Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

30 YEARS AGO.•. MARCH 16. 1971 The F1yin' Hawaiian, John DeSoto (Cl), raced across the top of Issue *9 after becoming the first person to win the Elsinore Grand Prix on both consecutive days. Also, we featured a photo of the start, as motorcycles as I I far as the eye could see ::.:..; .-iii took off for 100 miles of pavement-anll-dirt racing through the hllls and streets of Lake Elsinore, California. Even though AMA District 37 tried their best to hex the event by not including it on their district calendar, the riders showed up and the audience at the event was estimated at 100,000... Bay Mare Park in Moorpark, Califomia, hosted a motocross event that attracted many reputable names. Ken Zahrt (Bul) took the 100cc-c1ass win, ahead of Danny laPorte (Ric), while Gary Jones (Yam) took the 250cc Senior class, ahead of John DeSoto. Mark Blackwell took control of the Open Senior class, ahead of DeSoto and Jones, however. .. Steve McQueen raced to a fourth and a first in the first two motos of his day in Open Div. A motocross action. His bike broke in the third mota, however. Flagging duties were shared by Jim Garner and Paul Newman. ilARYf:1lf,~fBii" Team Suzuki's Mark Barnett graced the cover of Issue jig after winning the Atlanta Supercross, while Dick Burleson wheelied his Husky over a water crossing on his way to seventh at the Stone Mountain National Enduro... After the fourth round of the AMA Supercross Series, Barnett held a 10-point lead over Kent Howerton (Suz), who also fmished second in Atlanta, and a 13-point lead over defending champion Mike Bell (Yam), who placed third in Atlanta ... Mike Melton (Hus) won the Stone Mountain Enduro, round two of the AMA National Championship Enduro Series, ahead of KTM-mounted Darryl Kuenzer... We interviewed Eddie Lawson, who was shooting for the 1981 Su~rbike Championship. Concerning 1980 s season-ending feud between Suzuki and Kawasaki, he just said: "It's the coming season that matters now. All I want to say about last year is that, as far as I'm concerned, I finished second - but on a legal bike."... Husqvarna factory ace Scot Harden -took the victory in the Gamblers Hare Scrambles in Searchlight, Nevada. 1IAIWf3~'Bj" Honda's Jeff Team Stanton was photographed for the cover of Issue *9 after starting his 250cc Outdoor National title defense on a good note with a win at round one of the AMA National Motocross Series at Gatorback Cycle Park in Florida. Stanton traded moto wins with his teammate JeanMichel Bayle, thus leaVing them tied in the points race headed into round two. Guy Cooper (Suz) also started his 125cc title defense well, with 2-1 scores earning him the overall ... Defending National Hare Scrambles Champion Scott Summers (Hon) won round one of the series in Texas aboard his XR600. Terry Cunningham (Kaw) finished second, ahead of Ed Lojak (ATK) ... Steve Lamson (Hon) and Erik Kehoe (Hon) took the 125 and 250cc Proclass wins at the final round of the GFI Winter MX Series at Perris Raceway in California, while Mike Chamberlain (Yam) took both series titles. Danny Nelson (Kaw) won the 125cc Intermediate class, ahead of Damon Huffman (Kaw). David Pingree (Suz) and Craig Decker (Kaw) finished one-two in the 80cc Expert class. ust when I thought that the whole "extreme" thing in professional sports had been completely mined out, I find out that I was mistaken. To wit, we now have the XFL, brainchild of Vince McMahon; you know, the guy who has turned the World Wrestling Federation into a household name among children - and adults who think like children. McMahon developed the league out of boredom over the direction that mainstream football, namely the NFL, has taken. Protection for the quarterback? Fair catches? A coin toss to determine who kicks off? Sissy stuff, as far as McMahon is concerned. The XFL is about being tough, so such nuances as the above have been tossed in favor of rougher, tougher rules of play. Sack that 00. Go ahead and hit that poor sucker for all he's worth. A coin toss? How about a running race between two opponents to a ball laying on the 50 yard line. First one to grab it gets to decide whether to kick off or receive. The XFL presents a much harsher environment than the NFL Golly, it's sort of frightening. In addition, the XFL is attempting to further re-invent the game by allowing the fans to experience all aspects of what is happening on and off the field, including interviews with fans, players and coaches, as well as putting microphones everywhere in the joint to hear what they're saying in the heat of battle. Now, whether or not this outlandish experiment succeeds or meets the same fate as the USFL (remember that?) is only speculation, but it has gotten me to wondering whether or not motorcycle racing is truly extreme enough. I mean, c'mon, a game as hard-hitting as tackle football being boring? Motorcycle racing has speed, but what else has it got? So, if the current state of motorcycle racing is too boring for you, might I suggest the formation of a sanctioning body known as the XMA and the implementation of the following: J XOTL (Xtreme Observed Trials League): Trials, all these talented maestros bumping and bouncing their 32-pound motorcycles up and over rocks the size of small houses. The XOTL would increase fan participation by allOWing spectators to pelt the competitors with sticks, stones and empty beer bottles while they negotiated the various sections. Fans could also score points by