Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

both Expert and Novice riders may participate. If interest in th e cla ss warran ts it, in 1993 · Experts a n d Novices ma y be scored separa tely and the class may be split into two displ acement categor ies. The fin al ro und of th e AMA Nat ional Champi on sh ip Ar en a cross Ser ies, whi ch was scheduled for March 27-29 in Perry, Georgia, has been canceled . The Mar ch 13-15 event in Memphis, T ennessee, will conclude the '92 series. T h e Ma rch 15 R ac e wa y Park Yamaha Champio nship MX Sea s o n Opene r will kick off the 17th season of mot ocross ra cin g at th e Eng lish to wn , New j ersey, facili ty. Yam aha and several New J ersey, New Yo r k a n d P ennsylv an ia Ya m a h a dealership s wi ll back the even t with contingency money and prizes. Raceway Park MX pro mo ters J ay Irwin and Ken Lan derman are offering $50 to help pa y travel expenses fo r Pro class racers who travel to Engl ish town from the previou s nigh t's Cam el Supercross event in Ch arl o tte, North Carolin a. Co mpe titors must p resent a va lidated AMA sign up slip from the' Cha rlotte Su percross to q ualify for payment. O ther big event s o n Raceway Park's ca lendar incl ude the April 12 Ho nda Big Bucks Shoo tout, the Suzuki New J ersey State MX Champ io ns hip s o n June 28, and the Octo ber 10-11 Kawasaki MX Race of Cha m p io ns: For mor e infor ma tion , call 908/446-6331. T he March 7 Dayto na Sho rt Track wi ll mark the first tim e in recent hi story that two-strokes will be a llo wed in Grand Na tio nal dirt track com petition . O ne of the competitor s electing to field a 500cc two-stroke sing le rather than the. traditional four-stro ke 600cc sin gle is Ohioan Chance Darling , wh o will pil o t a 1992 Honda CR500. " We lowered the suspens ion and pu t - a heavy flywh eel on it, " exp la ined Darling. " Alo ng with some moto r mods , the bik e sho u ld reall y go good. I know the bik e will work good at the Peoria TT, but just in case I don' t like it on the sho rt track, I'm taking alo ng my tru sty Rotax four-stro ke." If T eam Harl ey-Davidson 's Ch ris Carr wins the March 7 Daytona Sho rt Track, he will have scored a Grand National win in every form of dirt track co m petitio n: mile, half mil e, T 1' and short track, Of hi s 17 career Nati ona l win s, Carr has won five mil e events , seven half mil es and five TTs, but he has yet to scor e a short track Nationa I wi n. Carr ha s fin ished second a t the track for the past three years - last year to Ronnie Jone s , in 1990 behind Dan Ingr am, and in 1989 to Ca nadian Steve Aseltin e . . T he Ameri can T rials Association wi ll hold the 2 3 r d A n n ual EI Trial d e E spana o n Apri l 12 at so u the rn Ca lifo rn ia 's j ohnson Vall ey OR V riding area near Camp Rock Road and Gr anite (Co ugar Buttes) in Lu cern e Vall ey. Since its inceptio n in th e lat e '60s, the EI T ria l de Espana has been a fun even t int ended to prom o te observed trials riding. All skill levels are welcom e. Press, Industry, Trailbike and Vint age cla sses will be available in addi tion to th e usua l Beginner through Ch ampionship classes, Following th e main trial , five exhi bition sections will be ridden th ree tim es each by the Ch ampions hip cla ss com petitors . T hese sections are all within wa lking dista nce of th e pi ts and the a ction there is g uaranteed to be spectacu lar. On Saturday, April II , the VOTE Trials C lub will hold . th e an nual Schreiber Cup Trial at th e sa me loca tio n. T hat event is ai med at Championship cla ss riders. Spe cta tors are welcom e a t no charge.. For more inf orm ati on , call 213/259-6631. Moto A mer ica , th e L ill i n g ton , North Carolina-based importer and distributor of Moto G uzzi moto rcycles, will host an o pen hous e on Sunday, April 26, from 10 a.m , to 6 p .m, Activ ites include a po ker ru n , condu cted by the European M.C., tha t will start at I p .m. , a bike show wi th tro p hies to be awarded a t 3 p.m, and a swap meet. Admission and all food and ac tivites 'a re free. H owever, a $4 don ation will give yo u a chance to ta ke hom e the gra nd doo r prize, a new Mo to Guzzi . The open ho use wi ll ta ke p lace a t Mo to America, 1004 Main St. in Li ll ing ton . For more in for mation , call 800/USA-MOT O. , Mo tocrosser Erik Kehoe suf fered a disl oca ted h ip when he crashed whi le pr acticing in southern Ca lifornia last week. Kehoe was riding wit h Kawasaki's M ike Kiedrow s k i wh en th e accident occu rred, and Kiedro wski had to call for a helicopter