Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Eill~ VOICES America's weekly motorcycle newspaper LIDERS TO THEED/TOR V olu me XXXV Sharon Clayton. President Michael Klinger. Publisher Editorial Paul Carru thers. Editor Kit Palmer. AssociateEditor Scott Rousseau. Associate Editor Mark Hoyer. Managing Editor Keith Bush. Assistant EditorlCoV!! Editor Ma tt Free ma n, Assistant Editor Ala n Cathcart. European Editor David R. Holt her, C0V!! Editor Advertising Terry Pratt, National Accounts Managcr Mark Thome. Western Sales Manager Thomas Gon ter, Western Sales Manager Forres t Hayashi, Western Sales Manager Greg Mitchell. Eastern Accounts Manager Jim Clark, Eastern Sales Manager Rhonda Crawford, West,'77J Ad Coordinator Bridgett Bob rofs ky , Assistant Carla Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome. Director Forrest Hayashi, Manager Kory Klinger, Dealer Representative New Media Development Rick Matheny, Webmaster Classified Ads F-1 coming to Ame ric a ' In regard s to previous letters, it seems to be that wi th th e growing popularity and televisio n cove rage o f m otorcycle racing , bigger pa ychecks will soo n be forthcoming for the racers. . My point is this: I hope the day never comes when bigge r pa ychecks or signing bonuses become th e top s tory (as they have in o the r sports) over the sk ill, d et ermina tion and co mpetitivene ss of th e to p ri ders . That sends the wrong m essa ge to future Jeremy McGraths. I believ e that (jus t like th e th ou sa nd s of less -t al ented co m p e tit o rs ou t there) Doug Henry, Mick Doo ha n and Scott Parker race mot orcycl es becau se they love doing so and have a desire to prov e that they are the best. Mot o rcycl in g is m o re th an a spo rt, it's a w ay of life. Bob Mason Fremont,OH Dave and dirt trac k Teri Kerr Graphi cs and Production Mandy Loo , Art Director Dennis Greene, Lab. Tech. Amanda Wollny, Graphic Artist Sandi Gettys, Graphic Artist Paul Fisher, Graphi Artist c Administration Judy Klinger, Coordinator • Lea nne Sims , Administrative Assistant AccountinglData Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond, AIR Coordinator Geneva Repa ss, Assistant Theresa Milburn, Credit Circulation Alma Angu ia no, CirculatiolJ Manager Carol Maggio, Processing Coordinator Pam Klein, Billing Coordinator Joy lou. Dealer Coordinator Service and Support Shannon Clark, Receptionist Jim Olson. Service and Support NiJ.tiIln.illk;uL'lJ,!i!Itm 3505-M Cadillac Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626 P.O. Box 5084, COSt.l Mesa. CA 92628-5084 (714) 751-7433 FAX (714)751-6685 Eastern Office 4188First Ave., Tucker, GA 30084 P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 3008S-{)8()S (770) 934-7850 FAX (770) 93-1-311 2 I wi sh to co m m e n t on t he sin cere involvement of Da ve Despain and his effort to eleva te d irt track racing with the stagi ng of th e mos t hist orical even t in di rt track his tory. As an ex-racer and fellow d irt tr ack enthusi ast sin ce the mid-'60s, I wish to than k Dave for hi s tirel ess effort a nd to express the jo y I experienced in being able to mee t many of the top performers in dirt track racing that in the past I ha d onl y read about. I have been aro und many d irt track Nationals in the past, but my hig hlig ht of th e weeke nd ha d to be w hen I m et Dic k Ma n n, truly the g reatest overall m ot orcycle ra cer in h is tory . And th e ot he r highlig ht was seei ng the expressio n on all of those guys' faces when I o r so me o the r dirt track enth us ias t would as k for an autograph. Th is is just a littl e payb ack to th ose w ho gave us so much of th eir li ves to th e s p o rt. In cl osin g, Da ve De