Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Tobacco Com pan y donated 33 cents for every ticket sold at each Na tional round throughou t the su mme r. "U.S. Tobacco has contribu ted to the Fou nd ation an d to the sport of motocro ss on so man y fro n ts," sa id Jud y Klin ger , sec reta ry / treasurer of the Clayt on Memorial Foundation . "Their dedication is obvious an d grea tly app recia ted by the Fou nda tion, th e rid er s a nd their families. Wit hout Ll.S, Tobacco Compa ny's continued support , these riders wo uld be hard -pr essed to make ends meet. Since the start of the p ro g ram w e ha ve been ab le to co n tribu te over $60,000 to inju red ad ult riders. This is an amazing amou nt." N e wl y crow ned A MA Su p er bike National Cha mpion Mat Ml adin earned $19,200 of the $100,000 poin ts fund posted by AMA Superbike Series spo nso rs MBNA- and Parts Unlim ited . When combined with his 1999' race pur se wi nnings of $48,100, AMA Bonus of $32,650 and $30 00 in Inters ta te Batt e r ies Pol e Aw ard s, the Australian rider collected a total of $102,950 in 1999. Th e five-e ve n t PACE Fr ees tyl e Motocross series kicked off on September 24-25 in Fresno, California. Overall wi n n er Tre vor Vine s too k h o m e a majority of the $20,000 purse by finishing ru nner-u p to Clifford Adoptante on Friday night an d w inning the festivities o n Sa turday nig ht. Finishi ng seco nd was Ad optant e, followed by Canadia n Reagan Sieg, Are na cross regu lar Jeff Willoh and 19-year-old David Turner. The second rou nd of the series will be held in Na mpa, Ida ho, on October 1516. The an te will be upped in the fina l three roun d s, which is the Van's Triple Crown of Freesty le Motocross. Star ting in San Diego, California, on November 5-6, the pu rse wi ll go up to $50,000 and w ill remain th e sa me u n til th e ser ies concludes two weeks later at round five in San Fran cisco, on No vember 19-20. (Round four is sched uled for November 12-13 in Ana heim, California). According to frees ty le mo tocross fo re fa the r Brian Deegan , he and most of the top 20 riders from last year's Four Leaf-promo ted se ries di d not a tte nd th e fi rs t round , a nd will not a ttend the second round d u e to th e sma ll p urse tha t is be ing o ffere d o ver the tw o nigh ts of co m pe tin g. "Las t yea r bef o re PAC E started p rom otin g the events the purse was more than $20,000, so I got together w it h so me o f t he o t he r rid e r s a n d form ed a ride rs u nion and d ecid ed to boycott the first tw o events," said Deega n . "So m eo ne has to sta nd up to PACE." PACE resp ond ed to Deegan 's commen ts ove r the telephon e. "I don ' t kn ow tha t I'd call it a boycott. Jeremy McG r a t h d id no t ra ce th e Na ti on a l Motocr oss se r ies a nd that wa s not a boycott," said T.D. Lovett of PA C E. "The y w e re o ffe red a n invi ta tio n to come a nd they turned it d own . We found othe r talent, w hich we will contin ue to d o. We are in the business of promot in g. " Deeg a n a nd ot hers are expected to compe te in the Van's Triple Crown porti on of the series. The AMA has announced that Full Spectrum Racing' s Gabriel Henning is th e AMA Su perbike Rooki e of the Year for 1999. Henning finished 18th in the Daytona 200 and ended the season 18th in the AMA Superbike Na tional Championship . 2 Former Suzuki Sport manager and forme r Dunlop tire technician Bill Syfan has been hired by PACE Motor Sports to the position of road race director. Syfan will oversee PACE's plans to go road racing. Syfan will report to Mike Kidd in the PACE Motor Sports office in Fort Worth, Texas, and w ill be res pon sible for d eveloping and ma nag ing PACE' s expansion into road racing. The company pl ans to run a se rie s o f e ve n ts at tracks ac ross th e co u n t ry , fea turin g some thing othe r than Supe rbikes as its premiere class. "Road racing will play a major rol e in the contin ued growth of our mot or cvcle di vi sio n," sai d Mike Kidd . "Bill brin gs a great dea l of knowledge and experience in road racing and we look for his lead ershi p to d evelop a nd implem en t a successful road ra ce program beginning in the year 2000." A Texan native, Syfan and his family w ill relocate from Sou thern California to the Fort Worth area. The Federation Internationale de ['A utomobile (FIA) a nd the Federat ion l n ternationale de M otocycl ism e (FIM) issu ed a join t press release stating that they will "con tin ue to use all possibl e mean s education, information, pr evention, testing, sanctions - in the figh t again st dopi n g, a sco u rge w h ich thr ea te ns t he health of participants and the fairness of competition in all sports." The three-stop FreeRide Mot o-X Championships w ill kick off on Friday, Octobe r 22, a t th e Ora ng e Co u n ty Fa ir gro un ds in Costa Mesa, California, with round two sche d uled for the San Jose Speedway in Santa Clara, Californ ia, on October 30. 