Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND Doug Blackwell (Yam) scored the overall win at the third round of the AMA Acerbis a tional Enduro Series in Wellston, Ohio, on May 3. Second place went to defending champion Mike Lafferty (KTM), while former champ Randy Hawkins (Yam) took third. Rounding out the top five were Patrick Garrahan (KTM) and Matt Stavish (Hon). Paul Edmondson (Suz) won the prestigious Moose Run, held in Fenton, Illinois, on May 3. Fred Andrews (Kaw), Scott Summers (Hon), Tim Taber (Yam) and Jeff Fredette (Kaw) rounded out the top five after 90 miles of racing. Todd Levesque (Yam) won round three of the NETRA Hare Scrambles Series, the New Hoot, held in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, on April 5. Tommy Norton (Yam) and Josh McLevy (Hon) finished second and third. Brad Oxley (GM) came home the victor in the Ocean Spray /Penhall Classic speedway race at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California, on May 2. Oxley pulled off a late-race pass in the five-rider main event to lead Bobby Schwartz (GM), Charlie Venegas (GM), Chris Manchester (GM) and Gary Hicks (GM). Speaking of speedway, the orthern California season is about set to take off. Fast Fridays will run its season opener at the Gold Country Fairgrounds in Auburn, California, on May 8. The track will host three full professional divisions as well as three junior divisions of speedway. Gates open at 6:30 p.m., with the first race scheduled for 8 p.m. For more information, call 530/878-7223. Saturday night racing at the Dixon May Fairgrounds in Dixon, California, is scheduled to begin on May 16. For more information, call 707/678-5532. The AMA/ProStar AMA Nationals drag race, which was scheduled for May 2-3 at National Trail Raceway in Columbus, Ohio, was postponed due to ram. The event has been rescheduled for July 18-19. The LaSalle Short Track has officially been dropped from the AMA Grand National Championship Series schedule, according to the AMA. No alternate Grand National round has been named. As stated in its letter ("Voices," Issue #16, April 29), Magic Racing Group, the former promoters of the LaSalle event, will be promoting the half mile Grand ational at Route 66 Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. That event is scheduled for August 8. Five-time AMA Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath picked up a check for $100,000 and a brand-new Toyota pickup truck during the PACE Motor Sports awards banquet, held on Sunday, May 3 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, evada. PACE honored McGrath and 125cc Supercross Champions Ricky Carmichael (East) and John Dowd (West) in a glitzy banquet the day after the series finale at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl. In addition to its champions, PACE also honored Suzu00 ki's Larry Ward with its 100 Percent 0\ Award; Jimmy Button with the C.E. Alt- ~ ~:~t~r:~e~;s~%~~~;:en~~~:~~~~~~ Cf)' ...... Award. Those racers who won the 900PRO-RACE Holeshot Awards throughout the season were also presented with their checks during the year-end celebration. In a moving tribute to McGrath, former supercross champions Ricky Johnson and Jeff Stanton gave speech- es, while Jeff Ward and Bob Hannah were also shown in videotaped tributes to McGrath. In addition to Johnson and Stanton, former AMA ational Champions. Broc Glover and Marty Tripes were also on hand at the banquet. Carl Fogarty and his factory Ducati emerged from the April 28-29 test session at the Misano circuit in Italy with the fastest lap. Fogarty lapped at 1:35.12 to edge fellow Ducati rider Troy Corser, who clicked off a 1:35.50. Yamaha's Scott Russell did a 1:35.59 lap, just ahead of Piergiorgio Bontempi and PierFrancesco Chili. John Kocinski holds the official track record with a 1:34.296, set in 1996 on the factory Ducati. Yamaha's World Superbike Championship points leader Noriyuki Haga didn't participate in the tests as he had returned home to Japan. "Haga is very happy with the bike, the tires and the suspension. We don't need to test with him," said Davide Brivio, Yamaha's team manager. The United States Tobacco Company (USTC) announced that it would contribute a minimum of $45,000 to assist injured motorcycle racers through the Clayton Memorial Foundation as part of a national cause-related marketing program beginning this month. USTC will contribute 25 cents to the Gayton Foundation for every ticket sold to each of the 12 AMA 125/25Occ National Motocross events in 1998, up to a maximum of $60,000. The program commenced on April 24 with a national advertising campaign in Cycle News telling race fans that "sometimes the toughest race is off the track." Additional advertising will run in Racer X magazine, major newspapers surrounding the 12 race sites on the Saturday prior to each respective race, and in selected other publications. 'The Gayton Memorial Foundation is there long after the race is over, helping injured riders when they have nowhere else to turn," said Andy Hoefer, manager of marketing promotions and planning for U.s. Tobacco. '1t is an honor to be associated with such an excellent organization and to give something back to those athletes who provide excitement and entertainment to thousands of race fans each year." "For nearly 10 years, we have been quietly as isting injured riders," said Clayton Foundation president Sharon Gayton. "Unfortunately, we have never been able to reach all those in need of support. USTC's incredibly generous contribution will allow us to make a real difference in the racing community. It is a tragedy to see a rider take a bad fall during competition, but what is even more sad is to learn that medical bills can sometimes prevent him from ever getting back on his feet." For more information on the Gayton Foundation, call 714/751-7433. Isle of Man IT legend Joey Dunlop suffered a broken collarbone and cuts and bruises when he crashed out of the Tandragee 100 road race in his native Ireland on May 2. Dunlop was high-Sided while lying third in the 125cc class. Dunlop has won 21 Isle of Man IT races. According to a press release