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/128326
"It was always a pleasure to watch him race, and I' m glad to hear that he is happy and healthy." Letters 1 theeditorshould be sent to Voices, Cycle News PO Box 508A, CosteMesa, 0 , CA92628-5084; foxed 1 7 14·751-6685or emoiled 1 editor@cyclenews.com. Published 0 0 letters donot necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News, Inc. letters should notexceed 200 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - T - ...... words, and all ore subject to editing. Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication. All letters should contain thewriter's name, address and daytime phone number... Editor. Professional Thanks We wish to th ank the Pro ride rs who went out for Ama te ur pract ice o n the T hu rsd ay prior t o th e Glen Hele n Preq uel. T he kids we re t hrilled to be on t he same track w ith t heir he roes. Unfortu nat ely, my so n slid out in a corner, and James Stewart's fron t wheel hit my son's seat. Later, Ch ad Reed's fro nt wheel ru bbed my so n's side num ber plate, putting a tire mark o n it. My son has infor me d me th at t hese two parts will not be so ld w ith his bike. Thanks, guys! Is anyo ne inte rested in buying mo st of a Honda? The long list of Pro s w ho we nt o ut early for pra ctice truly gave something back to t he sport. It was a sma ll yet significant th ing t hat wi ll neve r be forg otten by dozens of kids . Ernie and Debbie Flippin Bakersfield, CA Collier Kudos Last weekend I was at the AMA Natio nal at Hangtown, and what a race! And w hat a ride by Sean Collier - w ho went 15- 12 fo r 13th overall in the 125cc class and to p privateer hon ors. David M cMillan via the Internet Pearson's Points Thankfully, so meo ne at t he AMA had a clear head and re instate d Russell Pearson's points and finish at District 38 's first Nat io nal Hare and Hound . Th e official sta teme nt that t he d isq ualificat ion was to o late after the race to be honored is fine, but it does n't really clear Russ from wh at he was accused of. Anyon e who knows Russ, including his competitors, would not accu se him of unsa fe rid ing and racing. The fini sh-line fiasco could have bee n e liminated by cleare r mar kings - staff wit h yellow flags stationed way befo re t he chute . Th is wa s t he promote r/cl ub 's first Natio nal, and I believe t hey learned so me valuable lesso ns that can carry ove r to next year's race . Good luck, Russ, and good luck w it h nex t year's Natio nal Sidewi nders Me. Rick Nuss Henderson, NV Great Scotts It was with great pleasure that I read the fine wri te- up o n Gary Scott by Scott Ro usseau. It brought back a lot of very fond memories of treks ma de up t he San Diego Freeway to Garde na to watch him battle it out at Asco t. Me, my frie nd Steve, and his wife, Kathy, didn't miss a Nat ional at Ascot fro m 1974 o n. I rooted for Kenny Robe rts , and th ey pu lled fo r Gary. As yo u know, those two guys were joined at th e hip thro ugh th eir novice, junior and expert years. Anyo ne going t hro ugh t he exha ustive photo files of the Maho nys w ill find a bund le of sho ts of the two toge t he r, especially du ring the ir nov ice and junior years. Both of t hose guys were abs olute natu ral talents. Th e fact tha t t hey ro se through t he ran ks together made t he m the champion s t hey were. T hey forced each other to be as good as they co uld be every time they raced. It has always been fun to speculate w hat kind of success Gary would have e njoye d if he 'd had the re so urces t hat Kenny did. He was a very good road racer. And for that matte r, what kind of success Kenny would have had if his sta ble had included a XR750. N ow, it is my o pinion that t he cream rises to the top o n right- hand turns, an d few were in Gary 's league . His Winning five co nse cut ive TT Nationals at Ascot was a feat that I st ill t hink he has not been given enough credit for. I kept a scrap book of pict ures fro m that time, and o ne of my favor ites is of him on the gas goi ng around the right-hande r afte r the jump w hile looki ng backward . It was always a pleasure to watch him race, and I'm glad to hear that he is happy an d healt hy. I ho pe the same goes for Han k [Gary 's brother.... Edito r]. T hanks fo r all the memories, Gary. Thanks again, Sco tt . Dan Henry Encinitas, CA The Four Stroke Nationals I wa nt to co ngra tulate the Dirt Digge rs on the profes sion ally ru n race t hey put o n at Hangt ow n! But ex cept for a handfu l of two-strokes, I'm not sure if I was at t he AMA Nat ional Mo tocro ss Se ries o r t he Fo ur-St ro ke Natio