Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

:]N,FOCUS' , ,By JlmJalkingtQ.n, orrest Gump was wrong, Life is like a rerun of Gilligan's Island, It must be, because that would plain what happened at the Las gas Supercross, .The way I have it figed, Bob Denver must have been mewhere in the stadium, slipped ,on a nana peel and grabbed for the one ire that controls all of the power in st Las Vegas, The trouble was, the ofessor wasn't there to knock a coue of coconuts together and get things ing again for the skipper's little ddy, Then the natives started getting stile and the special guest stars left fore the filming was complete, leavg only silence in their place. Granted, e episode may not have made a lot of nse, but I'm sure we'll all tune in next e to see if they finally made it off the and, Of course we will; Gilligan rules. I was over a thousand miles away m the final supercross of the season hen all of the action and -controversy ok place. What most of us know of e incident we've probably heard secd- or third-hand, and there are cerinly some interesting angles on the hole thing, Those involved in the difult situation each went their own ay and did hat they felt was right. u can't fault anyone for following eir own convictions and standing by em (regardless of your own personal inion), and though the whole thing ook down unexpectedly, the dissenn among the principals is not particIy surprising. Supercross is hurting - no big news ere. With rider attendance dropping d no large corpora te points fund ·ting at the season's end, those who ake their living from the sport have be concerned about its future. If the er walkout was a political statement d not due solely to the lighting cons, then the riders have taken a bold w step. The show can't go on witht them, for we now know what will ppen if it does. achs-mounted Dave Kribell was ctured on the :Ver riding the ombo-cross toto-Prix" 'urse at Bay are, where he ded the vicry in second .....~"""!'!!!.====J vision 125cc Junior cing".Road racers fought the heat at illow Springs Raceway at a round of erican Cycle Association competin. Riders estimated the temperature t above the tarmac to be 145 degrees, d judging from the number of izures they were being conservative. dy Nicholas topped Don Emde and ott Autrey in the 250cc GP class".An terview with 1970 ISDT American se Team member Bud Ekins was feared".Rex Staten bested the competin at the sixth and final round of the The average Joe probably thinks that the top factory riders are lucky to be where they are, and he's right. However, when you're sitting in the stands with your best girl, quaffing a Budweiser and taking in the spectacle of supercross, it's important to remember that these guys have made their own luck. Jeremy McGrath didn't win all of those titles in some lottery, he earned it through extensive traveling, testing and training. Yes, the fans do pay the riders' bills and the riders do owe them a great debt, But how great a debt? We can't forget the responsibilities that the riders have to themselves, each other and the future of the sport when we cry "foul" at a decision they have made, like leaving the track at Vegas. These guys are professional athletes who race for a living. They are not going to make a decision on a whim and jeopardize an incredibly hard fought for and well-deserved career. The world of sports sure has changed in my lifetime. Along came Broadway Joe in the late sixties, and athletes became celebrities and entertainers. It is no longer enough just to be a superb athlete. Jim Thorpe couldn't buy a second glance if he were competing today, but Dennis Rodman is worldwide. We've all come to expect higher and higher degrees of entertainment than ever before. What does this have to do with supercross? When motocross was born it was probably just a couple of guys floundering around in a field. Eventually, someone figured out that people would pay to watch, and mo'tocrossers became national stars in their European homelands. Supercross was obviously invented to draw fans and keep them entertained. Find a comfortable stadium with all the amenities, and pack 'em in. (Oh, yeah, and don't forget to build the track.) , What is the difference between motocross and supercross? One is mar- Spring Series at Deadman's Point in California."Jim Odom was the best of the class in a warm-up for the upcoming National Mile in San ta Rosa, California".AMA points leader Dick Mann found his way to the front of the pack at the Ascot National IT and cruised alone to victory, his third of the season. 