Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ro u nd hi ts Spa rta n Stad ium in San J ose, Ca li fornia, for th e fir st time ever. It a ll ends not far from whe re it sta rte d in sou the rn Ca li forn ia a t th e Los Angeles Co liseum. 1 ('" Remembering 1989 I990 CalDel Supereross Series preview ' Le• •he sho~ begIn! By Nate Rauba and Kit Palmer / Photos by Kinney Jones, Ken Faught and Palmer ast year marked a major turning point for supercross in .America . Supercross promoters sto p ped fighting each other and began to work together in order to preserve, improve a nd expa nd th e sport. They joined forces and bought airtime on th e ESPN sports cable television network to sh ow the Camel Super- ' cross Seri es to millions of view ers across th e co u ntry in weekl y, 30mi nu te shows. A ma jor sponsor in the form of R.]. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s Camel ' brand put up a $125,000 point fund , which included a $50,000 bonus for th e series cha m p ion. The Adolph Coors Brewery Co . stepped up th eir su pport as well through th eir Coors Extra Gold brand, sponsoring all but o ne sto p on th e 15-round series. Coors al so provided a SIOOO bonus with the Coor s Extra Effort Award, presented to th e rider wh o, based on votes by members o f th e m edi a , di splayed the most effort in a heat race a t eac h o f th e Coors-sponsored events. And a p p ro xima tely 520,000 spectat or s wat ch ed the acti on, an increase over previous years. Last year got th e ball rolling, a nd this seaso n p romises to be even better. The AMA- sanction ed Cam el Supercross Seri es has been expanded from 15 to 18 rounds at 17 different venues. Three new locations have been added to the schedule, and two venues will see su pe rcross action for the first time in several years. Camel will onc e agai n back th e seri es with a $125,000 point fund and $50,000 bonus to the cha m pion. An add itiona l $25,000 will be up for grabs in th e 125cc CamelShootou t, which combines the top-If riders from th e 125cc Eastern and Western Regional Supercross Ser ies into one sh? wdown for a $10,000 Iirst-place pnze. Coors will continue its support by sponsoring all but th e Da yton a round of the series. An additional $5000 will be paid to the rider who L 4 has received th e most Extra Effort Awards at seaso n's end. To provide a training grou nd for future supercro ss sta rs, Amateur National Championship Supercross events will be held in conj u nc tio n with 12 of th e Coors Extra Gold Superch allenge events. T he a ma teu r races will tak e pl ace eithe r in th e morning prior to the p ro event, o n th e following da y, or immedi atel y a fter th e pro races. A three-da y Amateur National Supercross Fina l will det ermine Class titl es in Oklahoma City, Oklah oma , o n June 68. Perhaps most importantl y, th e Camel Supercross Series will receive twi ce as much television coverage in 1990. Last year, th e shows were 30 mi nutes in len gth, bu t th is year they 've been expanded to a fu ll hour. T he re w i 11 be more 125cc cl a ss coverage, as well as coverage o f the a ma teu r events. The open ing rou nd of th e series in sou the rn Ca lifo rn ia 's Ana he im Stadiu m on J an ua ry 27 wi ll see a sligh tly-revised program, designed to strea m line th e action for televis io n and to provide bett er raci ng. Three eigh t-la p heat races will tran sfer th e to p-five fin ish ers from the 20-rider fields directl y to the 20-lap ma in even t. Two six-lap semis of 22 riders eac h wi ll put th e first two riders across th e fin ish lin e in each race into th e main , with third through 13th goi ng to a Las t Ch an ce Qualifier. The winner o f th e LCQ co mpletes th e 20-rider main event starti ng line. T he series runs five straigh t weeks from the ope ni ng ro u nd a t Anaheim, moving to the Astrodome in H ouston, th en back to California a t San Diego' s Jack Murphy Stadium. The . foll owing week th e circu it hits th e Pacifi c Northwest at th e Kin gdome in Seattle, before movin g across th e co u ntry to Atl anta Fulton County Stad iu m. After a week o ff for the ope n ing ou tdoor National MX in Florida , the Su pe rcross Series resumes o n th e in field o f Da ytona Internat ional Speedway in Daytona Beach , FI 9~- . " Alt hough th e co mpetitio n for th e' 50,000 