Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

I· IN :THE WIND· horsepower limit on machines that must weigh a minimum of 395 pounds. To ensure that competitors' machines are in compliance with power-output limits, a Dynojet Dynamometer will be used to - measure output after each race. HarleyDavidson Twin Sports and International Grand Prix (125cc GP bikes) continue fundamentally unchanged, though NASB is considering a horsepower limit in Twin Sports. And-in its first full year in the U.S. is the Mobil 1 Triumph Speed Triple Challenge open to, what else, Triumph Speed Triples. This class too will have a limit of 102 horsepower, and wiLl host a round of the revived Transatlantic Challenge. The series champion receives a new Speed Triple at the end of the season. Total purse and point-fund monies available in F-USA . and NASB classes is $667,000. goes back to 1970," Sieman said in a press release. "I will be writing for Old Bike Journal, as off-road editor. For those who enjoy my particular warped sense of humor, I invite you to pick up a copy of OBJ." Huffman, McGrath split Geneva SX wins According to a press release from CMC, the 20th Annual MSR Golden State MX Nationals will feature over $1 million in manufacturers continge/lcy, prizes, product, purse and trophies from the motorcycle aftermarket industry. The opening round of the South Series is scheduled for Quail Canyon OHV in Gorman, California, on January 14; with the North Series opening at the Riverfront MX Park in Marysville, California on January 7; and the Pacific Northwest Series beginning on January 21 at the Salem Arenacross in Salem, Oregon. As of the January 1996 issue, Rick "Super Hunky" Sieman will no longer be writing for Dirt Bike Magazine, according to Sieman. "The owner, Roland Hinz, was not happy with what was written about him in 'my new book, and has terminated a relationship that Citing a change of heart, the AMA recently announced that only one point will be awarded to the racer who leads the most laps during an AMA Superbike National in 1996. Originally, the AMA said that two points would be awarded to the rider leading the most laps. eam Kawasaki's Damon Huffman and Team Hond~/1-8oo-Collect/Fox's Jeremy McGrath split the wins at the final rounds of the FIM World Supercross Championship Series, held December 9-10 in Geneva, Switzerland. For two-time Western Regional 125cc Supercross Champion Huffman, it was the first 250cc Supercross win of his career. Huffman enjoyed a 10-second lead on Saturday night over runner-up Phil Lawrence of the newly formed AEP Racing team. Honda of Troy's Larry Ward was third, while Mike Brown and Ryan Hughes rounded out the top five. McGrath crashed out on the third lap, casing his Honda on a small double jump, and was spit over the bars. According to his father, Jack McGrath, the three-time U.S. Supercross Champion chipped five teeth and broke oile of his little fingers. Still, a bruised and battered McGrath returned on Sunday and scored a commanding win after battling with Huffman, who ended up second. Third went to Yamaha's John Dowd, while Eastern Regional 125cc Supercross Champion Mickael Pichon and Mike Brown rounded out the top five. Ward ran as high as third, but crashed in the whoops and broke his throttle hOUSing. In winning, McGrath wrapped up his second World Supercros5" Championship. "A lot of people say that Jeremy's success is all due to his natural talent," said Jack McGrath. "But his win in Geneva after ):le got all busted up shows that he's.tough, - Jack Milne 1907·1995 T he motorsports world lost its first American world champion with the passing of 1937 World Speedway Champion Jack Milne of Pasadena, California, on December 6. Milneevas 88. Milne was born in Alden, New York, on June 4, 1907. In 1922 he came west to California, where he began riding motorcycles while delivering telegrams in the late '205 before beginning his speedway racing career in 1932. He then competed for the Gilmore Lions in the California League and also began racing in England with Newcross of the British League, making for a lucrative professional career. "Back then, they wouldn't even let my dad and my uncle race together in California because they were so much better than everyone else. One had to race in Northern California and one had to race in Southern California. Then they would go over to England in the summer. When everyone else was starving back then, he was making $1000 a week," said Milne's daughter, Janie Lopez. "That gave him the money he needed to start all his other business ventures later on." Milne ascended to "the pinnacle of speedway racing in 1937 with his World-Champic onship victory at England's Wembley Stadium, leading an American sweep of the top three positions as Wilbor Lamoreaux and MiIne's brother, tordy, finished second and third. "What a lot of people don't know is that Jack scored more championship points at Wembley than (1936 World Champion) Lionel Von Praag in '36," said Harry Oxley. of International Speedway. "But he didn't have as many bonus points, so he finished second. He finished second in 1938 too. But everyone knew he was the man in those days. Yet he was a very conservative guy, not a very likely racer. You'd have thought he was a bookkeeper rather than a motorcycle racer." "In those days guys were tough as nails, and Jack was one of the toughest," said Brad Oxley. "One night, Jack was racing and he got fenced. It was a chain link fence and he caught his hand in it, and it ripped off his thumb. They couldn't reattach it, but he rode the very next night anyway." Milne