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/128311
Malcolm's Sunday Nightmare t almost goes without saying that the iconic film On Any Sunday changed the way that many people viewed motorcycling and that it also made stars out of the movie's two protagonists, Mert Lawwill and Malcolm Smith. But, for all its greatness, if there's one thing tha t Bruce Brown's supreme documentary didn't include, it is the controversy and potentially life -a lt e r ing turn of events that befell Smith at the Elsinore Grand Prix on March 7-8 in 1970. Perhaps rightly, perhaps not, On Any Sunday shows Smith getti ng a huge early lead on his immaculate Husqvarna 250 d uring the Saturday race at Elsinore and then passing hund reds of riders so me of t hem three times - en route to a domi nating victory. It's a fantastic story w it h on e mino r kink: Malcolm Smith was never declared the w inne r of the Elsinore Grand Prix. Greeves-mounted Gary Bailey yes, that Gary Bailey - was given the overall troph y. "I am absolute ly sure t hat I wo n that race, " Smith declares today w ith a resolve that belies his easy-going nature . "I led it off t he start, and I was just gone. Nobody passed me ." Then how is it that Bailey was credited with the win? Shouldn't he, in fact, have been given a mention in the movie? The truth is, it wasn't so cut and dried. The hosting club, the Gripsters M.C., did its level best to ensure proper scoring of the even t. According to the account of the event in Cycle News, the problem w ith Smith began when he wiped his numberplate after going through the mudhole early in t he race . "What happened was that I lost the num berpla te [the story conveys that Smith lost a number off the plate), so they only had me scored for abou t half the laps, or so met hing like that," he said. "Gary Bailey, who was a hell of a rider, was declared the winner, but I know that I wo n. I was really pissed about it." Indeed . Smit h jump ed on an ope n micro phone to pro claim victory d uring the awards ceremony at t he Newporter Inn in Newport Beach, California, a week later. After tha t, a full-page ad was taken out in a subsequent issue of Cycle News by a Smith su pporte r, declaring, "Hey Wo rld! Malcolm Smith won Elsinore . Riders know it. What's your pro blem, Gr ipsters? Signed, a rider and truth lover." The lette rs sect io n in Cycle News was full of backlash over what was presumed a robbery of Smith's win. "Some things you look back on , and you wonder if you were right or wrong, but I know that I won it," Smith said. "But Gary Bailey I really respect him, and I don't want , to start a big fight over it or anything now." As if that that controversial first day at Elsinore wasn't bad enough for Smit h, the next day was far worse, because it ended in near disaster. I 94 "I remem ber the next day really we ll," Smith says. "I was riding a 360 e ight-speed Husky, and I was pretty far ahead on the first lap. That eight-speed bike was quite a bit faster than anyone else's. I was going about 7S mph on it w hen this lady with these two litt le kids tried to cross the street in front of me . I guess she had been timing the other motorcycles coming down the street, and they were all going about SS mph . Then here I co me at 7S mph . I remember that my front wheel was pointed right at a child's head, and I realized that my only chance was to just go between the child and the lady. My helmet hit her right in the chest, and it bro ke some tures , even now. Curre ntly, he is involved in a major construction project at his motorcycle dealershi p, Malco lm Smit h Motorsports, in Riverside, California. "We are building a bran d-new building next door to our current one," Smit h says. "We are demolishing sev en houses to make room for it." Just as On Any Sunday portrayed, Smith still takes to t he dirt whenever he can . "I still ride down in Baja a lo t, and I just got back from a seven-day ride in New Zealand , where they are going to have the Six Days in two years ," Smith says. "W hat a wonderful co untry. It's really neat down there. It's like ste pping back in time 50 years ." Thes e days, about the o nly place you're not likely to see Malcolm Smith is on t he starting line at t he Elsinore Grand Prix, or any ot her starting line for that matter. Malcolm Smith, shown below with w ife Joyce, when Smith was inducted into the Inte rn a tio na l Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1996. of her ribs, but I missed t he child." Smith was lucky to esca pe serious injury in the crash that took place after the collision. "I only got scratche d up, but I was just so shook up that I hit t he lady tha t I didn't want to race remembers. anymore," he "Ult imately she was fine, but a year late r I got hit with a lawsuit that said that I wantonly tried to run her ove r. It was settled out of court. That's America for you." A man of few unhappy memories during his storied racing career, Smith looks back on that hellish Elsinore weekend as just another chapter in the book of his life. "I'm not really even that unhappy about it now," Smith says. "I'm just o ne of those guys who just moves on and looks toward my next adventure ." Like the movie so accurately portrayed, Smith, now 62, is a man of many adven- FEBRUARY lB . 2004 • CYCLE NEWS The new Maleo 400 and 450 sat side by side on the cover of Issue #6. In testing, we found out that the only thingto separate the two visually is the MC400 on the 4OO's tank. Pricewise, the 450 costs $100 more ($1598 to $ 1498). But performancewise , the 450 was worlds better... We covered the 28th runningof the Four Aces' Moose Run in California City, California. A.C . Bakken took the overall win... AI Baker and Steve Halliday teamed up to win the Parker 400 on a Kawasaki in seven hours, 24 minutes and 49 seconds... Bultaco's Bernie Schreiber ende d Marland Whaley's win streak in the ATA National Trials Championship. Schreiber lost two points on the second loop. 20 YEARS AGO... February 22. 1984 Team Honda's Johnny O 'Ma ra was placed on the cover of Issue #6 on his way to topping the Wrangler Dash in Seattle, which was open to allof the riders who had achieved the fastest heat races of the night throughout the supercross season. C 'Mara won $2 5,000... The Seattle Supercross doubleheader was split by Jeff Wa rd (Kaw) and Rick Johnson (Hon), each of whom won a night. Ward led the points after three rounds... Dans Sm ith and Ashc raft teamed up to win the Parker 400. It was the pair's fourth straight offroad win... Jeff Matiasevich (Hon) won the 12SccIntermediate class at Corona MX... Calvin Raybo rn won the Open Expert class at the Corona TT and Half Mile. 10 YEARS AGO... February 16. 1994 The now-legendary Ducati 916 graced the cover of Issue #6 in honor of its first r ide inside. "l'rn 62 now, but when I get out there and race, Iget too excited, and I try to beat all those kids," Smith admits. "I found out a couple years ago that you can get hurt doing that ." But it's all good anyway. Thanks to On Any Sunday, Malcolm Smith will forever be the fast young gun on t he shiny red Husqvarna, w ith the ear-to -ear grin, still racing into millions of living roo ms on any given night of the week. eN 40th Anniversaru Our test er couldn't have bee n more complimentary about the machine, saying it was "just right." Retail price wasn't listed... Jeremy McGrath (Hon) kept his perfect season intact by winninground four of the Camel Supercross Series at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California. Mike Kiedrowski (Kaw) and Mike Cr aig (Yam), who led 12 laps, rounded out the podium. Ryan Hughes (Kaw) beat Suzuki's Damon Huffman (who fell in the first tum ) and Pedro Gon zalez (Kaw) to win the I25cc main... We interviewed SOOcc National MX Champion Mike laRocco, who revealed the brace he was wearing on his right wrist was a modified rollerblade brace .