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/128126
By 3IJ YEARS ABO••• IJCTrJBER 26, 1971 Dick Mann graced the full-color cover of Issue *41 after clinching the Grand National Championship at the fmal round of the series - the Ontario 250. All Mann had to do was finish 14th or better to win the championship, while defending champ --Gene Romero needed to win the race and have Mann finish 15th or worse to retain the title. Mann ended up finishing 19th, while Romero finished eighth. Englishman John Cooper became the second-ever foreigner to win an AMA Road Race in Ontario, while the first, Kel Carruthers, finished second... Finland's Heikki Mikkola (Hus) led a European sweep of the podium positions at the Copetown, Ontario, Cana· da round of the Trans-USA series. Adolph Well (Mai) and Willie Bauer (Mai) rounded out the top three... J.N. Roberts (Hus) won the Soggy Dry Lake, Califomia, Hare and Hound over fellow 500cc Expert Rich Thorwaldson (Hus). 20 YEARS AGO••• OCTOBER 21, 1981 American speedway superstar Bruce Penhall slid across the cover of Issue *41 on his way to the U.S. National Speedway Championship, to add to his California and World Speedway Championships. Penhall topped the field with a near-perfect score of 14, while Mike Bast, Mike Faria and John Sandona all tied for second with 12 points. Later in the issue we interviewed Penh all, and when asked about a telegram he received from President Ronald Reagan after winning the World Championship, he said, "I couldn't believe it - a surfer from the beach getting a telegram from the Presidentl·... Yamaha's Broc Glover won round four of the AMA Trans-USA MX Series in Houston, Texas, with a two-mota sweep. Suzuki teammates Darrell Shultz and Mark Barnett rounded out the top three overall... We interviewed Mike Kidd about his Grand National Championship. He said, "Winning the title makes the last 10 years all worthwhile." 10 YEARS AGO••• OCTOBER 23, 1991 Team Harley-Davidson's Scott Parker was honored on the cover of Issue *41 after wrapping up his fourth Grand National Championship at the Sacramento Mile. Chris Carr won the race and actually tied Parker in the year-end points standings, but Parker won the Championship by virtue of his six main-event Wins, as opposed to Carr's four. .. At the Unadilla National MX finale, Frenchman JeanMichel Bayle (Hon) became the ftrst man ever to sweep the AMA Supercross, 250cc Motocross and 500cc Motocross National Championships in one season after scoring second overall at the Unadilla 500cc National. Jeff Ward (Kaw) won the event and finished second in the points. Mike Kiedrowski (Kaw) won the] 25cc National Championship with three wins and 499 points over defending champ Guy Cooper (Suz), who had 483 points and ftve wins. Cooper won the final round as well... Rod· ney Smith (Suz) scored the win at the fmal round of the AMA National Championship Reliability Enduro Series, but Larry Roeseler (Kaw) used a second-place fmish to clinch the title. he THQ u.s. Open has, for three years, billed itself as "The World's Richest Motorcycle Race," but there might be a few gamblers out there who would beg to differ. I've been to all three U.S. Opens held thus far, and I'll be there again this year. I've been a huge fan of the event since its inception (drawn by the first-rate racing, hard music and aggressive atmosphere, I've yet to miss one), and I always make it a point to capitalize on its unique gaming opportunity. In fact, although the Open is considered an off-season "filler" race, I sometimes get the sense that the fans' anticipation is higher than even that of Anaheim I, due to the fact that they actually have money riding on the riders. The MGM Grand has a tough chore in handicapping the U.S. Open. Motocross is a rather unpredictable sport, and while it may be relatively easy to predict who'll win any series, almost anyone can top a two-day event. In the event's 1998 inaugural running, the MGM sports book gave Damon Huffman 20-1 odds, while McGrath's were something like 5-8, so it really wasn't even worth betting on The Champ. I threw $20 on five different riders - Huffman, Robbie Reynard (6-1), Mike LaRocco (20-1) and a couple of others that I've since forgotten. Reynard and Huffman went one-two on Saturday night, and I was about as happy as could be, but the Open had already established an unpredictable nature for itself. The Champ finished seventh after a bad start. Then came Sunday's first turn, where Reynard went right over the bars, separating his shoulder and scoring a DNF. Huffman