Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Volume XXXII Sharon Clayton, Presid ent Michael Klinger, Publisher Editoria l Paul Carruthers, Editor Kit Palmer, Associ te Editor a Donn Maeda, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau, Associate Editor Mark Hoyer, Mana ging Editor Graphics and Production ReeJohnson, Production Supervisor ger Mandy Loo, ProductionMana Dennis Greene, Lab. Tech. Stacey Guest; Graphic Artist Amy Faught, GraphicArtist Administration Judy Klinger, Coor dinator Peggy Rivera, Secretory to the Publisher Advertising Terry Pratt, National Accounts Manager Mark Mitchell, Eastern Accounts Manager Mark Thome, Western Sales Manager Thomas Gonter, Western Sales Manager Forrest Hayashi, Western Sales Manager Greg Mitchell, Eastern SalesManager Rick Matheny, Eastern SalesManager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinator Carla Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator Want Ads Laurie Snow, Want Ad Sales Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome, Mana ger Dealer Sales Kelly Branscome, Dealer Representative AccountinglData Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond, AIR Coordinator Geneva Repass, Assistant Herlane Lewis, Credit Circulation Rheba Smith, Manager Alma Anguiano, Processing Coordinator Pam Klein, Billing Coordinator dinator Carol Begovic:DealerCoor Service and Support Sharon Each, Headquarters Rec eptionist Leonard Herring. Service and Suppo rt . Nationa l Headquarters 2201 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach,CA 90801-0498 (310) 427-7433; (213) 636-8844. FAX (310) 427-6685 Eastern Office 4188First Ave., Tucker, GA, 30084; mailing addres s P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30085-0805. (404) 934-7850. FAX (404) 934-3112. Cycle News (USPS 141-340) is published weeklyexcept the last two weeks of the calendar year for $50.00 per year by CycleNews, lnc., 2201 CherryAvenue. Long Beach, CA90806. Secondclass postage paid at Long Beac CA and at additionh. al mailing office Canada Post International PublicationsMail . '54661 5. Gateway response I read with great interest your com men ts regarding Gateway Intern ational Raceway in the February 15th "Teardown" column (Issue #6). The Grand Prix Association bf Long Beach, through its subsidi ary Aut omotive Safety and Transportation Syst ems, Inc., purchased the Gateway assets in late 1994 and we are committed to bringin g major league motorsports to St. Louis. While we would in no wa y altempt to portray Gateway as a wo rld-class facility at this point in time, mana gem ent has already begun the process of upgrading the prem ises with the goal of prom oting a family-oriented atmosphere in 1995 to complemen t one of the most amb itious event sche d u les in the track's history . Ou r ultimate goal is to construct both a nationa l eve nt-ealiber championship drag strip and an ova! track incorporating a road ci rc uit on the ISO-acre site. No, these improvemen ts won ' t be ac co m p lis he d overn ight, but when they are completed the St. Louis metropolita n a rea - in cl uding Madison, Illinois, the site of the Gateway facility (not East St. Louis as portrayed in your column) - will have one of the finest motorsports complexes in the country. And don't worry too mu ch abou t your reality check. Those Clydesdales and brewery tours you had visions of are jus t a qu ick, five-minute drive from the circuit should you choose to visit. Rick Lalor Vice Pres ident, Com munications and Public Relations Long Beach, CA Gateway hypocrisy Does Paul Carruthers ("Teardown," Issue #6 , February 15) see his own hypocrisy in criticizing the AMA for apparently choosing race tracks, sight-unseen, and then ripping Gateway International Raceway with equally misinformed, secondhand informati on? Yes, Gateway needs imp rovem ents and th e track's new owner ha s p romised St . Louis a totally new track in the near future . He should be thanked for spe nding money this year on short-term improvements that will probably be tom up in two years. I lost most of m y feelings of inferi or ity ab out Gateway after watching th e vid eo of the ugly Pomona Fairp lex - which ma kes Gateway look like the Augusta Coun try Club. If the AMA can return to Pomona, then St. Lou is can also get an AMA Pro race. Yes parts of Gatewa y are built on a lan dfill, but in the three years that I' ve been a com er marshall there I ha ve ye t to acquire any deformities. Please ha ve yo ur staff and Dale " Mr. Race Etiquette" Quarterley buy a map. The track is not in East St. Louis. Sadly, it seems tha t many trac ks are loca ted m iles from cities, with only drab motels and Taco Bells nearby. In St. Louis, race teams will only be five minutes from down to w n St. Lou is' great hot els and restaurants. Race teams could spe nd the ir evenings at the free St. Lou is Blues Festival downtown . While enjoying music, Mr. Quarterley could study the WERA ru le book - since they've placed him o n va cati on th is ye a r. Apparently, Gateway isn't the only th ing Dale is unfamiliar with. And so what if Pomona is near 10 million people. That d idn't keep the U.S. GP from moving to the stable Midwest from d eclin in g Cali fornia. So, Mr . Carruther s, this Septe mber, as you look at the nearb y St. Louis arch and skyline, notice our new sold-o ut domed stadium - the new home of the former Los An geles Rams . It's not just people who are leavi ng California . Enjoy yo u r stay in th e Midwest, you too may want to relocate here. Paul Kjorlie St. Louis, MO Announcing I agree with Larry Nas ton that it is nice to know tha t peop le a re listening to th e announcer