Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

1996 AMA Supercross Series Preview • 6 hile 1995 p rovided some of the best su p ercross racin g action . ever and consistently packed stadiums, the Ll.S. Supercros s Series ended . on a sour note last year. . In fact, it could be argued that the series reached an all-time low in its 22-year history. You might remembe r that the final race of the season in Las Vegas turn ed ugly when a power failure left the stadium floor in darkness. Despite the good efforts of the p romoter s to go on with th e sh ow by brin ging in makeshift lights to illumin ate the track, many of the top riders chose not to ride the main event, claiming the conditions were still too dangerous for them to compete. But was this the real reason why they d ecided not to ride? Some say no t, claimin g that many of the riders chose not to ride, using the sudden power ou tage to vent their fru stra tions on the prom oters due to the lack of a series points fund last year. No matter how you want to look at it, everyo ne - from the factories to the fans left the Silve rbo wl that night with a bad taste in their mouths and won dering what wou ld become of next year's series. The riders were mad at the promoters, the promoters were mad at the riders, and many of the spectators, who had end ure d a long, uncomfortable night in the desert heat in Vegas, were confused, frustrated, and mad at the riders as well. The future didn't look good. Obviou sly someth ing had to be done durin g th e off-seas on, th ose in cha rge knowin g good and well that the spo rt of supercross can't grow until a happy concensus is reached am ong the riders , promoters and the AMA. To accomp lish this, the first step toward smoothing out the bumps in the road was to mend the rocky relationship betw een the supercross promoters and the AMA, and after meeting upon meeting, the two groups ironed out many of their differences. A new relationship was forme d when AMA Pro Racing and supercross series promoters PACE SuperSports and SRO Motorsports signed a seven-year agreeme nt beginning with • For now, everyone is happy - the rid ers, the promoters and the AMA, and perhaps now every one can co.ncentrate on what makes supercross so great - the racing. When the gate drops for the start of the 1996 AMA Supercross Series in Orlando, Florida, on January 13, it will mar k the start of the 22nd season of the supercross series, and all the riders on the starting line will be aim ing their guns at non e othe r than Team Honda's Jerem y McGra th, the three-time number-one-plate holder. And it won' t be until May 18 in Cleveland, Ohio, when we' ll find out if any of them hit their target. If not, and McGrath does go on to win his fourth-straight title, we'll see ano ther record broken by "Su perlvlac," No rider has ever wo n four su per cross titles, let alone four in a row. Once again, th is year' s AMA Supercross Series will visit 15 different venues in a five-month span. For 1996, the series will make stops at two new locations. On April 20, the Charlotte, No rth Caro lina, rou nd will be held at Charlotte Motor Speedway instead of Mem orial Stadium, and, for the first time, a supercross round will make a sto p in St. Lou is, Missou ri, at th e new Trans World Dome. Deleted from this year's schedule is the Las Vegas round, which has over the years been the host city for the grand finale. But not this year. Instead, Cleveland will have that honor . 1996 AMA Supe rc ross S e ri e s J anuary 13 Orlando. Florida Citrus Bowl J anuary 20 M inneapolis. Mi nnesota Me trodome January 27 Anaheim. California Anaheim Stadium February 3 Seattl e. W ashington • Kingdome February 10 San Diego. California J ack M urphy St adium February 24 At lanta. Georgia Georgia Dome Ma rch 9 Daytona Beac h. Florida Daytona International Speedway March 16 Houston. Texas Astrodome March 23 Dallas. Texas Texas Stadi um M arch 30 Indianapolis. Indiana RCA Dome April 6 Tampa. Florida Tampa Stadium April 13 Pontiac. M ichigan Silverdome April 20 Ch arlott e. North Carolina C hariotte M otor Spee dway April 27 St. Louis. M issouri Trans W orld Dome M ay 18 Cleveland. Ohio M unicipal Stadium the upcoming season. The deal benefits everyone, bu t most importantly, it benefits the riders - the ones wh o make the show. As a result of this agreement, the riders, once again, have a $100,000 points fund to shoot for this year, including $780,000 in event purses. In addition, nearly $400,000 in the Supercross Conti ngency Progr am will still be paid out to participants in the 125 and 250cc classes. "The agreement begins a new chapter in the spo rt of supercross," said Charlie Mancuso, president of SRO Motorsports. "We are all confident that with it will come a period of greater communi cation and coopera tion among all entities, including the riders and teams, factories and sponsors. More impo rtan tly, this pact will give the 'sport of supercross the needed stability to grow and prosper into the next century." Roy Janson , di rector of supercross for SRO and PACE, said, "We are excited that through the combined efforts of the AMA, th e even t producer s and series con tingency sponsors, w e are ab le to re ach record levels of r ide r suppo rt. And we believe that the 1996 series will be the best ever." (See an interview with Janson elsewhere in this issue). T eam .... Suzuki . Roger D ecoster (manager) . M ike laRocco (2 50cc) Tea . m Greg Albertyn (2S0cc) Lany Ward(25Occ) Ezra Lusk (250cc) Brian Swink (2S0cc) Mike Brown (250cc) Tim Feny C125cc East) Craig Decker ( 12Scc West) Honda o f T roy . Erik K ehoe ( m a n a g e r ) M ike Cra ig (250cc) Jeff Willoh (125cc support West) Casey Little (1.25cc support West) T eam Honda ................ W e s McCoy (manager) Team S izzler / N oleen Jeremy McGrath (250cc) C lark J o ne s (manager) Steve Lamson (250cc) ................. Kyle Lewis (250cc) . Ji m~y Button (250 cc) T eam Kawasoki Roy Tu rn er (manager) Jeff Emig (250cc) Ryan Hughes (250cc) ·!e~ ~ . ~~.':',~(.~.~!~~I. ~ ~~~I ~?~~~x, . Robbie Reynard C125cc Wesll Pedro Gonzales (12 5cc W est) D amon Huffman (2 50cc) Te am AEP /Ca s t lllo T eam Y ama ha D enny St ephenson (2S0cc) Keith McCarty ( ma na ger) Buddy Antunez (25Occ) Doug Henry (250cc) Phil Lawrence (2 S0cc) D ave Cas tillo (250cc) .. ...... D amon Bradshaw (2 50cc) Kevin Windham (12 5cc W est) John D owd (12 5cc East) !.~.~~ ~p.~.i.t~~~ ~.~.~?~~~~~~~~.~~.~.~.~~~ .. Mitch Payton (manager) Mickael Pichon (125cc Ea st) David Pingree (12Scc West) Chad Pedersen (1 25cc W est) Casey Johnson ( 125cc W est) Team Chapparal .......... ....... . ... ...•..... ... Larry Brooks (manager) Lany Brooks (250cc) Brian Deegan C1 25cc East) Greg Schnell C1 25cc wesn Team KTM Ty Wallace (250cc) Kevin Crine (250cc)

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