be causing some of the accidents. We'll take a look at the statistics for a while and it might make a difference i!1 bringing the class down to 500cc for the Juniors or restricting them. If it's a major insurance problem we'll have to do it regardless of the consequences, Anytime you make a change, someone's bound to get hurt. But we will get the insurance package for '79 straightened out, probably within the next couple of weeks. It's just a matter of finding the dollars to do it. They need so many dollars in front. And where do you plan to get the money? . It will probably come from the riders and promoters in the way of increased fees. I think they understand our problem and will go along with it. What are the sanction fees now? A National Motocross will cost $5,000. That includes the sanction fee, insurance, officials fees, printing and mailing of entries and pit passes. Stadium Motocross will be around $9,000. The Winston Pro Series sanction fees went up a couple of thousand dollars, I don't know exactly how much they are now. , There seem to be fewer and fewer regional events for riders to pick up advancement points. What are you doing about that? We're trying to sell more regional events but the problem there is you usually don't get any , spectators to watch a regional. It ends up that the riders have to pay their own way just like they do at a normal weekend event somewhere. On any small race you have to get the participants out there because they're the ones that are paying ' the ". way. What about Progressive Pro racing for '79? What's in the works? , We're looking for more events in other areas but we're making an effort out here (California) because the AMA doesn't have that much racing ou.t here. We're trying to give the riders a chance to participate so they can 'get the points they need to advance. I Has anyone ever researched the effects of the "chooee a c!au" motoerc. move? Some poeple say they only go to motoerc. events to see Hannah ride. Doesn't that have an effect on the attendance at some nationab? I think some people still think the old way was better-where we had everybody racing on the same day. But we've had races this year that were just as good if not better than last year. I think the way it's structured now, it's bringing out a lot more stars, a lot more young kids that have the potential of racing and doing good at it. It 's just going to be a matter of building some more stars and that was the whole intent of it - to get more people involved in it , and to get different winners. The indications are that the change is a good one. You'Il always get someone who wants Bob Hannah because Hannah's a good draw. But there are other people they can start to promote: Everybody has got to start to promote the new kids that are coming up , especially the factories and the press. It's a matter of who we make the star. You don't have to be the winner, in my opinion, to be a star. Jimmy Weinert hasn't done that much winning this year but he's a good draw. He's done well and he's a good promoter of himself and the sport. Isn't most of that up the rider? Positively. The riders have to understand that they've got to help the sport. A lot of them seem to think that somebody owes them something. Actually nobody owes them anything. It's entertainment but it's also a job. They're getting paid to go out there and ride. If they lay back and don't perform, then it's not going to grow. Everybody else can do as much as they can to help it grow, but they've got to put their two cents worth in too. lf you could groom the perfect rider, what would he be like? That's difficult because everyone comes on differently. The majority of them need to learn to dress / better and speak better. That's the main thing; being able to talk to the press. With a little more ":ork at it, Bob Hannah could be the biggest star we've had in this country for a long time. Some' times he gets a little controversial, which isn't bad. I don't think ou always have to be the good guy. ' DeCoster's always been the good guy and he's done very well at it. He's spent many years at it though, in fact he's devoted his !ife to becoming what he is. You see, everyone's different in their approach. -. '.• 00 l' 0') 0 ') CN 1-0 Q) ,.c 8 ~ o Z 13

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