Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

For dirt track racers and fan s there's someth ing happening virtually every day o f th e wee k. There's P ro -Am ' racin g o n the Jacksonville Half Mil e and th e Ocala Speedway and Mun icipal Stadium short tracks, all capped off by back-to-back AMA Na tiona ls a t Mun icipal Stad ium Fr ida y a nd Sat urday nigh t. Friday's event is an AMA 600cc Na tio nal, whi le Sa turday will see the first round of the 1990 AMA G ran d National Champio ns hip - the Camel Pro Na tio na l Kickoff Sho rt T rack. Las t year's short trac k races were just as surprisi ng as the 200. Relativel y unkn own Canadi an Steve Aseltine won three n ights in a row at Municipal Stadium , in cludin g both National victories over 600cc cha m p Chris Carr. Carr's factory H arley-Davidson teammat e Scotty Parker unch aracteri sti cally cras hed in his heat race and failed to mak e th e Camel Pro main, yet went on to win the Grand National Championship. What was thai about drama? Motocross fan s will al so get plenty of action through out th e week, beginning with th e first round of the 125/ 250cc Outdoor National MX Ch am- . pionsh ips at Ga inesville's Gat orback Cycle Park o n Sunday, March 4, and culminating with the 20th running of the Dayton a Supercross by Honda , th e sixth ro u nd of the Camel Supercross Series, o n Saturday, March 10. Lik e .the 200, last year's Daytona Supercross by Honda featured a surprise winner. Just wh en it looked lik e Kawasak i's Ro n Lechie n would wal k away wi th it, a power valve failure left him down on po wer and Jeff Sta n to n scooted by to ta ke the win, This year's Daytona Supercross by Hon da cou ld produce ano ther surpr ise. So far, th e yo u ng g u ns o f Supercross - namely Dam on Bradshaw and Larry Ward - have domina ted th e '90 Series, but defending cham p Stanton has al ready won and the veterans sho uld never be counted out a t Daytona. The Daytona co urse is longer a n d ro ug he r th an mo st stadium supercross track s, and 12 laps in the Florida sand can be grueling indeed. This is where the veterans oft en shine as they utilize their experience to negotiate the technical track. Jeff Ward is one of those veterans, and he 's n ever won the Daytona ' Supercross. Ward has been plagued by bad starts and cra shes early this seaso n , and would like to tum hi s season around by winning at Daytona. Another veteran wh o would like to tum things around is Rick Johnson. T he two-time Da ytona Supercross winner mi ssed last year's event wh en he injured hi s wri st at the opening ro u nd o f the 125/ 250 cc Outdoor Na tio na l MX Series in nearby Gainesville. Johnson mis sed th e rest of th e Camel Supercross Seri es, was injured again later in the seaso n, and ha s stru ggled early this season with lingeri ng problems with hi s wri st. Those probl ems nearly ended Johnson's career, but aft er consultations with medi cal spec ia lists he's back and trying to put th e injuries behind him. Johnson has been getting stronger with each supercross round, and if he's ba ck to full stre ngth for Daytona , I Johnson will be o u t to tum his career around with a victory in what most riders consider the mo st prestigious supercross race on the circuit. You say you' re not a pro MXer but still want to ride while vacationing in Florida? Fin e. There's an AMA Amateur MX a t Gatorback Cycle Park the da y before th e N a tional , and a n Amateur Su percross (with 800 rid ersl) at Daytona o n Monday, March 5. Vintage MXers aren' t left out, ei ther. T here's AH RMA-sanctioned vin tage don 't care to wat ch Sunday's road races , th e Oklawa ha En duro is slated for Sunday, March II , in the Ocal a National Forest. Just because you rode your stree t bike all the way from New En gland doesn 't give. you th e right to leave it pa r ked in the h otel p a rk in g lo t. Daytona is ab out ridin g, and roa d riders have their choice of roa d tours, racing a t Gatorback on Sunday morning preceding the National MX, as well as o n Wednesda y at Ocal a MX Par k, The Ocala races wi ll also hos t Seni or -class races for riders over 25, 30 or 40 years of age o n modern machi nes. Enduro riders have their day in the su n (tha t is, if Da yto n a 's highly