Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

o BUJ G'l:bG o o o o Guy Cooper CKTM) won the penultimate round of the Western Four-Stroke National Motocross Series in Lakewood. Colorado, August 11. Paul Carpenter CHon) was second, with defending champ Spud Walters CHon) finishing third. Randy Renfrow. the tenacious veteran who beat the factories at their own 9ame and survived a number of horrific racing accidents. died Friday, August 9. from injuries suffered, ironically, in a household accident. He was 46. "He loved to ride," said AMA Superbike Manager Ron Barrick, one of Renfrow's closest friends and his former mechanic. "The thrill never left: Barrick said Renfrow was planning on traveling to Virginia Intemational Raceway to spectate this weekend and was also planning to race a limited schedule in 2003. Renfrow was trying to navigate stairs in his parents' Virginia home on Tuesday night when he fell, hitting his head. He was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where surgery was performed to relieve swelling on his brain, and he was placed on life support. He never regained consciousness and was declared brain dead Friday. He was removed from life support later that day. He is survived by his brother, Shawn, and parents, Mick and Edith. The diminutive Virginian was one of the most Widely liked riders in the paddock, a consummate professional who was always honest about his riding and never fabricated excuses for his results. Renfrow, who won three AMA road racing titles in his 22·year, non-continuous career, announced his retirement more than once, aiways retuming to the sport he loved, despite being injured seriously more than once. The crash most people remember came at Willow Springs Raceway in 1991. Renfrow was taking part in a Honda test session when he hit the tum-eight dip and lost control. His hand got caught in the rear of his Honda, and he lost his thumb. Undeterred, Renfrow had his big toe surgically removed and attached in place of his thumb. "I think most racers would have called it quits at that point," Barrick said. "That was a long rehab and many, many probably painful 8 o Chuck Woodford CKaw) scored the overall victory at the fifth round of the AMA National Championship Enduro Series in Harrison, Missouri, August 11_ The Ohio rider finished one spot ahead of defending champ Michael lafferty CKTM), with former champ Randy Hawkins CYam) completing the podium. David lykke CYam) and Fred Hoess CHus) completed the top five. Lafferty leads Hawkins in the points standings, 140-101. o o o o o Belgian Fred Crosset CGG) wrapped up his second AMA/NATC National Trials Championship at the series' final stop in Cotopaxi, Colorado, August 10-11. On Saturday, Crosset scored the win over Geoff Aaron CGGl and Ryon Bell CMon). On Sunday, Aaron notched the victory over Bell and Raymond Peters CSco). Although Crosset finished fifth on Sunday, it was plenty to earn him the title over six-time champ Aaron, 226-211. 8 o o o o o operations. " Renfrow had one of the longest careers of any competitor in AMA road racing, his second discipline. He began as a motocross racer, which is what he was doing when he met Barrick. Barrick worked with Shawn Renfrow at Cycle Sports, a dealership of which Renfrow was part-owner. Renfrow made his AMA professional debut aboard a Yamaha TZ250 at Pocono in 1981, finishing fifth. In 1983, he won five 250 GP races on a privateer Yamaha on his way to winning the AMA 250cc Grand Prix Championship. Known primarily as a 250cc rider, Renfrow was proficient on larger motorcycles. The highlight of his career came in 1986. Riding the privateer Starfire Honda RS500, with Barrick as his mechanic, and with backing from Dr. Bert Bigoney, Renfrow won the AMA's final Formula One championship after finishing second the year before. Future World Champion Wayne Rainey was fourth on the factory Honda effort. In 1989, he would join forces with Martin Adams (a Kentucky businessman who owned the Commonwealth Honda team) two races into the season. The team was the precursor to the factory Honda teams of today. The partnership led to the Battle of the Twins GPI title, Renfrow ridin9 a Commonwealth Honda with an RS750 dirt-track engine, winning four of seven races. "Randy Renfrow was a man of about five foot two with a heart bigger than any of ours and grit that is unsurpassed," Adams said. Australia won the FIM Speedway World Cup Final in a thrilling meeting at the East of England Showground in Peterborough, England. on August 10, lifting the Ove Fundin Trophy aloft for a second consecutive year. The Aussies won with 64 points, followed by Denmark with 58 points and Sweden with 54 points. Team USA missed out on the WTC final after tying with Denmark in a rain-shortened preliminary meeting. Denmark advanced over the Americans via more heat wins. 8 o o o o o o o o SuperBikers2, LLC, is proud to announce the Return of the Superbikers race at the Briggs & Stratton Motorplex located at the famed Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, September 7-8. A round of racing that is expected to draw some of AMA road racing's finest. the event also pits top MX racers. as well as local heroes, against one another. Factory teams such as Cannondale. Vertemati. Corona Suzuki, Yamaha France. HMC Racing. as well as top-name riders from the U.S., England, Italy, and France are anticipated. Scott Russell. Mike Smith, Mark Miller. David Sad· owski, Gerald Delipine, Jer6me Giraudo. and Mike Metzger are some of the riders expected to be on hand. A track map, an online entry, and a complete list of confirmed entries will be available at www.superlbikers2.com. For more information. contact Glenn Curtiss, 920/912-3009, or Paul Brent. 