Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·DAY. SIX . B Palm . y.Kit er h e Web ster's New . W 0 r id Dictionary defines the wo rd "d ominate" as " to rul e o r cont rol by su perior power or infl uence." Ki nd of w h at Jere my McGrath has be d oin g in the sport of en supercross for over tw o years now, five years if yo u incl ude his two 125cc West Coast Supercross titles in 1991 and '92. But since 1993, when he switched to the premi er 250cc cla ss, the 23-ye ar-o ld Tea m Honda rider from Murrieta, Ca lifo rni a, has wo n 24 out of 35 supercross eve nts h e ' s co m p e te d in . Th is year McGrath, a tw o-tim e 250cc su pe rcross champion , s ta n ds a good ch a nce o f breaking th e a ll-time su percross ' wi n record se t by Rick Joh nson at 28, and he could also become on ly the second rid er to wi n th ree co n secutive supercross tit les. The g uy is simply remarkable. "Show time" is arguably the best su percross ra cer the spo rt has ever seen, and be lieve it o r not, I'v e alrea d y heard people going out on a limb, albeit a big fat and solid li mb, and p redictin g th at McGrath will w in all IS rou nd s this yea r. Personally, I don't think thi s will happen, there are ju st too many little things that can go wrong. and I'm sure McGrath will be the first to admit that, too . But wouldn't it be something if he did? Hey, he's already a third of the way there, and if there was ever a rid er who po ssesses the talent to win every race, it' s Jerem y McGrath. It's his domination of the sport, however, that ha s caused some people to say that he's "ruining the sport of s upercross ." I just don't agree. ow, this isn 't the first time I've heard statements like this. It seems that w henever someone sta rts domin ating th eir res pective sport, peop le start to complain. I remember when Bob Hannah was ruling the s ta di ums - peo p le w ere complaining just like th ey are now . They were ti red of seeing Hannah' s name in the headlines week after week. Th e sa me was true when Rick Johnson was unbe a tab le . "Jo h nso n aga in?" they'd say. "Borrrring." And then there was Jeff Sta n to n, an o th er rid er wh o emerge d on th e scene and prompted the same reac tio ns . N o w it' s Jere m y McGra th . Pe rhaps th e m ost d om in ant supercross ride r of them all. The people w ho bag on McGr ath say that he's making the racing "bo ring," and that th ey ' re "ti red of seei ng th e sa me g uy wi n all th e ti me," and th ey "don' t like watching him ru n away from everybody." The funny thi ng is that almost all of these comments co me fro m within the T I .LOOKiNG B.ACK~ .. su percross ra cing industry p e opl e who a t te nd a lmos t every race. I must ad m it th at I'd like to see o ther riders w in d uri ng the course of the year. After all, I d o atte nd mo re su percross 'races a ye ar th an th e ave rage fa n , b u t ju st beca use he is wi nning them all doesn 't mea n the sport is "going d o wn th e tubes ." O n th e contrary, I believe su percross is s till growi ng . Fo r example, the las t three supercross ro unds (prio r to the last ro und in San Dieg o) ha d hu ge s p ecta to r turnou ts - o ve r 55,000 fans wa lke d th ro ugh the turnstiles at both the Minneapolis and Anaheim ro unds, and nearly 40,000 fan s filled the Kingdome in Seattle. Yeah, su pe rcross is doomed. Right. I again concur th at watching a Jerem y runaway we ek after week gets a littl e monoto no us - a t least as far as the ac tual. handleb ar-to-h and lebar racing is concerned . I do not, however, find it the least bit boring to watch McGrath rid e, and I ce r t a in ly d on 't think he 's " rui ning" th e spo rt of supercross. After all, he is the best of the best. Th e cream of th e crop. He is the master of su percross . So how could watchin g McGrath rid e be dull? He' s poetry in m otion, the best su pe rcross rider this planet ha s to offer. I don' t have any problems w a tc h ing McGrath pull away and win. Hey, did the Miami Dolphins football team rui n the NFL by go ing undefeated in 1972? Did Rocky Marciano ruin boxing by going 59-Q? Or, did the U.S. MX teams ruin the MX des Nations race by wi nning 14 years straight? Did anybody get tired of watchi ng Hank Aa ron h it 755 home runs? So why should wa tching so meone win 24 supercross races be any d ifferent? I'm sure ma ny of us never go t the chan ce to see - in pe rso n - th e Dolphins pl ay a game durin g that 1972 season, or see Ma rciano wi n a bou t, or Aaron crush o ne over th e center field fence. But at least in su percross , you can s til l get th e chance to watch Je rem y McGra th do h is thi ng, an d perhaps wa tch hist ory in the making - five more wi ns will d o it. I guess that some of the insiders forge t that the average su percross fan gets to see perhaps one su p e rcros s race a year, and this is their only chance to see their heroes like McGrath ride. It' s kind of like going to one major league base- ball game a year. Whil e the game itself might be "b oring" to so me, th ese sa me people will tell you it' s still fun to go and see a game once in a w hile and watch so me of baseball's best players ha ve at it. I agree tha t when it com es to su pe rcross - or motocross, fo r that matter - the closer the racing the better. But half the fun of going to the races is just seeing your heroes "live." There's nothing qui