Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

crash," said M oore, " I'd really like t o be in the new 100 0 Superstock class next year, because it' s like a co mbination of t he old For mula Xtreme and Superstock classes toget her, Tho se bikes are gonna to be a lot of fun to ride," D uring the 19th annua l W hite Brot hers W o rld Ve tera n M X Ch ampio nsh ips at Glen Helen Raceway, November 2, the M . Edison Dye Lif et ime Motocross Ach ieve m e nt A w a r d will be give to fou r -t im e 250 c c N at io nal C ha mp io n Gary Jones , The spec ial presentation will be at 12:30 p.rn. and will be hosted by Wh it e Brothers ' Tom W hit e, The M , Edison Dye Lifet ime M otocross Achievement Award , named afte r the Father of American Mot ocross, result ed from a collaboration involving Wh ite Brothers' Tom Whi te and Glen Helen's Bud Feldkamp, Bo th men wanted t o hon o r and bring recognition to the pioneers of motocross who are respon sible fo r the huge growth that the sport has achieved, Jo nes was the first American rider to challenge and ofte n beat t he mo re exp erience d European rid e r s . J on e s wo n f our 250 c c National Cham pion ship s in a row from 1971 through 1974 and also joined Brad Lackey. Jim Pomeroy and Jim W einert on t he A m e r ic an 19 72 M o t o c r o s s d e s Nations team, Possibly more impo rt ant than his raci ng succes ses, th e J o nes family - Gary. brother Dwayne. and fathe r Do n - play ed a very imp ortant ro le in developing the early motocro ss mot orcycle with many of their innovations shaping the early Yamaha YZ and Honda C R, Today, Jones co ntinues to excel in racing . inc luding ea rning fo ur W o rld Ve t Championships, Best of the Desert class champi onship s. and many G P an d offroad class wins, He has also teamed up with stars like N icky Hayden and J ohnny Murphy to build MX bikes capable of winning championship dirt track events, Glen Helen has created a "Wa lk of Fame " with p e rm anen t p laques com me morat ing these M X pioneers , Jones will join Roger DeCoster, Rick Johnson , M. Edison Dye, Torsten Hallman, Bruc e Brow n and the 8 1 M X d e s N at io ns team o f D ann y LaPorte, Donnie Hansen, Chuck Sun and Johnny O 'Ma ra. as past wi nners of the presti gious award , White Brot hers and Glen Helen invite all fans of motocross to come out and share the appreciation for the se heroes who have elevated American motocross , The Ventura C o u nt y Motorcycle C l u b wil l be ho lding its th ird annual C asa Pacifica Chari ty Dua l Spo rt Ride on S unday , O ct o ber 26 , The ride w ill start at the Flying J , Inc , Truck S top , Massachusett s' Dav id Wats on was nearly perfect in th e fin al roun d of th e 2003 AMA U.S. Hill climb Cham pion ship in Or egoni a. Oh io. the Hond a rider winni ng the 540cc class and fin ishing second in the 800cc class. Th e final outcome: two National Cham pionship s. Rid ing his Cycl e Accessories & More ·backed Hondas, Watson beat Triumph -m ou nted Phil Libhard and Yam aha -m ounted Wal t er "T iger" Str ank to wi n the 540cc class , ca pturing his fou rth 540cc National Cham pionsh ip in the proc ess with his eig hth 54 0cc victory of the season. In th e 8 00 cc class , Harle y -D av id son -mount ed Ja mes Larg e eme rged with the victory, but Watson 's second place was enough to earn him the crown by j ust fo ur points over Larg e, 152- 148. Strank finished thi rd in th e event and in th e ch ampionship on his Yam aha . This is the third time in his career that Watson has won both hillclimb titles in the same season . J r -« o I '1 -.J '1I , 4281 0 Frazier M ountain Park Drive. in Frazier Park , C aliforn ia. at 7 a.rn, Pro ceeds from the event w ill be donated to C asa Pacifi ca, a children' s cri sis care and treat ment ce nter, For more info rrna. tio n , c all 805 /4 98 -9 54 4, or v is it www.vent uracountymc.co m. Ma lcolm Smith has mapped the co urse and is set to stage his 10th annual No Wimps Dual Sport Ride thro ugh t he S an Bern ard in o N at ion al Fo r e s t in So uthern C aliforn ia on N ov ember 16 , sta rt ing at G len Helen Raceway, Riders (no pa s s e ng e r s p l ea s e ) w ith q uie t . st reet-legal dual sport mot orcycl es and wi th " A· o r " B " lev el exp eri en c e ar e invited to participate , Details, fees and entry forms are availa ble at www.Ma lco lrn'Smit h.co m o r by calling 909/68 7· 1300 . After reinjuring his right w ris t again while riding freestyle last we ek then strug gling with it at the Superbiker' s race in D el M ar on S at ur day , Octobe r 4 , M ike Metzger decided to forgo the Red Bull A M A Supermo t o round in Columbu s, Ohio , on October 5. "It's diffi cult for me to focu s and race at the fron t when I don 't have proper throttle control due to my nagging wri st injury," M etzger said in a press releas e. " I want to be out there racing for the win, not riding in pain and finishing in the top 10 . " The AM A Pro Racing board of direc tors has given final approval to a rules package for support classes competing in the 2004 AMA Chevy Trucks U .S. Superbike Championship. Affected classes include Su per spo rt , Supe rst o ck and Form ula Xtreme. An overview of the final technical rules for the entire series can be viewed at www.USSuperbike.com. AMA Pro Racing CEO Scott Hollingswort h stated that while the specific needs and goals of each class differ , the overall objectives for improving the championship as a whole are the same. ACCEPTING: Vortex is currently accep ting rider-suppo rt resumes fo r all levels of riders for the 200 4 season. Resumes can be sent to Vortex Rider Support , 115 16 