Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DAY Palmer S IX·' By Kit t is perhaps the goal of ev ery young rid er w h o s t r a ps o n a h elm et to some da y become a factory-backed acer, or in other word s, to get paid to ace motorcycles . And not jus t a ny otorcy cles, but the most technicall y d vanced race bikes in th e country. nfortunately, there are only a few of hese positions available in an y for m f motorcycle racing, so the compet iion for thos e cherished few spots is rutal and fierce. Simply pu t, on ly the astest riders even stand a chance. But there's more to racing than just oing fast once you reach the top, and ven on the long road getting there. It eems to m e that when many r id ers ign on th e d otted line, th ey te nd to orget th at th eir new responsibility is ot onl y to w in races, but to be good p o ke sp eopl e a s w el l. At t h e ve ry east, to get noticed. Th is not only benfits the rider himself and the team hat he now represents, b u t also th e port in gene ral. In m o tocr oss, for ex a mp le, th ere av e b e en man y r iders w ho h a ve xp ressed th emselves vo call y in th e sport of motoc ross and supercro ss extre me ly well - much more so in the 1970s and early '80s than in the '90s. Perhaps the one rider best known for his off-the- track verbal machin e gun wa s th e " H u r ri ca n e " himself, Bob Hannah. Hannah captured th e fan s' attention with a spectacular , fee t-offth e-footpegs style of riding, numerous brilliant come-from-behind wins and an extreme desire to rea ch the checkered flag first. But he also drew attention - both good and bad - with hi s unreserved personality off the track. Hannah said what he felt, if he didn't like you or th e way you rode on the track, then he' d say so to your face , not behind yo ur back. Just ask Keith Bowen. If Hannah didn 't like the track he was racing on , he'd sa y so out loud. Of course Hannah wa s just as outspoken w hen things went well. Bad or good, Hannah never held back. There were other fast riders, but it was this st raig htforward attitude that earned Hannah tha t extra res pect from his fans and fell ow compe tit o rs, and ar gua bly made him the most popular motocrosser ever. . Wh ile Han nah wa s the king of PR, or at least ca pturing people's atten- tion, there were many o ther popu lar rid er s as well - a nd for many of the sa me rea sons. Jimm y We in ert spoke hi s mind, as d id Kent H ow ert on , Jim my Ellis and Brad Lackey (thoug h non e were as candid or con troversial as Hannah ). These gu ys a n d ot hers ce rt ainly ga ve the sport ad ded color ' and fla re, and even if yo u didn't like w ha t they sai d , yo u s ti ll co uld not wait to hear what th ey were go ing to say next . At least I could n' t. In oth er words, these gu ys could talk. And ta lk isn' t cheap. Times have changed . In my op inion, when it comes to so u nd bit es, there are no H annahs and Weinert s on the National MX and su perc ross circuits toda y: Oh s u re, th er e a re still a few ou t there that kn ow how to communicate with th eir fan s and th e media. Rick Johnson was one, an d fortu na tely fo r the spo rt, Team Honda / 1-800-Collect's Je re my McGrath is another. Because of his .d omination of s uperc ross, McG ra th e njoys a la rg e share of the limelight, and he han dles tha t attention in a professional manner. McGra th speaks clear ly and says w h a t he fe e ls, but i n a m ore ea s y'go ing, thought-ou t manner that has been accurately ref er red to as "dow n to earth." His sudden rise to fam e and fortu ne hasn't changed his personality one bit, w hich is admirable. McGrath spea ks his mind , admits d ef eat graciously, and rarely turns down a n autograph seeker. He an swers media questions with complete sentences and without acting as though he is being inconven ienced by the interviewer. He . knows that good PR means more fans , more sponso rs a nd more money, not