Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

In the Wind ~I Glen Helen Racewa y in San Bernardino, California . The course will run through the San Bernardino National Forest. For more information, call 909/687-1300. Th e in augura l H i-Dez Gra n Prix will take p lace on December 18 at Ranch o Conc hita, a private "oasis" in the midd le of the Mojave hig h desert in California. Lou Pera lta will pro mote the event, and he has se cu red access to the 400-acre ranc h for the race . The race will be held on a 6-mile Gra n Prix course, including a motocro ss track, portions of an oval, o pen d esert racin g a nd wooded tr ee trails. Portion s of the entry fee and toys b roug ht in for t he toy d rive wi ll be d on at ed to th e Co m munity Chu rc h of California City . En try for th e even t is $45 per class. For more informa tion, call 760/373-2198 . Pe r alta ' s BP Motorsp or t s h a s also reached ag reeme nt with Su nrise Mo torsports Par k in Ad elan to, Cali fornia, to host two motocross series in 2000. The first is the Hi -Dez MX Win ter Series, beginning on January 22, with races on Ja nu ar y 29, February 12, Feb ruary 19, March 11 a nd April 1, a ll Sa turdays . Later in the year, Peralta will put on the Hi -Dez MX Fall Ser ies , begi nnin g o n October 21. Peralta's goa l is to go back to the ro o ts of m ot ocro ss racing with mot ocross-style racing venues ins tead of supercro ss-style tracks. "We thi nk that there are thou san ds of good racers ou t th er e who don't necessarily wa n t to attempt d oubl es a nd trip les, but still lov e to com pe te," Lonnie Pera lta sai d . "A t Sunrise, we w ill have options and ra ce co urs es like th e old mo tocross course s were a t Ind ia n Dune s, Ba y Mar e, Irwind ale, Lyon s at Lon g Beach a nd o t he rs - rou gh , cha lleng ing , exhaus ting, but witho u t necessa rily the fea r of ha ving to make dou b les a nd tri p les eve ry few ya rds ." Acco rding to BP Motorsports' pr ess release, Peralta's re tu rn to mot or cross promotions came abou t after he read Cycle News associa te edi to r Kit Pal mer's ed itorial regarding the la ck of non-s u p er cr o ss -styl e motocross tracks in Califo rnia . Acto rs Stephen and Bill y Baldwin led a group of New York-area motorcycl ists on a ride from Manhat tan to Montauk o n Sunday, Oc tober 10 fo r the BMW/ Bald w in Famil y "Ride for Life." The 120-mile ride ra is e d mo re than $10,000 for the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Can cer Research Fund, an organi zation founded by breast can cer su rv ivor Carol M. Baldwin, the two actor s' mother. ADA M o to rs po rts is still looking for riders to work ou t of its 53-foot semi for th e AM A Su pe rc ross and Na tional Mo tocross Championsh ips. ADA is also currentl y in search of a tru ck driv er. For more informati on, call 630/342-0192. T HQ, Inc., the producers of the Sony Plays tati on ga me that fea tures Rick y Carm ich a e l, will g ive a way a Spli tFire /Ricky Ca rmichael replica KX80 at the Wint er Olympics in Florid a over the Than ksgiving weekend . You do n' t have to be present to win , but you do have to e nt er. You ca n do so o n line a t www.championshipmotocross.com. or by callin g Team Green a t 949/ 770-0400, ext. 2225. -: ~ G; ..c E Q) > o Z 2 Kawasaki Team Green will be provid ing tracks id e technical an d parts suppo rt at the 28th annual Winter Nati onal Olympics a t Gatorback Cycle Park in Gai nesville, Florida, November 22-27. Fo r more in format ion , ca ll 904 / 935 6872. D e Ca l Wo rks is cu rren tly a cce pt ing ra cer re sumes fo r th e 2000 seaso n . Resumes can be se nt to DeCal Works, Attn: CN, P.O . Box 471, Syc amo re, IL 60178. KTM set to race Reminder: The World S u percros s ro und sche d uled for th e Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on November 20, will air on CBS Sports on December 11 from 1 to 2 p .m. (Eastern time). Speed visio n will re-air the event on December 21 from 8 to 9 p.m. (Eastern time ). or the first time in almost three decades, a European manufacturer will be making a return to AMA Supercr oss and Mo tocross co mpetition. KTM's facto ry motocross / su percross racing team will consist of 1996 500cc Worl d Champion Shayne King, who w ill ride the 250cc class in both series aboard a 400 and 520 SX fou