866/6886627. American Suzuki Motor Corporation made it official on Wednesday. August 7 Team SoBe Suzuki factory rider Travis Pastrana will be out of action for the rest of the AMA Outdoor National Motocross Championship. Pastrana's latest injury came during at the GraVity Games in Cleveland. Ohio, on August 4, when he landed wrong while competing in a step-up competition. Pastrana suffered a dislocated right knee and is scheduled to undergo surgery to repair damaged lig· aments in approximately three weeks, according to Suzuki. "Our disappointment continues," said team manager Roger DeCoster in the Suzuki press release. "For us. the important thing is the racing path. I feel that we have very a 8 o o o o o "He was a competitor's competitor, an exemplary [speciman] of everything we look to in our sports, men. He was a true sportsman, an athlete and a businessman, a team player and a family man. One 900d thing about being a sportsman is that what you achieve will outlive you, and Randy certainly has set records. We [Commonwealth Racing] won our first championship with Randy in 1989, and he didn't come on board until the second race • and he won the first time on the bike. "It was one of the best competitive bike this year. but it's not being raced. My hope is that Travis will be back healthy for next season and we will for once have a full season without missing events because of injury." Pastrana, a former 125cc Eastern Region Supercross Champion and 125cc National Motocross Champion, won the Gold Medal at the 2002 GraVity Games and should be back for the 2003 AMA U.S. Supercross season in January, Suzuki says. All is well for the 2002 Motocross des Nations, scheduled for September 29 in San Jacinto. California - at least according to a press release issued last week by Doma. According to the release, FIM, 8[lj)@@[j'&Jfl[JD g WJl[lj)g Dl1%B @(](]!J@!J@Dg o o o o o According to an August 12 press release, KTM and McGrath Racing, Incorporated have signed a comprehensive four-year agreement that will see the seven·time supercross champ campaign the new 250 SX in AMA Supercross, FIM World Supercross and other selected events in 2003 and 2004. With the fmal two years of the agreement, McGrath will continue his Involvement in a capacity that has yet to be decided. Although McGrath was on vacation as we went to press, KTM says that he has already started testing, and that he likes the bike. As always, McGrath Racing will field its own team under the title sponsorship of Bud Ught and operate out of its own semi, but with full factory support from KTM. You should see his first appearance on the KTM 250 SX at the U.S. Open in Las Vegas this October. 2 AUGUST 21, 2002' II: Y II: I e n e "" os L..:: .......... ... years of racing I've ever had," Adams said of the 1989 season, "and Ray Plumb [American Honda's crew chief and Renfrow's crew chief that season) will tell you that it was his most satisfying season ever. If I could just say one more thing to Randy, wherever he is: 'Randy Renfrow, lowe you a lot. You put us on the map, brother.'" Renfrow's final win as a pro came at Willow Springs Raceway in 1990, when he won his only Superbike race on the Commonwealth Honda RC30. He finished second in the Superbike season standings that year to Kawasaki's Doug Chandler. With all that big-bike success, it was his time in the 250cc class where he'll most be remembered. There were eight Wins, the most recent coming 15 years ago, on a sweltering day in Memphis in 1987. He was a long-time champion of the class, but realized its days were numbered. His results last year bore that out. In 2001, he competed four times, taking third-place finishes in both the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, and the season finale at Virginia International Raceway. In between. there was a fourth and a sixth. It was at Daytona that his racing career came to an end. On the warm-up lap of a Championship Cup Series race this past March, Renfrow's John Lassak-tuned Honda RS250 was rammed from behind. He was transported to Halifax Medical Center with severe injuries. "What actually ended up happening is I broke 28 bones· a lot of them were ribs - 23 or 28 fractures, hard to say," he said. The list included nine broken ribs, a broken foot, broken leg, internal injuries, and a broken right knee that required surgery to the patella and the patellar plateau, which was plated. The discrepancy in the number of broken bones came in the damage to his right foot, as it was unclear exactly how many pieces the fifth metatarsal was bro· ken into. "I'm not blaming anybody - maybe it's just given that, maybe it's time to not do this," he said at the time. "If everything's okay, I'm going to ride again. I was enjoying myself down there, and the bike was quick, and I'd like to make a few more races." Henny Ray Abrams AMA and Doena Off-Road officials recently visited Competition Park and came away impressed with the construction and development work that is ongoing at the facility. "The structure of the racing complex is really coming together, with amenities and resources like electrical power, sanitation, and a watering system now functioning," the release says. "Thanks to the presence of an on-site construction crew, the main service tower is almost completed and the dates for final bUilding work are well within reach." Dave Nicoll CFIM), Bill Amick CAMAl, and Carles Jorlba COOR) were the chosen ones who checked the progress of the facility. along with event promoter Malcolm McCassy. "We have been raising the standard of circuits within the World Championships over the past two years, and I'm more than happy to say that Competition Park is heading along the lines of the high level we like to see at top-level Motocross events," said Jorlba. "The organization and preparation will be excellent. The Motocross of Nations should be a fantastic show and I believe, from what we have seen so far, Competition Park is the ideal venue for a meeting of this importance. "

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