lost an early lead to McGrath, but his eventual second-place finish was enough to score the overall in his final ride on a Kawasaki. That meant $100,000 for Huffman, and $400 for me. Fast-forward to October 1999. The defending U.S. Open Champion was running the number-one plate on his Suzuki; Jeff Emig had recently been fired from Kawasaki, put together a privateer Yamaha ride for the Open, and had a lot to prove. Apparently, the MGM hadn't read up on Emig's brighter not-so-recent past, and since McGrath wasn't even racing, I put $50 on Emig at modest 8-1 odds (they had reportedly gone as high as 14-1), and $50 on Carmichael, who I thought would likely win, and whose 3-1 odds I figured would at least net me $50 over what I laid down. Once T LC(I STEVE COX Travis Pastrana, who was really impressive in his 1999 debut ride (when he wasn't on the ground), is in; Tim Ferry will be on the lone fourstroke in the Open field; and Ezra Lusk is making his Kawasaki debut. The odds-makers put Carmichael, after last year's performance and his domination of everything in 2001, at miserable 10-11 odds, and McGrath at lousy 6-5 odds. "It's likely to be a two-horse race, so they put low odds on those two and high odds on the others," said Racer X editor Eric Johnson, who assisted the MGM with the handicapping. "They need to make the favorites almost 'unbettabJe' to encourage action on the other riders." Even though I may ruin my winning streak this year by not betting on RC or MC, the money just isn't in it, and the odds on some of the other contenders are pretty good for a betting man like myself. Windham's at 9-1, Lusk is at 22-1, and Pastrana, laRocco and Ferry are all at 18-1! In addition, Stephane Roncada and Mike Brown both score in at 22-1, while the once-defending champion of the event, Damon Huffman, has 35-1 odds, along with the Arenacross King Antunez, Steve Lamson, Brock Sellards and Nick Wey. (Of course, all these odds can and will change depending on the betting patterns of us gamblers.) One thing that all past U.S. Open winners have had in common is that they had something to prove. Huffman came off a horrible season at Kawasaki and, with the U.S. Open win, earned himself a factory Suzuki ride for 1999 and 2000. Emig had just been fired from Kawasaki a couple of months before the event, and he had to prove that he was still hungry. And although Carmichael was favored, he had to prove that he really was in shape and adept indoors. In other words, all past U.S. Open winners have shared a somewhat intangible (but profoundly important) special motivation for winning the event - something that is hard for odds-makers to handicap, but could represent a foot in the door for us hardcore MX aficionados. Who has such a motivation this time around? Well, let's see: McGrath still hasn't won the event; Carmichael wants to win on a Honda; Lusk would like to prove he's still got it; Pastrana wants to prove he can run with the big dogs. Hmm, so much for my secret formula... CN again, after Emig and Carmichael went one-two on Saturday night, I was feeling good. On Sunday, Fro finished second to Greg Albertyn, but once again, it was enough for the overall. And once again, it was $100,000 for Emig, $400 for me. Last year's event was the only one in its history to finish predictably. The MGM sports book had Carmichael at 5-2 odds, and in McGrath's absence, he was the favorite. Kevin Windham, in his debut ride on a Suzuki, was in at 7 -1. I put $25 on Windham, $25 on LaRocco (9-2), $25 on Buddy Antunez (25-1, as a long shot in his Arenacross-style environment), and $25 on Carmichael as insurance (I figured Carmichael would win, and if he did, at least I'd get some of my money back). Carmichael dominated both days of racing, despite my passionate rooting against him (not that I have anything against the Floridian, but such things happen when my money is on the line). This time, it was $100,000 for Carmichael, $62.50 for me - my first year as a loser, even though I still won. This year is shaping up to be maybe the best U.S. Open ever. It's going to be held on Friday and Saturday night; and Carmichael (who, for This year's U.S. Open features a longer, more technical track that should provide longer lap times and closer racing. the first time, will be of legal gambling age) mayor may not make his Honda debut; McGrath is definitely racing; Windham is going to be back; Coming up in Cycle News • THQ U.S. Open • Australian GP Road Race • Del Mar F-USA Dirt Track • Ohio GNCC eue •• n _ _ S • OCTOBER 17, 2001 95