rstro ke. Kelly Smith will return and contes t the 125cc Eastern Regional Supercross and 125cc National Motocros s series, joined by Fren chman Roderik Thain. Andy Harrington and Donovan Mitch ell will hold d own the new KTM Sportmotorcycles factory semi for the West Coas t su percross events as well as all the 125cc Nat ionals. Selvaraj Naray ana will serve as the team manager and Allan Brown will be the team coordinator. The new team will be kicking off the 2000 season wit h an in tense test session a t Gu y Co oper's Cooperland Ran ch in mid -Novem ber. Factory eng inee rs from KTM Austria an d suspension technicians from WP will be on hand to help fine-tu ne the race bikes. As for the KTM Junior Supercross Cha llenge, it' s back by po pular d em and. KTM Sportmotorcycle USA Inc. and Pace Mo tosports have reached a two-year ag reeme nt, whic h will feature the KTM Juni or Su perc ross Challenge (KJSC) as the official in tennission progr am for the 2000 and 2001 A MA lEA Spo rts Super cross Series . Ad ditiona l KJSC informa tion can be found on the KTM Web site at www.KTMUSA.com. Pro -Circuit will have its race su p port team on hand for the 28th annual Mini Olympics in Florida over the Thanksgiving weekend . Pro Circuit will assist in m otorcycl e se tup a nd wiII a lso have silencers and pipes for 2000 mod els for test in g on a sp eci al tra ck. For more information , call 909/738-8050. Hot shoe gu ru Ken Maely asked us to pass alo ng tha t the wee kly XR100 practice day at his Co rona, Californ ia, practice track has been moved fro m Thu rsday evenings to Su ndays becau se of the time change. For more inform ation , call 909/277-8989 . Redd ing Yamaha, in co nju nct ion w ith Intermountain Motor Sports, is putting on a benefit motocross w it h th e p roceed s goi ng to the Am erican Red Cross for the fire victim s in North ern Califor nia. The race will be held on November 27. For more info rmati on , call 530/ 2428444. The Viewfinders M.e. w ill ho ld a reunio n during th e Day in th e Dir t Gra nd Prix at Los Ang eles County Raceway in Palmdale, Cali fornia , Nov ember 27-28, and they wo uld like to hea r from all former members. For more information, call Keith Jones at 805/435-2921, or Kim Fergu son a t 805/492-1996. Charlie Gardn er, 73, of Peor ia, Illinois, d ied in a Fort Laud erda le, Florida , hosp ital du e to com plica tio ns re la ted to pneumonia, on Novem be r 6. Ga rd ne r fo u n de d th e Ga r d ne r Ra ci n g AMA Gra nd National dirt track team in 1972. The la te Steve Eklu nd, th e la te Ricky G ra ha m, th e late Rod ney Farris, Steve More hea d and Pete Hames ar e some of th e top rid ers that eit her co mpeted aboard Gardner' s m o tor cy cl es o r recei ved assistance fro m h im d u ring their racing careers. Gard ner turned the reins of the racing operation over to his so n Steve around 1990, but he remained active in the roles of lend ing moral and technical support as the team continued fielding young up-and-com er s suc h as Kenny Coolbeth, Dan Butl er and Dan Stanley. Gardner is surv ived by h is wife, Erna , sons, Jim, John and Steve, d aughter, Terry, and numerous grandc hild ren. Cards and lett ers can be sent in care of Overland er Electric, 2101 No rth Main St., East Peori a, IL 61611. Speaking of Ga rdner Racing, team crew chief Greg Crow phon ed Cycle News to con firm that a d eal was a ll but signe d tha t will see Canadi an rider Steve Beattie aboa rd Ga rd ner bikes for the 2000 AMA Grand National Dirt Track Series. Beattie, who rode under the Stvlem aster Custom Motor cvcles ba nner in-1999, finished 15th in th~ '99 series stand ings. As for injured Gardner Racing teamster Dan Sta nley, Greg Cro w rep orted that the Washington rider is slow ly continuin g toward a full recovery, a n d w ill have a rid e wi th the team if he so chooses . "Dan is on a time table rig ht now ," C ro w sa id . "H e was su p posed to be wal king with the help of canes, bu t he threw those awa y, and he's cru ising . He has no feeling in his right leg right now, but the docto rs have told him no t to worry abo ut tha t. If he wan ts to come back, then we will have his stuff read y. It's up to him to dec ide what he wants to do." F Vallejo Speedway2 is th e name of the new one-eighth-mile dirt oval tha t has been construc ted a t the