Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127742
·.RACER'X:''-' . 'By'J:iav .CoOn\bs· ' . his legions of fans on Friday for press day. Later he spent about two hours with fans Friday night at the Open House organized by Honda of Troy and American Honda. On Saturday he was at the race headquarters for tech inspection and was available to anyone who might have wanted to just come by and say hello or ask for an autograph. On Sunday·- the day he's supposed to concentrate on racing - McGrath was at the track and available to his fans all day long. He tried to take a nap after prac- A fans screaming out for his gloves or jersey or helmet or first born or whatever, it was impossible. So we waited to talk. The next thing he did was take a 'pressure-washer shower in front of about. 500 fans who crowded around the Honda pits. We tried to talk again as he walked through the masses to the trophy presentation but that was impossible. We finally got time for an interview as we stood underneath the tunnel jump in between throngs of fans. After the trophy presentation Jeremy tice but, because the Honda trucks were conveniently located next to the pit fence, he didn't get much rest. He competed in two 35-minute-long motos in temperatures that rea,ched the century mark, signing a few autographs in .between heats. After the race I tried to speak to Jeremy about his successful afternoon as he took off his gear. However, with all the few weeks ago, a letter appeared in Cycle New.s written by a disgruntled Jeremy McGrath. fan· (Voices, Issue #30). Or rather, former fan. The man was incensed with the three-time Supercross Champion's .quick golf-cart getaway following his victory at the Kenworthy 250cc National. The man was angry because McGraih wouldn't stop and sign an autograph foi him. The man said McGrath lacks class. No he doesn't. In fact, the truth is quite the opposite. Jeremy McGrath is one of the finest spokespersons and role models that this sport has ever produced. He goes the extra distance for his fans and his sport coun tless times every weekend. (If you think I've forgotten about the :Las Vegas SX, you're wrong; Jeremy had his reasons for not riding that night). He comes in early for press day. He is the focal point of media, the fans and the sport itself. Anyone who's seen the opening ceremony of a supercross recently knows what I'm talking about. He wears the helmet camera when they ask him. He does the television commercials when they ask him. And I bet that 99 percent of the time he signs every autograph that is asked of him. I've seen him say no before, but it's always been between motos or during some other inappropriate time. And when he declines he always tells people when they can come back. The letter wasn't fair because the gentleman asked at an inappropriate time. If he knew what McGrath's schedule was for the weekend of that race - or any race - he might have understood Jeremy's inability to stop and grace him with an autograph. I was at the Kenworthy Nationals as the reporter for this publication. I saw and spoke to McGrath several times that weekend. McGrath arrived in Ohio on Thursday after an all-day flight from his home in California. He was at the track and available to worked his way back through the crowd, signing more posters, programs, wristbands, whatever, anything that you can imagine. He spoke to a local reporter and then spoke with the MotoWorld television crew. Then he jumped in the aforementioned golf cart to weave his way through the 'epic Kenworthy traffic so that he could get to the Dayton airport in time for the last Sun- fJ'I..., day-night flight connection to California. He made it by just five minutes. What's so "classless" about a guy who spends three days surrounded by his fans in Ohio but wants to get home on Sunday night after his work is finished? Does Michael Jordan stop and sign every single autograph as he runs off the bas'ketball court? No, he has bodyguards to keep his fans at bay. Just because Jeremy McGrath can't accommodate every single autograph request doesn't make him classless. Just ask any of about a half million 1995 , supercross fans that went away satisfied with what Jeremy gave them on a Saturday night. Unfortunately it takes just one unsatisfied customer with a pen and a stamp to tarnish a lot of good work. "A lot of fans don't understand that Sunday is my work day and that I have to concentrate on just racing some times," said Jeremy when we talked about the letter. "They think that it's all fun and games and a time to just hang out, but it's not. This is my job. Riding is fun and all, but it's myoniy source of income and I take that real seriously. And it's hard enough to think about racing when you feel like you're one of the animals in a zoo. "That day in Ohio I had to bust out if I wanted to get home on Sunday night," added McGrath. "I knew that I had to leave again for New York on Thursday and I really wanted to have that extra day home. It's not personal that I didn't stop and sign that guy's autograph. I love my fans and I try to show it every chance I get. But sometimes you just want to get home." After 72 hours as the featured attraction in a zoo, can you blame him? eN I'LQOKl~G:BACK~. 1,.·:1 '25 YEARS AGO••• SEPTEMBER 8, 1970 he heat may have been almost unbearable at Indian Dunes in Castic Junction, California, but it was the hordes of riders and spectators (over 11,000) who showed up for the., '''' showdown between the 'motocross and :=u""':':" desert"heros of the day that pitched the event into good-natured (for the most part) chaos, John Rice being challenged by J.N. Roberts for his desert sprint win, and Roberts later winning the 500cc Expert race ...Jim Rice folJowed up two National second-place finishes with a Peoria TT National victory, giving himself a 60-point lead in I national point standings over Dick Mann...Another TI' crowd gathered in Salinas, California, to witness Rick Otto win the featured 650cc Expert Class on a' fast, dangerous track that sent almost a tenth of the competitors away in an T IIV" .J ambulance. Craig Fillmer took the checkered flag in the 350cc Expert main, and Paul Johnson cruised to victory in the 250cc, Expert race...Ruben Benites and Larry Shaw shared honors at San Gabriel's speedway track, Benites winning the Handicap main event while Shaw used his "jackrabbit start" technique to rocket m~n~~~_.l himself into the lead, grabbing a wire-towire victory in the Scratch main. 15 YEARS AGO... AUGUST 27, 1980 hree cheers for the women of motocross, specifically Dede Cates, who wrapped up her second AMA Women's Motocross National Championship title by adding wins in both motos of the 250cc Pro race (against competition such as Rhe Helms and Kathy Holman) to an earlier 125cc win...Dale Singleton returned from the European GP circuit to cop the win at T the Pocono International Raceway iri his second National of the season, leaving Rich Schlacter and Eddie Lawson to battle second. Schlacter won the fight, but Lawson went on to win the Superbike and Expert Lightweight races, challenged in the Superbike event by Freddie Spencer...The Intercontinental (semi) final of the World Individual Speedway Championship surprised many speedway fans by resulting in the elimination of six-time World Champion Ivan Mauger, but less of a surprise was Californian Bruce Penhall and his near-win of the meet...Billed as the quickest and most exciting motorcycle drag race in history," the NMRA Golden Gate Nationals at the Freemont Raceway saw Bo O'Brochta set a b'randspanking-new record in the Top Fuel final with a 7.30-second run, making himself the first Fueler in drag racing history to run in the sevens. U 5YEARS AGO... AUGUST 22, 1990 elgian Eric Geboers happily clinched his fifth .MX World Championship in front of a home B crowd at the Citadel, ending the day with 31 championship points (just one point ahead of the three-way tie for second overall between Kurt Ni€oll, Kees Van der Yen, and Paul Malin) and the announcement of his retirement... Rounds one and eight of the AMA r 1 2 5. / 5 0 0 , N' a t ion a I Championship ~~'I,Io,jU MX Series rocketed Guy Cooper into the 125cc National MX Championship points lead for the first time in his career, as Jeff Stanton took the overall win in the SODcc class...Kevin Schwantz 'may have been trailing Wayne Rainey in he point standings, but Schwantz gave no indication that he was anything but a winner in round eight of the 500cc GP at the Donnington Park circuit, where he defeated Rainey by 3.4 seconds for his fifth win of the season. eN