cha ngeable wea the r cooperates) o n Thursda y, March 8, with the ru nn in g . ! l ~ . of th e Alligator Enduro. The course will ro u te 400 com peti tors th rough 75 miles of sandy marshland ow ned by the T omok a Land Com pany, with th e first riders leavin g the start area which is loca ted at the west end of the Speedway at 9:01 a.m. If tha t does n 't wear you out and you poker runs, rallies, show s and swap meets sca ttered th rough out the area, Ch eck ou t th e accompan yin g sche dule for deta ils, or chec k in a t one of Daytona' s many mot or cycle shops fo r mo re in formation. T his year, H arley-Da vidson has boo ked the entire Ocean Center for th eir sh ow , and th e Harley-Davidson Parade to th e Spe edway leaves there a t 10:00 a.m. on Sunda y, March I I. The o the r manufacturers, dozens of afterma rket firm s and th is publicati on will be set up u nder tents a t th e Speedway. You say th at windo w sho p ping isn' t your cu p of tea? You want to ride those bikes, rather than j us t look at 'em? No problem . Harley-Davidson and Honda are offeri ng demo rides at the Speedway (no, no t on the Speedwayl), and Kaw asaki wi ll be set up across the street in the J ai-Alai Sta di u m parki ng lot. T he Volusia Co unty Fairgrounds is home to one of the lar gest motor cycle swa p meets you' ll ever see, and o n Saturday, March 10, at I:00 p.m ., th e site will al so host a benefit concert featuring the Charlie Daniels Band, J err y J eff Walk er and Joe Wal sh. Sp eaking of sho ws and such, it' s hard to beat the vintage motorcycle ex h ib i t a t th e Halifax H istorical Society, Then , swing by the Daytona Beach Arm o ry, the focal point for vintage ent h usiasts featuring daily vintage rides and a vintage swap meet. Dave Despain (of Motorweek Illustra ted fam e) will interview famous racers of th e past, so don 't for get to bring something on which to collec t autographs. Saturday night will see J. Wood & Co's. 3rd Annual Dayton a Antiq ue and Classic Motorcycle Au ction take over the Armory. . J ust across the Main Street Brid ge from the Armory is the Day's Inn Ce ntral, where Br it ish ra cin g jo urnal ist an d commentator Chris Carter will conduct his ni ghtly radi o sho w. If you ca n't be there in person, tu ne in to WNDB , 11 50 AM, n ig htly at 7:00p.m . For you technoids, there's a dail y o pe n house at Ameri can Motorcycle Institute, adjacent to the Spe edway's east-end banking o n the airport access roa d. Wh a t's mor e, AMI inv ites yo u to put your bike o n their dyno as part of their Brute Horsepower Shoot-Out. Now this oughta be interesting . . . For night life, put on yo ur best dayglo MX jersey and samurai headband and head down to Main Str eet for an even in g of partying and people wat ch ing. Yes, we're kidding l In all seriousness, black T '- shirts are de riguer, and prepare yourself to be exposed to the true " biker" eleme nt. Go ahead, strike up a conversation with o ne of th ose badasses. Nine times outta 10 you 'll find th at he's a g uy just lik e you but be careful of th at 10th guyl Main Street is literally lined with wall-to-wall H arl eys. It 's hard to believe that Milw aukee ha s made this many V-twins over th e years, and if they indeed did , then they're all here! We'd hate to divulge o ur personal favorite haunts (for fear of a ttracting too many patrons and not getti ng served o ursel ves), but we will say that a run to Daytona j ust isn't com p lete without a trip to the Shark Lounge, or o ne of the o ther countless establishments with risque en tertainment in and around the Daytona Beach Boardwalk. (Yes, the gu ys with the $5 bills in their teeth are ou r ad sales guys.) We won't tell you abo u t places like Gene 's Steak House, Carmichael's and The Captain's T abl e, because the last thing we want to do is stand in line behind yo u waiting for a table. And remember, you can drive on th e beach - the Wor ld's Most Famous Beach. Please rem emb er, Daytona is supposed to be fun abo ve all else, so don 't drive if you dr ink (and vice versa), and don 't do som ethin g fool ish to attrac t the a ttention of the man y po lice. Enjoy your Dayton a visi t. We kno w we'll be enjoying ours.

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