Perpetual Drive, Odessa, FL 33556, ACCPETING: Ten Racing is current ly acce pting racer resumes for the 2004 racing season. Resumes can be sent to 1800 Sherid an St reet. Pitt sburgh, PA 151 04 , att n: Racer Support . " Maintaining close competition, delivering an entertaining show to our loyal fan base and slowin g esca lating cos ts to part icipants , the same crite ria we applied to establishing our Superbike rule structures. w er e pri o ri t ies here as we ll. " sa id Ho llingswo rt h. " O nce w e co nside r the broad needs of the championship, we then look at the specific needs of each class. The prop o sed rules were anno unced in Augu st. and afte r taking into account a considerable amount of input received during the 30-day public comment period. the A M A Pr o Rac ing bo ar d o f d irec t ors approved the final set of rules. As a testament to the value of the comment period, as well as the input of the Road Race Advisory Board. some of the initially proposed rules were amended based on quality feedba ck we ' ve re ce ived . " Holl in gsw o r t h added that a couple of significant issues needed to be dealt with in regards to the support classes, specifically Superstock. " Ultimately we elected to enact a rule that prevent s fac to ry -suppo rte d rid ers fro m competing in both Superbike and Superstock," said Hollingsworth. "This was done primarily to prevent riders fro m entering classes simply to gain extra practice time with no intention of actually competing in the class as well as to provide a place for independent teams to showcase their riders . How eve r , so me f ac to ry t eam s expressed a desire to be able to compete in bo t h cl asses , so we w ro te t he rul e accordingly." Another new rule enacted for the Superstock class is the requirement to use slick tires. This was done primarily for safety reasons. Supersport rules are largely unchanged, and displacement limits for Fo rmula Xtreme have been low ered to reflect the direction the majority of manufacturers are taking in terms of marketing their sport bikes. "Of course it's impossible to create a set of class structures and technical rules that satisfies everyone." said Hollingsworth. "However, we are confident that we have done a thorough job of considering all the information available to us in terms of current technology, motorcycle marke t ccnditions and the goa l of maintaining steady growth of motorcycle racing in the United States. The 2003 racing season saw some of the most competiti ve , sp irited rac ing ever in the United States, and we 're convinced that the evolution of these rules for 2004 will continue to achieve that objective." t his week w it ho ut crutc hes. I tell yo u t hat g uy [D r. Arthu r Tinql is gnarly. It wa s f ive wee k s ye s te rd ay , and I'm already walk ing.· Pridmore also go t the good new s last wee kend that the team that he rode for in t he W orld Endurance Champ io nship - Phase O ne - had wo n the ti tl e w it h it s 12th -p lace f ini sh i n Spain . "It 's bit tersw eet because I was n't able to be t here w ith th em w he n th ey won it : Pridmor e said. " But it' s a team champio nship, and I did the majority of t he riding this year with James Ellison." A s for ne xt ye ar' s AMA S eries , Prid more still doesn' t know exactly what his plans are . but he knows he wil l be wit h Suzuki. His former team. Attack Suzuki. w ill become Attac k Kawasak i next seaso n, and Pridmo re wo n't be a pa rt of that squad . " I shou ld know soo n what' s going on, " Pridmore said. Road racer Shawn Hi gbe e wa s slated to co mpe te in his first car race during t he S CCA Bl ac kh aw k Farm s, Ill in o is race recently . Higbee recently grad uated from the Skip Barber three-day school at Road America, and the Elite Autosport s team based in Woodstock, Illinois, we re set to provide Higbee w ith a Fo rmula M azda car to begin his car-racing career. "Racing ca rs is fresh , new and very exci ting for me," Higbee said in a press release. " The re is s o m e c rossove r between mot orcycl es and cars, but I'm learning many new things, too . I'm eager to pur sue the professional aspe ct of car raci ng once I ge t up to spee d. I'm leaning towa rd open w heel fo rmu la at t he mo ment but have been looki ng at many optio ns including spo rts car racing . I see car racing as an opportunity to increase exposure for my spo nsors and myself. " Pa c ifi c T r ac k T i m e , a l ead ing provider of upscale motorcycle track day even ts on the West C o as t. has anno unce d the sale of th e com pany to AFM racer M ichael Earnest. "The Pacific Tr ack Ti me s ta ff has always been a close-knit gro up, " Earnest said . "That is what attra cted me to the company when I came on boa rd earlier this season to assist in inst ruc t ing . I am excit ed t o become part of such a fantastic group and company. I am loo king forw ard to jo ining Briana. Bob and the staff in making Pacific Tra ck Time t he mo st success ful t rack -day provider on t he West C o ast." C omp a ny fou nde r Bri an a Droege plan s to rem ain o n st aff as a marke t ing co ns ultant and ass is t in the managem ent t ransiti on and day-t o -day bu sin e s s o pe ra tio ns . A lso , prev iou s COIlt i /lued a ll page 92 Ju st five wee ks afte r suffering a bad ly broke n leg , roa d racer Jason Prid· m o re is ready to walk again. ''I' m doing good ," said Pridmore, w ho suffe red the broken leg at Virginia International Raceway o n Aug ust 31 . "I 'm tryi ng to wa lk cue I e n e _ S • O CTO BER 22 , 2003 3 U n U o o o o (I LJ (\ -.....) ('

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