Solano Co unty Fair grounds in Vallejo , Cali fornia. The new track ran a sho rt season of ka rt events to close ou t 1999, and promoters Steve and Bobbie Ha zelto n of Top Prop Inc., are planning to inclu de short track motorcycle races in th eir sche d u le for the year 2000. The Hazeltons would like to make contact with sanctioning clubs or organ izations that wou ld be int erested in runnin g races at the facility. All inquiries shou ld be dir ected to Top Prop Inc., 707/544-3140. FMF and Pro-Action have jo i ned force s in a m u lti-yea r "st ra teg ic alliance," with the latter taking over the in- ho use sus pensio n-service d epa rt me nt fo r th e fo r mer. Penn s yl v a n ia based Pro-Ac tio n, w hic h has 20 fra n chis es in Nor t h A meric a a nd se ve n abroad, w ill "e xtend its head qu arters" to FMF's office in Sout hern Cali fornia. "We 've both been arou nd for q uite a whi le," said Pro -Action owner George Quay, who added that Pro-A ction has no p lan s of closi ng its other offices . "They ob viou sly bring a lot to the tab le, and w e ha ve a lot to offe r a s well. " Qu ay stressed that the FMF he adqua rters is not just another franchise , as it will serve as a dist ribu tion poin t for its other western offices, and will focu s on market in g for th e western states. Th e mu lti-year s tra teg ic alliance will ha ve Qu ay personally in cha rge of the FMFbased Pro-Action opera tio n, including spendi ng subs tan tial time on-site. "Thi s will allow FMF s technicia ns and eng ineers to better focus on its core bu sin ess of exhaus t-sys tem and motor d evelopment, with th e goa l of pro viding FMF rid er s acro ss the cou n try th e best se rv ice and p erform an ce in all perfor mance arenas, including sus pe nsion," sai d FMF s Bill Berreth, who added that resp ected tec hnician Buddy Morgan w iII continu e to lead FMF' s serv ice department. "We' ve been close allies for a while, and now we're just taking it to the next step." On a related top ic, you can look for the FMF/Pro-Action su p po rt "compound" at th e Florid a Mi ni O ly m p ics in Gai ne sville, Flo rida , on Tha nksgiving weekend . FMF I Pro-Action will also be holding a tune-up day sta rting at 8:30 a.m. on November 20 at the MX track in Red d ick, Florida. For more informa tion, call FMF at 310/631-4363 . BOR N: N atasha Allison Johnson, to Racer X magazine editor and Cycle News contribut or Eric Johnson and his wife, Julie, on October 31, in Los Ange les, California. APPOINTED: Ma rk Hyd e as the KTM Mid west region al sa les man ager based out of Col um bus , Ohio; Jon -Er ik Burleson to financial contro ller, operatin g ou t of KTM ' s Eas te rn office in Am hers t, Ohio . MARRIE D: AM A Grand N ationa l dirt tracker Brent Armbruster to Tarnmi Jones, on October 8, in St. Ignace, Michigan. CO RREC TI ON: O u r product eval ua tion of the new Moto King board ga me in Issu e #44 (Novem ber 10) gave a n in cor rect p ri ce . Th e suggested ret ail price of the ga me is $25. SIGNED: C astro l H ond a ' s Co li n Edwards III an d Team Yamaha's David Vuillemin, to contracts with Sidi Boots. BORN: Brook e Ann, to Answer Racing graphic artist Heat her McLeod and her h u sban d , Bra d, on Septem ber 18, in San ta Clarita, California. HIR ED : Chris Scott , b y Tro y Lee Design s, to its in ternational distribution and sales department, effective immediat e ly . For more informati o n, call 909/ 371-5219. OPENED : Tool z, a tool s manu facturer an d d ist ributor, in Temecula, California. For more informat ion, ca ll 877/770TOOL. OPENED : Th e BlueRibb on Coalition ' s Web page on the Clin ton / Gore "Roadless" lock out. The site can be found at th e fo llo w ing a d d res s: h tt p :/ / www . sharetrails.com. HIRED: Dennis N oyes , by Tag Sports Ltd ., of Chic ago, Illinois, the p romoters of the 2001 N orth Am er ican Gra nd Prix, as a p a rtn er and principal, by owner a n d found er, Bill Kaut z , e ff ec tiv e N ovember 1. No yes w a s formerly em ployed by Dorna, the World Championshi p G rand Pri x promoters . He also does col or commenta ry for Speed vision's coverage of the Grand Prix series. OPENED: Pasadena Yamaha, at 2270 E. Colora do Blvd . in Pasa dena. For more information, call 626 /577-3000 or visit their Web site at www.pasadena yamaCN ha.com .

• Cover