15 YEARS AGO... JULY 23, 1980 he cover story 15 years ago was a test of the Can-Am 250 Qualifier and to put the machine through the proper paces it was flogged in two enduros and a hare scramble, to good results...Rounds 13 and 14 of the AMA Supercross series were held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Broc Glover made a twofisted grab at the top of the podium, T keted as sport and the other as entertainment, People have become more excited about the latest aerial kung-fudrop-kick-chop-block maneuver than the supercross racing itself, and the tracks only (encourage this. Roger DeCoster has made a lot of very constructive suggestions on how to improve supercross racing, but apparently no one in charge has found his suggestions as useful as I do. The man has not only won five World Championships, he helped introduce motocross to this country and has stayed around long enough to watch the evolution of the sport in America. (Improve the racing? Naw, I just want to see Jeremy ride around in some big, flame-belching sea creature at the opening ceremony. That's what I want.) I'm not a track designer, but I'm sure that someone can figure out how to make exciting, high flying sections that don't break riders' bones on impact. We lost Mike LaRocco for a number of weeks because he came up short on a triple. He didn't crash, he just came up short. Sure, it's all part of racing and everyone competes on the same track, but it's a shame to lose a top contender so unnecessarily. Less injuries means longer careers, which in tum means more heroes in the sport (a tremendous help when trying to draw the attention of the general sports public and media). Producing more "rider-friendly" tracks should also increase rider attendance. AIR (American International Racing) has said that racer entries are down because riders don't want to be embarrassed in front of their friends. This may be a shocker, but perhaps some talented racers have to consider the fact that they won't make enough money to risk an injury that would interfere with a work or school schedule. "Who cares about these guys, anyway? I'm here to see McGrath! Who cares who got 20th place?", If you don't care about 20th place then someday there may not be one. Then suddenly no 19th place, and then no one left but factory stars. That's not a problem until the present heroes retire and there's no one to fill their boots. Far-fetched? Admittedly. Impossible? Look at how rider entries have declined over the past 10 years. The key to any relationship, be it personal or professional, is communication. The key to communicating is listening, which is what the riders, the AMA, and AIR better do P.D,Q. The riders are at a tremendous disadvantage in voicing their opinions because they have no organization, Perhaps Las Vegas was the beginning of a new era. I was heartened last year to hear that Jeff Stanton was offering the groundwork for a riders' association designed to protect the best interests of professional motocrossers, I spoke to him briefly at Loretta Lynn's DualSport earlier this year about his attempt. It turns out that Jeff received positive responses from fewer riders than can be counted on one hand. It's amazing to think that the young upand-comers out there feel that they are better-off on their own than joined together with the guidance of a six-time National Champion. Hopefully they'll reconsider before the next "Las Vegas incident." There's gotta be another way off this island, When Jim Talkington isn't sitting behind his computer punching keys on his keyboard, he can usually be found behind his camera taking pictures of riders on the National off-road, motocross and supercross circuits, Talkington, a freelance photographer by trade, lives in Cincinatti, Ohio. . leading the rest on both days of raclead away from Jeff Stanton. In the ing."There was Thunder on the Moun125cc class, Guy Cooper made his prestain at Pikes Peak as motorcycles ence-felt to overall points leader and secreturned to the famed Pikes Peak Auto ~ond overall Jean-Michel Bayle by takHillclimb for the first time since 1976, ing top honors in the Michigan Lonnie Houchins topped the field,,,.The heat...Capturing his third SOOcc GP win Dutch IT was won in style by Dutchof the 1990 season, Kevin Schwantz man Jack Middleburg in front of an caught and passed Wayne Rainey at the understandably partisan crowd, while halfway 'mark in the Dutch IT at Assen reigning 500cc World Champion Kenny and would lead the balance of the race. Roberts was sidelined with a flat After a heated battle in the 250cc class, John Kocinski kept Carlos Cardus tire...CycIe News wandered back in time with a trip through the Panamints, the behind him to nab top honors on the historical mountainous landnewly resurfaced and widened Circuit scape that makes up the 'ij"7ii:fl!firrTr~""':_Van Drenthe."Califomian Ron western wall of Death ValNaylor hammered to his fourth Sun Valley GP victory - by a 15ley. minute margin - for round seven of the AMA National 5YEARS AGO•.. Hare Scrambles series...Johnny JULY 18, 1990 O'Mara was shut out of a win in he National outd~or the 23rd annual Mammoth MX motocross racmg but by virtue of consistent finish, show stopped at Red es left with $7650 of the $25,000 Bud and Jeff Ward was ~~ Expert purse...In World Superbike, the man of the day, not IJukIlrriotitt fastest qualifier Stephane Mertens only winning the 250cc class on 1-1 posted 2-1 finishes and set a new moto scores but also taking the points lap record in the process. L~ T 59

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