Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Safet y Com m it tee. Alth ou gh I d o no t want to ask you not to quit, I do wa nt to let yo u kn ow that so me of th e peop le appreciate the time yo u and others pu t in . I s to p ped by yo ur p it a couple of times at the Loudon Nati onal to say this, but you we re n't around. The only time I d id see you, you h a d yo ur hel met , leat hers and race face on. I figu red it was best to let you race. I wo uld also like to thank Jerry Wood . for his effo rts in listen in g to w ha t the loc al riders had to say an d th e track ow ne rs for investi ng the mo ney necessary for these improvements. Micky Curry Ma ssapequa Park, NY Davey Cam lin remembered I wa s saddened to hear of the passin g of National #27 - Davey Camlin . Though I nev er met him, I have read of h is tr iumphs an d hard ships he endured whi le pu rsui ng th e spor t that he loved. He was a competitor and a promoter who will be missed by man y. It is my wish that the d irt tra ck Hall of Fame creat e a mem orial to the many fine men who were taken fro m us, so that they can be rem ember ed 'now and forever for their love of the spo rt. Terry Denemark terry@n-conne ct.net More Camlin We woul d like to exp ress our deepest sym pathy to the family of Davey Ca mlin . We a lways enjoyed wa tch ing h is performance at the races we attend ed . An y tim e a racer is lost, it is a d eep wound to the fans and the competitors. Our heart s go ou t to his famil y. Rick and Barb Howerton rickbarb@bright.net Give it to Springer I keep heari ng all of this talk about Scott Pa rke r ret iring a t the en d of the yea r a nd it mad e me think, "W h a t is dirt track racin g going to do withou t hi m and especially what is Harley goi ng to do without him ?" The n I had a w eir d id e a . Wh at if Harley ga ve th e fac to ry ride back to . N ati on al #9? That's right - Jay Sprin gsteen. We all know wha t he did a cou ple of yea rs ba ck on Bill Werner 's backup bik e. H e beat everyone but Scotty . So let' s sta rt a cam paig n now to get that factory Harley rid e, along with Werne r's tuning, back for Jay. He deserves it and I thin k w ith h is n ew foun d h ea lth , h e could win it all and then walk away as number o ne. Wouldn 't th at be awesome? I think Parker woul d eve n agree. Gregg Bernheisel Groveland, CA What now? I attended the Dairyland Grand Nation" al in Ply mou th, Wisconsin, this p ast June. Unfo rtu na tely, it was ra in ed out on Frid ay, then rescheduled for Su nday and aga in rain ed ou t. I'v e tried to conta ct th e AM A regard in g a refu nd or w ha tever else they plan to do , but have go tten no response. As a lifetime membe r of th e AMA, I co ntinue to rec ei ve reques ts fo r donations fo r leg is la tive causes, yet get no action w hen it comes to fan support for Class C racing. I realize this is no t a Cycle News issue, but as you u su ally get more info r rna tion, I wou ld app reciate knowi n g what th ey plan to do. When an NHRA ev ent ge ts ra ined out and you cannot make the resch ed uled date, you send you r ticket stub to the NHRA office and the y send yo u a vou che r good for any NH RA even t the following year. They reali ze wh o helps pa y the bill s. Hello, AM A, are yo u listening? Roger Patton maxwell@lsol.n et Unlike NHRA, which promotes all of its own races, the AMA does II , t promote the Grand National Championship - that is left up to individual promoters. III this case, the promoters of the Dairul nd Grand National a have announced that tickets for the ra inedout event this year will be good for next year's race, scheduled for Ju ne 10, 2000... Editor The manipulated You are b eing ma nipulated in an evil ga me of sla nder and deceit. I am referrin g to the recent "news releases" tha t yo u have publish ed , accu sing Jeff Smi th, executive director of AH RMA, of impropri eties. The most recen t release quoted Jim Redman as saying , "Smith assau lted me..." You su rely d on ' t publish every assau lt charge, but yo u choose to publish a ssault charges from one Wo rld Ch ampion to ano ther bec ause it se nsationalizes your newspaper. Do you realize tha t yo u a re bein g used? That Cycle News and Jim Redman are n othin g m ore th an p a wns in the hands of people in tent on teari ng down the sport