was again leading the World Championship points standings in 1939 when the outbreak of World War IT forced him to leave England and return to America. Upon returning home, the Milne brothers and Lamoreaux organized and promoted speedway events at Lincoln Park from 1948-1950, but the advent of television forced the park to close. Milne also owned and operated a motorcycle shop in Pasadena as well as an auto dealership. His multitude of Pasadena businesses, which included the sale and construction of grandstand seating for the Rose Parade, thrived through the '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s. In 1968, Milne saw the opportunity to revive speedway racing in Southern California. He formed International Speedway with Oxley and hosted world champions Barry Briggs and Ivan Mauger at Whiteman Stadium in Pacoima before moving the racing to the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, where it has remained since 1969. "Jack was the only one who knew how far we could take speedway," said Brad Oxley. "When it started, it was just started as something fun to do on the weekends. We never envisioned that we would have 4000 or 8000 or 12,000 people at a U.s. National, or host a World Final with an American World Champion like Bruce Penhall at the Los Angeles Coliseum. But he knew, because he had raced before 100,000 people in Wembley Stadium. He was making front-page headlines back then. He was a pioneer, and a hero. And yet he never had any big trophies sitting around his house. He kept them in the closet. I think his proudest achievement was his golf game. He was an excellent golfer, and he really loved it." Milne suffered a serious heart attack in March and then returned to the hospital just before Thanksgiving. He never left. The last time I saw Jack, he told me that he was very tired," said. Harry Oxley. '1 think that he realized that he had lived a long and full life, and he was ready to go." "Jack Milne was a true iron man," said Brad Oxley. "He was full-throttle in everything that he did, whether it was racing speedway, playing golf or just driving to lunch. He was the inspiration behind speedway, and he was the symbol of all that was right about our sport." Milne is survived by his only daughter, Lopez, and a granddaughter, Kate. ~ m \C 0\ ~ c.-) r ca ;:l ~ -.. 2 T too." The 1996 AMA Professional License renewal packages have been mailed to 1995 license holders, according to the AMA. Applications must be submitted 30 days prior to a rider's first event. For more information, call the AMA Pro License Department at 614/891-2425. will pay AMA/District 37 gran prix points. The first GP, the "New Year's Tune-Up Gran Prix at Cal City," is scheduled for January 6-7, will consist of a la-mile course, and will be based just outside the city. For more information, call BP Racing at 818/340-5750. Don Kenworthy Sr., of Kenworthy's Motocross Park, in Troy, Ohio, was seriously injured in a truck accident in October. Kenworthy was hauling ~aveJ to the motocross facility when a brake line failed, resulting in two skull fractures and a broken nose. Kenworthy was unconscious for two weeks and is now recuperating at home. Cards and letters can be sent to 2310 Ebberts Rd., Troy, OH 45373. BORN: Ashley Taylor Parker, to sixtime AMA Grand National Champion Scott Parker and his wife Wanda, on December 6 in Flint, Michigan. Lou Peralta, of Baja Promotions Racing, says he has locked in five dates for offroad racing inside California City, California, city limits for 1996. Three events will be off-road races ranging from 150 miles to 250 miles in length, and the other two gran prix races, one of which BORN: Jacob Graham Lewis, to forner expert dirt tracker Bobby Lewis and his wife Karen, on November 4 in Princeton, Kentucky. BORN: Trenten Speed Bonanno, to Carbon Tech president Nick Bonanno and his girlfriend Christine Sind Ie, on November 9 in Sacramento, California. CANCELED: The Golden State Concrete Indoor Championship, scheduled for December 16-17 in Orland, California, due to lack of entries. - l"N F·USAINASB schedule announced A tentative schedule for the combined Formula USA/North American Sport Bike series schedule was announced at a press conference in Los Angeles, December 4. The series will consist of nine rounds, with six professional. classes running in conjunction with the Championship Cup Series. Four events have been confirmed for national cable broadcast. The feature class at each event will be Sunoco Race Fuels F-USA (running in their customary two-race format), with the EBC Brakes Sport B~e, Harley-Davidson Twin Sports, Mobil 1 Triumph Speed Triple Challenge and International Grand Prix presented by Idemitsu and Honda Racing Corporation running as support classes. A seventh, still-tentative class is the Buell Lightning series which may begin midseason and will be open to Buell Lightning motorcycles with a maximum of 90 horsepower. The tentative schedule is as follows: February 17-18 March 1-3 Rosamond, California • Daytona Beach, Florida Willow Springs Raceway Daytona Inalrnadonal Speedway March 29-31 Braselton, Georgia Road A~anta May 18-19 Brainerd, Minnesota Brainerd Inllirna~onal Ra:eway ALlJust 2-4 Elkhart Lake, Wiscorsin Road America' ALlJust9-11 Pordand, Oregon Pordand Inalrnadonal Ra:eway ALlJust29-Sept. 1 Pocono, Penrsylvania Pocono lnA3rnadonai Raceway' October 4-6 Loi.don, New Hampstire New Hampstire Inalrnadonal Speedway October 17-20 Daytona Beach, Florida Dayfona In~rnadonal SpeedWay' 'EBC Brakes Triple Crown Even$

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