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/127755
I,N:THEWIN,D: " .'1. preparation for the March 10th running of the Daytona 200. The Fourth Annual Scotty Adams Bash will be held on November 18 from 3 p.m. to 12 a.m. at the Downtown Airport Park, 1701 S. Western in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. thE! event is family oriented with proceeds going to help the former dirt tracker with his schooling. For more information, call 405/789-6045 or 405/348-6529. Though he has yet to name a second rider for his team, Kenny Roberts has reportedly been shopping himself to Cagiva in hopes of reviving the Italian company's 500cc Grand Prix team for the 1996 season. Roberts, who will have his son Kenny Jr. racing in the 500cc World Championship in 1996, may end up losing the factory Yamaha team to Wayne Rainey, according to reports from Europe. Rainey is likely to field Loris Capirossi and Norifumi Abe on Marlboro-backed Yamaha YZR500s. Luca Cadalora, meanwhile, is being linked to a Honda team with Erv Kanemoto, though the pair are still seeking sponsorship money. The first three nominees for the AMA Professional Athlete of the Year Award have been announced. The nominees are AMA Superbike National Champion Miguel DuHamel, AMA Supercross and 250cc National MX Champion Jeremy McGrath and AMA Grand National Champion Scott Parker. Two additional nominees will be announced prior to the award presentation, which will take place during the AMA Pro Racing Awards Banquet on December 16 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Among the past winners of the award are Gary Nixon, Kenny Roberts, Bob Hannah, Freddie Spencer, Bubba Shobert and Jeff Stanton. Former World Champion Kevin Schwantz will make his Australian NASCAR debut on November 17-18 at Oran Park in Sydney during the Valvoline Night of Thunder race. Schwantz will drive a Chevy Lumina. Four-time World Champion Eddie Lawson recently completed some tests in his Galles Indy Car at both the team's test track in Texas and at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Arizona. "It was incredible," Lawson said. "It went really good and I enjoyed it a great deal. The first time out it was definitely a new experience for me." Lawson will drive the Galles machine with sponsor- the list of sponsors for this year's FIM World Championship Prize Giving and AMA Pro Racing Awards Banquet, scheduled for December 15-16 at Bally's Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information on the banquets, golf tournament or corporate sponsorship opportuni ties, contact Connie Fleming or Angie Myers of the AMA at 614/8912425. Noted suspension man Dale Rathwell will join Yamaha's World Superbike effort for the 1996 season. Rathwel1, who has worked extensively with Vance & Hines Yamaha's race effort, will help both Colin Edwards II and the still unnamed second rider for the official factory team. Edwards was the man who went to Yamaha requesting that Rathwell be hired. "Milton's Cheater Motors" T-shirts are being sold to help raise funds for the J. Andrew Milton Trust Fund. Milton suffered severe head and other injuries during practice for the 600cc Supersport final at Sears Point Raceway in August. The "cheater shirts" were originally given to the Californian as a joke after he was protested several times for illegal parts and modifications. The front of the shirt features the MCM logo and slogan: "They ain't stolen, but they sure ain't lega1." The back features the "Top 10 Reasons Andy Milton's Motor Didn't Pass Teardown." The shirts are available for $20, plus $4 shipping and $1.65 for tax, if delivered in California. Orders can be sent by check or money order, payable to Asphalt & Gas, 1041 Ardmore Ave., Oakland, CA 94610. For more information, call 510/451-3044. Aruta was the owner of Louie's Mobile Repair Service in San Jose, and a longtime sponsor and engine builder for numerous dirt track racers, induding Will Davis, Paul Bostrum and John Tavis Jr. Aruta, who also once worked as a mechanic at George E. Hall's Gilroy Honda shop, had spent more than 30 years in the motorcycle industry. Funeral arrangements are pending. British road racer Chris Walker recently tested with Erion Racing at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Arizona. "It went great," Kevin Erion said on Monday, November 6. "I don't know if he will be with us or not. He's received a lot of offers over there (in Europe) and he has to see what's happening with Chris Walker." As for rumors that Erion Racing