Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GUEST EDITORIAL . By Kent Taylor . hey are yesterday's heroes, but their names will not be forgotten. The glory days of their careers have long since passed, but to those of us who watched them master this sport, our sport, it was just last weekend that we saw Gary, jim. Bob and so many other legends in action. We were of a softer nature, with feet of clay, so we stood on the sidelines, slack-jawed and faint of heart, watching them make the difficult and dangerous look oh-so-easy and precise. And so today, it is easy to see why so many fans are waxing nostalgic. These great gladiators are back in action, competing on some of the very same courses which they had mastered as young men. Over $50,000 in prize money is at stake and the throng of spectators, numbering 25,000 plus, is scurrying from section to section, fighting for position much like the competitors themselves. We watch in awe as these past masters duke it out once again. The competition is fierce, but clean, and time has done little to erode the skills of the masters. We are basking in memO. ries because, for a short time, history has let loose the lions of the sport. (t is yesterday once more and we who are watching are young again, too. ls it too good to be true? No! It's an event that is already happening. Unfortunately, Gary, jim and Bob are not jones, Weinert and Hannah; try Player, Dent, and Charles, legends of professional...golf. The courses are not the high-banks of Carlsbad or the hard-pack of Saddleback. Instead, the lush greens of Pebble Beach and Augusta are the playing fields of dreams for these past masters. But the $50,000 in prize money (to the winner 'alone) is real and the spectators do number in the thousands, cheering as these senior duffers and their five-foot long putters ride carts from tee box to green. The Senior PGA fans love their heroes of yesterday and they aren't letting them go gentle into that good. night. They have theirs... why can't we have ours? Why not a Seniors Tour of the AMA? Champions of the Past? Many of these legendary racers can still be found competing at local tracks across the country. Why can't we bring them together, and cheer one more time for the trailblazers of our sport? (t is all part of that overwhelming force known as nostalgia. The more bare skin you can see on the top of your head, the softer your stomach becomes, the more easily you succumb to nostalgic notions. Each gray hair brings with it another memory until you are consumed by the thoughts of a simpler time, when motocross bikes could be propped up by helmets, T-shirts cost $5 and "Layla" was really a rock-'n'-roll song. T In reality, of course, the past was invariably much more difficult than the present and MX was no exception. Today's race bikes need stick-on numbers; twenty years ago, no serious racer fired up his new mount until he had stuck on after-market fenders, handlebars, grips, tires and shocks (yes, there were two of them). But what goes around, comes around, and today those castaway stock parts are rare gems; on the vintage market, these items are in high demand by the racer who remembers something called "the hot setup." Like the fiberglass fenders and the chromed handlebars, our heroes have been set aside. We remember jammin' jimmy, Captain Cobalt, Sugar Bear, the Flyin' Hawaiian (and Dutchman), Short Stack and the Lumberjack. Demand is high...we want them back! Old MX'ers never die, and they actually haven't even faded too far away. There have been a few successful attempts to bring the pioneers of the sport back together - most recently, the Veterans' World Championship, sponsored by White Brothers. It sounds good, but nearly all of the entrants in the Pro class are from California. Right now, it is all that is being offered and it is better than nothing, but a so-called world championship race that fails to draw the best in the sport is a misnamed event. In fantasy world, the Seniors Motocross Tour of the AMA is a five-race series, geographically spread out across the country, so that MX buffs outside of California could also enjoy. It is a half-time show at the outdoor Nationals (or perhaps as a dr-awing card at the AMA's Fall Classic Series), where the hardiest of fans can be found. Between matos, these great riders are reintroduced to the crowd. They wear the jerseys of the corporate sponsor who helped make this dream come true. The past stars take a parade lap as the announcer reads from each rider's list of laurels-and then return to the starting line for one IS-minute moto. The memories would gush like fuel from an Amal carburetor and the very un-serious nature of the event would remind .us that MX is supposed to be fun. Unfortunately, for at least the foreseeable future, the AMA isn't interested. Their position, according to Roger Ansel, Amateur Competition Director, is tha t, "We already have that class (Veteran) represented at the Loretta Lynn's Amateur and Youth Motocross Nationals." The Amateur National is a wonderful event, but it is a racer's weekend. Families camp out and the focus is on camaraderie, not nostalgia, and the top pros of the past have not shown an interest in taking part. a The role of recreating racing images of yesterday really hasn't been assumed by the AMA anyway. AHRMA (American Historic Racing Motorcycles Association) grabbed the reins of the nostalgia movement and has injected a sense of order into the booming retro sport. AHRMA's Executive Director is former two-time 500cc World Champion Jeff Smith, who wrestles BSAs in events much like the fantasy races we have described. Unfortunately, you will have to fly to Europe to see them. "A Past Masters event was held a couple of years ago in conjunction with the Belgium Grand Prix," says Smith. "There were 40,000 spectators on hand, and while I won't presume to guess that they came solely to watch us, none of them moved away from the fence while we were racing. Smith and AHRMA have already recognized the American obsession with that which once was; AHRMA's response is the Battle of the Legends, an assembly of the greatest heroes of AMA road racing. The Battle roster has read like a Who's Who in the world of Class C and Grand Prix competition: Gary Nixon, Dave Aldana, Bart Markel, Yvon Duhamel, Jay Springsteen, and Don Castro have battled snaggled-tooth and nail with former ~ World Champions Walter Villa, Phil Read and land speed record holder Don Vesco. The Battle of the