Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

class. In you r cove rage of the AMA Loretta Ly n n 's A ma teur Mo tocross, however, you listed only the top three in each class. I be lieve that the most p restigious Amateu r MX event of the year should include a listing of the top 10 in each class. A g rea t m any of you r read e rs are frie nds or fans of the co mpetitors at Loretta Lynn's. If Cycle News would tell us who tha t fourth (or 10th) place finisher was, then we cou ld congratulate them th e next time we see them at the local motocross track. Gary Crider Athens, GA Congratu lations, Gary, on you r ninth-place finish ... Editor WML response This is in respon se to a recen t letter in Cycle Neuis . It is important to ad d ress a n d cl ari fy the ac t ua l eve n ts that occ u rred during th e fina l ro u nd of the WML/ AMA O utdoor Na tion al Series at Broome-Tioga . The W om e n ' s Mo tocross League (WML) is mad e up of a group of vo lunteers w ho are dedicated to promoting more oppo rtunity and recognition for fe ma le mot ocro ss riders . It is not the intent of the WML to red efine the rules and reg ulations that are in place at these events . The WML follows AMA regu la- tions and promoter directives. Wit h this said, please note the following: The WML requests that all National pro mo te rs allow rid ers to ra ce a ZOminute, plus-two-la ps format. In addition, the WML requests tha t each promoter run the Pro and Amateu r races sepa ra tely fo r safety rea sons. As th e WML is no t a promoter, bu t a facilita tor, we must wo rk with and respect promoter sched u les. As th e Broo me-Tioga eve nt, the promoter had approved the ZD-minu te timeline , The wo me n's event was run d uring th e promote r's normal A ma te ur prog ra m . The A ma teur p rog ram is a fivela p format. A miscommun ica tion occu rred (wit h t he flagger) a nd the wo me n we re flagged off the track af ter five laps, at w hich time a ve rba l protest was filed . Motos number two and thr ee ra n a tot al of 13 laps each; hen ce, race nu m ber o ne was less tha n 50 percent complete. Th e pro moter ac knowledged the erro r a nd g raciously all owed th e race to be re-run. In addi tion, w hen put to a vote, the wo men rid ers vo ted to re ru n the race. Per th e AMA reg ulations : In a ll sta rts, th e re fe ree or star ter has th e power to d ecid e w hat is a fair sta rt. The sta rter/ referee may declare a restart w hen: (T he re a re) co n d it io n s tha t enda nge r the lives of spectators and/or competitors and the race is not more than 60 percent comp lete. After the protest was filed, the promoter allowed the race to be re-run. Had moto number one stood, the rider w ho sent in the letter wo uld ha ve wo n the ove rall for that day. The WML does recogni ze that the decision to re-run _ mot o nu mber one d id affect the rider pers on all y . Ho w eve r, the WM L m u s t ma ke its decisions in a fair and unbiased way in orde r to benefit all riders. Elaine Ru ff Ramona,CA R uff is th e executive directo r of the Women's Motocross League... Editor Where's Harley? I have jus t retu rned from the Labo r Day races at th e Spri ngfield Mile. As usual, there w ere. a g reat bu nch of races that were en joyed by a ll. The Ha ll of Fame Race is a g rea t ad dition to the program and the mo ney awarded to the riders is getting close to w ha t they deserve. It is har d to acce pt tha t dirt track racers are . not as important as s uperbike racers . The money ea rned by the dirt trackers is nowh ere near the paymen t they deserve for the en tertainment they provide - or for the risks they take. I am proud of th e dirt track community and their generosity in helping pu t together the past and future purses for this race. My rea l tho ug ht is - Where is the Harl ey-Davidson Motor Company? Sure Willie G. has bee n there in a small way and ind ividua l Harley deale rs have contrib u te d, b ut w here is the Ha rley-Davidson Mo tor Company? Dirt track racing has been in Harley's history for years and ye t in tod ay's raci ng all they ca n su pport is the one factory bike. You wo uld think