Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

30 YEARS AGO.•• JUNE t 1971 There were no pictures on the cover of Iss ue #20. The reason? The cover featured a n article entitled "Assembly Bill May End OffRoad Riding ," whic h st ated th at , eve n though off-road motorcyclists had been victorious on previous bills, now the Califomia state government was going after all offroad veh icles on an equa l bias ... In an update on the Corona Homeowners' Association 's attempt to clos e Corona Race way, a huge crowd of Coron a Raceway supporters fi lled the halls at a Corona City Council meeting, and among those whose voice was heard was a NASCAR representative who backed the track by makin g avail abl e financial records for mon ey drawn by the city for NASCAR's ann ual race at the facility, and a sound expert who recommended better soundproofing for the homes of the plaintiffs... The Evel Knievel $10,000 moto cross event, held in Twin Falls, Idaho (on the site of Knievel's 1972 Snake River Canyon jump), was dominated by Californians Bob Gross i and Gary Jones . Gros s i and Jones ea ch had the option of taking $1800 for their wins, or a new Toyota . 20 YEARS AGO.. . MAY 2 7, 19B1 Yamaha's 550 Seca was photographed for the cover of Issue #20 in front of a mural depicting the idealistic lifestyle of Southern Ca liforn ia ' s be a c h c ities . Although we were quite impressed with the machine, our story's subhead probably sa id it all - 750cc performance, 400cc ma ne uve ra b ility, 550cc price tag... Round one of the 500cc National Motocross Championship took place in conjunction with round five of the 250cc champions hip, with Tea m Yamaha's Broc Glover dominating both 500cc motos for the overall victory. In the 250cc class, Kent Howerton (Suz) set his record to nin e m o ta victories and one seco nd place in 10 motos with a two-moto sweep of the action in Southwick, Massachu se tt s... Defend ing World Roa d Ra c ing Cham pion Kenny Roberts (Yam) won round three of the series at Hockenheim, West Germany. Randy Mamola and Marco Lucchinellifilled out the rostrum. 10 YEARS AGO... MAY 29, 1991 Australian Michael Doohan stood atop the rostrum, and the 500cc World Road Racing Championship points standings, after winning the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez . Marlboro Yamaha teammates John Kocinski and Wayne Rainey finished second and third, respectively... California Governor Pete Wilson signed the contro versial California Assem bly Bill 7. or the helmet la w, into law and, as a result, December 31, 1991 would be the last day riders would be allowed to ride a motorcycle without a he lmet.. . Team Honda ' s defending Supercross champion Jeff Stanto n outdueled Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw for the victory at round 15 of the 18-round Camel Super cross Series. Mike LaRocco (Suz) started slow, but finishe d th ird... Scott Parker nipped teammate Chris Carr at the line for the win at the San Jose Mile in San Jose, Calif ornia, round four of the AMA Grand Nationa l Dirt Track Se ries. Carr led Parker in the points. 62-53 ... England 's 19-year-old phenom Paul Malin became the young est 500cc Moto cros s Grand Prix winner in history by sweeping both motos of the French GP. S o just how bad was the weather at tw ice . Morehead got the track into er took a bath because he obvious ly great shape twice, just in time for it to promoted and ad vertised the event, the recent Dallas Half Mile? Bad a long with getting ready and preparstart ra ining aga in, In fact, jus t after enough that the rac ers themse lves ing the racetrack. And we took a bath the track c rew rolled in t he track almost went home w ithout a paybecause th is was a telev isi on race . and just before the big one ca me and check and u ltimately saw the purse We , the prom oter and Prog ressive blasted the track for good - the main reduced from $40,000 to $30 ,000 . Insurance all pa y into it to get these e vent was called to staging, and the Sounds like a raw deal , doesn 't it? I races on tel e vision . It' s just a difficult riders were waiting to be sent to the Can already hear it: "Hey, lets point situation when you have weather like starting line, e ng ines revvi ng . It was the finger at AMA Pro Racing . After that. We didn 't have any other option. that close to being a National. all , t his ha s got to be their fault , The wa y it looked, the weather was After the b ig ra in hit, the m a nage right?" go ing to be jus t as bad the next da y , ment at T exa s Motor S p eedwa y a nd But h ol d u p just a second. and ha nging around for a th ird da y AMA Pro Racing officials loc ked away Be c ause , sometimes , good th ing s ca n wou ld be getting out of hand . We cerbehind closed doo rs and negotiat e d a c o m e o ut of b a d s it ua tions, e ve n ta inly want to ke ep a good re lationsett le ment tha t resu lt ed in the com when th e y still loo k bad , sh ip w ith T ex a s Mo t o r S pee d w ay pletion of the e vent. No w, if yo u're a Firs t things firs t: The situ a tion in b e c ause b oth T e x a s a nd Charlotte ra c e fan , c ha nces are yo u' re not