title was expected to be clos last year, it d idn' t qu ite li ve up t pre-season anticipatio n. There were so me great races th roughout the , season, but th ree riders ended up ~l do m ina ting the series. Wh en th e seaso n sta rte d i ~ appeared as thoug h defendin g ch a rn: pion Rick J ohnson wo uld be unstoppable as he wo n five-straight ma in eve nts bef ore bein g s top pe d In' H onda teammat e J eff Sta nton a t thq si xth rou nd. Bu t a serio us wr ist injury a t the openi ng National a week later ended J ohnson's supercross season. Stanton co ntin ued his ro ll a nd won th e next two rounds , th en added another two victories on the way to his first- ever cha m p io nship. Former Super cross cha m p Jeff Ward mi ssed six rounds recovering from a foot inj ury he suffered at the opening round in Anaheim, but in the last half of the season he came . on strong and won four events. Ward's Kawasaki teammate R o n Lechien was th e onl y other rider to win a Camel Supercross in 1989. H§ accomplished that in the first round of the Pon tiac doubleheader. This year's players Despite th e three-rider dominance last year, it looks as though th e new 1990 AMA Camel Supercross Schedule January 27 February 3 February 10 February 17 February 24 March 10 March 17 March 24 April 7 Apri l 2 1-22 Apri l 28 May 12 May 19 June 2 June 10 J une 16 J une 23 Anaheim, California Houston, Texas San Diego, Cal ifornia Seattle, Washington Atlanta, Georgia Daytona Beach, Florida Las Vegas, Nevada Pasadena, California Irv ing, Texas Pontiac, Michigan Tampa, Florida Cha rlotte, North Carolina E. Rutherford, New Jersey Foxboro, Massachusetts Oklahoma City, Oklahoma San Jose, Cal ifornia Los Angeles, California ida, o n March J O. T he next sto p is one of the new ven ues on th e schedu le, the Silver Bowl , locat ed just outside o f Las Vegas, Nevada. A week la ter the series ret u rns to th e Rose Bow l in Pasaden a , Ca lifornia, for th e firs t time since 1985. After a no ther Na tio na l in Ca lifor n ia, it's o n to th e Ap ri l 7 ro u nd a t Texas Stadi um in Irvin g, Texas . When racing resumes two weeks later, foll o wing a weeken d off for Easter, th e o nly doubleh ead er of th e series tak es pl ace in th e Pontiac Silverdo me in Michigan on April 2122. Then , it 's back down to Florida for act io n in Tampa Stad iu m . There's ano ther Nat ional before the series mak es its debut a t Memoria l Sta d iu m in Charlotte, North Ca ro lina , o n May 12. T he following week sees a stop at th e Meadowlands in Eas t Rutherford, New J ersey, th en a no ther Nati onal befor e th e series re tu rns to Sullivan Si adium in Foxbo ro ; Massachusetts, a site which has not seen Su percross ac tio n in five years. T he series hits the home stretch o n June 10 a t th e Oklahoma City Fairground s in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, before th e penul timate Anaheim Stadium Astrodome Jack Murphy Stadium Kingdome Fuhon County Stadium Daytona Int'l Speedway Silver Bowl Rose Bowl Texas Stadium Silverdome Tampa Stadium Memorial Stadium Meadowlands Sullivan Stadium Oklahoma City Fairgrounds Spartan Stadium L.A. Coliseum . seaso n wi ll p ro vid e o u tsta n d ing' rac ing a nd a close battle for the cham pio ns hip involving more riders. Predi ctin g a cha mpion wi ll be tough si nce severa l riders ha ve a sho t a t winn in g the title. . As th e Su pe rcross Champion, Stanton will be the rider everyo ne wa nts to beat. J ohnson's ability to return to h is p revious ly do mina nt form is questi onabl e due to hi s in jury, but he undoub tedl y wa n ts to pro ve th at he is fit , and would lik e to leave no questi on as to who's the best rider in Ameri ca. Ward ca me o n stro ng a t the end o f last year and will o nce aga in be a definite threat , especially since he's teamed up with fri end and training p artn er J ohnny O'Ma ra o n the Kawasaki sq ua d. O'Mara just m issed winning severa l races last year, and moving from Suzuki to Kawasaki ma y giv e him additio na l incentive Befor e he left to conq ue r the World Ch ampionship 250cc MX Seri es in Euro pe , Fr enchman j ean-Michel Ba yle was a threat a t severa l Camel Supercross ro u nds, fini shing as high as seco nd. Th is year he's back in the States, o nly this tim e for the en tire seaso n. I I ~ , ~ , I

• Cover