Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ Interview: Supercross inventor Mike Goodwin Goodwin fights back By Paul Carruthers From a lu x u ry box high above the floor of the Los Angeles Coliseum on Novem ber 9, prom o ter Mike Goodwin watched help lessly as h is lates t plan to make supercross racing more exci ting exp loded in h is face. The Coliseum shook with the sounds of boos when Goodwin 's format for a tw o-row sta rt - Europea ns in front, America ns in back - quickl y turned into a san d-baggin g fiasco. " I just a bo u t di ed," sa id G oodwin lat er . talking about th e o rdea l. " I thought. 'So m e bod y mu st h a ve known this was going to h appen a nd nobody m entioned it to me.' Ri ck johnson spoke up prett y quick a nd I thought, 'M a ybe we ca n turn this aro un d.' We rea IIy needed to take advan tage and turn it a ro u nd ." Wh en h e real ized wh a t wa s h appening, G oodwin ra n to th e pits a nd talked to eac h of th e rid ers who had sand- bagged in hea t ra ces in o rde r to earn first-row starts in the m ai n even I. Goodwin offered th e riders m oney if th ey'd ag ree to start the feature ra ce from th e back ro w - bu t a few refused to coopera te. " I got every one of th e riders excep t for joh n n y O 'Ma ra to sta rt o n th e seco nd ro w," Goodw in sa id. " (J eff) Ward said h e was goi ng to start o n th e seco nd row and th en cha nged h is m ind. I said, 'j eff, wha t are yo u talking a bo ut? ' H e sa id h e to ld th e cro wd th at if everyo ne else did it , th en he woul d sta rt o n th e back TO W . I to ld him th at I d id n 't thi n k a nybod y perceived it th at wa y a nd th a t h e wo u ld ' look terrible. " Even a min u te before th e ga te dropped , I sa id . 'j eff. I'v e got o ne more spot - you to ld th ese peop le. ' He said, ' No, no , it's too lat e; I can' t ge t m y pi ck o n th e gate.' It wa s so short -sig h ted. T he difference wa s abo u t $2000, an d j eff's got to make a q uarter of a milli on bucks a yea r. I rea lly did think th at th ey wou ld have to ld m e (if) th ey were going to screw up th e show. They d id not. " Th e ep isode a t th e Rod il Cup ma y have bruised Good win 's ego , but the P.T. Ba rnum of supercro ss ma kes assu ra nces tha t h e'll be back. " Fra n kly, if a ll the sta rs wo u ld ha ve been o n th e ba ck row , we'd h ave had a heck of a ra ce. That's the th ing tha t's a sha me . I don 't know wh y the riders felt th ey had to do that . I do n ' t know ir.. .they decid ed a head o f tim e or no t, Bu t it hurt th em more than it h urt m e. Believe me, I ca n go do some th in g el se. I love th e spo rt a nd it's goin g to kill me if it di es - very few g u ys ge t to invent a sp o rt - a nd I' m go ing to be sick if it goes a way. But yo u know what? I have a lot o f o th er ta lents. " I ca n go develo p real esta te a nd ma ke a lo t m ore mon ey. Maybe a nd I hope thi s isn ' t th e case may be I' ve got to walk a wa y from (su percro ss) before th ey rea lize tha t wit hou t Mike Goodw in sell ing spon so rs a nd tel evisio n, a nd th ose kinds of thin gs, it 's n ot goi ng to be h ere for long. The probl em we had a t th e Rodil Cup with th e ride rs sand- haggi ng reall y lit a fire under me. I' ve got a n Ana h eim co mi ng u p tha t will be the bes t even t tha t I' ve ever promoted in my entire life" The Rodil Cup ordea l is o n ly the la test ep isode in G oodw in's co nt ro versia l career. He ha s co me under fire for many thi ngs si nce he bega n pro- meting supercross ra ces. Riders have complained about low p rize money, a nd Goodwin ha s been in wh a t seems like a co n tin uo us feud wi th th e AMA o ver hi s su pe rc ros s prom otions.rBur wh at ha s been his biggest prob lem in promoting th e sport? " My biggest prob lem in 1985 ha s been that I have been in a milli ondo lla r law su it with Mi ckey T hom pson ," Goodwin sa id . " An d th e time I've spent in th at is the time I ha ven 't been abl e to d evot e to su pe rcross . It has been d isabilitatin g. That , we hope. will be ove r in a co u p le of m onths, hy th e 15th of February, an d I'll be a ble to ge t back a nd d o th is fu ll ti me . Wi th tha t asi de. th e ride rs aren't rea lly m y biggest problem because th ey pu t o n a gr ea t shov..