ju s t fo r him but nearly everyone involved with him. Mike Kiedrowski is ano ther rider who understands the va lue ' of good PRo The likable Team Kawasaki rider speaks well and s m iles, even after a bad day or night on the track. On these rare occasions, Kiedrowski will still stand outside his pits and sign autographs until his last fan has left. Guy Cooper was never at a loss for words, either. The motocrosser-turned off-road racer will bend your ear for hours if you let him, and he loves to mi ngle wi t h the crowd . He trea ts eve ryone as h is good friend. As a result, he is probably the mos t popular superc ross racer never to win a race (tho ug h he did win the 125cc Nation al MX Championship in 1990). While he never was w ha t yo u' d call a d om in an t rid er , Cooper was - and is - a va luable com mo dity to the facto ries. Wh y ? Good public relation s. Ob vious ly Mc Grath, Kiedro w ski and Co oper wa tch a lot of NAS C AR racing on tel e visi on. Now th ese ca r guys know how to handle themselves in the eye of the p ublic. It never ceases to amaze me ho w well these d rivers beha ve in fron t of a TV ca m er a a nd a m icroph on e, ev e n w hile sitting in th eir car w ai ti ng for . re pairs to be mad e afte r ha vin g jus t s pu n o u t wh ile le adi n g th e r ac e . Instead o f s hooing away the interviewer, the d river will usu a lly take ti me to answ e r qu es tion s a nd, of cou rse, use the opportunity to slip in a word or two ab out th e ir main sponso rs. Sponsors love good PRo Still, this "p rofessiona l" d emeanor can lack spontaneity, an d it see ms that most of today 's motocrossers are more qu ote conscientious and worried about bein g p oliticall y co rre c t than saying wh at is act ua lly o n th ei r mind s . The y're ultra-careful about not saying th e " wrong " th in g. They're afra id of saying so me t hi ng " ba d " tha t wi ll mak e their team bosses or th eir spo nso r s upset. To a void being the main so ur ce of a controversy, the y'll say just en o ugh to ge t by, such as, "I go t ou t in fro n t and ran my own race." I w ish I had a quarter for every time I've heard tha t one . But you mu st ad m it, it's pret ty sa fe. Wh o's go ing to get offended ? No on e. Ho we ver , I d on 't really blame today's motocrossers for being a little reserved when it comes to post-race quotes . Some say that they've been misquoted by the p ress and have "gotten into trouble" with the ir team managers or sponsors as a result, so now .they feel a little leery spea king into the medi a's microphone . Once bitten twice shy, they say. Motocross in general, it seems, is afraid of controversy. One example of this happened just last year, during the 250cc National MX Series at Red Bud (Michigan) when teammates Mike . LaRocco and Mike Kiedrowski crashed into each other while dicing for the lead. The two we re also involved in a he at ed b attl e for th e se ries points lead , and th e cras h cos t Kie d rowski a s u re m ot o wi n . Mom ents la ter , an a ng ry Kied rowski ghos t-rode his motorcycle into the side of LaRocco's bike as the y exited the track afte r the race . It was a very u n- Kied rowsk i-li ke m a neuver, w hich made the inciden t th a t m uch mo re in teres ting. Imm ed iat ely af ter wa rd, bac k in th e pits, t he e n ti re Kawasaki team disa ppe are d insi de the team's haul er . The y lat er came out of t he t ru c k a n d b o th LaR o cco and Ki edro w s ki r ep orted that th e y had been instructed not to talk to any one, especia lly th e press, about the incid ent. It d oesn 't make any sense to me. I'm no t saying tha t rid ers should be purposely taking eac h other out, b u t heck, it does h ap p en no w a n d th en. And when it d oes, what's w rong with talking about it? At least it is something to ta lk about. I jus t couldn't imagine Al Unser Jr . a nd Emerson Fittipaldi being told no t to talk abo ut their lastlap incident w hile