Legends is sponsored by BMW and all the competitors are on identical boxer twin street bikes. According to the AMA, 25,000 spectators are usually on hand to take in the nostalgic event at Daytona. Is there a Battle of Motocross Legends in the works? Smith feels that a road racing motorcycle is a tamer beast than its off-road counterpart. "The (road) course is smoother. Motocross is a tough game, and many of the old riders have put on weight. They don't particularly want to fall off a fast-moving motorcycle anymore." Smith also thinks that the tracks have changed too much since the stutter-bump and off-camber days of the '70s, and he doubts that retired racers would be interested in mounting today's sophisticated machinery to ride the treacherous double, triple and quadruple jumps. He may be right...but don't tell Kent Howerton. At the 1993 AMA Supercross in the Houston Astrodome, the three-time National Champion came out of retirement to test his skills against today's rocketeers in the 250cc class. It had been nearly 10 years since Howerton had last competed in a professional event and while the 39 year-old "Rhinestone Cowboy" didn't qualify for the main event, he also didn't 1I firUsh last in ei ther his heat, the semi or the last-chance-qualifier. Howerton isn't the only former star who isn't waiting for an official Seniors Tour. In the southeastern United States, former two-time 125cc National Champion Mark Barnett pops up now and then at local events; four-time champ Gary Jones is a regular at local tracks in Southern California. Jim Weinert has ridden a vintage racer. Marty Smith, Rex Staten, Barry Higgins, Kenny Zahrt, Tom Rapp, John DeSoto and Rich Thorwaldson are just a few more of the old pros who aren't letting the dust build up on their Hi-Points boots. Fairy tales can come true; a good, kind fairy with deep pockets can certainly quicken the process. Like the earlybirds of most professional sports, yesterday's motocross heroes didn't get the worm. A handful of riders invested well, but the vast majority are finally like us in that they are out making a living out in the workaday world. The money for the seniors tour will have to come from a company wise enough to see that a retromovement will bring us nostalgic greybeards back to the racetracks. We are older now, but we also have more money, which translates into more power to pa tronize the sponsor. The Battle of the Legends road race se.des has been garnering a lot of publicity for its sponsor, BMW. Smaller companies like KTM, Husqvarna.and Maieo are all still manufacturing motocross bikes and could benefit' from that type of free advertising. Young companies like Husaberg, the new ATK and Avenger (the old ATK) could use Jimmy Ellis, Danny LaPorte and Steve Wise to help jump-start their efforts to reach the off-road enthusiast. "Is it a pipe dream," jeff Smith asks? "I don't know. It would certainly bring in more fans." Will the AMA ever get the ba II rolling? Roger Ansel states, "We always explore every avenue in order to benefit our sport." Smith likened the career of a professional motocross racer to the task of climbing a hill. "In the beginning, he rides because he knows that riding a motorcycle is more fun than anything else in the world. He climbs farther and then, if he is very lucky, he may have a career as a professional motocross rider. Here, for a short time, he is at the top of the hill. Then, he begins the slow decline ... and it ends where he is riding for thrills again, because he knows that riding a motorcycle is more fun than anything else in the world." Kent Taylor is a 33 yeor-old free-lance writer and video prod'ucer who calls Lillcoln, Nebraska, home. 0 wo~~~,~~:"~~~~·~ik. e ~ I 25 YEARS AGO... DECEMBER 1, 1970 B elgian 250cc World Motocross Champion Joel Robert continued his domination of the Trans-AMA Series, ruhning away with both International-class motos at Carlsbad Raceway in California. England's Malcolm Davis finished second overall with two third-place finishes, behind Jeff Smith and Olle Pettersson, respectively ... The AFM held their Castrol GP road race at Orange County International Raceway, and Kawasaki rider Hurly Wilvert brought home the bacon in the 251-1000cc international GP, with Reg Pridmore second on a Norton. The 251-1OOOcc International Production-class win went to Norton-mounted Bill Manley, while Pridmore teamed with Ernie Ceasar to win the Sidecar class... Christer Hammargren, riding a bike which bore the name of his hometown in Sweden, took top honors in the third annual Hawaii International Motocross Championships. The 26-yearold Husqvarna rider dominated the international heats before a crowd of 10,542 fans. 15 YEARS AGOu. NOVEMBER 26, 1980 F aster riders fell by the wayside while Rex Slaten persevered to the win in the sixth annual Four-Stroke Nationals at Carlsbad Raceway in California. Jeff Jennings won the first moto but was undone by a thrown chain in the second, while Ron Turner suffered the reverse fate ... Terry Cunningham overcame an unseasonably hot Oklahoma day, deep powder dust and a tremendous amount of really big rocks to win the final round of the AMA National Championship Enduro Series. The Husky rider had never won an AMA National Enduro before coming to the R.W. Wheeler Ranch. Rod Bush finished second overall with 14 points to Cunningham's 10... Shawn Moran successfully defended his title at the Long Track Speedway Championship at Southern California's Ascot Park, scoring a perfect 30 points. John Cook was second with 29. 5YEARS AGOu. NOVEMBER 14, 1990 eam Suzuki won the final round of the National Endurance Road Race Series by winning the final round at Road Atlanta in Georgia, after having T Smith and Kurt Hall rode the Valvoline Suzuki to a three-lap win over the Human Race Team's Andy Fenwick and Fritz Kling... Fabrizio Pirovano was unbeaten in round 11 of the World Championship Superbike Series in front of an estimated crowd of 29,000 in Shah Alam, Malaysia. A mere 0.57 seconds behind him in each race was Rob Phillis. Pirovano moved into second in the series standings, behind Raymond Roche... John Myers claimed the victory at the final round of the NHRA Drag Race Series in Pomona, California, by default when David Schultz jumped the starting light. Myers had already clinched the series by winning five races in the season, more than all his rivals combined. Schultz was the only other multiple 0 winner that year.

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