Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ . n Saturday afternoon, January 15th, the 1994 AMA Supercross Series got underway with the first practice session of the season. I was sitting next to a journalist from Cycle News in an otherwise empty section of meta l grandstands. Our cameras sat on the bench between us, in the end-zone bleachers, as the 250cc riders poured onto the track at the other end of the Citrus Bowl. The first race-day practice of every season is always a special treat for fans. This is the only time of the year when the playing field is even for every rider on the track. There are no points leads, . no winning streaks and no runs of bad l u ck to be carried in to thi s ses sio n. Momentum is s hared by all and the potential is there for anyone to be on the podium at the end of the night. At that moment in Orlando, 'all of the major players were on the race track at once, though there were two notable excep tions: the once-revered, now-retired superstars, Damon Bradshaw and Guy Cooper. Ever since he won the season-opener at Anaheim in 1990, Damon Bradshaw was expected to win the openin g round and the series championship. He did neither. Based on the way 1993 ended for him, this season would have certainly featured a favorite other than Damon, but it really didn't matter. Bradshaw wa s probably back home in North Carolina, flying planes, riding horses, or doing whatever 22-year old retirees do on a Saturday afternoon. As for Cooper, the single most entertaining rider ever to take flight on a supercross track, he was absent from the O Orlando line-up as he prepared for his new vocation - woods racing. Few people would have counted on Cooper to win this race, but his presence certainly would have been greatly appreciated. Cooper was, after all, the clown p rince of stadium racing. He parlayed his penchant for jumping higher/longer / fu rther than anyone else into cult-hero status, even though he never actually won an American supercross . For a decad e, fans could alwa ys count on the veteran Suzuki rider to make even the most boring runaway victories by others an exciting night at the races. Now he, too, was gone. . . So just like l ast year, which s tarted without retired superstars Jean-Michel Bayle and Jeff Ward, there was sudde nIy room in the ranks of the SX elite for some new her oes. Would this be the n ight th at Je ff Emig finally scored that breakthrou gh w in? How about Brian Swink or Steve . Lamson? Or maybe it was time for Mike Craig or Doug Henry to emerge from th e pack. I fumbled th ro ugh my p ro gram in an effort to iden tify all the fast guys. Henry was now wearing #8 while Lamson wore #4. I noticed tha t Swink and Phil Lawrence were direct ing th e fastest Suzukis on the track, though Swink was wearing some kind of funky fore ign rid ing gear over hi s shoulder pads, a true fashion fau x pas. New clothes, new numbers, new at titudes, new. .. Yamahas? There was Mike Craig on the #19 Yamaha, Larr y Ward on the #11 Yamaha , Jeff Matiasevich on the #21 Yamaha, Jeromy Buehl on the #23 Yamaha. .. all transfers fro m other manufacturers trying to help that com- pany fill the void left by what would have been the #9 Yamaha of Bradshaw. Jeff Stanton, the new "old man" of supercross, was circulating the track on the #5 Honda, but he was wearing #1 on the back of.his shirt. Was Stanton still reluctant to give up his old number, or . was he just out of new jerseys? Or was this a sign to th e competition that the "Ice Man" ha d returneth? Stanton had .an other common number on his bike #1-80 0-COLLECT, which stands for Ho nd a's recent corporate sponsorship co u p w ith MC I. (Di d I mention that some of those Yam ah as were supported by a steak house?) Teamma tes Mike Kiedrowski (#3 agai n ) a nd Mi ke LaR occo (#7 again) were starting to make fast laps around th e.Ci trus Bowl floor, but it was the Kawasaki of Lakocco that seemed to be getting the most attention. Having w on thi s race the last two years in a row, Lakocco was facing a un ique shot at history in Orlando - he could become the . firs t rider in the hi st or y of supercross racing to win the opener three consecutive times. . Down on the field the photographers were scrambling aroun d the outskirts of the track trying to find the best way to get the riders on film without empty bleacher s as a background. Representatives fro m all of the major American magazines were on hand, of course, but so were a large number of international journa lists. Japanese, French, Spanish and Italian correspondents we re all over the place even though the foreign rider contingent cons ist ed en tirely of tw o roadtripping Canadians. Our cameras sat id le betwee n us. What could possibly happen in practice that we would want to capture on film? Soon all of the top riders were making fast laps, hammering the whoops, doing doubles and triples as they battled in groups. of two and three. The start of a new racing season was hou rs away and my excitement was growing with every lap. With a buzz of anticipation, and the hopes of getting in to a great bench racing bat tle over w ho might win, I aske d the reporter nex t to me if he would care