Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

BYCHRIS JONNUM he Buchanna n, Michigan, Na tiona l Motocro ss o n '93's Indep endence Day Weekend was the first feature race I covered for Cycle New s, and Jeff Emig also chos e the occasion to post the fir st National Mot ocross victory of his career. Wh ile nervousl y in terv iewing him afte rwards ' ! was as impresse d by his h u m ble , human m anner as I had been by his rid ing . The wi n seemed to boost Emig's confidence, and fro m that ra ce for ward , the e rs tw h ile Yama ha rid er go t faster an d mo re self-assu red , ' even tua ll y making up a hu ge poi n ts d eficit to pas s Mike LaRocco an d take that season 's 125cc National MX Cha mpions hip. O ver th e n e x t fe w yea rs, Em ig ad ded one Su percross a nd two 250cc MX tit les to his resume, and tu rn ed in sev eral h ero ic perfo r ma nces a t, th e Mot ocr oss d es Na tio ns . O ver tim e, he es tablishe d one of the largest and most lo ya l fa n ba s e s in th e s po r t. Sti ll, I think as mu ch .a s pe opl e ad mi red his skills, it was tha t sa me approach able (and vuln erabl e ) d em e an or th at attracted tho se a fro-sportin g rooters. Even during his slu m p these past couple of yea rs , h is s u p po r te rs h av e rem ain ed all egiant. Th is week I returned to Cycle News aft er several yea rs wo rking ou tside the motorcycl e indus try , a nd once agai n Emig was in the news, thi s time tinder mu ch less auspicious circu ms tances. To be hon est, I'm not really surp rised at Emig' s re cent a rres t b y th e Lake Havasu City Police Department, or even a t th e cha rges . You proba b ly a re n' t, either . Emig (along with se veral ot he r top racers ) is fa mous fo r h eading to Havasu to relax and party on th e season's few free weekends, and he regularl y appears in aga inst -t h e-g ra i n freeride vid eos (includ ing the weed -featuring - but unreleased - Fresno Smooth). That Jeff Emig is a partier is not news. T I don ' t defend Emig's actions , but to me, th e fact that he apparen tly smokes p ot is n ot h is b ig gest m ist a k e . O u r cou nt ry ' s presid ent pu bli cly confessed to ha vin g d on e' the sa me (let's no t eve n t a lk a bo u t th e as p ira n ts to r e pl a ce him ), b u t w e e le ct e d h im a n yway . Don 't ge t m e wro n g, m a r iju an a is unh ealth ful , but a s fa r a s I'm co n cerned, Em ig's real mi stake wa s gettin g ca ug ht. In th e tw iste d log ic of tod ay ' s rul e-ori ented socie ty, tha t is th e biggest sin . Ge ttin g caugh t makes th e transg re s s ion offici a l, and thu s g ra n ts others t h e r ig h t to o ffici a ll y punish . Emig' s official pu nishm ent has com e q u ickl y. Thou gh w e 'll h ave to wa it until lat e Sep tem ber to lea rn th e co u r t's pe nalt y, his term in at ion b y Ka w a s a ki rep r es ent s a n additio n al instan ce of official punishmen t. Not that I think Kawasaki's decision is wron g. Incon sistent , perhaps. Back in 198 5, Te am H onda dr opp ed Ron Lech ien like a bad habit (so to speak) foll o wi n g hi s p o s s e ssi on arres t in Japan , a n d it w a s n on e ot he r t han Kawasak i th at em p loyed h im the fo llowin g season. (Lechie n had jus t wo n ' th e 125cc Na tio na l MX tit le; th is h as been one of the worst seasons of Emig's caree r. Coi ncidence?) O ne cou ld arg ue tha t Kawasaki 's firin g of Emig was premature, since he's technically innocent until a cou rt convicts, but the evidence is certai nl y damning. No, Kawasaki is not wro ng; by tod ay' s "ru les" or otherw is e . Afte r a ll, it wa s n 't Ka w a s aki wa lking d own a Ha va su roa d whi le h old in g a brew , so me bud a n d a ma kesh if t pipe ... or ma yb e it w a s, if only indirectl y . Wh eth er he likes it or not, Emig is a very high -p rofil e repre. senta tive of his spo nsors and of mot orcyclis ts eve ry w here, eve n when - especially wh en - goofi ng off by the London Brid g e . H e m a d e a mi s tak e, a n d no matter how human Emi g or his error, Jeff Emig riding to his first National win at Red Bud Track n' Trail in 1993. he shou ld expe ct to be officia lly punished. Em ig ' s un official p unishm en t is much more nebulous, and the bulk of it remains to be meted ou t. On e co u ld argue that the d ecision by Cycle New s to publish the d etails of his arrest cons titutes a form of punishment , and many probably will. Goo d for them. Yet even if th ey 're right, our sen tence (se veral paragr aphs, actually) is relatively trivial com pa red to the one that really matters - you rs . No one likes bein g arrested or losin g his job , but I bet: what reall y . matters to Emig is how hi s fans perce ive .h i m . That p er cep tion w ill of co u rse be p artly de te rm ine d b y how .Emig handl e s thi s m e ss . Defi ance , indiffer en ce, or denial would not elicit sen tim e n ts o f co m m is e ra t io n in th e public. It 's temp tin g to vi ew co n trovers ia l