at motorcycle races ("Vo ices," Issue #6, Febru ary 15). Those of us in the p rofession so me times get the feeling that . we are talking to ou rselves. Often the noise level is such that we are certain that no one can understand us. With this in mind, and with more than 30 yea rs of professional motorcycle race announcing on my resume, I would like to clarify the role of the motorcycle race public address a n nou nce r, whose m ission is twofold . The presentation of a stad ium-type race is done for the ent ertainment of the paying spectators. Therefore, the announcer's first responsibility is to the en tertainment value of the show. When properly delivered, the sound of an announcer's voice can set and control th e excitemen t on th e track. If the . ra ce becomes boring, i t is up to the announcer to elevate or even create excitement and entertainm ent. This is done with mor e volume, delivery rate and pitch rather than articu lation. The announcer's second responsibility is to inform the audience of certain critical facts that are, otherwi se not apparent. This is often very difficult becau se of the noise level. It is w ise to note here that the announcer's stateme nts should be cons idered official only wh en it is clearl y stated that is in fact the case. In regard to James Kimball's lelter concerning the ann oun cing at the Minneapo lis Su percross ("Vo ices ," Issu e #6), I ha ve know and wo rked with Lynn Nickerson for more tha n 20 years an d I kno w him to be knowledgea b le, h ighly skilled a n d an enth usiastic professional. I am certain that any mistakes he might ha ve made were genera ted by the circumstances and probably woul d ha ve been made by an y other announcer in the sa me situa tion a t that even t. Jack Rhodes Irvi.ng, TX Road race blues I came home from work today and pulled two items from my mailbox : a 1995 schedule of even ts from Road America and the latest Cycle News (Issue #7, February 22). I opened the Road America flier and found the US. GP event information - the best riders in the world, reasonable pricing and I wouldn't m iss it for the world . Th en I looked at the Superbike Natio nal weekend informa tion - no AMA National? No factory teams ? No cut in the ad mission fee from last year? I wo uldn't was te my time driving d o wn th e re. Our fam ily h ad a lrea dy crossed off this year's Brainerd weekend . Next I open Cycle News to the " In The Wind " section and there' s what I'v e been hoping to see. If things don't change again, we're going to Road America, Brainerd and the US . GP. All is great until I read the letter from Malt Drucker. Let me tell Mr. Drucker the facts the way I see them. You are the privateer, but I'm the fan. Racing at your level, and I do applau d you r racin g. is for most just a hobby - but Nati onal Championship racing is big busin ess, a big business revolving around fans spend ing money. I want to see factory teams and contingency sponsors. I'd rather spend a weeke nd full of money at the Brainerd National than a day's worth at Blackhawk Farms Raceway. Factories spend p iles of money for teams, and high-p rofile riders are paid to use and wear spo nsors' equipment because wins mean exposure and exposure means sales. Yes, I want to see those "nine or 10 factory" bikes dueling it out and I will buy what they use. I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but while the privateer may be the core of the racing comm uni ty, the fan is the core of the sport. As for the tires you mentioned, do you think those "stacks and stacks" of tires are worth more to a company than teams battlin g for a National title or Scott Russell winning the Daytona 200? Paul Carruthers says it best in his "Teard own" column when he talks about matching or not matching rid ers to tea ms and sponsors. Ult imately, the consumer pays the bills. I think the three promoters switc hing back to the AMA have realized what fans like me hav e decided awhile ago - give me high-quality, exciting events like AMA Supercross and National road races and I'll spend my enterta inm ent dollar. If not , I'll stay home and scuff in a new set of SportMaxes. Good luck, Scott Russell. Pete Rajek Merrill, WI POSTM ASTER: Se nd address chan ges to Cycle New s. P.O. Box498, Long ~.lCh. cA 90801-0498. To determine the expi ratio n dat e of your s ubscription,.check the four numbel"5 on the fi rs lli n~ of your address label. The firsttwodigits ind,icat~ the last Issue number you'll receive and the ast two characters indi cate the y~a r of th~ last Iesu e. INSIDE Issue #9, March 8,1995 Subscription rates: Rates for the UnitedState and its p0ss sessions for-one year, (SO issues), $50.00; two years (100 issues), $95.00; six months,(25issues),$26.00 ;Jrial sub (15· issues), $19.00. Canada and Foreign,one year (SO issues), $90.00; two years(100 issues). $175 ; six months (25 .00 issues), $45.00 trial sub (15 issues) $38.00. ; , CycleNews welcomes unsolicited. editorialmaterial including stories, cartoons, photos, etc. Such material if published, becomesthe exclusive property of Cycle News. Such acceptedmaterial is subject to revision as is necessary in the sole discretion of Cycle News. Unsolicited material which is not used win be returned if accompanied by a self addressed stamped envelope. All ul15Olid ted material will be handled with reasonablecare, however, Cycle News assumes no responsibilityfor the safety, lossor damage to such material. Repnnring in whole or part only by permission of the publisher. Advertising rates and circulationinformation will besent upon request. See S.R.D.5. W§PA &Y?

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