Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Chris Agajanian Presents: someone said .that Bill West and Roger Edmondson, who are openly competing with the AMA, p lanned to attend because they have investment in the Road Atlanta event. We are planning to discuss the future of AMA road racing and they want to join us? I can't fathom that. I have to draw the line somewhere. We are trying to contain supercross and not ruin a long-term event that has been great for AMA motorcycling. They say the AMA is doing things that aren't good for the sport - what's so terribly bad abo ut th e AMA wanting to make mon ey? Is ou r leadership so wrong? ' NAS CAR mak es mo ney, the NHRA is ve ry, very profitable. Bu t w h en the AMA ta lk s abo ut getting into the bus iness the promoters think we're trying to shove them out. It's just the w ay that b usiness m us t b e done no w. We can't be leaders if we don't cha nge. Was that want to be a for-profit company the W hidden agenda" that people are talking about? No. There was no hid den agenda. We ha ve been up front about our leadership role an d our new direction from the start. The AMA is taking a bea ting, an d I am personally taking a beating over this whole situation. I didn't wreck any deals because of a hidden agenda and I didn't put anything out on the street about what was an ongoing process. Look who's been doing all the talking. Our people did not say a . word , under direct orders for the whole AMA Pro Racing Staff. I think now maybe we should have said more, sooner. I should mention here that there was a time before July 12 when we were instructed to survey sites for potential AMA events. We sent out letters to stadiums and venues to ask if there were dates available and what the rent might be. In fact, it was Roy Janson who gave me the list. We aren't hiding anything in regards to our direction. The Board sa id move ahead and see what we can do, and what we did was write to stadiums about potentia l events. We weren't hiding anything . Maybe we've just been too discreet. Has the AMA ever done a joint sponsor? (Laughs.) We paid off a bad purse in Charlotte of abo ut $70,000 after a road race a couple of years ago. The promoter's check went bad and we covered it. That's the closest we ever got. There was a rumor th at the U.S. GP for motocross invo lved a joint AMA promotion? No, not that I know of. The AMA has had a $15,000 to $20,000 loss on the Motocross des Nations each of the last few years that we payout of our own coffers. The T-shirt sales didn't make enough to support the team so we end up with the bill. No one's worried about little things like that, the effort and support that we give to our racing programs. I feel that we don't blow our own horn enough; we pick up slack on Team USA and no one in the world knows about it. But the next year we do it all over again. What do you thi nk is going to ha ppen in the next few months leadi ng up to the Orlando Supercross opene r in January? It's all day to day right now . We're trying to make our best judgments and at the same time we are involved in a sortof wait-and-see game. It distracts from future planning right now and will do so until it's resolved one way or the other. We're living in a d ysfunctional environment right now. l.~ ~~1\ONAL I OFFICIAL HOTEL Del Mar Hilton (619) 792-5200 . Tickets Available At : ASCOT sue TRAC (714) 533-4444 Gates Open 11 a.m. TJ'CKer~~JE~ (619) 220-8497 Your Local Parlicipafing HARLEY-DAVIDSON HONDA and Dealers Now Available Through Cycle News Video Theater 1994 AMA 250cc NATIONAL MX CHAMPIONSHIP Round #4 of 12 - High Polnl Raceway - MI_ Morris, ' . .nSfIYanla ('1 53E) If yoo were given just one word to describe Mike Kledrowski's performance at the 18th running of the High Point National MX , ~ would have to be "fla wless: The defending champion turned In two mistake-free rides on his Shane Nalley-tuned Kawasaki KX250 to score his second overall win of the season and gain points on teammate and series points leader Mike laRoCco, who a lso had tw o overall wins to his credit. Team HondaIl-8DO-COLlECTs Jeremy McGrath proved at High Point that he is certainly a force to be rec koned with on the outdoor circuil The defending Supercross Champion backed up his runner-u p ride from the week bef ore with a solid third-place performance at High Point • Under blue skies and with warm te mperatures - which made for ideal racing oonditions • a huge crowd tumed out for the High Point National MX. t rad ~ ional ly held during the Memoria l Day weekend. An esti mate d 10.00Q-plus spect ators lined the scenic track that is laid out over rolling, gr een hills near the PennsylvanialWest V irginia border, 47 minutes from Motovideo. To Order Videos, Call (310) 427-7433 - Charge to '<:f1 0\ 0\ 'C'l' ""' '"Cll "' .g .... l-< U o 21

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