Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eINTHEWIND ~ . B yPapa Wealey Scott Summers (Hon) edged J a n Hrehor (Suz) for th e overall win at round ' seve n o f t he AMA Gra n d Nati onal Cha mpio nshi p Cross Co untry Series in Millfield, Ohio, June 7. Joel Andrews (Hon) fin ish ed th ird, Terry Cunningham (Kaw) fourth a nd Doug Blackwell (Kaw) fifth. The Larry R o e s e le r / T e d Hunnicutt /Paul Krause ( Kaw) team scored th e overall and 500cc class win at th e SCORE Baj a 500 in Baj a , Californ ia , Mexi co , Jun e 6. The winning trio com p leted th e 334-m ile ra ce in six hours and 26 minutes, fin ish ing o ne minute and 22 seconds ahead of th e runner-up team o f Danny Hamel, Ga rth Sweetland and Paul OstOO (Ka w). Th ird overa ll and fir stplace in th e 250cc cla ss went to th e D a r r e n S a n fo rd / F r e d Willert ' (Su z) ieam. Defending World Champion Jordi T a rre s (Bet) won th e June 7 Czechoslovakian round of th e World Champi onship Observed Tria ls Series . Tommy Ahvala (Ap r ) finish ed second a nd Marco Colome (Mo n ) was third. Spaniard T arres leads Finn Ahvala in the series point sta nd ings, 120-111. Colome is a dis tant third with 70 points. George R oeder II (H-D) was the winner of the Expert main event a t th e June 6 Old Time Newsies Half Mile, in Dayton: Ohio. Steve More head (H -D) was th e runner-up, while Larry P e gram (H- D) rounded o u t th e top three. J a m e s Hart (W-R) to p ped th e Jun ior class, and Charles B u c h anan (W-R) was th e Pro-Am winner. Tim Frazier (BSA) and Greg Williams (Hon) earn ed the wins in th e 540cc a nd 800cc classes, resp ectively, a t round two of th e AMA Nat ional Ch amp ionship H illclimb Seri es in York, Pennsylvania, June 7. Steve Dresser (Su z) was seco nd in the 540cc class, with Ralph Kreeger (T ri) third . In the 800 cc cl a ss, Wade Williams (Hon) was seco nd and Tom Reiser (H- D) third. Defending 800cc cha m p Lou Ge rence r Jr. (H -D), who has been sidelined wi th a broken ankle, returned to ac tion a nd fin ish ed sixth in th e 800cc class . Fo ur-time 600cc Nationa l Champion Chris Carr (H-D) won the J une 7 Peoria 6 0 0 c c National TT, held in Peoria , Ill in o is. Larry Pegram (HD) fin ishe d second, ahead of Grand National Ch amp ion Scott Parker (H -D). After two ro u nds, defen d in g cha mp Ca rr lead s Mike H ale, wh o fin ish ed sixt h a t Peoria, in the po int sta ndi ngs, 40-25. ' AMA Nati onal Superb ike Ch ampi on T h o m a s Stevens , Da yton a 200 winner Scott Russell o f Team Muzzy and Trip p Nobles wi ll be sig ning autographs at Leigh ton 's Kawasaki in Lee, New Hampshi re, on Friday, June 19, from 7 p.m. to 9 p .m . T heir appear ance is in co nj u nction with th at weekend's AMA Nati onal Cha m p ionship Ro ad Race Series ro u nd a t New Hampshire Internat ional Speedway in Loudon , For more in forma tio n, ca ll 603/868-7550. And on the motocross scene , Buddy Antunez, Mike Brown, Jeromy B u e h l and Jeremy McGrath of th e Peak lProCircuit Honda MX team will be signing autographs at Honda o f Sacramento on Frid ay, J une 12, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. They're in town for that Sunday's H angt own Na tional MX. For more informa tion , ca ll Frank a t 916/422-6454. The 25th Annual Le Cercle Concours d 'Ele ga nce , a judged d ispl a y o f over 500 vehicles including many vintage m ot orcycles a nd classic, vintag e and '50s a nd '60s muscle cars, will ' tak e place in Brentwood, Ca liforn ia, o n Sunday, June 28. Dubbed "Cha rio ts for Ch arity," th e even t's proceeds go to th e City o f Hope Nati on al Medi cal Center and its Beckman Research Institute. For advance tickets andlor more information, ca ll 714/ 665-6920. A four-col or b ro ch u re on Camel Motorcycle Week '93 is now ava ilabl e by writing to: Dayton a Internatio nal Speed way, Publ ic Rela ti ons, Dept. CNI, P.O. Box 280 1, Dayton a Bea ch, FL 32 120-280 1. T he 52 n d running o f th e Dayton a 200 by Ara i on Sunday, Mar ch 7, h igh lights th e 10 da ys of racing a nd ra ce-relat