Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.FINAL MOTO:" .'," .' .. : . B C Jonnum y hris he salaries of factory motocross riders are not co mmon knowledge, a fact that rarely disturbs me. Normally, I'm more concerned with which rider is the best racer, than w ho is the better negotiator. What a rider makes is between him and his employer, and as far as I'm concerned, that's the way it should be. That said, I think I'd be fairly safe in guessing that when former National Motocross Champion Jeff Emig did his taxes this April, he entered a sixdigit figure on the line. "total annual income." (Oka y, so Em ig probab ly doesn't do hi s own taxes; you get the idea). After Emig gave Team Kawasaki' s Mike laRocco a boot to the head in front of 26,561 fans at the San Diego Supercross last February, AMA refe ree Ron Crandall p un ished him with a whopping $1000 fine. G uesswork aside, I know that Emig pulled in $1100 for his 10th-place finis h in that race. (Tha t's from the AMA purse alone; he p robably ma de more from his sponsors). Suffice it to say that I d on ' t think Crandall's penalty will put Emig in a homeless shelter anytime soon. Emig is one of my favorite riders, and it is not my intent to bash him in this column. Seconds before the kicking incident, LaRocco had blatantly taken him out, no doubt costing him at least four positions in the results column, four points in the series standings, and $180 in the night's class purse. Emig was understandably angry, and in the heat of the moment, he made a mistake. Neither is it my intention to bash Crandall for delivering a wimpy fine. When levying punishment, the AMA is limited by the fact that the riders have widely varying incomes. Hard-working Honda privateer Rich Taylor was racing in that same main event at San Diego, T and had he been hit with a fi ne for $1000, I bet he'd have a hard time paying it. I know I would. 50 what ' s the answer? Sh ould the AMA adjust the fine according to how much a rider makes? I don' t thin k so. Had Taylor kicked laRocco in the head, he wouldn't have been any less guilty than Emig. The AMA sh ould be blind to a rider's economic status when it comes time to de liver a fine. Ironica lly, the best ans wer I've heard thu s far comes from a friend I have on the National off-road scene. This person wish es to r emain anony mous, but is we ll-res pecte d and quite successful a t what he d oes. (In case yo u're wo ndering, he's not a rider, so his point of view should be fairl y objective). Over the past few seasons, a couple of off-road series have been the venues of several heated clashes. Normally known fo r thei r strong rider camaraderie. th e AMA National Hare Scrambles and Grand National Cross Country series are beginning to involve more block-passes and rammings than a typical supercross. This all escalated this March, at a combined Hare Scrambles /GNCC round in Tennessee. There, directly in front of the spectator area, title contenders Rodn ey Smith and Scott Plessinger blatantly took each other out in the final tum of the last lap . Who was at fault is immaterial - and not for me to decide. The fact is that it was harmful to the sport, and that it wouldn't have happened th ree years ago . The AMA's respon se was a le tter from member activities d irector Hugh Fleming to several of the country's top off-road ride rs, qu ot ing an AMA ru le. <:The AMA ma y suspend any rider for any period up to indefinite suspension for willfully violating any rules .. . (includ ing) engaging in any unfair pra c- tice or ac~io n ,~a rm fu l to the sport of motorcyclmg... This crack-d own is admirable, and shows that the AMA is concerned with the image of the spo rt. However, I have to wonder how effective it is, even if the gu ilty parties are even tua lly banned from one or more races. The AMA treats the ir off-road series as am ateur sports. so fining th e riders is d efinitel y not a n option in this case. Still, the fans like to see good racing among the top talen ts, and harming the best riders from participating could be just as harmful to the sport as a now-typical exchange between Scott Summers and Fred Andrews. I think that my friend's plan could be the so lution. Though I ad mit it's not perfect, it' s much better th an anything currently bei ng used. His plan wo uld no t see offending riders fined d o lla r amounts, or suspended from racin g, but instead, stri pped of series points. With my friend's plan (let's call it the Poin tless Plan), it wouldn't matter how much m oney a rider made; the fin e wou ld be equally detrimental to riders of a ny inc ome bracke t without being subjective accord ing to salary. The AMA wouldn 't have to guess at how much a rider makes (perhaps more importantly, neither would I). Not only that. but the Pointless Plan wo uldn't rob the fans of their favorite riders. In fact, fined riders wo u ld b e even more despera te fo r points than before they were pu nished, and might be incli ned to ride a round they had previously considered s kippin g. Perhaps the best part ab ou t th e Pointless Plan is that it could be used in every form of AMA competition - pr ofessional or amateur. It would be equally effective, from th e 80cc Intermediate class at th e Loretta Lynn 's Amateur Motocross Nationals, to the Superbike class at a National Road Race. With only one system to learn, the AMA could do a better job of refining the plan and ensuring its proper use. As stated above, the Pointless Plan is not w ithout its flaws . An a rgument could be made that it would punish some rid ers more than others. After all, being robbed of series po ints could conceivably cost Emig a se ries title - and with it a substantial amount of