spain could h ave tak en hi s cont ra ct w ith ESPN a n d ran , but w e h a ve hi m to thank fo r maintaining h is d ir t tra ck root s for all of us, th e sma ll frat ernity that w e a re, a n d for produ cing dirt trac k's fines t mom ent. Chas Smith Jr. clsmithj r@lucent.com Despain is planning on doing it all again with anoth Springfield event in 1999 - alld er perhaps a 50-miler. Those wishing to show their support can call 877/769-0474 for more informat ion all next year's race scheduled for May 29-30... Editor e-m ail editor@cyclenews.com subscribedcyclenews .com advertising@cyclenews.com Internet http:/ /www.cyclenews.com CycleNews (USPS141-340> is publishe weekfy excepe the d lao,t two weeks of the- calendar year for 550.00 per year by Cycle ~'S, Inc.•3505-MCadillacAvenue, CostaMI."Sl. CA 92626 Periodicals Postage Paid al Coste Mesa. CA and .1 . 1 additional maiJin l':office. Canada Post International Publica" d d~'i changes Now that the Ind ian ap olis Mo tor Speedway is goi ng to buil d a tra ck sui table for Form u la One cars, it's u p to us mot orcycling fans , racers and teams to e-mai l and write the Speedway, sugges ting and begging for motorcycle raci ng. Maybe we could end up with AMA Su perbike, World Su pe rbike o r ev en a Grand Prix right here at our doorstep. Wow! I've enclosed a li n k be lo w fo r In dianapolis Mo to r Speedway a nd it includes their e-mail address. Bradley Love Blove@iquest. net The Indianapolis Motor Speedway home page on the World Wide Web can be foultd at the following address: http://wW.w.brickyard.com... Editor Jim Forington On Monday, N ovember 30, hundred s of fa m ily, frie n ds a nd m ot orcycl e racers fr om ac ross the co u n try ga there d to mourn th e death of and say goodbye to their frie n d and fellow race r, Jim Forington . J i m was we ll- k now n th roughout Col orad o racin g circles, as he competed in di rt track , road racin g and motocross even ts. To sav tha t he was well-liked off the track is an understatement. If you were going to get beat, you wanted it to be Jim th at did it. H is ever. present sm ile, since re and caring ways, and warm personal it y earned hi m the nickname "Gentlema n Jim ." My famil y refe rred fo him as "Clark Ken t" - mild mannered off the track, Su pe rm an on it. The Colorado racing and mo torcycle community, as we ll as the brotherhood of jus t good g uys, ha s los t its fines t ambassa d or. Ryan Stewart Cal ha n, CO Day in the Dirt Jimmy . Roberts and Kenny Ale xander deserve high praise for the day of racing and memories they prod uced as a first time event at Los Angeles County Raceway - a bay in the Dirt. Th e d ay wa s fill ed w it h highlights, suc h as a team rac e with such di ver se teams as Eddie Mulder and Mouse McCoy, Ricky Johnso n and J.N. Roberts, and Geoff Aaron and Lan e Leavitt. With jus t three races he ld , ea ch o ne quite uniqu e with an incredible composite of famous racers along wi th a hu ge crowd of famo us and near-famous spec- tato rs, it was a day to remem ber. Thanks also to Stunts Un limited and all of the film ind us try for th eir backing . We need more p ure-fun even ts such a s this, and ma yb e Dis trict 37, along with o the r promo ters, cou ld take a lesson fro m some guys who did it rig ht the very first time. Ken ewton ewhall, CA Gunny 's t hanks I'd like to tak e this o p po rtu nity to say thank you to all the spo nsors and ISDE team supporters for all their help at this yea r's ISD E in A us tra lia . I know it ' s hard for people to give up vacation time to "w ork," especia lly when they do n' t have a rider they're worryin g over and th ey are 10,000 mil es fro m home. We had approxima tely 