with w ha t di rt track racing has meant to Harley and with the money this compa ny no w ma kes, that th ey wo u ld be able to pu t u p $100,000 pur ses for all the races . If they would be wi lling to come off a percentage point or two fro m th e profits from their clo thing line alone , it would probably pay for it. Most of the di rt track racing community has been su pporting Harley-Davidson e ven w hen th ey were p rodu cin g crap. So now with the ir prosperity, you thin k they would be proud to stand in front of a crowd of loya l dirt track racing fans and Harley riders at Sp ringfield and commit part of their p rofits to dirt track racing . I ha te to think tha t they do n't care abou t the true sp irit of mo torcycle racing any more. Dir t track racing is th e most all-American form of sports left and it happens nowhere else in the world . Gary Krause Albemarle, NC Henry, Ricky and Emig I was one of the many fans at the Steel City National Motocross. My main reaso n to go was to wa tch my favo rite rid er - Doug Henry - in w ha t might be his last AMA Na tio na l. I'm deep ly sad dened. Doug will be missed . I wa nted to say th ank you to all the ride rs for their bon d ing ti m e . Hey, Ricky, I kn ow yo u were in a hu rry to get ou t o f th ere, but th a n ks fo r the la st m inute picture with me - it meant a lot. Jeffro - sorry abou t yo u r littl e in cid ent, but I'm still a fan. You g uys are awesome. Jen nifer Delker Te mperance, MI Everts - great? I wo uld like to respo nd to the com men ts abou t Stefa n Eve rts in a rece n t issue. Where do people get off making blanket . statements like, "there is no doubt that . S tefa n Everts is o ne of t he great motocrossers of all time ." What are the requirements to be considered "great?" Could there be dozens . of tru ly "great" motocrossers? Hu ndreds? Thousands? I know I could put a few dozen on the list wit hou t struggling for names. Everts is famous beca use he filled a talent void in European m ot ocro ss. A void that was crea ted by the departure of ta le n ted racers w ho , whil e tr iu mpha nt over Everts, wou ld and will have a hard time repeating their level of FlM success aga inst the AMA regu lar s. . To be considered g rea t, o ne wo uld need to do more tha n jus t fill a void. One need s to be ha ve th e co urage to co mpete where there is no void , an d to smother the competition with desire, sk ill and, most of all, the sheer tale nt to wi n a nd mak e it appea r effortless. When yo u add consistency, you ge t... we ll, you get Ricky Carmic hael for one. You also get people like Suz uki team m ana ger Roger DeCoster, w ho had the right stuff five times over. Congra tu lations, Roger, looks like you were rig ht all along. And Four-ti me World Champio n Stefan Evert s. Great or not so great? co ng ra tulatio ns to G reg "H ighlight Reel" Albe rtyn . O n this pla ne t, in this coun try, in our time, you are th e bes t an d you proved it. If yo u want to be in the best in th e un iverse for o ne d a y, though , you gotta go kick some Budds. Do n Fenaroli Whittier, CA To notput a four -time World Champion land he 's fini sh ed second in the World Championship no less than three times) 0/1 the list of motocross g reats would be Iudir rous. Using your analogy, Carmichael is only famous because he has filled a void in AMA 125cc National Motocross. That 's also ludicrous. By the way , Everts finished 1-3 in the U.S. GP - in what was only his third race of the season after coming back from a knee injury... Editor Letters to the editor sho u ld be se n t to Voices, Cycle News, 1'.0. Box 5084, Co sta Mesa, CA 926 28-5084, faxed to 714 /751-6685 or e-rn ail e d to ed itor@ cyclenews.com. Published letters d o not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News, In c. Lette rs shou ld not exceed 200 wo rd s and all lelle rs are subject to editing. A no nymo us letters will not be considered for publication. All lett ers s ho u ld contain the writer's name, address and daytime -p hone number.. . Ed itor. en '" '" ~ N N ~ Q) .0 E Q) c.. Q) en 5

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