Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

• .'. '~ t'.' ,1 : . D u s ti n Nelson (Yam) won the final round of th e Western Regional FourStroke Series in Lake Whitney, Texas, September 6, Todd Downs (Yam) finished second, followed by Scott Myers (Yam), T er ry Poovey (H o n) outran Ron n i e Jones (H-D) and Dan Butler (H-D) to win the 750cc Expert class du ring round 13 of the AMA National Hot Shoe Series a t the Ill in o is S tate Fairg rou nds in Springfield, Ill inois, on Sep tember 5, Wit h their pe rfor mances, all t h ree earned th e rig ht to contes t the $50,000 Hall of Fa me race lat er in the day, In ot her action, Da n Stanl ey (Rtx) drafted past Ken ny Coo lbeth (W-R) a t the line for the win in the 600cc Expe rt class , Joe Kop p (Rtx) was third , Eli Pric e (W-R) and Jim Perry (Tri) took ho me wins in two of the biggest races of the Was hington Speed Week fla t track se ries in the Pacific N orth w est . Pri ce won the 600cc Expert class at the AMA Hot Shoe National rou nd he ld at th e Cas tle Rock IT grounds on Sep tember 5, w it h Tob y Jorgensen (CCM) ca rd ing second and Jeff Annen (W-R) running th ird , Per ry won the Modern Vintage 750cc class at rou nd 13 of the AH RMA National Dirt Track Series on September 4, Jo h n Prot o (Yam) was second a nd Eric We is ler (Yam) was third , Kevin Curtain won the 1998 Aust ralian Production Superbike Champ io nship after a 1-4 finish at the sixth and final round at Phil lip Island on September 6, Cu rtain rod e a Yam aha Rl to the seri es title , According to a press rel ease issu ed by Factorv Co nnec tion,' motocro sser Mike LaRocco has re-si g ned to co n tes t th e AMA 250cc Supercross and AMA 250cc Na tional Motocross Cha m p ion sh ip in 1999 for the Facto ry Connection team, LaR occo will aga in be a boa rd Hon da CR250s, Yamaha Motor Corp, USA, me anwhile, an nounced on Se p tem be r 4 that th ey had re-signed John Do wd for the coming season - to rid e in the AMA 250cc Supercross and AMA 250cc N a tiona l Motocross Championships, Dowd, th e 1998 125cc West Supercross Champion , will rid e a Brian Berry-tu ned Yamaha YZ250, "We are very pleased to ha ve Joh n again with the team for 1999," sa id Team Yama ha ma nager Keith McCarty, "It' s unbelievable how he finds ways to improve every year, He's convinced that his s peed , s kill a nd en d ura nce le vels ha ve yet to peak. As a manager, yo u lo ve to ha ve rid ers w it h that type of energy and determination:' M ickael Pich on confirmed ' at the Steel City 250cc National Mot ocross on September 6 tha t he has signed with Team Honda for the 1999 season, Picho n will compete aboard a Suz uki for one last time at the MX des Nations, where he'll rep resent the ' Fre nch tea m , He w ill be replacin g in ju red rid er Frederic Belley , w h o is out wit h a bro k en wr is t. It ap pears th at Team Hond a w ill fie ld a four-mart team n ext ye ar: Ezra Lu sk, Kevin Wind ham, Sebas tien Tortelli and Pichon, Alt h ou gh noth ing has been signe d , it appea rs as thoug h for mer AMA 125cc National Mo tocross Cham p io n Steve Lamson w ill join the Chaparral/Yamaha team and will contest the 1999 AMA 250cc Supercross a nd 250cc N a tio nal Mo tocros s Se ries , La m so n will tea m wit h d e fe n d in g AMA Su p ercross Nati onal Cha mpion Jerem y McGra th, . Duri ng las t week 's annual KTM d ealer meetin g at Clev eland's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, AM A presi d e n t Ed You ng blood prese nt ed KTM ' s S cotH ard e n w ith th e H az el Ko lb Bri gh ter Image ' Aw ard and a ck n owl ed ged Harden ' s ma ny co n t ributions to th e spo rt of moto rcycling , Best ow ed by vote a n d representing the Association ' s high est h onor for favo ra ble p re ss and public relations, the award is nam ed after the late Hazel Kolb, the AMA 's first fema le Trus tee and an ind ividual dedicated to impro ving th e public' s u nderstanding and acceptance of motorcycling thro ugh the vigorous use of the news 'a nd entertainmen t med ia, Harden's selection for the award was prompted by his participatio n i n the N at io n a l Geo grap h ic Exp lo rer program "So u th To Pa tagon ia ," a m ad e -f or-TV special w hich chronicled