forcing the riders into dabbing. Direct hits to the rider's face would qualify the fan for free tickets to the next round so that he or she could "cheer on" his or her "favorite. " XDTA (Xtreme Dirt Track Association): They've been looking for a way to spice up this sport for years. The tracks are too smooth and the fans have to wait all day or all night as the riders pare down to an l8-rnan field through a useless series of qualifying heats and semis. The XDTA would borrow a page from the XFL by instituting a qualifying system similar to the XFL's new coin toss. The whole field - all whopping 30 of them would line up and drag race to a pack of cigarettes in the first turn. First guy to dive on them not only gets the pole, but he gets to k~ep the smokes. My guess is that Terry Poovey and Jay Springsteen would be in the running for the pole award every time. Anyone left would take part in the five-lap main event, lining up on the starting line, which is located just ahead of the gO-foot triple on the front straightaway. Oh yeah, and they'd bring back boardtracks too. because the mechanics would be allowed to clothesline passing opponents with their pitboards. X-END-O (Xtreme Enduro Organization): Actually, I can't take credit for this one - it is the brainchild of the legendary Super Hunky, who once theorized in a column that enduros would be a whole lot more exciting if the riders on the odd minutes were sent off on the loop in a counterclockwise direction, while the evenminute riders were sent off in a clockwise direction. That way, you could always be assured of one hell of a special test about halfway through the loop. I think it's an awesome idea whose time has come. X-ESS (Xtreme European Speedway Series): To make a short-duration sport even shorter, riders in this series would have to use a rear brake and make the occasional right turn through a hole in the wall narrow enough for just one rider to get through. This would place even more emphasis on getting the proverbial "good gate." X-FRO (Xtreme Freestyle Racing Organization): Thanks to its acronym, this organization would probably do well to hire former factory Kawasaki superstar Jeff Emig as its commissioner. In order to elevate this discipline into the extreme category, contestants would have to be competent motocross racers because they would actually have to race whilst performing their silly antics. In order to receive a license, candidates would have to show valid proof of a high school diploma and be able to correctly spell the word used to describe a citizen army as distinct from a body of professional soldiers. Those requirements could make this a tough league to break into. X-DRL (Xtreme Dakar Rally League): More fan participation with this one. Contestants whose names you've never heard and are too difficult to pronounce anyway would ride motorcycles wired with explosives of sufficient amount to obliterate some of the countries that they're riding through. These explosives would be triggered by remote controls given away to a few lucky fans in some sort of sweepstakes, and all of the remotes would retain a special option that could trigger a similar charge wired to the chest of announcer Sam Posey. So when you got sick and tired of watching guys you've never heard of blast through endless sand dunes, with the whole scene punctuated by Posey's cavalier "I've been there before and done that and it's no big deal" drivel, and you started jumping up and down on your glass coffee table with your hands over your ears, screaming "Shut the hell up, Sam! Puhlease, won't you just shut up!" until your face tumed purple and you smashed through the table in your bare feet and tracked blood all over your new carpet... then at least you'd have some sort of rational safety valve - speaking strictly in the extreme sense, of course. I predict that Jimmy Lewis, the American with the name that's easy to pronounce, would win the overall, and Johnny Campbell, the other American with the other easy name to pronounce, would dodge the bomb craters to come home top amateur and probably second overall. Year after year. XSBK (Xtreme Superbike Racing): Sorry, this series is on hold. Fans and riders alike will have to wait for the 2002 GP season. XGP (Xtreme GP, duh): Rules and equipment would conform to current FIM world championship rules, except the venues and dates would be different. These events would take place primarily in the midwest from December to about February, with other events planned for Siberia and both arctic poles. Riders would be able to compete in two divisions, with the lower division using tires with ice screws in them, while the premier division would not be allowed any screws but would still be known as the screwed class. XSX (Xtreme Supercross): Once again similar to the current format, this version would allow Carmichael and McGrath to carry maces, you know, those medieval weapons with the big spiked ball attached to the end of a chained handle. Riders would earn bonus points for jumping through the medical flags and taking out the entire cross in the center leave any red behind, and you get bupkiss. The crew area would be the most difficult section on the course, Nah, motorcycle racing is already extreme enough, don't you think? CN • New Orteans Supercross • Daytona Fonnula USA Road Race • Eric Bostrom Interview • Jennifer Snyder Interview • 2001 125cc MX Shootout CDmlngupln D U ... I _ n _ _ os • MARCH 7, 2001 87

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