Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

00 00 0') ....... Mickey Thompson will promote a stadium motocross (A M A -sanctioned supercross?) race in Anaheim (California) Stadium on January 30. Interview: Race promoter Mickey Thompson Mickey Thompson speaks his mind By Farren Williams ANAHE IM, CA, DEC. 30 In 1 987 ~ sou thern California race promoter Mickey T h o m p so n acq u ired ex cl u sive rights to conduct all motorsport p rom o tions in Anah eim (Californ ia ) Stadium , including the right - as far as the city of Anaheim was concerned _ to promote th e traditi onal AMA Supercross open er. 10 Du e to a p revi ous agree me n t betw een Mik e Goodwin's so u the rn Ca liforn ia p rom o tion compa ny , Supercross Inc., (SXI), a nd th e AMA, how ever, SXI has th e excl usive right 10 promo te AMA-sanct ion ed supercross races in sou thern Ca lifornia, a nd SXI ha s steadfastly refused to surre nder th at right. Tha t situation, as AMA President Ed Youngbl ood p u t it , " is pe rpe tua tin g uncert ainty a mong sponsors, team s, individual par ticipants a nd th e fans." T hom pso n will h old a stad iu m mot ocro ss race j anuary 30 in An aheim Stadium , but wh ether o r not it will be an AMA-sancti oned su percros s rem ains 10 be seen . As Cycle News went to p ress, th e ri ght to an AMA sa nc tio n in An aheim sti ll bel onged to SXI. T od a y, as leg a l man euvering co n tin ue s, and with less th an a mon th to go unti l th e sta n o f th e 1988 supercro ss season, T hompson spo ke with Cycle N ews on su percross racing in ge nera l, a nd th e Anaheim eveIII in pan icular. T hom pso n 's respo nses have been" ed ited for brevit y, but every effort ha s been made to a lter nei th er the co n text n or m ea n m g o f Th ompson ' s a nswers. Will yo u have an AMA sanctio n for you r J an uary 30 stadi um mot ocro ss race a t An ah eim Stadiu m? That questi on sho u ld be ans were d by j an ua ry 7. At this poi nt, we have every reason to bel ieve that we are goi ng to have an A;l.IA sanction. H o w ca n Mickey T h ompso n Entertainm ent Group (:\IT EG) obtain an A:\IA sa nction for Anaheim if the In sp ort Agree ment gives th at right to SXI? At tlu. s por.n t ,we d on ' t k no w 1 th e if ' In sp o r t Ag ree m en t is goi ng to belon g to SXI or no t. T here are so me p a ym ents s u p posed to be made.. .an d a t this time th e payments 10 th e co u rt a re way behind. This mi ght cha nge, th ough , in th e next few da ys. I£ you don 't recei ve a n AMA sa nc tio n in 1988, will yo u seek AMA sa nc tio ns for MTEG stadiu m motorcycle races in the fu ture? Yes, if th at is th e wa y it goes down. I thi nk it' s pr ett y obvio us th e AMA would lik e to sancti on a ny body that is co n trib u tin g to mo tocros s raci ng , I think we'll be a good contribu tor to motocross racin g. Wh en fans attend the J anuary 30 m ot orcycle race at Ana hei m Stadi u m, will th ey see supercross, Ultracross or something n ew? The p la ns a re, right no w, to see straigh t up, AM A· type racing in the 250cc class. T he p la ns a re now to use U ltru cross-st yle ra ci ng (w ith an inv erted sta n) in th e 125cc class. We beli eve it 's on ly fair to th e pub lic for th em to a na lyze both types of even ts a t th e sa me time, in th e sa me pl ace. We'll let th e ge ne ra l p ub lic decid e whi ch type of even t th ey'd lik e to see in o ur fu ture races. Co u ld th ose p lans ch ange? I doubt it because we (p la n) to put o n a series within a series. Our int ent ions a re to set u p a tripl e cro wn o f m o tocro ss in th e so u the rn Californi a area so specta to rs ca n foll ow this triple cro wn and th e best riders ca n participat e in th is area. We intend 10 sta n th e triple cro wn a t An aheim radium . january 30. We've tak en a nd in creased th e p urs e from 40,000 to 52,300, and we have do ub led the purse in the 125s. T he 125s usu all y ru n for $5500. We h ave in creased that purse to $ 11,000. Will yo u r june 18st adium motorycle race in the Los Angeles Col iseum be run in the sa me forma t? T h e L.A . race will be the th ird race in th e tr ip le cro wn , (with th e 250cc class run ni ng su pe rcross-sryle a nd th e 125cc cla ss ru n ning U ltracrossstyle). The guys running th e 125s wi ll mak e more money than th ey've ever made in th eir lives; doub le th e a mo u n t o f money, Wh at will be th e seco nd ra ce in th e triple cro wn ? We wou ld like for it to be th e Rose Bowl (i n Pasaden a, Ca lifornia ). bu t a t th is point we have no t been issued a co n tract. Have any of th e factories, or fac tory riders, ma de a firm co m m it me nt to ride in Anaheim Stad ium? No , th a t has no t hap pened, (b ut) I'll g ive a ny body Iive-to -one od ds tha t we'll have th e maj ority o f th e factory su pe rs ta rs rid in g in o u r event. I ha ve not as ked the rid er s per sonall y, but I ha ve been ass u red th at if th ere's notan AMA Atl an ta even t th at a ll th e b ig rid ers wi ll be here. I' ve spo ken to most o f them in person, but I have not asked th em because I thi n k th a t's somet hing they have to decid e for th ems elves. (T he II tlanta (Ge org ia) Supercross