Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

haps. But if so, w hy would so many racers, with so much to lose by not racing, ei th er boycott or "dog it" at Pomona ? Most of the riders clearly a re not in a p ositi on to a vo id overly d ange r ou s races. Their careers d epend on ra cing, and racing on the ed ge. Th is is where the tea m ow ners co uld he lp . The y shou ld show some respect for the lives of their employees and not insist that th ey race under circumst anc es such as Phoenix and Pomona. It was d istu rbing to read that Terry Vance had talked a rel u ctan t Jam ie James into racing at Pomona - sa me w ith Rob Muzzy . Did M u zzy re ally think that Steve Crevier woul d tak e it easy ? Come on, Rob . A t lea st Fr ed Merkel had the good sense to go easy. Kevin Magee, Dave Sadowski, Jon Cornwell, A l Salaverri a and Mark Fo s ter should be recognized by fans for having the courage to insist on some safety to go a lon g w ith their racing. Let' s hope their career s don't suffer as a result. I just d on ' t see why the rid er s ' v iews don't carry more weigh t on safety. They all ob viousl y lo ve to race, so th e ir protes ting has nothing whatsoever to do w ith trying to av oid work. Plus, who know s be tter tha n the riders whether the tracks are safe? Desp ite protestations by the AMA, th e rid ers d o appear to need an organized ap p roac h to sa fety. Unless they ac t in concert, no thing will change. M a ybe the r ic h e r tea ms a n d r iders could su pport a couple of elected ride r representat ives who wo uld wo rk with th e AMA and even t promoters to keep th e d angers to a minim u m . After all, the sport is plen ty d angerous enough under the best of circumstances. AMA officials sh ould also consider the possibil it y th at ro ad racing w ill grow and p rosper more rap idly if they im prove safety . At the ve ry least, em pha sis on safety would d raw more riders into the sport. The AMA is putting a qua lity prod uct on the race tracks - the competiti on, fan in teres t, an d telev ision in vo lvem en t is the best I can remember. But unl ess th e AMA shows greater commitment to sa fe ty during the ' 94 sea son, I, for one, w ill quit su pporting the sport. I hope I'm no t alone in th ese sentiments. 'and m ost feel it is a derogatory term, w h ic h I hop e you d id n o t mean to imply. Incidently, aside from being used for sp orts car and s tock car racing in the past, the track is currently used by the L.A. Cou nty. Sheriff for high-spee d pursuit tra ining an d by the Californi a Highway Patrol for evaluation of new vehicles. Th e r ace tra c k surface was prepared as r equ es ted b y the AMA based on sev era l previous tests. We now know th a t th e in p ut from those tests was not rep resen ta tive of tru e ra ce sp eed s and lines. The track will be modified based on information we expect to r ece iv e from the AMA in the n ear futu re. We lo ok forward to an eve n more successful an d problem-free ra ce at the Fairplexin 1995. Bill Marcel and Bob Bellino Race West Productions, Inc. Editor Carruthers couldn't be found for a response. As it turns out, he was late for work after having problems finding a parking space in the company"race track." Magoo memory Your interview with Danny Chandler (" Where Are They Now," Issue #14, Ap ril 13) was outstand ing . The article reminded me of my favorite "Magoo" m emory. It was at a regular Sa turday motocross at Saddleback Park. Mot ocro ss Action let Danny ride their test H onda CR 125 in th e fi rs t moto . . Danny ha d no experience with the bike, but he chas ed Ron Turner with a ve ngeance th ro ughout mos t of the 45minu te race . He was dragging the hand leb ars in the finish-line corner and jumping further than anyone. What makes this memory interesting is that he d id all this with a flat rear tire. Well , the rear w heel finally gave out an d he returned the bike with a trash ed ri m . I w ill never forget that. Da nny taugh t m e as a kid to never give up. Now, after reading the interview, he is teach ing me as an ad ult to never give up. Best of luc k, Danny. You won't be forgotten. Von Wall ace Riverton, UT Timothy Summers Taylors;SC Race West says Our thanks to the man y fans, spo nsors, manufacturers, vend ors and all the others who attended and s u p po rted the Los Angeles Su perbi ke Champion ship at the Pomona Fa irp le x and h elp ed make it a successful first-time road raeing event. We regret the inconvience to virtually everyone caused by the remova l of the p edestrian bridges on Fr iday n igh t. There were some unfortunate dela ys on Saturday until we were able to work out the logistics of getting people across the track between each event. The patience sho wn by the majo rity of the fans was wonderful. I do have a problem with the many references to the race as a "parking lot" race in Cycle News. Wh ile much of the area in which the race was run is used as a parking lot for the rest of the year, the race track surface is a race track which is elevated above the adjacent surfaces. If the adjacent su rfaces were grass and dirt, I don't think you would use the term "parking lot." Most people I have talked to think "parking lot" means it is a flat asphalt surface with only painted lines to indicate the track The S.21 issue With the Senate pa ssing S.21, the Californi a Desert Protection Act - Wednesday, April 13, 1994 should be known as Black Wednesd ay. Notwithstanding the 69-29 Senate vote to put nearly nine million acres of land off-limits to OHVs, the AMA and its District 37 Sports Commi ttee are on record as not opposing S.21. In a conversation I had las t November with Senator Ben Ni gh thorse Camp bell (D-Co lora do), he explained to me the "d eal" he brokered with Senator Feinstein (the author of S.21) on behalf of the AMA . According to Campbell, the AMA rep resented themselves as the principle s p o kesman for the m ajorit y of O H V· interests on this issue in California. They presented him with a list of 15 