Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

v ICES Letters to the editor 0 Willow Springs tragedy On Su nday, February 17, I attended the races a t Will ow Springs Internationa l Raceway. What started ou t as a pre tty norma l day of racing turn ed into a horrible ni gh tm are. Everyo ne in a ttenda nce witnessed a rather unusual weather ph enomenon develop. Durin g th e Open Mod ified and 750cc Modified race, th e visibi li ty factor between turns eight and ni ne went from poor to zero. A multiple rider collision occurred and young Todd H eming tragica lly lost hi s life. Motorcycle racin g is a lot of fun and very dangerous. The competitor knows th e risks. T he rider s th is day chos e to compete. H ow ever , a well-kn own san ctioning bod y govern ing the event sho wed little if any regard for th e safety of the rid ers. This race should have never been run. The competitor relies on the scru tiny and judgement of th e officiating bod y. The use of common sense not exercised by the officials came a little late,' when . the red flag was fin all y disp layed. This acciden t migh t have been an avo ida ble situation. Wake upl Some professiona ls say he is still in a co ma , while others believe he is not. Steve's fam il y prefers to beli eve he is in the latter stage of a coma . He has the appeara nce of wakeful ness, he is aware and very sensi tive of h is en viron ment. It is a constant battle against infectio ns, proper medical and therapy care, an d a day-to-day ho pe for just th e rig ht move from Steve to tell us th at he is breakin g throug h. I believe th at Steve is still in a heal in g process, and with God 's help the on ly element sta nding in our way is tim e. If you would like to send a note or card, I wo uld be happy to read it to him. Send it to me: Bonnie Eklund, 3925 Kern Ct. , Pleasanton , CA 94588. Also, the Steve Eklu nd Relief Fund is sti ll in effect; Bank o f th e West , Acco u nt #03 1-7509 -36 , Pru n eyard Offi ce, 1999 S. Bascom Ave., Campbell , CA 95008. Thank you for all your thou ght s an d p rayers. Gary McDonald Redondo Beach, CA '1 979 Grand Na tiona l Champ ion , was Bonnie Eklund Pleasanton, CA Bonn ie is Steve's sister. Eklund, 35, th e Th e w eath er phen omen on McDonald refers to was described by the L os A ngeles T im es as being a " wall of sand" that blew across th e h igh desert area no rth of L os A ngeles. The sand storm caused several serious traffic accidents in that area . . . Editor. Eklund progress report I kn ow th ere are hundreds of Steve Eklund fan s wonderin g how Steve is. T he Yamaha RD/RZSOO Owners Group 'w ill hold a meeting Mar ch 9 at Dayton a Yam ah a, locat ed on 11th Stree t in Hollyhill , Florida . All twostro ke en thusias ts are welcome, and the event will feature door prizes and a barbecue coo ko u t. For more in form ation, call 904/ 258-0330. Defending Nationa l Enduro Cha mpion Randy Hawkins underwent su rge ry o n h is th umb o n Friday, February 22, and will be wea rin g a cast for four to five weeks. Hawkins, of So u th Caro lina , bro ke hi s th u mb co m p e ti ng in a lo cal end uro o n Februar y 10 but still compe ted in th e opening round of th e Nation al Ch am p ionship Enduro Series in Clear Creek, Ca lifornia, th e followin g weekend, finish ing II th overa ll. Doctors predict h ha t H awkins will be for ced to m iss ,on ly one round of th e series, th e next event at Pi tkin s, Lo u isia na , on March i 17. H awkins is curren tly working with Itra i ner J eff Spen cer , who is well kn own for helpin g famous rno to I crossers, such as Supercross Ch am pion s J eff Ward and J ohnny O 'Mara, Iget back o n trac k follo wing inj ur ies. KTM 's officia l hare scrambl es a nd cro ss country raci ng team ha s been revised wit h the retirement of former . H are Scra mbles Na tiona l Ch am p ion Mark Hyde. Repl acing H yde on the roster will be 1990 Blackwater 100 winner Tommy Norton. Scott Pies- FEATURES SUPERCROSS Bradshawblazes to Atlanta win . . . . . .4 PREVIEW Camel M otorcycle W eek invades Daytona Beach Camel M otorcycle W schedule eek Daytona M emoryLane Rating theCamel Proracers 8 10 12 22 INTEllVIEWS Road racer Rich Arnaiz Motocrosser Mike Fisher Dirt tracker M Hale ike 14 18 26 SHOOT-OUT The 1 250cc MXers. 