ed happenin gs, February 26 to Mar ch 7. Information on order ing tickets is included in th e brochure. Court strikes down Brockton bike ban igns saying "No mo to rcycles a llowed" a t th e en tra nce o f ci ty parks in Brock ton, Massachusetts, ar e com ing down, reports th e Ameri can Motorcycli st Associa tio n (AMA). , An ordinance passed by th e Brockt on Park Commission th at banned mo tor cycles from th e roads in cit y parks had been unanimously overturned by th e Massach usetts Su p reme Judicial Court. T he ban, wh ich locked out motorcycles whi le allowing automobile traffi c to con tin ue , had been in effect since 1987. The court's decision comes five years after the AMA first fil ed a law suit to hav e th e ban over tu rn ed. After a lower court ruled in favo r of th e ban , th e AMA, working in co nce rt with Massa chusetts motorcyclists, twice a p pea led th e case, leading to the most recent ruling. . T he AMA' s case was based o n the co n tention th at as long as motorcycles are recognized as legal motor veh icles, they ca n no t be restricted from use o n public roads - including those in Brockton's parks. The court ruled th a t th e ord inance was " rep ugnant" because it con flicted with sta te law that gu a rantees' access to p ublic ro adways by all motor vehicles. " Win ning this appealmeans more th an just getting .th is one motorcycle ban lift ed ," noted Robert Ra sor, AMA vice president of government relati ons. "It sends an important messag e to o ther co m m u n ities co nsider ing simi la r discr im ina tory policies agains t motorcyclists." In th e wake o f th e cou rt's decision to reopen th e parks to mot orcycl ists, the AMA pl ans to work with th e Park Commission to address concerns that prompted th e la w. "The commissioners said th at thi s ban was designed to reduce noi se a nd speed in th e parks," said Ras or, " We believe that enforcement of exis ting traffi c laws will be far mo re effectiv e and a p pro pria te th an banning responsibl e citizens who choose to ride motorcycles." . S 2 Bill France,_9__19_2-'----1 09- 9 _ i ll ia m H . G . Fran ce, found er o f th e Natio na l Associati on for Stock Ca r Auto Racing (NASCAR) ,a nd cha ir ma n of th e board emeri tus of th e Intern a tional Speedwa y Corporation (ISC) which owns a nd operates Daytona Internati onal Spee dway , di ed o n Sunday, June 7, at hi s home in Ormond Beach , Florida. T he cause o f death was d irectly related to co mp lica tio ns th at arose out o f a recent accid en t that Fra nce had su ffered a t his home. " Big Bill ," as he was referred to both in deferen ce to hi s 6-foo t-5 heighth and th e fact that hi s son, Bill Jr. (Will ia m C. ), was also in volv ed in bo th NASCAR a nd ISC o perations, had been seriously ill for severa l years. Wh il e mov in g hi s family to Florida from Wash in gt on , D.C., in 1934, France sett led in Daytona Beach after hi s ca r broke down there while th ey were headed for Miami. H e was ins tru me ntal in organizing th e first beach cou rse race, in which he dr ove, and aft er promoting many races. he founded NASCAR in 1947. Daytona Internati on al Spe edway was opened in ' 1959 with th e running of th e first Daytona 500. T he first Dayton a 200 motorcycle race was held at th e speed way in 1961 and with th a t race as th e ma in draw, Daytona Beach soo n became th e American eq u ivalent of the Isle of Man, Each March, Daytona Cycle Week draws 100,000plus motorcyclists to the Florida bea ch town. In additio n to Daytona International Speedway , ISC now owns Alab ama' Interna ti onal Motor Speedway in Talladega a nd Darl ington Internationa l Speed way in South Carolina, a nd in a joint venture with Corning Enterprises o wns and manages th e famed road race co ur se in Watkins Gl en , New York . In 1972, Fran ce turned co n tro l o f NASCAR and ISC over to his sons ; Bill Jr. is NASCA R 's pre sid ent and cha irma n of th e board a nd CEO of ISC , while J am es C. (Ji m ) is execu tive vice presid ent o f NASCAR a nd pr esid ent o f ISC. Fu neral services were held in Daytona Beach on Wednesda y, June 10. The family req uested th at in lieu o f flow ers , donat ions be mad e to th e Ext ended Family, ,P.O. Box 10174, Daytona Beach, FL 32120. In addi tio n to hi s two sons, France is survived by five grandchi ldren, Brian, Lesa Kennedy, J amison , Amy and J enn ifer ; a nd o ne great grandc hild, Benjamin Kennedy. Hi s wife of 50 yea rs, th e former Anne Bled soe, passed a way ea rli er th is year . 