areas and t rails as a n a mendmen t to S.21 an d agreed e ve n tu all y to ju st ei g ht. In exchan ge for the same, the AMA agreed not to oppose S.21. In effect, the AMA agreed to "back off." Parallel to the AMA's efforts, the California Desert Coalition (a br oad-based in ter es t group who opposes S.21 as passed by the Senate) prepared an amendment to S.21 of over 100 areas and trails that comprehensively reflect ed the wishes of its OHV members. This list was presented to va rious me mbers of the Senate Committee, including Senator Ca mpbel l. According to Sen ato r Campbell, he was confused as to exactly which a men dments (C DC o r AMA ) clea r! y represented the n eeds of th e OHV community in California . Since the AMA has a full-time presence in Was hington D.C. and the Senator was fam iliar with them, he decided to move forward with the AMA. It was clear to me at the end of our conversation that had Sena tor Cam pbell been aware that the AMA on ly represent ed itself an d no t the other OHV segments of CDC, he would ha ve 'made an effort to secure additional opportuni ties for us . In the end, Senator Camp bell had secured concessions on S.2I with Senator Feinste in and the deal had been ma de. The CD C fin d s itself backed into a com er. With the House of Representatives se t to mo ve simil a r le gisla tion soon, the CDC has retained the services of a resp ected lobbying firm to gain vital amendmen ts to p reserve our access to the California desert. The finan cial commitment is substantial an d be yond the resources of its member groups. Your he lp is d esperat ely need ed to safeguard motorized access in the California desert. Steve Kuehl Former president, California Off-Road Vehicle Association (CO RVA) Corona,CA According to the AMA's Washington representative, Jim Bensberg, Kuehl's statements regarding the AMA are "absolutely untrue. We never alleged that we represented anybody but the AMA ." We attempted to reach Senator Campbell, and were put in contact with his press relations officer wlw said: "[ can't say one way or the other if he (Kuehl) even spoke to Senator Campbell."...Editor. . A young view April 13 will be known as a bad da y not only for Southern California d ir t bike riders, b u t fo r d irt bi ke r ide r s everywhere. On tha t day, the California Desert Protection Act (S.21) was passed by the Senate, closing 7.75 million acres of desert in Sou thern California . This is one of the larges t lan d protection bills ever passed and it works totally against dirt bike riders. . Just because you do n' t live in California , do n't think this d oesn't affect you . There co uld be a riding ar ea in yo ur re gi on tha t is proposed to be closed. Fight to keep it open - this means you! Don' t rely on people. Write to your Congressman you rse lf and vo ice your opinion. Don' t wait - hu rry . . If you wan t your kid s to enjoy th is wonderful sport, or if you are a kid, like me, and enjo y ridi ng d irt bikes, don't hesit ate to have yo u r opinion heard. Don't wait for your favori te riding area to be closed down in a few years . Wri te your local Congressman an d keep your favorite place to rid e open. Brian Butler Pacific G rove, CA Smitty yes, Abrams no In my hu mble opinion, the "Chicane ry" columns b y Henny Ra y Ab ra ms are pure d rivel. Please leave the hum or in your fine paper to "Team Smitty." Now that, is funny. Doug Zielke CoquitIam, B.C., Canada Smitty no Normally I don't have any thing to say about Cycle News or how it d oes thin gs. However, a recen t change makes me say some things now. Why is "Tea m Smitty" back? It's a lo usy cartoon, co m ic, w h a tev er. It' s wordy and u ninteresting. For yea rs it defaced your paper and now it's wasting m ore space. My sug ges tion is to dump it and bury it for good. D.A. Krewson Lebanon, OR How do you feel Henny?"...Editor. about "Team Mulder's tuner I reall y enjoyed rea d ing the piece on Eddie Mu lder by Joe Scalzo ("Squirrel," Issue #15, Ap ril 20). While Ed die may no t be rem embered today as some racers of that era , he was a real showman and as good a IT rider as I've ever seen. I' m s u re m any of you r readers will recall the d ays when Ed die would build u p a huge lead a t a IT race an d then s ta rt " p la ying ." I' ll neve r fo rget his wheelies d own the back straight aw ay at Ascot. He really knew how to have fun. Also, the "iconoclast tuner" who p re. pared Eddie 's Big Bear winning Royal Enfield was Mel Dinesen , the same guy who tuned my Daytona winning Yamaha in 1972. In addition to Mulder and myself, Mel had a big influence on many other young riders who would go on to do big things. He seemed to like d eveloping his own talent, - picking young gu ys who ha d potential and then giving them a chance to make it to the National circuit (Ron Pierce was another, and I believe tha t Eddie Lawson an d Wayne Ra iney rode for Mel a few times early in their careers). I was just a Novice when Mel asked me to ride for him in 1969. He gav e me lots of bikes to rid e in local AFM an d ACA events for the next couple of years . We we re running three and four classes a w ee k, e very w eek, a t a r oa d r ace somew here in California . Even though I was only in the Novice class in 1969, I ended up with the Number 1 plate in AFM that year ahead of some good factory rid ers. Without Mel's support, this w ou ld no t have happe ned and . m y career would no d oubt have been much d ifferent. Thanks to Mel for all he did for me over the years , and thanks to Joe Scalzo and Cycle News for b ringing ba ck th e memories of those great times. Don Emde Lagu na Niguel, CA Emde, the winner of the 1972 Daytona 200, is the publisher of Motorcycle Collector magazine in Southern Califor nia... Editor. Letters to the ed itor should be sent to Voices, Cycle News, P.O . Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90806-0498 or faxed to 310/427-6685. Published letters do not necessarily reflect "

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