money . Taylor woul d probably admit that his chances at the Camel Supercross crown title are fairly slim. It could also be a rg ued that the Pointless Plan could hu rt the prestige of a high finish in the series in qu estion. In other wo rds, is a rid er really champion if a faster compe titor loses ou t due to dirty rid ing? Still, that sa me argu me nt co ul d be mad e to s u p port the Po intless Pl an. Should a rid er really w in a title if the only way he can do so is by taking out his fellow competitors? I think the Pointless Plan would be more objective and effective (not to mention corrective) th an the systems currentl y being used . Don 't get me wrong; I re a lize there a re situations w hen it's best to tum 'the other cheek (after all, if the AMA is asking the riders to do so, they should be able to follow their o wn ad v ic e). Fortunately, the intentions of the AMA are good, so it is doubtful that we would ha ve to worry about them levying fines in a subjective manner. They're alrea dy fair, the Pointless Plan would just allow them to do their jobs that much better. The im po rta n t th ing is, w ith the Pointless Plan , th e next time Emig got taken out by a rider in the main event at a CamelSupercros s, he'd be more likely to realize that ki cki ng th e offending pilot in the head is - well, pointless. a . .. " ·.··IN H IN c I E·.W D,. . Continued frompage 3" who pre-enter for the May 14-15 Commotion by the .Ocean will receive a free T-shirt. For more information, call 619/484-1441 . AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Roseville Honda/Kawasaki/SuzuJd in Roseville, California, on April 29 iTem 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p .m. Team Suzuki motocrossers Ezra Lusk, Damon Huffman, Jimmy Button, Brian Swink and Phil Lawrence 25 YEARS AGO... May 13,1969 d 50CC Jr . class racers at t·.' Sadd leb ack Park were featured on the co ver . f The leader wore le a t he r pants, an open-face helmet, sunglasses, and no glov es... Joel Robert won th e 250cc Sw iss GP, topping Marcel Wiertz and Don Rickman ... Gary Bailey topped the 250cc class at the Saddleback Park Golden State National aboard a Creeves, even though his seat fell off. Tom Rapp topped the 125cc class... A Webco kidney belt, made of rubber and naugahyde, was featured in the new products section... A good-sized ad placed by Floyd Clymer read: If the thief who took the 50cc Minarelli engine from the indian display at the Sports Arena Show will return it, we will ask no questions 2 are scheduled to appear. Call 916/7822171 for more information. FORMED: The Eastern Enduro Association, by 1979 ISDT gold medalist Darryl Kuenzer . For more informa tio n ca ll 706/376-5232. ELECTE D: Art Oliv ier, to th e City Council in Bellflower, California. Olivier became the first Libertarian party mem- and send him a Bible if returned by May 10. Or $100 reward for the arrest and conv iction o f the party who took it, if not returned by ~y 10... 15 Y EARSAGO ... May 9, 1979 he '79 Champ ionship Speedway Challenge was featured on the cover, with Peter Collins and Dave Sims bat tlin g for the lead... Defending Toyota Sup ercross Series Champion Bob Hannah won both legs of the Pon taic Sup ercross doubleheader, besting Tommy Croft and Ma rty T ripes on Saturday; and Ma rk Barnett and Mike Bell on Sunday. Frank Sta cy fini shed ninth a nd sixth.. . Mi k e Baldwi n and David Ald ana led Team USA to victory at the Marlboro Transatlantic Trophy Match T ber elected to a city council in Los Angeles Cou nty. "In order to prevent laws bein g passed against motorcyclists, such as th e helmet la w and S.21, motor cyclists need to be part of th e p olitical process," Olivier said. CORRECTION: In last week 's issue, we inadvertently reported that the official race hotel for the Ap ril 23 Sacramento Mile was the Sherat on Suites Fairplex, Races in Eng land... David Emde and Da vid Aldana teamed up to win th e AFM On Any Sunday II Ontario 6-Hou r Endu rance Ro ad Race .. . Gary Van Voorhis penned an article featuring the top up-and-coming rookie d irt trackers. The featured riders? Wayne Rainey, John Wincewicz, Ronnie Jones, Charli e Rob e r ts , Scott Pa rker and Tommy Duma... Jim G ibson wo n the 125 and 250cc Pro classes at Sad d leback Park. Zapata Espi nosa topped the 250cc intermed ia te class... Randy Goss topp ed Terry Poovey and Steve Eklund in the Tu r lock Sh or t Track Exp ert m a in . .Jimmy Filice won the Novice main... 5YEARS AGO... M 3, 1989 ay eorge Holland and Jeff Stanton . scored the 125 and 250cc class wins at the Hangtown National MX. G when in fact, the Sheraton Suites Fairplex is the official race headquarters for the May 14 Pomona H alf Mile in Pomona, California. For more information calI BOO/722-4055. BORN: Nicholas Czajkowski, to Chester Czajkowski and hi s wife De n is e in Burleson, Texas, on Ap ril 19. Czajkowski is the promoter 1owner of Burleson MX Park in Texas. I:' Donny Schmit raced a privateer Honda to second in the 125cc class... Larry Roese ler won the Shasta Dam GP ... Scott Plessinger beat out Ed Lo jak and Sco tt Su m mers for the Brown Ju g 100 win... Tommy Clowers and Joel Albrech t were the top minicycle class performers at the World Mini Gran d Prix. Jeff Emig won all four Pro classes a boa rd a Kawasa ki... Donald Upton finished second in the 125cc Novice class at Perris MX... Th e all-new Bell Moto 5 helmet, co m ple te with Ric k Johnson replica graphics and a Troy Lee viso r, cost $210... Yamaha-mounted Ron Wood finished second in the 250cc Expert class at the Carlsbad Short Tra ck... Kit Palmer finished second in the 250cc A class at the Hobo Enduro... a

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