Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127172
program. on Wednesday. December 21 . No rris ' resignation leaves the AMA seeking replacements for bot h him and Bill Amick who earlie r re s igned as head of the AMA Pr o Racing department. Team H on da 's Rfck J o hnson , the 1988 Supercross and 500cc National Champion, will likely be sporting a new look this season since his long. tim e apparel co ntract with Fox Racing appears to have co me to an end. "All I can say is that I'll be riding a Honda," was all J ohnson would say when asked about th e rumored cha nge. But if his new co n trac t is like those signed by other -Team Honda riders, it will require him to wear Hondaline apparel. According to Fox Racing President Geoff Fox , " J oh nso n can' t sign with us becau se Honda won 't let him. " And according to Fox Ra cing Vice President Greg Fox, J ohnson has given no indication that he 'll sign wi th Fox Racin g. " We have sent him three offers but received no repl y," said Greg Fox . " I think he feels he's co m pe lled to deal with Honda." However, Johnson 's contract with Fox includes a first rider refusal clause, wh ich according to Geoff Fox requires Johnson to show Fox Racin g other apparel offers and Fox would then have th e option to match them. Fox says he is studying 'the legal ramifications, and said that th e situation co uld set some important pr ecedents. "If J oh nson can 't sign a cont ract with us, th e industry won 't be th e sam e," he says. " Clo th ing co ntrac ts have always been separa te from th e manufacturer's (r iding) contracts. If, in the future , we can 't have contrac ts with factory riders, th en there 's no need to support riders a t an y level. " Offi cials at H onda were un availab le for com ment; all American Honda offices were closed for the holida ys. Johnson says that everyo ne will just have to wait until th e Scottsdal e Supercross , which will be held J anuary 7-8 at Horse Wor ld in Scottsdal e, 'Arizona, to see what he will be wearing. ' Speaking of the Arizona Motocross Association-sanctio ned Scottsda le Supercross. Team Honda's Johnson. George HoIla nd . Jeff Stanton and Larry Ward will compete in the January 7 portion of the doubleheader w ith racing scheduled to get underway at 3 p .m, Also set to compete on Saturday. according to the AMXA. is 125cc MX World Champion Jean-Michel Bayle of France. 2 The opening round of the 1989 AMA National Championship H are & Hound a nd Best In The West Series wi ll tak e pl ace as scheduled o n January 22 in southern California, but the start area has been moved from Barstow to Camp Rock Ro ad in Lu cerne Valley. According to th e promoting club, Desert M.e. , th e BLM issued a form al denial of th e club's request (filed in October, 1988) for ' a permit to use th e "corr ido r" into th e J obnson Vall ey O pen Area. A club spokesperson said, "T hey (BL M) a re gi vin g u s th e same bureau cratic b.s. we've been getting for four years!" , Although Papa's been inv ited to attend a " m e di a lu nche o n" at 'Ana he im Stadiu m in Anaheim. California. on January 5 "for a major announcement co ncerning sponsorship of t he 1 5 - ra c e National AMA S uperc ross Series for 1989." Papa th inks the J a nuary iss ue of the MTEG Times newsletter - w h ic h arrived at our office on December 28 - prematurely let the cat o ut of the bag . In part. it read : " T he Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group w ill a lso produce three stadium Supercross events in 1989 all will _ t hree ,S u pe rc ro ss events figure in the points chase for the '89 AMA Camel Supercross Championship : The entire '89 series is being sponsored by Coors Extra Gold." Loudon, New H ampshire's Bryar Motorsport Park has been sold by Keith Bryar to Bob Bahre and Peter Prescott of Maine. Bahre, 60, founder of a bank in Oxford, Maine, and hi s partner Prescott pl an to cons truc t a 55,000 seat banked o ne-m ile superspeedway oval track on th e property : in hopes of hostin g a NASCAR Win ston Cup race in th e future. " I think we've got a good sho t at ge tting one," said Bahre wh o hosted three Win ston Cup races a t th e Oxfor d Pl ains Speedwa y, a 1I3-mi le tra ck in Maine, before NASCAR changed th eir policy a n d began running Win ston Cup races on ly on tracks of at least on e-mile in length. Bahre, wh o sold Oxford Plain s Speedwa y for $6 million in 1986, said he also hopes to ho st a CAR T Indy-car race at th e new facility whose name wou ld remain Bryar o r be cha nged , to the New Hampsh ire Int ernati onal Speed way. Don Brymer, wh o has prom oted events a t Bryar for severa l years, said, " I will remain o n as a hired hand, sort of a superinte nde nt of th e construc tio n. I'll be promot in g th e June 18 Loudon Classic and that annual AMA Nati on al Champion- ' sh ip road race sho u ld run on th e existing road co urse as I doubt if co nstruc tion will have altered it by then . I'll also co nt in ue to pro mote club roa d racin g at Bryar. " Brymer said cam p ing will no lon ger be all owed at Bryar Motorsport Park during th e June Nati onal weekend. RES IGNED : J. B. No rris. w ho w as in c harge o f the A MA profe s sional rac ing depa rt men t 's d irt track Frederic k, Maryland 's Mik e Sponseller, wh o fielded Hondas for Rodney Farris o n th e Cam el Pro Series circuit last year, is in th e midst of fin al izing a powerhouse team for the ' ~9 Ca mel Pro Series. "We're having co n trac ts drawn up now ," said Spo nseller. "Our team will consis t of Steve Morehead and Dan Ingram as riders and Skip Eaken as tuner. We'll be u sing my Honda eq u ip ment as well as the bik es H onda gave Bubb a Shobert." Eaken wrenched H onda-backed machinery for Shoben last year and for Ingram, who rod e Shobert 's personal Hon da during the latter part of'the season . Spo nseller com peted as a dirt track / road racer"in the lat e 60s and earl y 70s and now o wns and operates a cons tructio n.