· a nd th e facto ries brin g th em to th e events , " I can u ndersta nd wh ere they wou ld look up a nd say , ' We want more money,' wh en th ey see the sta nds a t Anaheim fu ll. They think, G oodwin h ad to mak e a million doll ars; h ow come we do n ' t make more money? Well, they don't co u nt th e crowd a t th e next three LA events that avera ge 34.000 people. a ll of wh ich lost o ver .$ 100.000. . " T he rea l tragedy is the fighting we've had over th e years wi th the AMA, Ti me th at we ca n't sp end seili ng sponsorshi ps, p ro moting even ts an d neg oti ating televi sion. Instead we 're fig h ting a ll th e tim e. Ma ybe it's my fa u lt , I don't kn ow. T he thi ng is tha t everybody has th eir o wn set of priorities a nd th e Al\IA legitima tely n eed s to be more co ncerned a bo ut h elmet law s a nd stree t riders, beca use most o f th eir m embers are street rid ers. T hey just haven 't wanted 10 devote th e time to it (sup ercro ss)." This yea r, PACE Mana gem ent, Good win's maj or co mpetitor in su percross p romoting , will hol d a n AM A/ Camel Pro Seri es short 'track a n d a supercross o n back-to-hack nigh ts a t th e Housto n Astrodome . It's something th a t Goodwi n has a lway s wanted to do , but hi s feud wi th th e AMA has alwa ys go u en in the way . accord ing to G oodwin . " AMA ref uses to give me a Clas s C sanctio n," h e said. " I ask ed th em to g ive m e one of th em as a regional a n d give me the ot her as a Na tio nal , if I do wel l. Class C need s some help. Fra nk ly, I' ve got a big eno ug h job cu t o u t for m e with motocross. I h op e PACE does well a t it. I thi n k it's a h eck o f a n idea and I thi nk it sh ould have co me before now. I wou ld ha ve d on e it ea rlier if AMA woul d have let me." T he Rose Bowl in Pasadena , Ca li forn ia was th e sigh t of the fin al race for th e Supercross C hampionship in 1985. Wa rd a nd Broc Gl over were on ly separa ted by a single point go ing into th e event. A p ro m ot er's dream . Bu t this a lso turned o u t to be a co ntrover sia l race, as Ward ro lled backwards on th e tra ck to restart h is bike after sta lling on a j u m p . Ward was fin ed $500, a nd so me argued th a t h e sh ould have been d isqual ified. Ward went o n to hea t Glover a nd th e cha m pionshi p was his . It wa s la ter rumored that Goodwin, in a n effort to keep the fa ns ha p p y, helped keep Ward in th e main even t. ' '' I had noth in g to do with the ru ling ," Goodwi n sa id . "S omebody im - sc 00 Q") ...... ~ U"') ...... ;>- .... ~ ::: ~ ~ ~ M ike Goodwin once won the CRC Over-30 motocross championship. plied th e o the r day th at I h ad so me thing to do with it . T hey must think I have more horsepower th an I do. Nobody as ked me a bo u t it . Absolute ly n o wa y. So me body asked me, ' Did G oodwin rea lly sen d Glover do wn th e riv er ?' I never thought tha t I would be inv olved in it. The on ly two things th e AMA co nt ro ls in o ur agreeme nt is the fairness o f co mpetiti on. a nd it 's excl us ively theirs, a n d safety, a nd tha t's excl usively th ei rs. " 1£ some body as ked me how I looked a t it, a nd I p robabl y sh o u ld n ' t co m ment because no matter wh at, people will d islike me for it ; but p eo pl e di slik e m e fo r a lot o f thing s a lrea dy. I think it was good for th e sport th at Ward' s tit le got upheld , but I th ink it was rea ll y unfairto G lover. 