Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

, . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- Johnson inevitably takes a lot of prize and bonus money from those sponsors, but his awareness of who makes it all possible is one of the things that makes him stand out from many of the other riders. "The riders need to work with the sponsors and everything to put on a good example," Johnson says. "They don't have to work together, but they have to work for the same purpose - to build the sport so that everything will escalate. The riders will have to work hard with Camel and Coors so that these people are happy with their investment, They're spending a ton of money, so they have to be happy with what they see. "That's why I'm here," he continues, " to try and do th e best I can with saying the right things. But I'm not going to smoke cigarettes for thern.. They're limited on advertising, they can't advertise on television, but if their name is on TV· doing something, then it 's okay. You can't blame them. They're building up our sport" It's all just a marketing plan according to Johnson. 'And Johnson has gotten pretty good at marketing himself as a rider, a champion, and a leader. . "I'm not trying to promote myself as something I'm not," states Johnson. "I've always looked at all the different riders, and the standard before me was Hannah. He was a hard-charger, had a radical riding' style and all that. I knew I had that in me, but I saw that he could've improved his personality towards people. I heard him , bad-mouth companies before. I knew that 's something I could be better at, I could be better talking to people. He doesn 't make himself approachable ' for little kids. I want to be the person that a little kid can walk up to and say whatever he wants to and feel comfortable doing it, not be afraid of me . "I want to set an example so kids want to be like me, but not just because I win races or make money. I want them to see through all the glitter and see me and think I'm a neat guy. " There will always be those who don't think he's a nice guy, and Johnson knows it. Being a sports star can be tough. "Once you get in the spotlight you can't have flaws ," he explains. " You can't be in a bad mood or have a bad day because people will think you're stuck .u p. They don't understand that right after a race Brian Lunniss (Johnson 's mechanic) wants to know exactly what 's going , on with the bike, so I'm answering those questions and I'll tell people to wait a minute. You can't please all the people all the time and I just try to do my best." Some of the people who aren't pleased with Johnson are the folks at Fox Racing, Johnson 's apparel sponsor for the last several years. Johnson will be severing that relationship, and this season fans will see him in Hondaline gear on the track. However, Johnson's contract with Fox Racing had a first rider refusal clause, which gave Fox th e option of matching any co m peti n g offer from another company that Johnson submitted, and Johnson didn't want to reveal th e specifics of his Honda contract. Fox has even hinted that theymay investigate their legal options. Johnson explained h is side of the story: " I may be putting myself in hot water over this, but it 's the truth," he began. " H o n da ' gave me an offer at the time of the Los Angeles ' Supercross (June, 1988). I was very satisfied with the money. They said , it was a whole package with Hondaline gear, and I didn't th in k Fox could beat that. I didn't sign anything because I knew Fox had first rider refusal, and there wasn't a proposal in writing. Honda had to write up a contract and we still had to negotiate for some bonuses. " I told Fox that ·I had an offer so they counter-offered. They offered a three-year contract, oneIurnp sum, no bonuses and I didn 't go back on it because I didn't have the Honda clothing contract in writing. I figured that if I won so many races that it (the Honda deal) would be (worth) more than what Fox had to offer. I didn 't want to show Fox my total contract because as soon as - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- make it tougher to ride while injured. Johnson tore ligaments in his right knee o n New Year's Day , but says that wo n ' t effect the way he rides when th e sea so n starts January 28 with th e Coors Extra Gold Challenge Super cross in Anaheim Stadium. "I was up atKenny Roberts ' ranch, and Bubba Shobert and I decided to putt around on XRlOO mini bikes," . Johnson began to explain with a sheepish grin which looked like one on the face of a little boy with his hand caught in the cookie jar. " I was sliding it , with the handlebars right on top of my knee, and when I put my leg out it hooked. My knee had nowhere to go but to the side and I felt it snap. " . Johnson immediately had the knee taken care of at Dean Miller's Sport . 1-- - - - - - - - - - - ---- . . . 1- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -1 . Rick J ohnson will be aim ing for.a third supercross title in 1989. someone sees what I'm making they'll think I'm just doing it for the money. It overshadows the fact that like to race. They automatically see dollar signs." . Johnson has officially been unemployed for the first two weeks of the year since he had not signed his new contract with Honda as of January 16, although he did intend to sign by the end of the same week. While Johnson gets paid a lot of money, he doesn't see himself or any other American motocrossermaking $1 million in a season. With the added camel money and using a certain unnamed rider with a base salary of $325,000, not himself, Johnson figures that by doing things just right and winning every ra ce this season any of the top riders cou ld earn in the neighborhood of $800,000. ' Many riders have suffered injuries on supercross tracks throughout the years , and many times it's not because they crash. There have been numerous , ankle, knee, back, wrist and other in juries caused by landing wrong after flying over the huge jumps found on a supercross tra ck. Just last year Jeff Ward 's shot at the title ended at the penultimate round in the Meadowlands when h e severely sprained his ankle landing after a flight over a jump. Supercross track obstacles also Health facility, then quickly began work with Dr. Keith Walker and was fitted for a brace. He says there should be no long-term effects from the injury. " If I pull it out to the extent of reinjuring it, I would've injured it anyway. It 's the type of an injury that a brace would have prevented." The injury kept him off bikes for a couple of weeks, but Johnson claims that he 'll be ready when the season starts. " I' m not going to use it as an excuse, " h e says. "A lot of riders injure th emselves and use it (as an excuse) all year long. That's bull. If you're man enough to throw your ' leg over th e bike at the start of the race, then take it like a man. Don't sit and whine because your wrist, knee, ankle or wh atever hurts." One thing that makes it a little easier' for any rider to -compere with an injury is that the riders now have more input ab out tra ck obstacles, and Johnson is pleased with the ch anges in track design he's seen over th e yea rs. He also ftnds them to be much more o f a challenge than o u tdoo r motocross tracks. " In the past the o ld promoters made the jumps so that onl y one guy could do them, and it forced you to do stuff that you weren't confident doing," Johnson said. "You need - -- -- - stuff so that you can push your ability and be strong in places to make time. When it's nerve, it 's like luck, and when your luck runs out a lot of times you drag a lot of people down with you. " Wh a t's good about working with John Savitski (o f Stadium Dirt Designs, builder of nearly all supercross tracks) is he listens to you; he's been a rider. I'm there a lot telling him what to do on the track. I feel that the tracks should be designed so that the best man wins. If Ron Lechien is the fastest rider one night, then he deserves to win. But if he gets a bad start and can 't get by anybody, it's holding back the show and his ability. We've got to make it so we can pass out there, so if I'm going slow someone can get around me." The show. Johnson believes in not only giving the sponsors their money's worth, but also the fans. As anyone who has witnessed any of Johnson 's numerous runaw ay wins will recall , he is usually the one doing the most radical cros s-ups over the big jumps. Many times Johnson £licks the bike over and sideways, looks over at the crowd in the stands ' and takes a hand off the bars to give them a thumbs-up. And it's all for entertainment. . "I do cross-ups and stuff to keep the fans happy," says Johnson. "I like to give them a good show. My job is to go out there and make motorcycling and supercross exciting, so if I'm out front by mys elf an d not doing anything it 's boring. But if I do cross-ups in th e dead tim e in the ~ir, then I'm doing what I'm p aid for. . There are some other things that Johnson feels would make the supercro ss show more exciting. "They can put some music in th e presentation before the race, little detail things like that. They've got a great 'p ackage, they just need to pretty it up a little bit. " . With the camel Supercross Series schedule expanded to 15 races , Johnson knows that it will be a long season and h e sees two major threats , for his title. "I think you 'll see some o ther people win races," he predicts, " bu t It's a long year for the championship. I think Jeff Ward knows what it takes, and Jeff Stanton is a strong rider and is on a good bike now. H e's got what it takes." After s~nding some of the offseason with former motocross star John DeSoto and his' family in Hawaii, where Johnson got to surf some of the biggest waves of his life with Hawaiian surfing greats such as Gerry Lopez and Johnny-Boy Gomes, the champ is ready to return to competition. " I' ve had some time off , and that helped me to want to corne back an d do what I do . I'm sto ked a bou t next year and looking forward to it. I'm excited about th e camel point fund, it feels good to h ave a good sponsor like that. Coors has done a good job but now they have someone to h elp them out. " I was hoping that it would turn into this, big sponsors, telev isi on coverage," Johnson said. " It 's good for th e total sport, People a re goin g to respect motocross as , a moneymaking sport instead of a hobby." Whether it turns into a multimillion dollar, telev ised sp ort or remains just an admittedly lucrative hobby, Rick Johnson will continue to race because that's what he likes to do. And few have ever done it as well or better. • 5

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