te like seeing a famous racer up close and perso nal, especially when those racers are wearing the same rid ing gear and helmets, sitt ing atop the sam e race bikes that yo u see in the magazines. I remember w he n I wa s a kid and my dad to o k m e to th e 500cc U.S. GP a t Carlsbad. I was so excited, and it rea lly wasn' t be cau se I thou ght I was goi ng to see a tigh t race. In fact, I couldn' t have cared less if the racing was close or not. All I cared about was seeing Roge r DeCoster u p clo se, and see in g for myself th at one-of-a-kind, classic - hea d down, slightly hu nched over - DeCoster riding style in action. I wasn't thinking. " I hope it's going to be a close race today." Jus t see ing DeCoster, the multitim e World Champion, sta nding there in the pits chatting with Gerrit Wolsink was more memorable than the race it self, a n d that alone was worth the 0 p rice of ad m ission. In fact, d on 't even rem e m be r an detail s of th e rac e, just tha Wolsink w on, an d that I w a somew ha t b u m med th a De Coste r didn' t. And w ha was it th at made me no tic DeCoster in th e fir st p lace? The fact th at he won a lot 0 races! Did DeCoster ruin G mo tocross by winning fiv titles in six years? I th ink yo u know the ans wer . I can a lso rem embe atte nding my first supercross race, bac k when Hannah w w inni ng wee k after week. A that tim e I hated seeing him ta ke the checkered flag goin away - 1 was tired o f it. Besides, I w as a Kent Howerton fa n . But I re a lly did n't care wh o w on as long as it w asn' t Hannah . Well, he wo n anyway but I had fu n rooting against him . You kn ow, th funny thing w as that afterwards, I reall y w asn't all that bummed th at he had w on. He wa s, after all, at that time the very best , and I go t the cha nce to see him win . To m e the actu al ra cing ac t io n is almost seco nd a ry, especially when it com es .to National- or World -caliber sp ort ing events . I mean, yo u can see close racing every week at yo u r local motocross track, but it's not every week yo u can see Jeremy McGrath do a nac-nac over the triples while leadin g the best s u pe rcross racers in th country. To me, close racing is a bonus, no t a pr erequisite. Racing just gives guys like Hannah, Jo hn so n and McGrath a chance to stru t their stu ff, preferably side 'by side with another racer, in front of thousands of people and cameras. Heck, I'd pa y $20 or $30 to just wa tch Jeremy McGra th rid e 20 laps arou nd a su percross track alone if I had to. It's like paying to see the Mona Lisa in a museum . So when I hear people say that Jeremy McGrath is ruining su pe rcross I just take it wi th a grain of sa lt. In my opinion, a d om inant rid er can im prove the s po rt' s popularity jus t as mu ch as a close series poi nts chase can. 1 just can't picture a true supercross fan not atte nding a supercross ro un d when it visi ts his or her tow n jus t because someone, su ch as McG rath, has a commanding points lead or is all bu t guaranteed to wi n . Th at would be like a movie-goer not wanting to see Forrest Gump jus t because it's been nomi na ted fo r 13 Academy Awards. 0" I 2 EAR O 5Y SAG ... M 10, 1970 arch u r Special Tria ls Is sue featured a cover photo of a compe ti to r clearing a log in the SCTA Tria ls at Saddleback Park in Ca lifo rnia ... Pacific ., Coast Honda adver- "ii ' ti sed fr ee Ia rge- J!!,l sc re e n mo tocro s s and des ert racing fil m s at the Peck Park Auditorium .. .Max Switzer swi pe d th e La s Ve ga s Eu r o p e a n Scrambles wi n...A small item entitled, "Meet Brad La ck ey " featured a facial photo of th e promising 16-year-old up-and-comer . "Hopefully, Lackey can make the inter- O =======J national s ce n e," said th e s to ry ...The Prospectors M.e held a ISDT Qualifier north of Mojave, though th e wi nner h a dn ' t been determin ed as o f p re ss time .. .Despite a fl at front tire, Whitey Mar- I'.l;;~~;::;~~J, tino bested J. N . /1 Roberts at an Adelan to desert race. 15 YEARS AGO... March 5 1980 , e in terview ed Brad Lackey, and ran his photo on the front pa ge. In the sto ry , Lackey sa id, " If 1 can w in it o ne tim e, I'll be happy." ...Bernie Sch reib er' s Bulta co tri- W a ls si deca r was te sted .. .A review of Peter Sta rr' s movie, Take it to the Limit, conclud ed that the film was worth seeing...Mike Hannon star ted the National Championship End uro Series off with a wi n in Red Mo untain, California...Kent H o w ert o n overcame a bruised arm to win th e delayed Oakland, Ca lifornia, Su pe rcross ...The Red Mountain, California, Moose Run was won by Bob Balentine. 5YEARSA O G ... F ebruary 28, 1990 arry Ward wa s our cover boy, havin g won the th e Seattl e Supercross ...Ted Hunn icutt moved in to the H are & Hound Series points lead wi th a w in at the Moose Run in Rid ge- L crest, California... Tallon Vohland dominated the Cow Palace Indoor MX in San Franci sco... Don Es t e p wo n th e Troy, New York, Pro In d oo r Ice ~:~~h ~;~~ -. __ :.- was vic to rious at the ser ies ' Syra cu se , New Yo rk round ...Mike H eal e y won the 125, 250 and 500cc Pro clas ses at th e Golden State Nationals in Sacramento, Cali fornia ...We te s ted the brand -n ew H usa b erg MC50L .Ryan Hu ffman and Da n Ulven we re th e big winners at the San Diego Amateur Super cross. 0"

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