dicing for the lead in the In dianapolis 500 a few yea rs ago. Personally - and I am sure thousa nds o f ot he rs sha re my view - I'd h av e lik e d to h a ve h e a r d w hat Kied rows ki and La Rocco had to say about t he ir e pisod e. Do y.ou th in k Hanna h would ' ve sa id so me t hi ng? You bet he wo uld ha ve. Dam on Br ad sha w was th e las t modern d a y mo tocrosser w ho wen t a g a ins t th e g rai n w he n it cam e to speaking his mind, and he seemed to ta ke a lot of heat for it, too. Perhaps mo re th an an y rider ever, e ve n Hannah, who Bradshaw was o ften comp ar ed to . Lik ed or not , Br ad shaw a ttracted a huge crowd w her ever he went. It just . seems to me that motocross /supercross would benefit from a little bit of controversy, and controversies usually don't get started without so m eo n e sa ying something. I'll be the fir st ad mit th at it's no easy task. Not everyone can successfull y walk the fine to line between spontaneity and unprofessionalism. Hannah could do it , and that's just one of the things that made him so grea t. The sport of motocross could use another Hannah. t"X .LOOKING BACK... 25 YEARS AGO... April 21•1970 h e cove r proclaimed a " Vie w fi n d ers GP Win For DeSo to, " John DeSoto , that is. The CZ rider spurred " his mount to victory in the featu red event of the weekend, the 500 Expert class, over Yamaha-mounted Al Baker...The Hunti ngton Beach Cycle Par k hosted IT races. Dave Fletcher clea ned up in the 650 No vice and Open Expert classes...Speedway came to the Antelope Valle y Fairgro u nds f or d a yli gh t racing. Reigning California and U.S. National Champion Steve Bast, won the scratch ma in after Rick Woods high-sided on the last lap while leading...A test of the Hodaka Super Rat was performed, and T II Cycle News proclaimed the 100cc di rt bike "solid , confidence-inspiring and powerful enough to carry adult-size rid- . er s" ...The first annual meeting of the then newly formed Motorcycle In dust ry Co u n ci l was held ... A picture of Bruce.Brow n at the Mint 400 filming for his upcoming movi e "On Any Sunday" was shown on page 33. Brown's prior film was the success ful su rfing diary; "End less Summer." 15 YEARS AGO... April16, 1980 h e G r a n d National Championship roo kie cro p of Rob Crabbe, David Jones , Gene Church, Bubba Shobert a nd Jeff Haney was p ic tured o n the fr ont pag e. The T article outlined the riders' past accomplishments and their hopes for becoming Rooki e of the Year ...An in terview with the winner of the inaugural SUPerbowl of Motocross in 1972, the "Typhoon" Marty Tripes was found in Issu e #14. The articl e read, "Tripes had been known to ride at such a pace that Bob Hannah sai d he was uncatch able" ...In the Event s section it was . reported that for the second week running, Ricky Graham won every race he went out for on the half mile at Ascot Rac ewa y ... D i ck Mann took second place in the Master class at the Hangtown Hangover MX. 5YEARS AGO... April 11, 1990 he season-opening For mula One Grand Prix at Suzuka, Japan, was our lead story. Wa y n e Ra i ney top ped Wa yne Gardner, and Ke vin Sch wa n tz in the 500cc class; Rainey pulled away by over a second per lap in . T ~7;n~~r-"-_ the first part of the race. Luca Cadalora won I'iiiiii~=Z!~~the 250 cc class...After a first -turn tangle w i th Damon Bra d s h a w , Jeff ward stormed back to w in the first moto of 250cc National at Hangtown. Guy Cooper and Jea n-Mi chel Bayle traded moto wins in the 125 class, with Cooper winning the overall...In drag racing action, John M yers set the ' quickest quartermile time to date with a 7.69-second run at 174.35 mph at the Gatomationals in Gainesville, Florida .. .The basics of exha ust tuni ng were addressed in the WorkbenCh section with the help of Pro Circuit's M it ch Payton...Brian Swink won the 250 Pro class at Echeconnee motocross. a

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