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/128130
ariona's= ,r's No Speed But wait a second, I'm confused. Two weeks ago, after I heard that Billy Hamill had won the AMA U.S. National Speedway Championship, I attended my umpteenth United States Speedway National Championship, a.k.a. "The U.S. National" at Costa Mesa Speedway on the Orange County Fairgrounds, and watched Chris Manchester become a two-time U.S. National Champion. So, who's the real champion? I mean, Hamill will be recognized at the big AMA banquet in Palm Springs this year. Manchester is the man to add his name to a long list of U.S. National Champions who won their titles at Costa Mesa with and without AMA sanction, an honor roll that dates back to the '60s. Sounds like alphabet soup to me. What's worse is the format used to determine both champions. Lets use Costa Mesa as an example: Over the years, I've seen some good U.S. Nationals and some controversial ones which could make them good or bed, depending on your vantage point. To me, the 2001 edition, the one in which Chris Manchester became a two-time U.S. National Champion after Josh Larsen dominated the entire evening up to the National Final race, would definitely fall into the latter category. Already in speedway's small social circles, much has been said about that fateful Final clash at the Orange County Fairgrounds. Pro International Speedway (the promoter and sanctioning body of the event) fans will argue that the U.S. National went just title if you finished second - dropped a point - in one of your races. You still had four others and, depending on how the other guys did, winning the title was possible without scoring the maximum 15 points. It happened all the time. All that this new format has done is to determine the U.S. National Champion, the man who will wear number one on his back - at least at Costa Mesa, on the basis of a single start. While I am a fan of International Speedway, and I love making the trip to Costa Mesa for a great night of racing on the few occasions when I'm not back east covering a Grand National dirt track somewhere, I tend to lean toward this second camp. And by the way, don't think that this dilemma is proprietary to Costa Mesa. Rival National promoter Fast Fridays uses the same silly format for its AMA U.S. National at the Gold Country Fairgrounds in Auburn, Cali- run a 25-lapper at Costa Mesa, and that if a guy leads nine laps and then breaks down, should he be the guy who gets credit for the win in the 25lapper, or should that honor go to the guy who crosses the finish line first? The answer is obvious, but it confuses the issue. Put into NASCAR terms, Oxley is arguing whether or not the guy who leads 150 laps of the Daytona 500 and then drops out should be the winner of the Daytona 500. The answer is no, but then again, as prestigious as the Daytona 500 is, it is not the only race that determines the Winston Cup Champion, the man who is number one. In speedway, the situation is this: Right now, we have two U.S. National championships in California, a twoday U.S. Open Championship in New York, and I hear that we may see a return of the California State Championships at Charlie Venegas' joint in San Bernardino, California, next season. That's five good dates for an all-inclusive National Championship Speedway Series, or U.S. Grand Prix Speedway Series, or whatever you want to call it. And why stop there? As long as someone with a venue that met the criteria and the dough to pay the purse and sanction fees wanted to hold a National in Colorado or Indiana, I say let 'em in. Simply put, this is the only way that speedway in the U.S. will ever grow beyond the limited cult status that it enjoys on both coasts. It's time to take a chance, shake things up, get people talking about U.S. speedway. Hell, if I could talk the promoters into pulling this off, I'd personally want to be the beat reporter to give the series its deserved feature coverage in Cycle News, coverage which could be more expansive and more timely than our World Grand Prix reports. Speedway promoters, the choice is yours: You can keep on going on, or you can bite the bullet and do something that is going to make a real difference in this sport. Sure, there is a lot to be worked out. Work it out! The time for a true National Speedway Championship series is at hand. Failure to develop one will be just that, a failure. eN The prable.., rhar I have JIIIirh ir is fIJIhen rhar 'ar..,ar - JIIIhich . .as enecrively li,red 'rani rhe World SpeedlllTay Grand Prix Series - is used in a srandalone ellent ra derernJ'ne rite cha..,pian 'or an enr're