Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(]Jill~ VOICES America's weekly motorcycle newspaper LffiERSTO THE EDITOR Volume XXXV Sharon Clayton, Presid ent Michael Klinger, Publisher whendtie rubber meets the road? I a m surprised and disappoin ted at you r coverage of th e A class a t th e Lo r et ta Lynn' s Nationa l Mo tocross Championship . A lot o f g ood ra cing took place in the Stock and Pro Spo rt A classes. I'm not sure w here the ru bber meets th e ro ad in being an objective jou rna list, giving the rid ers their due in Cycle Neuis' viewpoint in terms of coverage, but yo u sure jumped the gate on thi s one . I a m writing on behalf of Shae Bentley. He was the top rid er in the 250cc Pro Sport class and finished second in the 125cc Pro Sport class. I believe if you check your score card, you' ll find tha t he had the best finish of all the A-class riders at the eve nt. Oddly enough, I didn't see a single picture of him in you r coverage of the event. Ad ditionally, you have him rid ing for FMF and not Pro Circui t. Mitch Payton of Pro Circu it has a lot of money invested in su pportin g Shae and this was his return on that investm en t. Shae has put a lot of har d wo rk an d effort into obtaining his racing results. The rein lies the poin t I' m trying to make about w here the ru bber meets the road. I beli ev e thi s is a ca se o f "r id in g on empty, get in and I'll tu m on the radi o." D.L. Bentley Ellenwood, GA Give the King a break I have been a Gr and Pri x fan since the classic days of Hailwood and Ag ostini and ha ve a lot of admiration for all of the past Worl d Cham pio ns . There is no o ne I res p ec t m ore th an Ken n y Rob e rts . No ot her e x-c ha m p eve n co me s close to trying to d irec tly give so m uch back to GP raci ng like Kenny ha s and is d oin g . He was t h e first Am erican 500cc World Ch ampion and he pav ed the w ay for U.S. d omina tion in th at class for year s. He brough t the Gra nd Pri x back to America in '93 and ' 94, doing all he could ' to promote racing here. Now he's tak ing on Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki with not even a fraction of th eir R&D re source s . I s a y, " W h a t gu ts'" I say he's still the King in the tru e spirit of Grand Prix racing. The big th ree practically gu tted Cag iva for beating 'them a few times, but the Kin g isn 't goin g to be run of( Wh o gives a shit if he can't do a slick int erview? He can build a winner and that' s w hat rnatters. Wh en Ra lf Wa ldm an n o r Kenn y Rob erts Jr . pu ts it on the rostrum , all you fa it -weather fa ns a nd cri tics ca n suck mud . Go Mod enas! Dan Walter Tucso n, AZ The Emerald Dow ns Hot Shoe roun d is expected to draw a large contingent of the very best from the Grand Nat ional Series. You 'll also be pleased to know an A MA Grand Nati onal Championship round has been scheduled for Emerald Downs on September 18, 1999... Editor Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor Kit Palmer, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau, Associate Editor Mark Hoyer, Managing Editor Keith Bush, Assistant Editor/Copy Editor Alan Cathcart, European Editor David R. Holther, Copy Editor Deborah Regius, EditorialAssistant The Del Mar Show Advertising Terry Pratt, National Accounts Mana,~er Mark Thome, Western Sales Manaiier Thomas Center, WesternSales Manager Forrest Hayashi, Western SalesManager Greg Mitche ll, Eastern Accounts Manag' ''' Jim Clark, Eastern SatesManager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinator Bridgett Bob rofsk y, Assistant Carla Allen, East,.,.n Ad Coordinator Sensational Sedalia I ju s t return ed fro m one o f the best Gra nd ational d irt trac k races I've eve r bee n to in Sedalia, Missou ri. A tip of the helme t to Will Davis and the rest of the stars - they put on qu ite a show. The race for the win was jus t as tight as the race is for the Grand Na tional Ch ampions hip. Morehead almos t pulled one off ' for the old guys. I also th in k d irt track racing ha s a new Da ve D esp a in . J.B. Norris, th e annou ncer at Sedalia , was ou tstand ing. He seems to kno w racing insid e and out a nd reall y ge ts th e crowd .fire d u p . I wis h he d id the races at Lima and Parkersbu rg, too. Yeager and Stra tma n, the promo ters at Sed a lia, d id a g rea t job . We w ere entertained fro m the momen t w e got th er e un til we left the party u nd er the grandstands after the races . Keep up the great wo rk, AMA. Bill Reese Da yton,OH The people's champion Congra tulations to Dou g Henfy on w inning the AMA 250cc Na tional Motocr oss Cha mpionship . He now ha s an AMA title to go along with the title he already held : The Peopl e's Champion . M artin Bela ir Minne ton ka, MN Flat track hungry I was wo nd ering for sure who is go ing to rid e the Emerald Downs Mile "Hot Shoe N ati on a l?" Any Grand Na tio na l riders? You ha ve dirt track fans here in the No rt hwest. We' re going to be at Emer ald Downs - are you goi ng to be there for us ? We have two mile tracks here in the Sea ttle/ Portland area - Sea ttle' s Emera ld Down s a n d Portl an d Mead o ws . They are two grea t fa cilities a ~d we're waiting patientl y. Save u s, Sco tty

• Cover