to airlift Kehoe o ut of the area where they were riding. Keh oe is expected to be o ut of action for a t least two mo nths: Cards and letters can be sent to 22002 W. Pam pl ico, Sa ug us, CA 91350. Defendi ng Natio nal H are &: H o un d Cha m p ion Danny H a m e l will compete in the 10th ru nn ing of the Atlas Rall ye, May 5-22. The compe titio n starts in Fran ce and co ncl udes III Morocco , Africa. H am el will be spo nsored by Kawasaki France and two French magazin es, Moto Verte and Mo to Revu e, Also co mpeting will be 1992 Pari s to CapeTown Rall y wi nner Frenchman Stephan Peterhansel and Ameri can Danny LaPort e. The Coppe r state Cla s s ic road race and motorcycle rally will take p lace Mar ch 28-29 a t Firebird Raceway in Ch andler , Arizona. The event will feature AMA/ CCS road races, ro u nd three of the AHRMA Nati onal Historic Cup Seri es, a judged sho wing of vintage and antique mo torcycles, and a Gold Wing Road Association ann ua l fu nd -raising road rall y and motorcycle rodeo. For more info rma tio n co nt act Dave Ca rter at 602/899-9088. Honda has announced th at the 1 9 9 3 Honda CBR900RR will be avai lable in black with red and silver accen ts, as well as the pr evious ly announced red, white and blue pa int scheme. The CBR900RR will be ava ila ble in June 1992 and will carry a suggested retail price of 8295. Papa received a copy of th e in au gural issue of Motorcycle Colle c tor Magazine last week. Pub lish ed and edited by 1972 Daytona 200 winner Don Emd e , i t includes a p rofil e o n Antique M.e. of America Pr esid ent Bob McClean , a look back at the 1973 Hang T en U.S. 500cc MX Grand Prix at Carlsbad via the ph otos of Dave Friedman, an article o n sea t makers, Amal Monob loc carb tech tips, the first in a seri es of articles documenting the restoration of a 1916 Excelsior , and th e cover story - th e 1948 Norton Interna tional. Papa tip s his helmet to Emde for a jo b well done. Sub scription s for the bimonthly publicati on are $20 per year (six issues). T o subscrib e, call 800/ 827-7097, Motocrosser S teve . Lamson, who suff ered a broken thigh bon e at the J anuary 18·Houston Supercross , was on ·hand and on his feet to spectate at th e March I G ain esvill e MX National s. " I already had my airl in e ticket, so I decided to go ahead and come wa tch ," said Lams on . " I start ed to see Dr. Jeff Spe ncer a few weeks ago a nd he to ld me to di tch my cru tche s, so here I am ." Wit h Kawasaki 's J eff Mat iasevich , who began racing just a few mon ths af ter su ffering a simi lar inj ury , as an exam p le, Lamson hopes to return to the track by june. " T hat's just a' ho pe, I' m no t go ing to come back un til I'm 100%and competitive," Charles a nd Mary Ellen Cooper, pa ren ts of T eam Su zuki mot ocrosser Guy Cooper, suffered extensive inj uries in a head -on car collision in Yale, Ok lah om a , o n Febr uary 27. G uy Coo per, al ready in Gainesvill e for the season-opening Nationa l MX, flew ho me o n Friday to be with hi s parents at a Tu lsa hospi tal before ret urni ng . for Sunday's race. "They'r e bo th in serio us condi tio n and hav e a number of surgeries and a lot of .hea ling ahead of th em ," said Coo per. " I' d like to ask th ose that kn ow them to keep them _ in their pray ers." T ho ug h flowers are no t allowed in the intens ive care un it rooms, cards and letters ma y be sent to Cha rles and Mary Elle n at 2600 S. Sangr e Rd. , Stillwa ter, O K 74074. Guy Cooper found it difficu lt to concent rate o n raci ng at Gai nesvill e, but the thought of his mother helped inspire him on th e track. " Befor e I left for Ga inesvill e, I told my mo m tha t I had to go race and ask ed her if she'd be cheering for me," said Cooper. " She nodded that she wo uld. Every tim e I'd start feeli ng dow n I 'd think , ' My mom's cheeri ng for me,' " After spending th e past eig ht months o n the mend fro m a broken wri st, Kawasaki 's R yan Hugh e s return ed to Nati onal J\:IX comp etitio n at Gaines-. vill e. Complete wi th " He's baaack" on hi s lea thers, H ugh es finish ed 14th o vera ll in th e 125cc class . " I felt good and smooth , but my skills are a bit ru sty," said Hughes. " It 's been a lon g eigh t mon th s off, and I' ve o nly been on a bik e for a mon th now. I' m looking for ward to regaining my speed. " T wo su percross reco r d s can be set at the March 7 Daytona Supercross by Honda. If Yam ah a 's Damon Brads h awscor es th e win, he will join Bob H annah and Ri ck J ohnson in winnin g six su pe rcross events in a row . If Honda' s j eff S tanton