that we love? Think about all th e effect that u ns u bs ta n tiated p ress releases have befo re you embrace World C ha mpio n n a m es a n d s e nsa tiona l cla ims. You are ou r com mo n lin k a nd we need you to bolster our ca use, not dilute it. In the future, wait for a jud gement and give us, the motorcycling public, real new s. Save sensationalism for the tabloids. Ron Winget Two Rivers, WI Redman dizzy? Jim Redman must h ave become d izzy fro m his lofty perch on the Team Obsolete Ho nda Six. Jeff Smith and the board ha ve b u ilt AH RMA into a successfu l organizati on of and for the rid ers . Tea m Obsolete los t in cou rt and shou ld s top wa sting the o rga n iz a tio n's time and money. They should also reread section 6.1 of the rul e book. Bruce Stevens Napa, CA Seattle x 2 As a first of its kind, the September 25 runnin g of the Sea ttle Mile at Eme ra ld Downs will feature dual AMA Hot Shoe Na tionals. A second race track will be co ns tructe d in s id e th e mil e ova l a nd competition wi ll alternate betw een th e tw o courses, trea ting ra ce fa ns to two Nati onals for the price of one . The inn er track will be a IT track and w ill provid e fans with nonstop ac tio n wh ile m ain ta inin g the b es t p ossibl e track co nd itions. At Emera ld Downs, th at me an s a fres hly prepared su rface for the start of each and every race. T he on ly s ho rtco m ing ex p erienc ed last year wa s the less-than-p erfect tra ck condi tio ns th at led to delays betw een the races w he n trac k ren o vat ion was completely necessary. This year, whe n the equ ipme nt heads onto the mile track for ma in tena nce, th e focus wi ll shift to racing action on the inner track. Rac e fa ns will be able to see thei r favo rite racers in hi gh -speed co m peti- : tio n on th e mil e and th en wa tch th em test the ir skills on the challe nging IT track. It will be the first-ever Hot Shoe N at ional w he re Expert rid ers ca n be seen in both 750cc a nd 600cc com pe tition on the same nig ht. Rob Moran Seattle, WA For ticket information on the Emerald Downs races, call Chris Agajanian Presents at 310/547-9898... Editor ' Still confused I jus t wanted to say thanks for giving you r readers such a con cise summary of the AMA 's proposed Motocross /Supercross ra ce num beri n g sys te m in la s t week's paper (Issue #30, Au gust 4). I' ll admit, at first I was a little confused, but fortunately, af ter read in g it 47 tim es, I came away with an extre mely vague yet comp letely foggy idea of what the AMA is proposing . Hopefully, everyone but the d ie-hard mot ocross / super cro ss fan will understand the logic behind the new system. That wa y, they can explain it to me and a few of my feebleminded friends. Mike Mount Capistrano Beach, CA Put a lid on it I'm sure Nick y Ha yden is d es tined to become a lege ndary road racer - if he ca n s tay health y and injury-free . I' m su re that most wou ld agree that inju ry is the m a in ca ree r -e n d e r th a t you see among such talen ted road racers. My concern is Hayd en's he lmetless victory laps. The first one I witnessed firs thand w as a t Road Atlan ta, a nd I w as s h o cked . I th o u g ht to m yself, " That's the last time I'll see that." I figured the AMA wou ld fine him for such an action. But then, back home at Mid Ohio, the story re peated itself. C' rnon, Nicky, we kn ow what yo u r face looks like - we see it in the pits , on post ers, in Cycle News and in other magazi nes, on TV an d mostl y on ,the podium. Leave the lid on until yo ur feet are on the grou nd. Rod SanJo Beloit,OH The AMA announced at the Brainerd International Raceway round on August 1 that helmetless parade laps would no longer be tolerated... Editor Letters to th e editor should b e sent to Voices, Cycle News, P.O. Bo x 5084, Costa Mesa, CA 92628-5084, faxed to 714/751-6685 or e- ma iled to edito r@ cycl en e ws .com. Published letters do n ot necessaril y refl ect the p osition of Cycl e N ews, In c. Le tters sh o u ld not exceed 200 w ords a n d a ll letters are su b ject to editing. Anonymous lett ers will no t b e consi dered for publication. All letters should contain th e writ er's name, add r e s s and d ay ti m e p hone number... Editor. '" '" '" Ul :> Cl :>

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