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/127777
IN THE TAPES ByS cottRousseau .. M A Gra nd National Cham pionshi p even t promote r Ch ris Agajanian has mad e a com mit me nt to replac e the AMA 883cc Na tiona l Champio nshi p s u p p o r t r ac e s with 600cc Expert sup po rt races at the fou r eve n ts he promo tes: the Lin co ln , N ebra ska, Half Mile; the u.s, Moto rcycle Nationals at Knoxville, Iowa; the Sacrament o Mile; and the Del Mar Mile. Th e movem ent cou ld str ike a major blow to the 15-race AMA 883cc National Ser ie s a n d th e teams wh ich have already put time and mon ey into buildi ng a p rogram around th e cl ass. It could al so put th e 600s, which hav e not enjoye d mu ch favor at the AMA Gr and N ationals for severa l years, back on the map. . Agajanian 's "late" decision to replace the 883s ha s alr eady stirred up a fervor amoung the proponents of both classes, but that' s some thing for which the longtim e Grand N ational promoter claims that he bears no responsibility. "Two months ago, I told the AMA that I was not going to have 883 races at an y of m y events," Agajanian told Cycle News on Wednesday, March 20. "O ne month ago I told the AMA th at I was going to run 600s. I never applied for any 883 National sanctions, and I told (AMA Dirt Track Manager) Bruce Bober that I was going to drop them. He said that was okay. Then he called me during Daytona and told me that he had told some people, and they were not happy, because it was already on the sched ule that the 883s were going to be at m y races. I had no idea that they were on the schedule because I told the AMA that I was not going to have them. I know that I am going to catch shit on this, but I'm totally clean." "There is no official paperwork on a sanction application for an 883cc National or any other support class," Bober said. "The 883cc National series is not really a National series. It is a sup- A p ort even t for th e G ra nd Na tiona l every promoter ha s the option to run it or not run it. But when we ca me ou t with the tentative schedule last May, we contac ted all the p rom oters and as ked them if they inten ded to run the sa me progr am that they d id last year. The y all sai d yes. Chris is in a uni qu e situ ation beca use his en tire 883 program was paid for, and wha tever si de deals the prom ot ers m a y h a ve is so me thing t ha t we're n ot in volve d with at all. More power to th em . Gettin g ou t th ere and hustling is what the promoter s are su pposed to be doing." Ag ajanian sai d that 'at th e time th at h e w a s m akin g th e de ci s io n a s t o whether or not to run th e 883s as th e sup port class for the 750 progr am at his Grand National events in 1996, he was told that H arley -D a vids on was not goin g to subsid ize $2000 o f th e $5000 883 purse in place at all Grand Nation al events, some thing that the com pany had always done in the p ast. In th e meantime, motorcycle builder Ron Wood of Wood-Rotax fam e app roac hed Agajan ian abo ut the possibili ty of runni ng 6005 as a su p por t cla ss a t th e fou r G ra n d Nati ona ls in ques tion. Acco rd in g to Agaj anian, Wood put together a conglomeration of sponsors tha t wo uld post the full $5000 purse at each of the eve nts for the class. Agajani an elected to make the change. "The re is a minimum of $5000 per race (for the 6OOs) guaranteed. and there might be more," Agajanian sai d . "I've since learned that H arl ey-Davidson is going to subsidize the 883 class again. But at the time that I w as making the decision, the y weren't going to, and that still doesn't match the $5000 for the 6OOs." In the past, Agajanian is said to have received the remainder.of the 883 purse - at least for his California events - from the Sou them California Dealers Association, the Barley-Davidson dealers association for the region. The status of tha t mon ey was still in do ub t as of Monday, March 25. For his part , Wood sees the move as a true re-emergence of the 600s as a Grand Nationa l su pp ort cla ss, so methi ng th at he says has been a long time coming . "Th e re ha ve been a lo t of p eopl e who have called and wh o have wa nted to see the 600s back," Woo d said . "For the fans, I think tha t it is far better racing th an the 883s - they're not as slow and bo ring . Bett er racing ~i11 put more fans in the stan ds. Righ t now , watching 883s is like watchi ng p a int dry on a wall. Besid es, I want to see more brands ge t in vo lved in d irt tr ack racin g, and th e 600 class ha s m ore o f th em. Th e KTM is approved , and we' re goi ng to have Yarna has, Hond as an d Rotaxes. The 600s have been negle cted for far too lon g. The AMA ha s let th e 600cc Nati on al s d ecline . We' ve been shortene d to three races. Ar e we going to h ave to race 750s for th e rest of our lives? I' ve got a product to sell, too, you kno w ." Product identification is one of the co rne rs to nes o f th e 883 program, accord in g to Rick Hutchins the team manager for the Bartel s' Harley-Da vidso n ra cin g team, whi ch fields severa l rid ers on 883 s in both the AMA dirt track and road racing series, three-time Grand National Champion Jay Springstee n among them. Hutchins said that he was surprised to learn that there was s til l d oubt a s to whether or not the Spo rtst ers would be on the program. " I don't think that it should be a question of 883s vs. 600s," Hutchins said. "I hate to see that, because our program suppo rts both. I realize that the re's a push by Ron Wood to bring back the 600s because he feels that they've been pushed out, but you can't sell the program because it doesn't reflect anything that you can buy. What is a Rotax? Can you walk into a dealer and buy one? Everybody is screaming about getting back to grassroots racing. An 883 is AMA 125/250cc W;(;I)";:.,.r.