issued by Fritz Kling, the road racer has been released from Dutchman Racing after spending the last four years with the team. Kling, who lives in Lansing, Michigan, is making himself available to any team interested in his services. For more information, call Kling at 517/8869428 or fax 517/333-5093. At the final round of the AMA SupercroSs Series in Las Vegas, evada, on Revised Dallas SX ra·tin s A BC Sports' coverage of the AMA Dallas Supercross shattered all expectations last week when national ratings for the April 26 broadcast were made available by the A.C. ielsen Company according to a press release from Seals Communications. A comprehensive report outlining national television market share for ABC's 5 p.m. Eastern time slot revealed a 3.5 rating and eight share for the onehour special presentation. The final rating represents an impressive 33-percent rise in household viewership from overnight predictions, and shows the AMA Supercross to have performed admirably against Michael Jordan's Bulls and the PGA's Greater Greenboro Open. "We were extremely pleased with the rating and performance of the Dallas Supercross on ABC," said Tim Pernetti, manager of programming for ABC Sports. "The broadcast grabbed our audience coming out of the Talladega ASCAR race and held on to them with great action and compelUng stories." The Dallas Supercro ,a joint production of Seals Communications Corporation (Sealsco) and PACE Motor Sports, wa the first na tional broadcast network May 2, Andrew Pringle won the yearlong Toyota Trucks/Yamaha Sweepstakes and drove away with a brandnew Toyota 4x4 - complete with a Yamaha YZ250. Pringle was one of many finalists who were given a key to the truck, but only one would start the engine. On the first try, the truck started for Pringle in front of the 39,227 spectators at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl. Scolt McLemore, the executive producer for Sealsco's motorsports programming, was injured in an automobile accident on Monday, April 27, in Peach Tree City, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. Mclemore was driving home when his car struck a telephone pole and a tree. He was ejected from the car and received extensive injuries, including two broken arms, broken ribs ahd laceration . Mclemore is currently hospitalized at Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta. According to a close friend, McLemore is banged up but is otherwise "doing okay." As Cycle News went to press on Monday, May 4, we learned that Miguel DuHamel's victory in the 600cc Supersport final from Sears Point on May 3 had been protested by Suzuki. We'll have details next week. The Northwest Norton Owners Gub is hosting the 1998 International Norton Owners Association National Pacific Rim Rally, July 22-26, at the Thurston County ORV Park near Olympia, Washington. Vintage British-built Nortons will be featured in a number of organized events including group rides, tech sessions and concourse judging. For more information, call 253/941-2431. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) has announced that Ducati North America is now a funding member company, joining the current membership roster of BMW, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzu- appearance for the sport in nearly two decades. The show received a coveted time slot following NASCAR's highly rated Talladega race, and was able to capitalize on its position by retaining more than 60 percent of the NASCAR audience. Overnight ratings, which offer a "sneak" preview of viewership in the top 25 television markets, provided early indications that the broadcast would fare well in the fina I report. The N ielsen-documen ted 3.5 rating - which translates to roughly 3.5 million television households - blows the doors off even the most optimistic industry predictions. "It's nice to be able to compete on the same playing field as the big leaguers, just to show the world how far the sport has come," said Lou Seals, CEO of Seals Communications Corporation. "There was a tremendous amount of effort put forth by the industry and its sponsors to make this ABC show happen. It is rewarding to see the viewers and fans respond with such great enthusiasm." A BC Sports' coverage of the Dallas event was directed by Sealsco's Scott McLemore, a 17-year veteran of the Supercross circuit and executive producer for all of Sealsco's motorsports programming. ki and Yamaha. As part of its membership, Ducati will appoint a trustee to the MSFBoard. BMW donated $1 million to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation on April 30 in a special ceremony at the Working Women 500 Conference. Each dollar represents one mile driven in BMW's million mile/million dollar fund-raising program. Round three of the Northern Californi Championship Enduro Series, the Fool's Gold Enduro in Georgetown, California, was postponed by the local foresjt service due to rain. The even t, schedued to run on May 3, will now take place on May 30. For more information,. contact 408/281-3805. Road America and the orth American Sport Bike Series are offering free admission to anyone 18 and under on Saturday, May 9, at the Road America Cycle Fest, scheduled to run from Friday, May 8, to Sunday, May 10, at the Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, race track. American Suzuki Motor Corporation announced that they would conduct a safety recall campaign on all 1998 model year GSX600F and GSX750F Katana motorcycles. Pursuant to the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, Suzuki has issued safety recall campaign notices to all authorized Suzuki dealers as well as to aU known owners of the affected models. "It has been determined that the bracket portion of the passenger grap rail on all 1998 Katanas may break, causing the passenger to lose their balance and fall from the motorcycle or disturb the riders ability to control the motorcy'cle," a Suzuki news release stated. ers should contact their local dealer to confirm parts availability and to arrange appointments to have the necessary recall performed. Own-:

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