'The third stop of the series has ye t to be ann ounced. For more information, call 310/589-0633. Amo ng those who were tested for drugs and alcohol at the recent ISDE in Portugal were Team U.S.A. members Destry Abbott and Brian Garrahan, accord ing to the FIM. Both ride rs were found to be negative of any banned substances. N o one ca n ac cuse th ree-tim e AMA Superbike Ch a mpion D oug Cha ndler o f for get t in g w h ere he ca me fro m . C h a n dl e r and fo r mer Tea m H ond a road rac er /dirt t ra cker Jeff H an e y were gues ts a t the Ram blers Moto rcycle Clu b's monthly meeting at Roy' s Drive a nd Eat in Salinas , California, recently. Gary Bailey' s Motocro ss School w ill make its one California stop on October 21-23 a t Glen Helen Racewa y in Sa n Berna rdino, and on November 4-5 a t L.A. Cou nty Raceway in Palmd ale. For more informa tion, call 540/650-1759. Beta Motor S.p .A. Italy has announced that the d istributi on of all Beta products w ill now be ha nd led th rou g h its new distributor, Beta U.s .A. Beta U.s .A. will be run by Ron Co mm o Sr. a nd Ro n Comm o JI. ; both of w hom a re well know n in the trials world . Beta U.s.A. will be based in North Ferri sbur gh, Verm o nt. Fo r m ore in fo rm a ti o n, ca ll 802/ 425-2081. Toby Jorgensen, 1982-1999 A MA Gra nd Nationa l dirt track racer Toby Jorgensen, 17, of Stockton , Californ ia, d ied in a Dallas hosp ital on Friday , October 1. Jorgensen succumbed to the injuries received in a crash d u ring the main event at the Dallas Half Mile in Dall as, Texas, on Sep tember 11. Jorgensen cras he d through the guardrail that lines the back straigh taway on lap 10 of the main even t, and was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, where he remained in critical condition wi th num erou s extensive interna l injuries. Jorgensen u nd erw ent a series of life-saving surgeries, althoug h the Par klan d doctors only gave him the slimmest chances of su rvi val. Jorgensen finally lost his fight for life at approximately 10 p.m. on Frida y. Like so many of his contemporaries, Jorgensen was born into a racing family, His grand father John , father Kim and u ncles Eric and Alex were all motorcycle racers, wi th Alex Jorgensen goi ng onto a succ essful career on the AMA Grand Na tional circuit , wh ere he earned 10 Grand Nationa l victories from 1978-1986. Toby Jorgensen began racing a t the age of 5, and quickly graduated throu gh the ran ks, racing at such popul ar No rthern California d irt track venues as the Lodi Cycle Bow l. He d eveloped into an outs tanding ama teur racer, taking several regional and national titles before turning pro last season. He earned his Grand National certification in 1999 and was immed iately successful, his crowning achievement coming this Au gust when he finished second to longtime idol Chris Carr at the Peoria IT. Jorgensen was offered a ride with the Sadd lem en Racing /Lan caster Har ley-David son / Dodge Bro thers racing tea m of Joh nny and Sarah Goad , and he mad e his d ebu t at the Sprin gfield Mile on Labor Day Weekend . The Dallas race marked the firs t time that he had qua lified for a 750cc Gra nd National main event. Fun eral services have been sched uled for 10 a.m. on October 8 at the Zion Reformed Church, 105 Sou th Ham Ln., Lod i, California. Cards and letters may be sen t to the Jorgensen family residence at 5031 E. Palmer Ave., Stockton, CA 95125. In an effort to relieve the tremendou s med ical expenses incurred during Jorgensen's care, the family has requested that all monetary do na tions be sent in his nam e to the Mokelumne Federal Credit Union, P.O. Box 1717, Lod i, CA 95241. guilty, and paid his $500 fine. Emig w ill serve a one-yea r u nsu pervised pr ob ation for the misd emeanor. The Gran d N atio nal Cross Country Ser ies rou nd originally sche d uled for Lisb on , Oh io, Oc tober 9-10, has been moved 30 mil es sou th to Uh richsville. For m o re info rm a tio n, ca ll 304 / 2840084. . Hond a has informed uS1hat the