-,.-..._ National Championship Motocross Series in Sacram ent o . Barnett d om inated the 125c c d ivision, p romptin g Howerton to rem ark -os. Go d, n ow I've got to do the sa me th in g, " w h ich h e m ore or le ss d id in th e 250cc class ... Terry Vance successfull y defended h is number-on e plate in the Pro Stock class at Gatornationals Drags in Gainesville, Florid a, se tting a world reco rd on the way. Vance reac hed 153.32 m ph in the semifinals... Swede Ulf Karl son bea t the Brits on their home turf in round four of the World Championship Observed Trial s Se ries a t Pately Bri d ge, En gl and. British Champion Martin Lampkin was second. w h at Class C raci ng is a ll abou t. It's about taking a street motor cycle - somethin g that so meone can relate to - and raci ng it. Wh at th e H arl ey-D avidson dealers do is ha ve their HOG rallies and get the ir mem bers to come to the races. The ave rage person may not know what an XR750 is, so you have to attract them with some thi ng they can relate to. You ha ve a p roduct th at yo u can sell that puts fans in the stands beca use they' ve seen it in th e d ea le rship , or ma ybe they' ve bought on e. Not that 600 racing doesn't have a place in dirt tra ck racing. It is fantastic, com pe titive racin g. The 883s put fans,in the stands. Wh at happ en ed to th e 600 N at ion al s ? The 883 N ationals didn' t happ en to th e 600 Nati onals." Agajanian d id say that he was collaborating with Bober on the possibility of running both classes in sup port of the four Grand Nationals, but that his posi tion on having 600s at hi s eve nts wa s firm . " I 'm committed to the 6005," Agajanian sa id . "I think that they are a v e ry competitive form of racing, and I think the fans like them . I think that there is a la rge contingen t of 600 racers still out there. But I am sensitive to the issue, and we may see if we can' t figure out a way to accommodate both classes. The problem is that I ha ve a light problem at Del Mar and a curfew problem at Sacramento." Bober said tha t if both classes were to be ru n, then there would ha ve to be a way to limi t participation in order to get the shows completed on time . That could pose the biggest problem, as there would likely be more 600s than 883s. "Obviously we can't run four 600s heats in addition to the two 883 heats and the four 750 heats," Bober said. "Given the turnout of 883s that we had last year, we won't have to limit them." Agajanian said that as far as he was concerned the 600s should not be limited . fir st-place trophy for a birthday present at th e Ch e ck .Ch a s e National Hare and Hound in Luc erne Valley, Califo rnia. The 19-ye ar-old took the lead in the first 1100K GB C I.. ยท1 IN A K 25 YEARS AGO... APRIL 13,1 71 9 s co t Park in California, hos ted its firs t Half-M ile o f th e season . Jody Nichola s, Mark Brelsford a n d Keith Mashburn a ba tt led in th e ~._ Expert final wi th f u l l- t h ro t t le ~ turns and fully locked slid es until Br e lsfo r d h it th e wall , bre a k in g a sp rocket. Mashburn lost gr ou nd avoiding the crash an d en ded up second to N ic h o las ... Bob Grossi r oc k ed Ply m outh, Cali fornia, at the Dirt Diggers No rt h M C thi r d annual H an gto wn affair. The 21-year -old won in the Op en and 250cc classes... Bill Clem en ts granted no cleme ncy to his CMC Mot ocross ri va ls in Pomona, Cal if ornia. In th e 500cc Expert cla ss , runner-up Chuck \.D Minert was the onl y one to stay close. In 0\ th e 250cc Expert contest, Dave Smith ~ put up a valiant s trugg le but had to . accept second-place honors. A ""=--=-- ..... - 15 YEARS AGO... 0.. APRIL 8,1981 $.< -c:x: 80 uzuki factory riders Mark Barnett and Kent Howerton took double moto wins during round one of the S 5YEARS AGO.., APRIL 10,1991 alling th e Japanese Gra n d Pri x in Suzuka, Japan, "the tough est race of my life," Kevi n Schwantz, pictured on th e cover, nevertheless prevailed in the SOOcc class. Schwantz compl eted the 80.I -mil e race o nly 0.53 3 se conds ahea d of th e fo u r th -p lace rider... Da n n y Ham el gave himsel f a C m ile an d held it for th e n ext 134 .. . D a vid Schultz beat Joh n Myers at the second round of the NHRA Winston Championsh ip Dr ag Race Series in Ga in esville, Florida . Myers bea t Schultz in top speed, 171.69-168.53 mph, b ut Schultz turned in a s m oo the r ride and cro ssed th e fi nis h line three-hundredths of a second ahead of Myers, 7.77- 7.80. (~ Marty Tr ipes sa lls h is Yamaha i n the 1980 Daytona Supercross. Photo from the Cycle News Archives.