225 people on th e AMA tour, with abou t 100 of them really kickin g in to help . First, a big "thank you" to the major sponsors th at co n trib u ted produ cts and /or fund s: Pro Grip, Arai H elmets, Cycle Gear, MSR, CRD, Acerbis, Smit h, ~I Ray, Scott , Metzler, Cycra Racing Systems, Trelleborg, Moose, Dirt Rider, Cycle Neus, RK chai n, Cyco Active (ride r card s, card hold ers, and map cases for the chase riders), the A. 1A and Rid e To Win. \ There w ere enough vo lu n teers fo r checkpoints SO that everyone didn't have to wo rk the w ho le time - and to all those peo p le, a d eep-hearted "tha nk yo u ." Howe ver , I wo uld like to g ive a special thanks to a few diehards tha t wo rked all week at both checkpoints an d then go t back to the pare ferrn e to help at the end of th e da y: check ca ptai ns Pete Storrie, Tom Th om son, Kel vin Thoma s , Jim Coo per, Bruce Byrd and Ted Swartz; the pare ferme crew of Bruce Wakeley, Jason H end ricks, Tita Rivas, Joe Conti, Corky Beh rle, Kent D oyl e, Don and Debbie Ebright, Ed Keeley, Linda Thomson, Jim Stoffer; and all the others who help ed . Even th ough our fin al team stand ings didn't look too good, it in no wa y reflected h ow hard ou r riders performed . From Rodney Smith (and sev era l o thers) doi ng IS-mi n ute top-end replacements to watching Russ Pea rson on the Friday before impound taking an hour with se ven coaches to do a rear tir e and then on day five watching him do a front and rear tir e, air filter and brakes in 11 minutes - I w as impressed. Again, thanks to one and all for your help and also for letting me be a part of Team USA. G unny Claypo ole Po rtland, OR INSIDE ISsue 149 December 16, 1998 FEATURES born.Mail ' S466 15. POSTM ASTER: Sm d Don't sho w me th e mon ey DEPARTMENTS to Cycle Nr ws, P.O. BoxS084. Co~t.J Meu. CA 92628-sos.&. To de term ine the exp ira t io date of yo ursubsaiption. check n the four numbers on thr fi~t tin e of your add rns I"M L Th e fint two di gi ts ind ic"te the I"sl iss ue number you'll receive and the I ,,-~t two ch.u "cten indicate the year of the I"" t Issue, TIRETEST Dunlop's Daytona tire test Subscription rate : Rates for the United States and its pos.>;eSs sions fur one Ye r (SO issues), $5OJXl; two years (100 issues). a 595.00; six m~nth!i (25 is....ues), $26.00 trial sub 05 issues), ; $19.00. Canada and Foreign. one year (SO issues). $9().00; two years (100issues), 5175.00; six months as iss.ues), $45.00; trial . sub 0 5 issues), 5..18.00. DUAL SPORT B-to-V Dual Sport : Cycle Nl'WS welcome unsolicited editorial material including s stories, cartoons, photos. de. Such material, if published. becomes the exclusive property of Cycle New s. Reprinting in wholeor part only by permis sion of the publisher. Adv ertising rates a nd circulation in formation will be sent upon request. SeeS.R.O.5. ViI/BOA 'VI AUDITED -!"" ~ O RCULA TlON ARENACROSS Rounds 7 & 8 - AMA /PJl National Ar enaeross Series from Perry, Geo rgia 20 26 LEADERBOARD 35 CALENDAR .36 14 16 WANT ADS MOTOCROSS . Florida Mini Ol ympics from Gainesville, Florida : 18 MERRY CHRISTMAS From the Cycle Neum staff 24 Printed in U.S.A. Co~yrigh te Cycle News, Inc.1998. TrademarkCycleNews registered US . P"tmt Offict . All rights reserved. NEW PRODUCTS EVENTS 6 .41 RIDERS MEETING .59 LOOKING BACK 59 ON THE FRONT COVER Scott "M r. Daytona " Russell showed up a t Dayton a on a Fr iday, signed a ,co ntrac t with Harley-David so n and then started testing for th e upcoming Dayton a 200 on th e VRIOOO. For a full report on the Dunlop tire tests from Day tona, see our coverage that beg ins on page 6. Photo by Henny Ray Abrams.

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