has been cance led .. , .Edi to r). Let me say somet hi ng about Ricky j oh nson. I' ve hea rd Joh nso n is a sma rt a lec k, n o t a b usin essm a n , thin gs like that. I see h im (i n) a co m p letely different (way). I went dow n a nd met with him. Ricky showed us th e co u rtesy of go ing o ver o u r U ltracross poi nt system. Wh en we first walked in , he said, " I do n't think I'm go ing to lik e this syste m." After two hou rs, after asking every type of quest ion he cou ld co nceive of, posin g every type of problem he cou ld co nceive of , he said. "You know somethi ng? I like this system . This system will give me some rea l ince ntives. I lik e the poi nts. I li ke th e money in volv ed , and I like the cha lle nge o f comi ng from the bac k o f th e pack." To me , th a t's a real racer. He's the one ge ntlema n th ey a ll ex pec t no t to like th e system..I think that spea ks' for itself. I found him a ver y as tu te, intell igen t bu sin essm an . H ave you talked to any of the ot her riders? Yes, I have, a nd everyone tha t has sa t ' a nd li st en ed lov ed t h e n ew co nce p t, Ri cky is th e o n ly o ne wh o has told me, " If yo u want to use m y name, go a head and use it. " I did not as k a ny o f th e o ther rid ers to do th at. U n fort u na tely, because of a ll th e po liti ca l thin gs involv ed, we don 't feel this is th e time to run pure Ultracross in a ll th e even ts. We do bel ieve that th e pub lic deserves to see a new syste m. Do you h ave any m ajor spons ors (or th e race in Anaheim? Because of the co n tro versy j hat has been ca u sed (by) certa in promoters sendi ng ou t press releases th a t were no t accurat e, su pe rcross promoters acro ss the United States have been pena lized. We will not know unt il mid-j anuary whether we wi ll have a maj or spo nso r or not . No major spo nsor wants to be in vol ved wit h a racing group or seri es that is involved in litiga tion. It is m y persona l opinion th at certa in individuals co u ld possibl y be hurting that very mu ch . I wou ld lik e to say a lot more th an th at , but for lega l reasons I'm going to have to lea ve it to th e im agination of yo ur read ers 10 read betw een th e lines. Again, I'd lik e to say that 's on ly speculation, no t fact. WiII the L.A , a n d Anaheim races be televised ? All three trip le crow n races wi II be de layed televisi on. We'r e wo rking with three differe nt orga nizations that ar e televisin g a ll o f o u r events. I wi ll guara ntee yo u it w ill be telev ised (na tio na lly), T hat 's w hat supercross raci ng needs, Wo ul d yo u take yo ur wife , yOUT gi rlfri end or your fam ily and seat th em in the Los Angeles Co liseum th e la st two or th ree ra ces? Wi th fights, beer throwi n g a nd everyth ing in th e gra nds ta n ds? T hat 's wha t we've got to fig h t. Su percross, the wa y it's being advertised , is "co me to OUT party." T h is isn 't a party time, This is a n even twh ere we hav e fin e you ng a th letes out th ere perfo rming. They shou ld be given that respect. It is a kn own Iact th at su pe rcross rid ers have ( 0 be in the best ph ysical shape. And we'r e port raying it as, "Come a n d see how dan gerous th e co u rse is," a nd , "come and hav e a party tim e." We want to portra y it in a differnt light. We want to portray it as an a thl eti c co m pe titio n, not a bla ck jack et, Hell 's Angel s, come a nd party in the gra ndsta nds. We ran surveys a nd (fo u nd that) most of th e peop le we've lost ar e fami lies. Racin g can ' t hav e that. We' re not go in g to do th at type of ad vert ising for the sa ke o f mak ing mo n ey a nd h u rt in g th e sport. SX I's Mik e Goodwin claims MT EG and Pa ce/ SRO ha ve, "cons p ired to cu t m e totall y ou t," of supercross promotion. How do yo u respond to tha t ch arge? N IH true. I spea k 10 Pace Man agem ent beca use th ey'r e a fell ow promoter. I 's pea k to a ll th e rest o f th e su pe rcross p romo ters. Natu rall y, th ey want to do wha t's best for the sport. I don 't kn o w ho w yo u cou ld co ns true th at as try ing t ocut anybody , I thi n k the proof of the puddi ng is for eac h ind ividual rea der to inquirewha t th e repu ta tion is of Pace, l\ITF.G, SXI, Ha rry Oxley, Bill West - you ca n' t fool the pu blic a ll the time, I think it 's the best th in g for th e people to do, Is th ere a promoters' wa r going o n between Mik e Goodwin and o th er supercross promot ers? I th in k Mik e G oodwin has chosen to see it th at way. I don't thi nk yo u co u ld ta lk to a ny o ther promoter in the U n ited Stat es and have th em sa y th ere is a promo ters' war. I thi nk th ey've a ll had experience with Mik e Goodwin over th e pas t 10 years, a nd I think th ey can speak for th em sel ves. I wou ld no t make a co m ment on that. I thi nk it's ludi crous to a ir dirty linen in pr ess releases. It on ly hurts th e sp ort. In m y o p in io n, anybody wh o does th at, regard less of wha t they say, certa in Iy doesn ' t love th e sport . I thi nk it's their inten tion to hurt th e sp ort a s mu ch as th ey ca n . (Contin ued to page 25)

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