£irm in Maryland. In '88 , Moreh ead won fou r Grand Nation al s - th e Louisville, Lima a nd Ha gerstown Half Mile races and the San J ose Mile. Ingram won th e Syrac use Mile, finished second at th e fall Springfield Mile, and third at th e Middl etown H alf Mile. Ro dney Farris w ill campaign the ' 8 9 Camel Pro Series aboard Har le y-Dav idsons owned and tuned by fe llo w -Ma ry la nde r Eddie Atk ins . Farris and road racer Randy Renfrow t ied for 11 th place in the final point standings of the ' 8 8 Camel Pro Series. Fa rris ' best performance was a th ird p lace finish in the DuQuoin Mile. and he logged fourth place finishes at the San Jose Mile and the Louisville Half Mile. Answer Products, In c. of Valencia, California, issued a press release last week in whi ch they announced th at Answ er Products " (as of December 21) remains a co rpo ra tio n solel y owned by presid ent Edd ie Co le, con tra ry to rumors that have been circu la ting within the motorcycle industry. Throughout the last few months there have been discussi ons with an off-shore investm ent group, Trans-Pacific Holding Co., regarding a possible sale of the co mpany's stock." T rans-Pacific ow ns many companies, including MS Ra cing/ Distributing of Riverside, Californi a. The release also says that if a transaction did take place betw een T rans-Pa cific a nd Answer Products, Cole wou ld continue as pr esid ent of th e corporation. 362 E. 20th st., Costa Mesa, 92627. . • Santiago Rabasa. d irector of t he Derbi GP road ra ce te am a nd son of t he he a d of t he Barcelona. Spain-based motorcycle man u fa ct urer. is in a coma in a Spanish , hospita l fo llowing a hang glid ing accident. OPENING: The T ime Machine, a new shop specia li zin g in exo tic vint age and single-cylinder bikes, in ear ly J anuary at 755 W. 17th St. , Costa Mesa, CA 92627, 714/548-4424; The Time Machine will be operated by form er White Bros. R&D manager . Dennis Berg. ' Dennis Noyes. the expatriate American who now calls Spain home and covers GP road racing fo r the Spanish weekly motorcycle newspaper Solo Moto . is wintering in southern California. " I'm working on several features for the newspaper. and my two young sons are attending a baseball school in Fullerton. California. " said Noyes. who. as ment ioned several weeks ago in this section. always wears a Chicago Cubs cap and went on record in Solo Moto saying he'd eat the cap if Freddie Spencer ret u rn e d to GP ra c ing . We'lI be at the Japanese GP in March to watch Dennis consume the cap. HIRED: Gary "G-Man" Allison as parts manager of P ro Italia Motors, a G lenda le, California, dealership specializing in Ita lian motorcycles; Alli son was previou sly em p lo yed at Van ce & Hines' Torrance (California) store, and befor e that, at Racecra fters in Lawndale, California. The January 28 opening round of the AMA Supercross Series at Anaheim Stadium in southern California w ill offer a total purse of $53.000 to competitors. $45.000 in the 250cc class and $8000 in the 125cc division . The winner of the 250cc main event w ill receive $8000. second place is worth $4000. th ird pays $2500. fourth $2000. fifth $1900 and each position after that earns $50 le s s than 't h e position above it. down to $11 00 for 21 st place. The winner of the 125cc main will receive $1500. If you 're headed to the February 2527 (trade only) Cincinnati Expo, giv e TravelStar (fo r me rly Sandpiper Travel ) a call , 800/541-1223, for som e quotes on airfare/hote l/ground transportation packages from all major ci ties. For example, TravelStar is offering a three-day, two night all-inclusive package from Los Angel es to Cincinnati for as low as $409. Camel Pro Champion Bubba Shobert. who f inished second to Scott Parker in the Grand National Championionship Series in '88. w ill ca rry National Number 2 if and w hen he participates in any AMA Dirt Track Nationals this yea r . Fo rmer G rand National Champions are given single-digit numbers and many will recall that # 2 was used by Kenny Roberts. Numbers 4 . 5. 6 and 7 are vacant w ith Steve Eklund presently #8 and Jay Springsteen #9 . Of course. Grand National Champion Parker 's Harley-Davidson wi ll carry #1 . Rookie of the Year Kevin Atherton will carry #23 this year. Team Honda factory motocrosser Ricky Johnson will be making a personal appearance at S im i Val ley Honda in Simi Valley. California . on Wednesday. January 4 . between 5:00 and 7:00 p .m . Afterwards. a Honda CR maintenance c linic will be conducted by Team Honda 's Gary Martini ; space is limited for the cl inic. For more information. call (805)5264122 . Mrs. Gene L. H eininger, 63, wife of Webco founder Gen e H eininger and mother of J eff H eininger of Heininger Creati ve Marketing, passed away on December 4 aft er a 15-month bout with ca ncer; the famil y has requested th at anyone wh o wishes to mak e a mem orial don ation send donations to Ashlings Hom e for the Retarded, British League speedway rider Ro b Pfetzing and Dave ' Brant of Brant Engineering will conduct a speedway riding and service school at Ascot Park's South ,Bay Stadium in Gardena, Ca lifornia, January 15. The cost is $80 per rider and ther e's (Con tin ued to pag e l~