a n Dallas arose as a result of AMA Pro [both under the sa me m a nagement ] idio t - a t lea st I'm willing to give you Racing 's no ble attem pt to c o m plete are good tra c ks . But we als o wa nt to the benefit of the doubt. An d any id iot th e ma in e vent before the torre ntia l ke ep a good relationship with ou r rid c o u ld p robabl y g rasp th e na t u re of downpo u r, wh ic h u lt im a tely washed ers. Eve ryo ne re c ei ve d their perforthi s meeting withou t even being in the race a way , could m ake it s way ma nce incentive award [$300) , there the room . The position of the Speedo nto the scene . If that soun ds a s wa s a $ 10 0 bo n us that was pa id to w a y , of course , was , " N o race , no though it is some sort of an ind ict the fast qua lifie r , and we felt th at dough ," and cou ld you blame them , ment, nothing could be furthe r from three q u a rt e rs of t he pu rse wa s a really? Remember , th is is the same the truth . Having been at Te xa s Motor good deal. Th is sit uation is un ique to T ex a s Motor Speedway that, a mere Speedway for this event - and believe dirt track racing. It's so frag ile. In the week before , had Cha m p ions hip Auto me , I've a lrea dy other even ts that we been to enough ra inrun , such as our outs d uring my tim e Superbike prog ram, if IMord et. ou~ ~lta~ we don 't run at lea st of covering AMA dirt track events - I Can ~It cu~ ~It pur "0~1t 50 per c ent of the t e ll you th at the m a in event, the ride rs and 'Texas frustrati on in the air don 't get paid ." o~or Speed deserve a mo ng the AMA Former AMA Grand s taff, pr omoter, rid Na tional C hampi o n ..,ajor di~ ~It er s and fa ns wa s so Chris Carr wa s pai d s~ "ad si~ua~ion. thick you could cut second- place starting it with a kn ife. The m on ey at Dallas , and weather suck ed. for him the c ut resultT he re wa s noth ing that anyone wa s e d in a $1 300 d ifferen ce to the botRa cing T e a m s [CART] c a ncel an going to be a ble to do about it. Rain, tom line. Still, Ca rr, not one to tolerevent jus t two hours befor e the start heavy rain , wa s ine vita ble . The racers a te an y hu lla b a loo o n th e p art of a of th e race due to wh at it d e emed came to ra c e , th e fans Came to see a s anction ing bod y or a promoter , pu t "safety re asons" - a nd this a fte r run race, a nd th e AMA and Texas Moto r the s itu a t ion in t o p e rspe c t iv e . ning tes t sessi ons , p ra ct ic es and Speedwa y wer e tryi ng to hold a ra c e , "Ap p a re ntl y there is no th ing in the q ualifying the fie ld for th e ra ce its e lf. With that in m ind , AMA d irt tra c k contract tha t gu a rantees a n a bb re viAnd in the wa ke of th at p ro motional manager Bru c e Bobe r to ok a gamble ated prog ra m befor e the main event," disaster? T h e hap le s s AMA and its Ca rr said. "I und e rstand Texa s Motor that has paid off every other time that rained-out Dall a s Half Mile . O ptions Spe edway's conc e rns , and I a p precihe ha s tried it. Rather than gua ra ntee we re likely d iscus s ed. Ru n tomorrow? the ra inout before a full field was set ate the AMA going to bat for us and Run th e ne xt day? Run for cover? at least gett ing us somethi ng . No bo dy fo r the m a in by ru n ning th rough the It could hav e been prett y bad , but will be 100-percent satisfied with this scratch qualifying heats a nd the full it actually ca me out pretty good . outcome, but I th ink all parties are re g u la r program , Bober d it c he d the Acco rding to a le tter that was later some what satisfied ." scratc h q ua lify in g h eats and the d istributed by AMA Pro Racing Direc Sometimes c redit should be giv en semifinals and sent five riders from tor of Competi tion Merrill Vanderslice where credit is du e , even when it each of the four he at races directly to to th e riders alo ng wit h th e ir p a y looks bad . Be fo re the wo rd gets o ut the main event, m aking for a 20-man . c hecks, "Fa ctors contributing to this that the "AMA c ut the purse ," both final. By Bo b e r' s s t op w a t c h . the settlement incl uded the amount of the AMA Pr o Rac ing a nd Texas Mo t or move wa s a mere 12 m inu te s away program completed on S atu rda y , May S p e e dwa y dese rve m a jor c re di t for fro m wo rking aga in . Then Came the 5th, the pros pects for completion on mak ing t he b e s t of a ba d s itu ation . ra in, and it was AMA track ma n Steve And if I'm a rider who too k part in th e date and other e lements ." a la te r Moreh e a d 's turn to fight a nob le bat Texas e ve nt, I'd be reminding myself When contacted for co mment on tl e to keep the track in m od e ra t e ly that 75 percent o f $40 ,0 0 0 is be tt er the deve lopment , Vander s lic e ca nd ids alvag e abl e shape in th e eve nt that eN tha n 100 percent of nothing . ly res ponded , "Ba sica lly, th e p romot t he rain stopped. Th e ra in s top ped Be'or e, " Pro Racing cr " 0' y 'or lJIalcin Coming up in Cycle News • Road Atlanta AMA Road Race • Hangtown National MX • Utah National Hare & Hound cue I e n e _ so • MAV 23, 2001 95

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