991 go head-to-head 30 MOTOCROSS K scores at GFI ehoe North-South Showdown 38 ENDURO Roeseler ontopat QuicksilverNational ... •. .... . .. .40 DEPARTMENTS BOOK REVIEW NEW PRODUCTS_ VIDEO REVIEW LOCAL RACING CALENDAR WANT ADS RESULTS 37 29,45,46 44 47 55 61 61 ,76 ON THE FRONT PAGE: For lens of tho usa nds of motor cyclists, Dayton a Cycle Week will mark the beginn in g of the race season. Highl ight ed by the 50th ru nning of the Daytona 200, the Camel Supercross rou nd, and the season opener of the Cam el Pro Series, Cycle Week will offer non- stop raci ng action [or fan s and competitors a like. O ur Daytona preview begins on page 8. P hotos courtesy 01 Dayton a Internation al Speedway. injured in the A lbuquerque M ile last June . . . Editor. Letters to the editor should be sent to: Voices, Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-0498. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. Letters should not exceed 200 words and all letters are subject to editing for clarity. IN THE WIND By Pap_aW_eal--L-ey Con tin ued from page 2 it was my own fault; I admi t my mistak es. I just went too fast arou nd thi s tigh t turn ." . INSIDE , _ si nger, Steve McSwain and Kevin Brown ma ke up the rest of the team . The Charlie Daniels Band an d the Gram my-win ning Kentucky Headhunters will be performing a t Daytona during Cycle Week. You can catch th e gro ups at the Ocean Cent er Arena on Thursday nigh t, March T, at8 p.m. Tickets ca n be ordered bycalli ng 8001 858-6444. . Movie sta r Peter Fonda and U. T op 's Billy Gibbons wi ll be enjoying th e sig hts a nd sounds of Cycle Week. Fon da will appear at Harl ey-Davidson fu nctio ns throu ghout the week an d Gibbons will ma ke a specia l appearance and get the H arley parade to the Speedway un derw ay on Sunday morn ing , March 10. H e'll a lso be displaying ZZ T op's street rod, Cadzilla, and the group 's radi cally cus tomized Fat Boys, the Hogzill as, at the Harl ey Ride-In Show Wedn esday and T h ur sday at th e Ocean Center. T he focal point of all Harley-Davidson activities du ring Cycle Week is the Daytona Beach Ocean Center on North Atl antic Aven ue. P ig races, performances by a motorcycle dr ill team, and a dresser ligh t show are j ust a few of the hap penings on Harley's sched u le. A co mp le te schedul e o f H arley event s will be avai lable at th e Ocean Center. Kris Ann Whitley, Lisa Dawn Bailey and Eli za b e t h Parrish are the three fina lists in the 1991 Ms• Harley-Davidson Contest. T hey'll appear at Harley activities th rou ghou t - - - - - - Cont inued on page 75 America's weeklymotorcyde newspaper Volume XXVIII Michael Klin ger , Publ isher Caroline Ce ndry, Executive Secretary to th e Publish er Editorial j ack Man gu s, Associate Publ isher! Editor Kit Palmer, Associate Edito r Pau l Carru thers, Associate Editor Nat e Ra uba, Associate Editor Ken Faught, Assistant Editor Donn Maeda . Assistant Editor Edwina Mangus. Calenda r Editor Graphics and Production Ree j ohnson , Production Supervisor Man dy Lao, Produ ction Man ager Derm is Greene, Lab . T ech. Stacey Guest, Graphic A rtist Amy Harris, Grap hic Artist Caro lyn Branham, T yp esetter Deal er Sales Allen Dennison. Dealer R epresen tative Marketing &: Promotion Mark Thom e, Mana ger Advertising T erry Prall, N ational Acco unts Man ager Mark T home, Western Sates Manager Ron Davidson, Western Sates Manager T homas R. Go n ter, W

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