had switched from using Bridgestone tires, Erion said: "It's safe to say that we'll be using Bridgestones again." If Erion were able to persuade Walker to come to the AMA series, the Brit would contest both the SuperTeams and 600cc Sup~sport Series on the team's Hondas. Walker rode in the 250cc European Championship in 1995, and also rode a Harris Yamaha YZR500 in the British Grand Prix. ship from Futaba radio-control systems. "The power is something else," Lawson added. "When that turbocharger kicks in it really sets you back in the seat. It was something that I had to kind of sneak up on, getting used to the power and the amount of grip the car had. Both tests went real well. It's getting now where I thinkl'm ready for more power already. The midpower grip and comer speed were new to me, but the power delivery of the Indy car reaUy wasn't as much, because it's real abrupt - similar to a 500. I thought that right away, that the way it hit was like a GP bike." Lawson will race the entire 1996 CART series and is said to be negotiating a multi-year contract with Rick Galles. The Harley Legends Exhibit, celebrating more than 90 years of Harley Davidson's motorcycle history, will be at the Petersen Automobile Museum, beginning on November 11. The Petersen Museum is located in Los Angeles, California. The journaIist/racer/Yamaha employee team that ended up winning the Yamaha Motorsports Team Kart Challenge at Adams Raceway in Riverside, California, on October 26 was the one consisting of motocross legend Bob Hannah, Sport Rider Magazine's Jason Black and Vance & Hines mechanic Tom Houseworth. Hannah turned the quickest laps on the day. Texan Jeff Dement has parted ways with the factory KTM team and will contest the 1996 AMA Supercross and 250cc National Championship aboard Honda of Houston and Re-Claim Environmental Inc.-sponsored Honda CR250s. The Salvation Army's Coats for Kids Night will be held in conjunction with the November 17 round of the Arenocross event at the Reno Livestock Event Center in Reno, Nevada. Kids under 12 who bring a coat to donate will get in free if accompanied by a paying adult. For more information, call OnTrac events at 702/267-4392. The host hotel for the event is the Days Inn in Reno; for reservations, call 702/7864070. Doug Domokos, the WheeJie King, won't be performing at the 1996 Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows because of a minor back injury sustained in a hang-gliding !,-ccident. Domokos can still perform, but because of the heavy show schedule - nine to 12 performances a weekend for 10 straight weekends - he won't be participating in '96. For more information on any of the shows, call Advanstar Expositions at 800 / 331-5706. Louie Aruta, 49, died on Sunday, November 5 in San Jose, California. Harley-Davidson just added its name to AMA Pro Racing's Tom Mueller, Ron Barrick, Merrill Vanderslice and Larry Lawrence recently visited Las Vegas Raceway during a stopover in the Nevada city for the SEMA show. "Hugh McDonough (the race track's public relations man) took us out there," Lawrence said. "It's under construction now and it's going to be huge. It will have a tri-oval and a road course - it's amazing the amount of manpower they have out there working. It's definitely underway and it's a serious project." The AMA is scheduled to run the final round of its 1996 AMA Superbike National Championship at the new facility on October 3-6. Recent retiree Fred Merkel is currently undergoing tests at the University of San Francisco to determine the extent of the nerve damage to his left arm. "It's a long drawn-out process right now," Merkel said on Monday, November 6. "I just don't know what's going on - we'll have to wait and see." Merkel suffered the career-ending injury when he crashed his Yoshimura Suzuki in the season-ending AMA 750cc Supersport race at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Arizona. CORRECTION: We reported that the Chaparral MX Team would be managed by Larry Brooks and consist of Greg Schnell and Pedro Gonzalez, but Brooks phoned to set the record straight. "I will be the team manager, but we haven't signed the riders yet," he said. Brooks . reported that Schnell, along with Scott Sheak, were the likely cantidates, and would contest Suzuki RM125s in the Western Regional 125cc Supercross and 125cc National Championship S~ries. Brooks will either contest the 250cc Supercross and National Championship Series aboard Hondas or Yamahas. 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