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/127822
, 6 he 1996 holiday season will long be remembered by supercross fans for the stunning announcement that proclaimed to the world that four-time AMA 250cc Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath was leaving Team Honda in order to form his own racing team for 1997. Every January, supercross enthusiasts around the world begin to form opinions and predictions on just who will be the champion of the approaching new season, and 1997 was to be no different. Jeremy McGrath was, without any serious doubt, the undisputed, odds-on favorite to capture his fifth consecutive AMA Supercross title. However, on Tuesday, December 31, 1996, those predictions all went out the window as word came down that McGrath was leaVing Honda in order to form his own multi-faceted, American Suzuki/Suzuki of Troy / 1-800-Collect-backed race operation. From that very moment forward, all bets were off as McGrath, with a single hand, sent the world of American supercross spinning on its collective axis., With this stunning development, and the 1997 AMA Supercross Series opener just a week away, supercross has turned into a beautiful mess. Never before has there been such intrigue, electricity, maneuvering, scheming and second guessing. And in the wond of racing, c1oak-and-daggE!r conniving of this nature does nothing but add to the excitement and sell the drama to feverpitch levels. Shakespeare would be proud. When McGrath let the champagne £1y at the final supercross of 1996 at Mile High Stadium in Denver, everyone involved in the sport was smiling. By all accounts the '96 campaign was a raging, full-on success as nearly 650,000 spectators plunked down their hard-earned cash and came out to watch supercross. Attendance records were smashed at nearly every event as average attendance at each venue was well over 42,000 spectators. Never before had the young sport witnessed such numbers. Moreover, every event received comprehensive television coverage from ESPN 2, ESP and INN. That went well, also, in the high-jinx world of broadcast reach and frequency rating numbers; the sport of supercross fared quite well as the ESPN 2 televised races generated a household rating of approximately 0.5 to 1.2, which translates roughly to two to four million viewers per event. To put this voodoo math into per'spective, super cross is pulling rating numbers equal to NHRA drag racing, 1MSA sports C,a, racing, Indy Car racing and not that far removed from the golden child of all motorsports, NASCA~. Finally, Jeremy McGrath and his allconquering win streak was so extraordinary that his actions were featured on such prolific, mass media programming as ABC News, ESPN's Sports Center and MTV. McGrath also was a keY nominee for TNN's Race Day Racer of the Year award. For the sport of supercross, it was an unprecedented amount of mainstream media exposure. We all have Jeremy McGrath to thank for that. During the off-season, the overlord of supercross, PACE Motor Sports, let it be known that it was making a few organizational changes in order to fine-tune the sport. it was announced that PACE CEO and head ringleader Gary Becker and his head lieutenant, Charlie Mancuso, were being brought on board to help usher the sport into a new era. This management change was, by all accounts, well received by the close-knit supercross community. Additionally, Roy Janson, the day-today operations director for the series, was kept on board to keep the trains running and the sport headed in the right direction. Janson has been involved with the sport for years and has been instrumental in delivering it to its current level of success and popularity. From all indicators, the new PACE management syndicate appears to be making all of the right moves to take the sport to higher ground. The ESPN TV package has been dialed in, the promise of beginning the 1997 series in Southern California was kept, the '97 schedule - that in previous years had seemingly been created by a crazy person - makes much more logistical sense, the points fund has been significantly increased, the communication gap between the factories, press and riders has been closed and the voice of the much-maligned privateer group is finally being heard. . However, the albatross that has long haunted the series - the lack of a series corporate sponsor - is still rearing its ugly head. At this point in time, it does not appear that any new corporate money will be brought into the sport. If you have seen any footage from the 1980s-era supercross series, it is amazing to see the amount of corporate support the series was enjoying. It was not uncommon to see the logo-emblazoned banners from Miller Beer, Skoal Tobacco, Wrangler Clothing and Camel Ggarettes lining the circuits. Let's hope the new PACE management circle can get into the corporate boardrooms of America and procure a bit of. their sports-marketing budget. Supercross, with its prime 18- to-34-year'old, male demographic, excellent TV package and phenomenal athletes, is truly deserving of a corporate helping hand. On January 11, the AMA Supercross Series will ignite out of the gate at the place it all started some 25 years ago the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Finding a place back on the schedule after a five-year absence (after being