1 W Entries are still a vaila ble for th e June 26 Motolink P r o Four- Stroke Race , which will be held in co nju nc tion wi th the Mammoth Motocross in Mammot h Lakes, Ca liforn ia. Motorcycles may be ava ila ble for professional racers who are interested in com peting. For more informa tion, con tac t Greg Baumann a t 602/948-4137. T he 8th A n nual O v e r The Hill Gang R e u n ion will tak e place a t the H onda Hills home of Dick Klamfoth in Linnville, Ohio, o n August 1-2. The "gang" consists o f racers and their associa tes wh o competed 25 or more yea rs ago, a nd th ey welcome you nger mem bers o f th e m ot orcycl e ra cing society to a tte nd as guests. The weekend of ben ch rac ing, etc. will be followed by a go lf tournament o n Monday, August 3. If you whack th e littl e wh ite ball , this is your op po rtun ity to beat a past raci ng cha mp io n at some thi ng. For mo re information, ca ll Kla mfoth a t 614/228-0690, Bobby Hill a t 614/ 875-5582, o r But c h Ba e r at 4 13/267-3343. . , operat e th e facility. In addi tio n to the lighting for night raci ng, other features incl ude a 29-gate co ncrete start. pad, a nd a minimum tra ck width of 25 feet. H enricksen a nd Agnifili are considering runnin g daytime races, as well . Interested rid ers shou ld contac t Roj o Producti ons a t 714/ 855-2707. R iders wh o an tici pa te qualifyin g for th e August 25-30 I S DE in Au stralia sh ould co n tac t B ill B e rroth a t Acerbis USA as soo n as po ssible if you pl an o n using th e firm ' s 035 p lastic silence rs, wh ich are designed to pass th e strict ISD E so u nd test. Berreth can be reach ed a t 6 19/5 26-1440. The New En gl and Sp orts Co m m ittee has establis he d th e Dick B e tte ncourt Scholarship Fund to provide ass ista nce to a n NESC member who wishe s to further hi s or her educa tion. T he fund ha s been esta blished to hon or the m em ory o f Betten court, who passed away recently. Applications for th e sch ol ar ship funds will be available ea rly next month. Donations to the fund shou ld be designated " N ESC/ R. Bettencourt" a nd sent to NESC, P.O. Box 68, Greenfield, MA 01302. Kawasaki has added th e ProSt ar D rag R a cing S e rie s to its list o f events for which they 've posted co ntingen cy awa rds. A to ta l of $10,800, $200 in eac h of nine classes at eac h ro u nd of th e series , is ava ilable to Kawasak i-mounted co m peti tors, effective with th e reschedu led Garden Stat e Nati onal s in Atco, New J ersey, June 13- 14. According to Su zu ki' s MX Ra ce T eam Manager R a y Tetherton, S t e v e 'Lam s o n' will return to rac ing at the June 15 Hangtown National Championship 250cc MX Series. Lamson has been side line d sin ce breaking a femur a t the H ouston Supercross in J anuary. Starwest S u percross P a rk , a newly bui lt su pe rcross-s tyle MX tra ck in so uthern Cal ifornia's Moren o Val ley near Su n ny mea d, will celebra te its gra nd open ing with a ni ght race o n Sa tu rday , June 20. R on H e nricksen , best kn own as th e o wner o f National Mo tor sp orts Association (NMA), and V ince Agnifili have joined forces to form Rojo Productions and will Motocrosser Gene N a u m e c , wh o was carr ied o ff th e tra ck on a stretcher after crashing during a heat race a t the San Jose Supercross, is in good co ndition , according to a famil y member. Naumec bail ed over a sectio n of whoops, hit his head a nd was knocked out. Contra ry to wh at was a n nou nced at the race, Naumec was not taken to th e hospital.

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