1£ I wou ld have been as ked to vote - and it' s not easy to specu la te o n wh atyo u would do in a situa tion, so I m ay be wrong - I wo uld ha ve vot ed for Gl over. My o nly p roblem th ere is th at 's based o n things I've h eard about th e o the r incidents a nd I haven ' t been there, It doesn 't so un d like they have a n y co ns istency . It 's really un fortu na te, but tha t's th e wa y '1 wou ld hav e go ne on th at dea l." T hi s yea r, supercross wi ll Iea run-u p rodu ctio n-bike-onl y ru le, th us giv in g the privateer a cha nce to compete o n eq u a l mach in ery with th e facto ryco ntracted rid ers . Tha t ru le, h ow ever, ma y he a fa rce, acco rd ing to G oodwin. " I was th e cha m pi o n o f the production -on ly ru le," G oodwin sa id. "T h a t wa s a d iffic u lt decisi on . I feel th e privatee rs need to feel tha t th ey ca n do some th ing. an d m aybe th ey ca n break into the top 10 now. Bu t fra nkl y, when I hea rd th e modifica tions they a re go ing to a llo w, I may hav e created a mons ter. I d on ' t kn ow enough a bo u t th e tech n ica lit ies, but I h eard th ey a re go ing to a llow th em to cha n ge a ll th e gears in th e tra ns m ission a nd w ha t p riva teer ca n a ffo rd that? T hey ca n ch a nge th e length o f th e co n necti ng rod. a nd I think I h eard th ey ca n cha n ge th e cra n k- sha ft. What are we goi ng to leave th e sam e? The fender s a nd th e gas tank? We sh o u ldn ' t have done it a t a ll th en ." Supercross ha s lost its share of spo nsors over th e years. Wrangl er, Miller Brewing Co ., and o the rs have d isappeared fro m th e scene. This year Coca-Co la ma y n ot renew their sponsorship package with su percro ss. It seems , a cco rding to Goodw in , tha t Coca -Col a is looking for someth ing th at supercross ma y no longer be a ble to gi ve - a sq uea ky clean im age. " T h e rea l p roblem is th e drug a buse p roblem a nd I' m very a ntidrugs," Goodw in said. "People don't kn o w they h ave a p roblem with it. Cocaine, for exa m p le. Mayb e p eople who a re co ke freaks d on ' t reall y rea lize th ey h ave a dependen cy. No w it's wo rse in that th e bu st we kn o w a bo u t in j a pa n (i nvolv in g AMA 125cc National !\IX Champion Ron Lech ien) reall y hurts the cred ibility of o ur sport. I don't thin k it's o kay (just) because baseba ll a nd foot ba ll have a problem too. "The thing I've a lwa ys pitch ed to Co ca -Co la is th e fac t tha t we ha ve yo u ng a thletic-type kids a nd th ey ca n ge t to the 16- t0 24-year-olds. We have a good way to ge t to th e 16- to 24-year o lds wit ho u t the dru g probl ems o f roc k 'n ' ro ll and they rea llv like tha t. I d on' t know if tha t (t he Ll:ch ien bust) has anyth ing to do with wh y, for th e first yea r in m a ny years , they haven 't ren ewed (th eir sponso rsh ip agreements ) or n o t. I th ink the y will , bu t I haven 't gotten a ca ll bac k. It 's a con cern . I hope that we, m eaning our sport, has lea rned o ur lesso n from th e one bad inc ide nt we had a nd do what ever we ca n do ,to co n tro l it. \\' h a t a ma zes m e is th at I don't kn o w h ow th ose guys go as fast a s the y go if a ny o f th em ar e usin g drugs." G oodwin 's experime nt s to find th e perfect supercr oss form at ha ve p roba bly cost th e sport so me fa ns, hu t Anaheim should be the turn in g po in t. Good win is p rom ising the best show ever a nd to save h is sport , h e ma y • ha ve to produce exac tly that . 45 4

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