a m ot orcyclin g adven ture through the Ch ilean Andes featuring Hard en and a couple of his ridi ng buddi es, Malcolm Smith and singer /songwriter Lyle Lov ett, The adventure was insp ired by Microsoft' s cyber magazine Mungo Park, and each step of the epic jou rn ey was detailed on Mu ngo Pa rk's site on the World Wide Web, The memb ers of PR02 (a two-wheeled professiona l racer s organization) have a nnou nced th a t th e enti re NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle fie ld , co nsis ting of Suzu ki, Kawasaki and Ha rley-Da vidson riders, will do nat e all of their w inni ngs from thi s year's VisionA ire Na tionals at Brain erd Intern ational Raceway to th e Joh n Myers Me morial Fund, The fund , was es tab lishe d for Myer s' 22-m on thold daughter, Christina, and his w ife of 12 yea rs, Kerry , a f te r th e three- tim e NH RA Pro Stock Ch am pion was killed in a motorcycle accident on August 9, "While we can never give back to [ohn's famil y wh at John contributed to each of us .personally and to the sport, w e all go t to geth er and d ecid ed th at th is would be a gr ea t tribute to our friend and competitor IohnMyers." said Steve j oh nson, the pres id e n t of PR02, " As tough as rac ing is finan cially, we beli eve we are represent ing th e true spirit of NHRA drag racing and the mot orcycle industry:' Contrib uti ons can be made to the John Myers Memorial Fu nd at 117-H Davi d G re e n Road, Birming ha m, AL 35244, Mu lti-time AMA Nation a l Motocross a nd Supercros s Champion Rick Joh nso n ha s a nnounced the formation of Rick Johnson's School of Champions, a motocro ss a nd of f-roadin s tru ct io na l prog ra m d e s ig n e d to h e lp no t o n ly Novice an d Intermed iate ride rs, but also Pro rid ers tryin g to make it in today's mot ocro ss / soper cro ss ra cin g, johnson, who retired fro m mo to cross racing in 1991 , h a s bee n fo cus in g h is ra ci ng efforts in four-wheeled racing, com petin g m os tly in on- and off-road tru ck events, "Since reti ring from motocro ss, I' ve s tayed closely involved with the mot orcycl e ind us tr y a nd I've en joyed the oppor tu nity to sha re the knowledge I gai ne d during m y career w ith Ama teur and Pro riders try ing to ma ke it to the nex t level," Johnson said , "I get a lot of personal satisfactio n fro m teaching, a n d even b efo r e I'd comp let ed th e Yamaha clinics, I kn ew th at some day I'd have m y own schoo ls, Besid es, now my kid s a re old eno ugh to rid e a nd I wan t th em to a voi d many of th e mi stake s I made as I came u p through the ranks:' Johnson's firs t schoo l is sched- r IN THE WIND , f--"- PJ1 Arenacross SerIeS'" schedule released P A CE Motor Sports released the 1998-1999 PJ1 Na tional Arenacross Ser ies sched - ule recently, with seven new venues set to help celebrate the 15th annivers ary of the series , . The ' 98-99 seri es will feature three more rounds than last year' s series and now number s 14 rounds, including new sto ps at The Centrum Centre in Worcester, Massachus etts; jackson ville Coliseum in jackso nvi lle, Florida; H L Reaves Are na in Perry, Georgia , The Deltaplex in Grand Rapids, Michigan; the Baltimore Are na in Baltim ore, Maryland; Memorial Coliseum in Por tland, Oregon; and San Jose Are na in San Jose, Californ ia. The full schedule is as follows: November 6-8 "., Vetera ns Au d itoriu m, Des Moines, Iowa November 13-15 , , . , . Cen tru m Centre, Wor cester, Massachu sett s November 20-22 " . , . . jac ksonville Coliseum, ja ckso nville, Florida No vem ber 27-29 . . , .. "" ", . H .L Reaves Aren a, Perry, Geo rgia " " , MetroCen tre, Rockford, Illinois December 4-6 " " ., .. Will Rogers Coliseum, Fort Wor th, Texas January 1-3 Janu ary 8-10 " Delta plex, Grand Rapids, Michigan Janu ary 15-17 , Ha mpton Coliseum, Hampton , Virg inia Janu ary 22-24 , . . , ., Baltimo re Are na, Baltimo re, Maryland Jan uary 29-31 . . , , .. , ., ., Con vention Center, N iaga ra Falls, N ew York February 5-7 , , . , ., LJVM Colis eum, Winston-Sa lem, No rth Ca roli na _ Februa ry 12-14 , . . " , .. Lazy E Arena , Guthri e, Oklahoma , " , Den ver Coliseu m, Denver, Colorado February 19-21 ., February 26-28 " , " , Arco Arena , Sacrame nto, California , . , Mem orial Coliseu m, Portlan d, O rego n March 5-7 "" . , . , . . , March 19-21 " " " . " " , San Jose Arena, San Jose, California Mar ch 26-28 " " " . " " Delta Center , Salt Lake City, Utah u led to take 'p lace at G len Helen Racew ay in San Bernard in o, Cali forn ia, in la te October - ru nni ng in co nju nct ion w ith th e Vi n tage Ir on "Ir o n Men of Mot ocro ss" even t. For more in formatio n, ca ll M arc Burnett , the s chool's ma nage r, at 619/ 421-7500, Last w eek w e rep orted tha t Au stralian road racer Cra ig Connell would ma ke his , 500cc Grand Prix racing debut in the Austra lian Gra nd Prix a t Phillip Island on October 4, Now comes wo rd that Conne ll wi ll get the opportun ity to ride the Shell Advance Honda V-twin in the Catalu nyan Grand Prix on September 20 as well. Connell will be repla cing the team's regular rid er Garry McCoy , who su ffered a broken righ t leg in the Czech Republic round of the series last mon th , Frenchma n Bernard Gar cia rod e the jeff Hardwick-ow ned Hond a in the City of ImoIa Grand Prix in Italy on September 6. Th e N a tion al H igh w ay Traffic Safety Admin ist ration (NHTSA) is moving to a m e nd fe deral m o tor-ve hicl e safe ty s ta nd a rds to redu ce g la re from motor v ehicles eq ui p ped wit h day time runni ng ligh ts (DRLs) , acco rding to the AMA , This actio n is in res ponse to a petition from the N a tio na l Motoris ts Association (NMA) seeking the prohibition of hard-wired DRLs on all vehicles for sale in the Un ited Stat es , The age ncy ha s also received numerous com plaints from the public abou t g la re fro m th e lights, commonly found on some 1995and -n ew er GM, Freight li n e r, Volvo, Vo lkswa gen a n d Sa ab veh icl e s . O n Augus t 7, N HTSA p ropos ed a three-step program that will red uce the in ten sity limi ts of DRLs on newl y manufactured cars by as m uch as 78 per cent over fou r yea rs. Th e NHTSA is seeking p u bli c comment on the issu e. 'T he imp act of DRL s on mo to rcycle safety rem ains a concern ," sa id Sea n Maher, AMA legislative-affairs spec ialist. "While the proposed am endmen t is a step in the right d irection, N HTSA continues to ign or e the mot or cycle eq ua tion . By th eir ow n ad mission, they hav e no d ata to sho w DRLs result in fewe r crash es in the Unit ed Sta tes, but they've never stopped to conside r wheth er DRLs ma y be causing more cras hes - the motor cycle kind : ' Facto ry Conne ction is cu rrently accep ting resumes for the upcomin g off-ro ad and motocross racing season s. Resumes can be sen t to Factory Connection, Race Suppor t Dept., 10 Crossroa ds Industrial Pa rk, Rochester, NH 03868 Th e AMA N a t ional Cha mpion s Award s Ban q ue t will be he ld a t th e Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada, o n Sa tu rday, Nove m b er 21, a n d th e pu blic is welco me to attend . Tickets for the banquet ar e $50. For more info rma tion , call Dee Whit e at 614/891-2425. The FIM carried ou t alcohol and drug te sts at th e Du tch round of the 500cc Wo rl d Mo tocross Cha m pio nsh ip on August 8, wi th all the tests coming back negative. Amo ng those tested we re joe l Sm e ts , C a me ron N e g us a n d j o nu s ' Ed berg , Fo rmer road ra cer Andy Milton will ma rry his girlfri end , Laura Morr ison , w ho is the art d irector a t Motor cycl ist magazi ne , on Oc tober 10. Milto n suffered career-end ing injuries in a crash at Willow Springs Raceway three yea rs a go a nd is still re habilitat ing , Milt on recen tly had his first outing on a bicycle and hopes to be ba ck on a motor cycle again soo n , " It felt absolu tely marvelo us and ans wered some of the qu est ion s 1 had abou t being ab le to rid e a motorcycle aga in," Milton said , Lock h art Phi llips USA is lo oking for ph otos and photo releases from its Team Priva teer racers for the 1999 LP USA cat al og . T hey ca n be se n t to Lo ckha r t Phillips USA , 15 1 Ca lle Ig le sia , Sa n Clemen te, CA 92672, The th ird a nnua l Sk ip Van Leeuwen AHRMA National Short T rack will be held on Sa tu rday , October 10 at the Del Ma r Ho rse Arena at th e Del Ma r Fair- 1

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