can win, he will be th e only rider to fin ish fir st in four Daytona Supercrosses, and all of th em wi ll be in a ro w. Stanton is cu rrently tied with Hannah ill th ree Dayton a wins, but Stanton is th e on ly o ne to win three in a row . And what are th e rid er's stra tegies? " Km looking at it as just ano ther race," said Bradshaw . "It wou ld be n ice to set a record, but tha t won't make me an y extra money. Althou gh I won th e 125cc Eastern Regi on al main there a few years back, th at track hasn 't been good to me. I'm h oping to cha nge th at this year," Stanto n said, " Dayto na su its me well. It 's mor e like an o utdoor Nati onal , and i t pays to be stro ng and in sha pe. All I can do is·try my hardest and see wh at happens ," Damon Bradshaw an d Yamaha teammat es Doug Dubach and Jeff Emig will sign au tograp hs from 6-8 p.m. on March 19 at Action Motorsports in Lafay ette, Indiana, Kawasaki 's Mike LaRocco and J eff ·Matiasevich will appear at the same time and locatio n the following day . The event s are bein g held in conjunction wit h the Mar ch 21 Camel Supercross round a t th e Hoosierdome in Indianapolis. For more inf o rmation on the a u tograp h " sessions, call 317/ 742-4021. R ich W in kler , wh o forrnerl y built tracks for J ohn Savitski's Stadi um Design s, su ffered torn ligam ents and rib dam age when he was run over by a monster tru ck during the Camel Mud &: Mons ter Truck Cha m pions hips o n Frida y, Febru ary 28, a t Orl ando , Flor ida . Winkler curren tly oversees track cons tructio n for all SuperSports Prom o ti on s a nd S R O / Pace P ro mot io n s ·tracks o n th e Ca me l Supercross Series circu it. SupezSports' B ill West said, " At first we tho ugh t R ich had had it, but he ' ll be okay and says he'll bu ild the track for our March 14 Cha rlo tte Su percross . Bu t we're not goi ng to Jet Rich fo rget the acc ident. We ' re goi ng to p ro du ce a com memo rative Rich " Too T ough to Cr us h" Tvsh irr. : If you'd like to remind Rich of his close ca ll, cal l 8 13/ 822-8929 for infor ma tion on ho w you can get o ne of the T -shi rts. Ride for Live Fiv e , th e fifth an nua l 'Ea stern H a rl ey-D a vidson Deal er s Associa tio n -s po nsored rid e th a t be nefits th e Mu scul a r Dy stro ph y Associa tion (MDA), will take pl aceon Sun day, May 3. Supported in part by Amoco Oil Compan y and An heu serBusch 's O' Doul's beer, the ride will ta ke p art icipa n ts to Clem ento n Amusement Par k . in sou thern New J ersey's Ca mden Cou nt y. A host o f activites wi ll ta ke pl ace at the park. For inf o rmatio n , see participa tin g Harley dea lers or ca ll Brian Bentley a t 215/752-9400. . T he so u the rn Californi a spee dway racing seaso n kicks off o n Friday ni ght, March 6, a t th e Ora nge Co u n ty Fair~rounds with the running of th e' Spri n g Classic. Promoter Harry Oxle y says all concessio n prices have been lo wer ed for th e '92 sea so n . Expressi ng his concern over gr o wing p ri ces a t th e facil it y, Oxl ey sa id , "Event concessio n prices have been too hi gh across th e board and I hope our concern for th e fans will be shared by other southern California stadiums," Motorcycli sts in California have lost their firs t bid to have th e state's newl y implemented mandator y helmet law repeal ed. A coa lition of motorcyclistri ghts organi zatio ns , includin g th e AMA a n d ABATE o f Ca li fo rn ia , . sought a tempor ar y injunction aga ins t the law. The coalitio n content ed th at the helm et law - wh ich went into e ffec t j anu a r y I vi ol ates mot or cycli sts' cons titu tiona l rights. However, a Superior Court of Orange County j udge disag reed and refused to gra nt the injunction. T he coalitio n will cont in ue to figh t the law . CORRECTION: In our Voices sec- . ' tio n last week, we misquoted jim Foster, presid ent of Daytona International Speedwa y, as sa yin g Lak e Ll oyd, whi ch is locat ed in the infi eld of th e speed way, " sho uld be th e biggest wa ter retention area in th e count ry," Foster said, " ... in the co u n t y," CORRECTION: The map that ra n as part of. our Daytona preview last week, pinpointed Ameri can Motorcycle In stitute (AMI) at its old loca tion next to Daytona Intern ational Speedwa y and Daytona's airport. AMI has relocated to a new site two mil es west of the speedway o n Rt. 92, a t 3042 Vol usia Aven ue. ENGAGED: 1992 CMC Golden Sta te National 250cc P ro Champion Scott Myers to Stefani Pettigrew. The couple haven 't set a wedding da te. 3

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