nals! Mike Smi th Redding, CA The Nerve A Gobert Apology T he nerve of you guys letting this AMA fellow bash o ur goo d buddy Ga ry Jon es . Gary is no t o nly a w onderful human be ing, but is a charter mem ber o f the SHC e. He still rides a motorcycle pretty good , and he's a nice guy. Everyone likes him, an d he tells good jokes. He 's kind to dogs , cats and ho rses and has a ye llow Hummer. Face it - he 's coo l! Wh en we go riding, he warns us abo ut go ing down trails that we have no busines s go ing do wn . Fe llow SHC C member Ty Davis, on the o ther hand, fo rces you to go do w n trails that , yo u w re ck on . You don't see th is AMA guy watchi ng ou t for us like t hat , do you? No - he 's just besmirching our pal Gary. Wh at 's up w ith that? So, in closing, that AMA guy sho uld ge t a life and q uit con fusing the issues w ith facts! We will form a co mm ittee at o ur nex t meeting, d iscuss t his horrendous situation , and pond er t he ram ifications of th e grievous allegations against our pal Gary. In t he meantime, it's martini time! Bra nt Russell via t he Internet I w o uld like to re spo nd to comments made by Cycle News to first ly apologize to Kevin Erion of Erion Racing and to Honda America, and secondly to all of my fans and the Ame rican public. I realize after t his latest incident that I do have a proble m wh ich ove r t he years I have refused to admit having. I have watched all the good t hings disappear in my life due to my d rinking and drug taking and partyi ng lifestyle . I now face the realization that I may have even lost the one thing that is my w ho le reason for living - my racing career. I am in a state of shock as to what has happene d and can on ly hope it is no t too late . I am entering a re hab ilitation pro gram in Sydney that has been reco mmended by the sister of the Duchess of Yo rk (Sarah Ferguso n) and by ma ny other high-profile peo ple . I am very so rry and disap pointed in myse lf over my actions and w ish that I had thought th ings through pr operly before acting the way I did . I can't have back t he time, but I can make changes to my lifestyle to make sure it doesn't happen again. I can only hope that someone will give me another chance in the future , realm ng that my attitude and approach will be m uch diffe rent. And if I don't get another chance, I can o nly hope the younger ge neration can read this and learn from me that drugs and drinking is not the way to go about racing, or life in general. It can be looked upon as be ing cool in the early stages, but eve ntually t hings will start to change, and unfortu nately for me , it has taken this loss and low to make me realize I have a problem that needs t o be addressed . I am so sorry to Kevin Erio n and eve ryo ne at Ho nda Ameri ca and everyone w ho was co unt ing on me this year. I am very apologetic to my fans and hope t hey w ill sta nd by me in t hese dark times . I have suffered for years ove r my act ions and have faced many lows. I am t ired of feel ing sick and t he way I feel today (terrible) . I am so so rry to everyone I have hurt. I had no inte ntion of doing t his o r hurt ing anyo ne. O ff I go to make a majo r change an d o ne w hich I know will make me a better person and in return a bett er rider, wh ich is what I wa nt t he most. All t he best to everyone and , once again, sorry. Anthony Gobert Hurtsville. Australia Russell is the president of the Sand Hill Cocktail Club (SHCC)... Editor On Ron Ron And Bubba I w itn esse d some great racing by Ste phane Roncada and Bubba Stewart at t he Ha ngtown Nat ion al. But the reaso n for th is e-mail is to inquire abo ut an inc ide nt that hundreds of spectators to t his battle w itnessed and what, if anything, was do ne ab o ut it. Du ring t heir great bat tle in the se cond moto, Stewart passe d Roncada under a waving ye llow flag! In fact, three ye llow flags! In the gnarly left hand sweeper sect ion around the large e lectrical tower, Bubba passed a ye llow flag, th e n another yellow flag and t he n Roncada - and the n ano the r ye llow flag! Has somebo dy change d t he rules on us for o utdoor motocross, o r should the re have been some kind of penal ty assessed for this act ion? Does the offende d rider have to file a protest be fore anything is do ne? O r is Bubba above t he rules? C o ngrats to Roncada for a great ride and for all moto fans - I ho pe you keep it up all seaso n! Bud Heishman Rena , NV According 10 the rulebook. whether or nol someone is penalize d for passing under a waving yellow flog is 01 Ihe discrelion of Ihe refe ree... Edilor www.cyclenews.com CYCLE NEWS • JUN E 2, 2004 7