season. Ir sucks. as it should, providing maximum excitement for the buck as the outcome wasn't determined until the last four laps of the night. They will also say that all the riders knew the U.S. National format, which has been the same since being revamped in 1997 to determine the U.S. National Champion in a single, sudden-death main event rather than over five pointsearning rides. They knew it, and they accepted it. Of course, detractors argue that the U.S. National format has made a bad situation worse, like going from the frying pan to the fire. Before the change it was possible to claim the fornia. After scoring 14 points on the night, Hamill still had to win the main event in order to get what he deserved in the first place. But I could be a fan of the format that is used. There is nothing more exciting than the anticipation of that final confrontation among the top four or five riders of the night to determine who will be the winner. The problem that I have with it is when that format - which was effectively lifted from the World Speedway Grand Prix Series - is used in a standalone event to determine the champion for an entire season. It sucks. I voiced this same opinion to International Speedway promoter Brad Oxley on the night of the U.S. National at Costa Mesa, and his response, while certainly one that I respect, is not one that I agree with. Oxley, a two-time U.S. National Champion himself - once under the new format and once under the old - explained his position by stating that they also • lerey Supercross Coming up in Cycle News ~ 101001 112 NOVEMBER 14,2001 • c u e I • n • Des Moines National Arenacross Opener e _ • Long-Tenn GSX-R1000 Test s 30 YEARS AGO... NOVEMBER 23, 1971 Former World Motocross Champion Bengt Aberg was pictured on his way over the bars for the cover of Issue *45. He broke his collarbone in the crash ... Also on the cover was a picture of Hooker Headers' Rick Vesco, who was busy gathering sound readings at a mock motocross event in order to fit future CMC-competition motorcycles with silencers. Without the Hooker muffler, a Yamaha 250 registered 107 db, according to the piece. With the muffler, it was quieted to 93 db... We interviewed short track specialist Robert E. Lee. Nicknamed "The Little General" for obvious reasons, when asked about who he thought was the most promising Novice dirt tracker, he answered, "Mike Kidd ..... A letter, which could have been from a copycat, was sent to the Dirt Diggers MC on a pre-entry form with cut-out pieces of paper spelling out "I will be there and kill two girls' and was signed "Zodiac'. The FBI was on hand at the event in the hopes of deterring and/or catching the threatened assailant. 20 YEARS AGO... NOVEMBER 18, 1981 Danny Chandler "Magoo' roosted across the cover of Issue 1145. We interviewed him about his new, smooth-riding ways, and he said that when he fell, he seemed to get much more press than when other people fell, but he hadn't actually gotten smoother. .. The team of Scot Harden and Brent WaUingsford (Hus) topped the Baja 1000, defeating chief combatants Larry Roeseler and Bruce Ogilvie (Yam) by 22 minutes... Terry Cunningham won the Bad Mountain/Bob Brooks Memorial Enduro in the desert of Red Mountain, California, by one point over Tom Webb (Hus) ... The U.S. Long Track Speedway Championship was held at Ascot raceway, and John Cook won the main event over Shawn Moran, Shawn McConnell, Dennis Sigalos, Lance King and Charlie Morse... Motocrosser Brad Lackey reportedly started the Baja 1000 in a Kawasaki-powered single-seat buggy but made it only eight miles before the untested machine broke down. 10 YEARS AGO... NOVEMBER 20, 1991 Freddie Spencer and Thomas Stevens shared the cover of Issue 1145 after Spencer won the Grand Prix of Miami, the final round of the AMA National Superbike Series. Stevens was on the cover for clinching his first-ever AMA National Superbike Championship at the event. In the 250cc Grand Prix class at the event, Jimmy Filice won the event and the title, while Colin Edwards made his Pro debut at the event a good one with a strong secondplace finish. Scott Russell (Kaw) won his ninth 750cc Supersport race in nine tries in Miami ... Colin Edwards entered eight Novice classes at the WERA Grand National Final road race at Road Atlanta, and he won all of them, setting a new WERA record. Another record was set when 14-year-old Tommy Hayden became WERA's youngest champion for winning the Formula Three Novice class ... Rex Staten won the Vet Pro class both days at the Veterans' World Motocross Championship in Perris, Califomia, for the second year in a row.