September 26 Ride for Kids in Sacram en to, Californ ia, se t a new re cord w ith $103,128 raised - a 28-percen t increase from last year's event. Over 700 rid ers participa ted , including Dr. Mike Edwa rd s, Director of Ped iat ric Ne urosurge ry at Su tter Healt hcar e in Sacramento. More than 25 patients and family memb ers were treat, ed to a sp ecial ride in a sidecar or on the backseat of a pa rticipant's motorcycle. Steve Lamson, who rode this year for Chapa rral Yamaha, was spotted recentl y practicing at Perris Raceway in Southern California on a '99 Ho nd a CR. Lamson has been replaced on the team by Tim · Ferry for 2000. Ferry will contes t both the AMA 250cc Su percross Serie s and the ou tdoor 250cc N a tio na l Cha m pionship. Topeka Harley-David son in Topek a, Kansas, will ho ld a vintage Harl eyDavid son pa rts sale at its facility, October 15-17. The weekend will also include a vintage motorcycle auction. "We have lots a nd lots o f vi n tage m oto r cycl e parts," said co-ow ne r Mike Patterson . "We a re looki ng fo rwa rd to hos ting Harley ent hu si as ts from all over th e Midwest and acros s the United States." Entries close October 29 for the California Grand Pri x, which is the fina l roun d of the District 37 Big 6 Grand Prix Series. Both Su zu ki and Kaw asaki continge ncies will be paid for th e race, which is scheduled for November 6-7 in Hungry Valley, California. A team race with pro payback will also be featu red . For more informatio n, call 310/ 322-3612. On August 27, Jeff Emig had the court hearing for his recen t arrest for public con sumption of alcohol, possessi on of marijuana and possession of drug para phernalia. According to the Lake Ha vasu City, Arizon a, Consolid at ed Court, Ernig appeared for hi s he aring, pl ed AUTOGRAPH SI G NING: At Speedway In ternational Bistro & Grill in Newpo rt Beach, California , October 7 from 6 to 9p.m . Team Honda's Migu el DuH am el and Erion Racing's Kurtis Roberts will be on hand , as we ll as Roberts' an d N icky Ha yden' s champ ionsh ip-winning Erion Racing motorcycles, the new Honda RC51 Superbike and XR650R. For more information, call 949/675-5900. ACQU IRED: In ters p or t Fashjon s Wes t Inc" by Eu rob ike, a pu blicly held Ge rman company th at o wns the Hein Ge ricke , Polo an d Dam en leath er brand s, among other product lines. "There will be no changes in the North American distribution system : ' said Den is LaBon ge, Int erspor ts Fashi ons West president. 'What this acquisi tion does is allow us to distrib ut e Firstgear lea ther in Eu ro pe a nd Asia, greatly expa nding our mar ket. It a lso gives us CL""SS to the extensive research and d evelopm en t aC capa bilit ies of Eurobikc and open. our mark et to s mor e high-tech European materia ls, de signs and pate nts. For more informa tion, call 714/ 258-2120. A UTOGRAPH S IGN ING : At GP Motorcycles o f San Diego in San Diego, Californi a, October 16-17, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Vance & Hint'S Ducati's Ben d Bostrom is sched ule to ap pear. For more inform ation. call 619/233-4762. CHANGED: The date of the Penguin Racing School. . originally slated for December 3 in Homestead. fl orimber 10 da . Penguin wil l now hold the school on Dece because of a change in CCS race da tes at the facility. I RESIG NED: P.J. Jackson, from Cham pionship Cu p Series /North American Spo rt Bike, to pursu e other inte rests . Jackson h as wo rked full tim e for CCS/NASB for the past fou r years. For more information. call 828/654-0315. O PEN ED: EBC Brake s' home p age on the World Wid e Web. The site can be found at the following ad d ress: http:/ / www.ebc-brakes.com . OPENED : Elf Lubricants' ho me page on the World Wide ~eb . The site can be found at the following add ress: http :/ / www.elfmoto.com. ACQUIRED: Motorcycleworld .com by the publi shing serv ices bu sin ess u nit o f Bell & Howell Co. , effective immedia tely. OPENED: Team Dual Dogs Pro motion s' horne page on the World Wid e Web. The site can be found at the following add ress: http:/ / 'www .dua ldogs.com. CHANGED: The 800 number for Ad vant-Edge. The new number is 800-238-2683. OPENED: MS Racin g' s home page on the World Wide Web . The site can be found at the following ad dress: http:/ / www.msracing .com. ACQUI RED: Mid land Concer t Promoti ons Group Limi ted , the ope rators of Donington Park in Engell land, by SFX Enterta inment Inc.

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