to make a little wager on that night's race. Before the guy could answer, Jeremy McGrath launched the true #1 Honda from the first triple on the press bo x straight and began his climb into the air. He then lifted his right foot back over the rear fender and kicked his leg out behind him as he reached the apex of his leap. His en tire weight was placed on the left foot peg as he looked across the seat at an empty section of grandstand. Try to picture tha t: three stories above the stadium floor the defending champion was hanging completely off the left side of his motorcycle. From the small spectator area behind the jump came the first roar of disbelief of the new season as McGrath flew side-saddle above them. Then the champ swung himself back over the seat and righted himself just a blink before landing. The brief show was over but the mu rm ur of wonder and approval kept rolling through the nearly vacant stadium. I sat there in silent disbelief, my camera at my side. "Sure, I'll bet you ," said the guy next to me. "I'll take Jeremy McGrath." End of conversation. (N :,..· ·:·JNTH WIND;. E :· ". an external fixator on the arm and it gave me a Done infection. It ended up being another break and another problem. I've just been laying low. I had the final surgery three days ago and I started my therapy today (January 24) . There's a month before Daytona - I can do it. I'm just work ing on gett in g motion back into the wrist." Gardner is in the process of-securing a ride for the '94 season. appear. Fo r more in form a tion, ca ll 310/531-1225. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto, Canada, February 18-27. Canada's first IHRA drag racing World Champi_ on, Todd Paton, is scheduled to appear at the Performance Racing News booth. . For more information, call 416/922-7223. AUT O G R A PH SI G NING: At Mid Cities Honda/Kawasaki in Paramount, Cali fornia, on Janu a ry 28 fro m 6:00 7:30 .p .m . Tea m Hondas Jeremy McGrath, Jeff Stanton, Steve Lamson and Dou g H enry are scheduled to RE S CH ED ULE D : Round 3 o f the CMC Golden State Series North, to Saturday, February 12, at Sacramento Raceway. The original date was rained out. Round 4 will take place th e following day in Marysville, California. 25 YEARS AGO FEBRUARY 1 1969... 1, compete in short track rounds of the AMA Grand National Championship, beginning with the series opener at the Houston Astrodome...The Benelli snobike was featured in a small pictorial. The test rider? - former Italian racing champion EraIdo f Ferracci...A 1968 Tr iumph Bonneville was for sale in the Want Ads section for $12 . CO RR ECT IO N : We m isspelled the name o f Steve Lamson' s fia nce , Cammy Abbate in our last issue. Th e two are planning to wed on September 23,1995. on d a ' s all -new 100cc mo tocross bike graced the cover of Issue #4 of Cycle News in 1969. Honda's dealer show w as held in Las Vegas, Nevada, with 2000 dealers attending. Headlining Hon !~~~ lineup was a four-cyli j;..750cc street. ~'""-'''-:'''''1 ' J bike which carried a suggested retail ....·l'.....' ......'''!; price of $1400.. .Multi-time World J i mmy ,W ei n e rt won he~opening Champion Mike Hailwood announced round of the AMA Toyota Superhis retirement from the sport. The Brit cross Series at the Oakland Coliannounced that he would begin a career se u m in Oakland, California. Wein ert in car racing...Speedway World Chamused a paddle tire that was eventualpion Barry Briggs ~a id that he would ly banned b y the AMA . We inert H Continued frompage 3 RESCHEDULED: The fou rth round of the GFi Winter Series, to Sunday, February 13 at Perris Raceway in Perris, California. For mo re in fo rm ati on, call 916 /3632653. COR RE CTI O N: The co rrect phone number for Z Racing is 714/449-1271. ' ~Y" AUTOGRA PH SIGNING: At GFI's Am ateu r Supercross opener at Perris Racewa y in Per ris, California, on January 30 . Former 125cc Na tional MX Champion Guy Cooper is scheduled to . appear. For more information, call . 909/ 371-3434. MA RRIED: Road racer Jason Pridmore to long-time girlfriend Susi e Hulce in Ventura, California , on Saturday, January 15 . Road racers Fritz Kling and Gerald Rothman, [r. were members of the wedding party. BO RN: Hayley Francis O'Neill, to Mark and Karen O'Neill on January 10 in Stuart, Florida. O'Neill is the southeast district sales manager for Cagiva North America. (N ~fre~~~:rb f~~f:s~hf~~e~a~~:~: ,¥!iM1~ 5YEARS AGO FEBRUARY 1, 1989... pr ed icted that Jay Springsteen ' -~;;;'';;-'':would rep eat as AMA Grand . . ~~'1' T he CMC Golden State MX Series Na tion al Champion in 1979 ... . ' . round at Adelanto, California, Donnie Cantaloupi, Danny was featured on the cover with "Magoo" Chandler and Bob i.:::;:::::::i. several riders, including Jeff Wa r d Elliott w on th e 125, 250cc and '- - - """" and Ron Lechi en, pictured. The three _ Open classes, respective ly, at the pro classes at Ade lanto were won by CMC Gol d en State round in CarlsJeff Matiasevich, Ward and Brian Manbad, Cali fornia ...Bruce ,O g il v ie won ley - all three rode Kawasakis. The Vet the overall in the Prairie Dog s Hare Pro class was won by Rex StateDl

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