Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128085
Grand Prix AD in the Dirt '99 ay L.A. COUNTY RACEWA Y Dir t is just to have fun ," said Alexa nder, whose father, Ernie, man y years a go founded th e moto rc ycle p a rk India n Du nes. "We wan ted to bri ng back th e days of th e Westlake GP, Hope town and the Catalina GP, when racing wa s more like a pa rty, but serious when the flag drops." Alexander went on to say, "Th is event isn' t jus t for the film industry, it' s for everyb od y - w e're [the film indu stry] jus t h o sting it. An y bo d y ca n Scot Harden, dirt tra cker Dave A ldana , 125c c Supercross Champion Ern esto Fon s ec a, and mo tocro sse rs Chri s Go ss e la ar, Gu y Cooper, Mike Young, Jim Ho lley, Erik Kehoe, Doug Dubach, Mo use McCoy, GP star Heinz Kinigadner an d MX legen d Mike Runyard, to name a few. Even extreme sp orts athlete Shaun Palmer, mo u ntain bike ch am p ion Eri c Carter and p erson al watercraft lege nd Larry Rippenkroeger swu ng a leg over a bike. Beverly Hills 9021O's Luke Perry a lso r a ced. Other film in d us t ry n otabl es in cl u d ed s tu n tJo hn m an Si • me National M otocross Champion Broc Glover was one of many MX legend s who competed at the seco nd annua l A Day in the Dirt. Photo s by Kinn ey Jones PALMDALE, CA, NOV. 26-28 n is what the James Cameron and Troy Lee De signs-presented A Day in th e Dirt Grand Prix is a ll about. And that's exactly what the many rid ers had in mind - and got - when they showed up at L.A. County Raceway in Palmdale ov er the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. 'So what is the A Day in t h e Dir t Grand Prix all about, anyway? Basically, the event's roots go back to 1968 whe n the Viewfinders motorcycle club - ma de u p of members of th e film industry - held th ei r ve ry first race, the Westlake Grand Prix, in Cali fornia. Ri ders such as Steve McQueen, Eddie Mu lder, Joh n Hately, Bud Ekins , J.N . Roberts, Jim Rice, Malcolm Smit h and John DeSoto p a r ticipa te d in the ra ce , in whi ch the course actually ran through an old movie set. To relive that first race, s tu n tmen a nd Secon d Gen era t ion Prod u ctio n's Ken ny Alexand e r a n d Jim my Robe rt s, son of d es e r t racer J.N . Robert s and stunt do ub le for ac to r Tom Cruise, decided to revive t he even t las t year, wit h the A Day in th e Di rt '98 . The ina ugu ra l race brou ght out h undre d s of riders, includ ing ma ny stu ntm e n a n d movi emakers , as well as a num ber of motorcycl e le g end s and m ember s of th e m o to rcy cl e in d u s tr y. Th e event was a success, so A Day in the Dirt '99 w as on the planning tab le immediately following last year' s event. "The whole idea behind A Day in the ~ en en en . on ~ .. . .<:l E u C 24 In the Pro/Celebrity two-man team race , where eac h team had to ride one lap doubleup, Rich Taylor (at the controls) and David Barrett _ ...._ _ scored the win. Chris Gosselaar outdueled Mike Young to win the Coupe de Grace. co me o u t a na participat e a nd have fun ." Again , ma ny motorcycle en th us iasts from th e film in d us t ry a nd mot or cycle ind ustry converged on L.A. Co u nty Raceway for the seco nd revival of the Wes tlake GP. O ver 600 e n tr ies w ere filled ou t. So me of th ose w ho sig ned u p to do battl e included desertrac ing le g en d J.N . Rob erts, motocross and supercross superstars Jeff Wa rd , Rick Joh nson, Mike Bell, Broc Glover and Mike Kiedrowski. Other riders yo u m ight have hea rd of who ca me ou t inclu d ed off-road cha mpion Ty Davis, desert racers Oakley Lehman an d Clark Gable and produce r Jam es Came ro n. There was m ore than ju st mo tor cycl e racing go ing on, too . Ov er the cou rse of the weeken d, peopl e cou ld attend tr ials d em onst rat ion s, tak e $10 helicopter rid es an d wa tch parachutists float fro m th e s ky . You co ul d e ven e nroll in Rick Jo hn s on ' s Sc hoo l o f Cham p io ns, h eld on Frid a y morn ing . Th e school was followed by th e Troy Lee Happy Hour practice session, where the $5 parti cipation fee wen t to the Steve McQu e en M e m oria l Fu n d fo r Bo ys Republic, a home for wayward boys and girls. Amo ng th e th ings th a t ma ke th is event so u niq ue are so me of the creative ideas for classes d evised by Alexa nder and Roberts. There was the Wrench and Ha m m er cla ss, a 45-m inute race fo r "behi n d th e sc e ne guys" fr om th e motorcycle ind ustry, such as mechanics, CEOs, team ma ngers, tes t rid ers and magazine editors. The overall race was won by KTM rider Don a va n Mit chell, w hile ot her class wi nners included Jeremy Albrech t, w ho tunes b ikes on th e Kawasaki factory MX team . Alb rec h t