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/128140
" ••• all the age references about Mike LaRocco's win were in bad taste." Bubba Rules e read the articles about him. I've en him on TV. Then I got to see him e in his first 125cc pro season. I st say that seeing him race in pern finally convinced me that this kid ames "Bubba" Stewart - is the real al. Dare I say even better than Ricky rmichael when he took the pro sses by storm? I realize that can be little premature, but this kid is mned good. He is amazing to tch, with such determination and e. Even when he crashes, he picks self up, dusts off, has a drink of ter and takes off again - and still Ids the lead. He also appears to be very nice and well-spoken kid for a -year-old. Kudos to the parents. James "Bubba" Stewart has made fan out of me. Good luck, Bubba, d thanks for making the sport fun to tch. Shane McCarlhy TUCSOfl. AZ Let Bubba Breathe response to Scott Rousseau's "Let bba Breathe" editorial (Issue #3, nuary 23), he makes very valid ints in regard to Bubba's price to y for fame. People should also derstand that he has been groomed r his position for some time. I hapn to be friends with Bubba's former echanic, David Kelley. It should be ted that James Sr. has made sure at Bubba is not surrounded by Ichers on his climb to the top. There is a reason that Bubba is so ell spoken and appreciative for his ft - he has quality people around m. People who have been there, ne that. Big props to the Stewart mily and David Kelley for helping ise "the next big thing" correctly. Derek Cafrett Montpomety, AI. One For The Aged ou guys have one of the best motorcle publications around, but all the e references about Mike LaRocco's in were in bad taste. Your latest cover line " One for the ged" was not funny. It's too bad the oung guys don't show the desire to in - the. veterans do. Mike Hili Via the InffNnet ortunately, J don't believe LaRocco els the same way you do about our cover line. It is a compliment to him and his skill, heart and determination that he can still win against those much younger than him. "One For The Aged" was not a slap at laRocco it was a compliment. If he were 60 or 70 years old, that would have been a slap in his face. He is only 31 years old. There is not a single person in our office - or perhaps in all of motorcycling - who was not happy that LaRocco won Anaheim II. But J guess if I have to explain this to our readership, then perhaps the coverline didn't work as well as I'd hoped... Editor. Teardown Paul Carruthers really hit the nail on the head in his recent Teardown column (Issue #4, January 30). Me not knowing much detail on the subject, it was obvious it's a matter of greed. I hope they realize that the AMA and Clear Channel both stand to lose a lot • at least one of them will, most likely both if they don't work things out. Even though I try not to pay attention to the politics of racing too much, the FIM sure presents an interesting wrinkle to this supercross dilemma. Despite this turmoil, it is turning into an incredible supercross season. In fact, it should be a great racing season in general (road racing should be fabulous this year). Keep the faith and stay positive. I'm going to enjoy supercross this year as much as I can, because next year I might not care about it so much. Michael Chordas Via the Intemet Teardown II Perhaps I'm stupid enough (or optimistic enough) to believe that my opinion counts, and that one or both of you might actually read this email, as I believe that yourselves and others within the AMA Pro Racing group have been flooded with emails, phone calls, etc. Have you gentlemen been reading the weekly "Voices" section of Cycle News? I know you both read the feature that Cycle News ran with the various opinions from both sides of the fence. Have either of you had a chance to read Paul Carruthers' editorial on the Cycle News Web site dated January 22, 2002? His editorial makes pretty good sense to me, this coming from someone who does not have anything to do with professional motorcycle racing in any capacity (I'm just a fan). I fail to understand how a entity that sanctions/represents professional supercross racing would make such a seemingly childish move as to split from Clear Channel, who have moved supercross to, and positioned supercross to be the pre-eminent form of motorcycle racing in the United States. I can't understand how AMA Pro Racing can possibly consider that the supercross product will benefit from two separate Supercross series' competing for the same dates, in the same relative cities in some cases. Really!? Like Paul Carruthers states in his editorial: I'm pissed. This fan of CART racing watched, and watches, how the CART/IRL fiasco has eroded the fan base, the quali· ty of the TV product, and diluted the talent· not to mention ruining the spirit of the Indy 500. This fan is not happy with the prospects of supercross mirroring the same type of degradation. Consider the questions I asked at the beginning of my e-mail. Listen to what fans of supercross are saying . Consider that AMA Pro Racing has made a mistake. Do the right thing. Evan Dements VIa the InffNnet you five hours later, and only delivered half a burger, and said that was all they were going to give you, and by this time you were super hungry and ate the half burger, would you expect to pay for a whole burger? CMC should consider returning half the entry fees to the riders who were patient (read foolish) enough to participate in the most disorganized money grab this rider has ever seen. Clements sent the above e-mail to both president Rob Rasor and market· ing man John Farris at the AMA. .. Editor Mike Marek YOrDa Unda,. CA Amateur SX Gone Bad III Teardown III Your comments in your editorial gave the clearest interpretation of the events regarding the "Supercross Wars" that I have heard to date. Better to wait and comment as you have done than to speak in haste and lose credibility. Keep up the excellent work. Daniel Lance sanbomton" NH As you may know, the first running of the CCE/CMC Anaheim Amateur Supercross didn't run nearly as smoothly as we had hoped. There were many things that contributed to the rough running of the event, and for our portion we sincerely apologize. I personally take full responsibility for much of what happened that day - sometimes you just have to play the cards that are dealt to you. CMC has been fairly and successfully promoting and sanctioning motocross races for almost 35 years, and the Anaheim Amateur Supercross, for many reasons, was the most difficult event we have ever been involved in. There was a much bigger turnout than we had ever hoped for, and there honestly wasn't the support staff in place that was needed to handle that kind of turnout. We, at CMC, sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this event may have caused anyone involved and look forward to making it up to each and everyone in the future. Good day and good racing, Sondra Peters Conffnental Motorsporfs Dub Amateur SX Gone Bad My son and I went to the amateur racing at Anaheim Stadium on Sun· day, January 20. After he completed his practice in the afternoon, we thought about going out to the desert to ride while waiting for his moto to come up (race #51) • but we didn't know what day to come back on. DeWayne f1 Dylan stork Lake Forest CA Amateur SX Gone Bad II If you were hungry and bought a cheeseburger, and they brought it to eye. e n e _ S • FEBRUARY 6, 2002 5