issues and situa tions as black and white, good and evil, righ t and wron g. The relative ly unimportant motocross world is granted no exception fro m this tend ency, as shown most recent ly by the lar ge- ly bipolar views on Mich ael Pichon and the circumstan ces tha t prompted his firing fro m Honda . The tru th, I believe, is rar ely so simple. Wh en yo u' re forming yo u r opi nion about the Jeff Emig wh o was arrested on drug charges, rem ember that this is the sa m e Jeff Em ig w ho repea tedly rode hard a n d h eroi call y fo r hi s country , team a n d fan s. Thi s is th e s a me Je ff Emig who regul ar ly inspired spectators to the p oint th at th ey d onn ed fu zz y wi gs and painted his name on their bodies, and the same Jeff Emig who signed autographs and granted interviews over and ov er again. People - fans included a r e gene rall y p erceptiv e, and Emi g hasn ' t been pulling the wool over his supporter s' eyes all this time. N or has h is s mo k ing of mariju an a ma g ica ll y transformed him from that open, friendly human int o the dev il. You ca n d en oun ce h is r ec ent a ct io ns , but if you s u p p o rt ed Emig before, su p po rt him now ... wh en he Ctll really need s it. Looking Back 30 YEARS AGO .., SEPTEMBER16, 1969 20Y AR E SAGO,.. S P BE 12, 1979 E TEM R 10Y EARSAGO... SEPTEMB R6,1989 E a u l a Bennett, "M iss a. k .a. Cha m p io n H el mets ," posed aboa rd a spe edway mot or cycl e a t a round of the Los Ang eles Sp orts Ar ena In d oor Speed wa y Seri es, and th e s ho t ma d e up th e co ver of Issu e #35... Husqvarna took ou t a full-page ad to t au tits new 500 cc World M oto cr o ss C h a m p io n, Ben gt Aberg ... Bill Silvert horn (Hus) earn ed wi ns in the 250cc and 500cc cla ss es durin g th e Mam m oth Mountain MX... Wayne Ho saka (Tri) ou tra n a herd of District 37's finest scramblers a t the Sou thbay scrambles in Chu la Vista , Califo rn ia... We ran a feature on the motorcy cles that were part of the Harrah's Au tomobile Collection in Ren o, Nevad a, the finest au to collection in the entire wo rld. Included 'wi th the four-wh eelers we re suc h grea t mot orcycle marks as Th e Flyi ng Merkel, Pop e, Cyclone and Militaire, to name a few ... Art Baumann (Kaw) passed pre-race favo rite Cal Rayborn (HD) to take the win in the 125-mile ational road race at Sears Point International Ra cewa y. Th e ' e ve n t al so serv ed as a location shoot for the filmin g of the movie "Little Fauss and Big Halsey," starring Robert Redford and Michael J, Pollard. e ga ve you as comprehensive a guid e to the 54th running of the Internam:--rrrr:~ 1 tional Six Days Trial as you were likely to .', ~ • ~.~ find . Some 41 Arneri~ ~ ' .~ __",., no ca ns were sc he d u led ~~ ew 1 to head to West Gerblu• .,.d ..hil . h.bn... th • Wh ' .,ho\n . many to ta k e p art III 00 " th e g r ue ling even t. I The preview includ ed profiles of so me of the top contenders, such as Tro ph y Team mem bers Di ck Burl es on , Fra n k Ga ll o , Ja c k Pe n to n , La rr y Roesel er, Kevi n Lavoi e and Ted Lei mbach, as well as the Silver Vase team members and all of th e man u facturer a n d cl u b team entrants... Terry Vance (Suz) won the Pro Stock class at the !DBA Summer Nationals in Washingt on , D.C., while Sid Pogue record e d a s u b-ni ne -secon d run a t the event... Scott USA took ou t an ad proclaiming that the com pa ny' s revolu tion ary plastic boot had wo n three of the fo u r p ossible Na tio na l MX Ch a m p io ns h ips ; th e 25Dec and Supercro ss 'series with Bob Hannah; and the Dec SO series wi th Danny LaPorte... Dou g Cha n dler won the 85c(: Mod (12-14) and the 100cc Schoolboy classes, and Chris Carr wo n the 100cc Am ateur class during the AMA Ama teur Nationa l IT at Ascot Park. e ff W a rd (Ka w) captured his seco nd s tra ig h t win of the A MA Na tiona l Cha m pio ns h ip 500cc MX Series a t Wash ouga l MX Par k in Washouga l, Was hing ton . Ron Lechien (Kaw) wo n the seco n d rna to , bu t Ward' s 1-2 finis h es were goo d enoug h for the over- ' a ll. In the 125cc Na tional round held o n th e s a m e da y , Mike Kie drowski (Han) went 1-1 for the clean sweep... Scott Parker (H -D) ou tran Doug Chan dler (Ha n) to cla im th e Indy Mil e, w hil e Dan Ingram (H an) beat Chris Carr (H-D) to the line for third... Jeff Russell (Yam) wo n the Jack Pine Cowbell Na tional End uro in Moor estown, Mich igan ... Paul Thede a nd the folks at Race Tech got hold of our '89 Suzuki RM250, revalved the sus pension and made a few motor mods, making the bike good enough to be compe titive aga inst the '90 models... Ronnie Correy (GM), America's sale hope for a World Speedway Championship in '89, rod e through the pain of a broken wrist to qu alify for the World Final after takin g an 11th-place finish at the Inter-Continenta l CtII Final at Bradford , England . P C> C> C> ~ eO Q; .c e ... 'E. en ... 96 W fP;;vi lSD J

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