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/128333
Lener' 10 the edilor ,hould be senllo Voice,. Cycle News, POBox 5084. Cccc Meso. CA92628-5084; faxed 10 714-751-6685 Of ernoiled 10 ediloltkyclenew,.com. Publi,hed leners do not necenority reRect the position of Cycle News, Inc letters shoukj not exceed200 . words, and all ore subjectto editing. Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication. All letters should contain the writer's nome, cddress ond daytime phone number... E ditor. Roeder's Rant I'm sending this letter in response to the AMA's recent ruling regarding the testing of two ride rs' fuel at the Uma National, and the subsequent pe nalties. The AMA has stated t hat the tested fuel samples did not pass specific gravity tests. If they did not pass any other test, at this time, I do not know. The AMA's resulting penalty for such violations was the doc king of 23 championsh ip points. allowing both riders to keep thei r finish position and t he mo ney earned from these positions. Why has the AMA gone soft now? I can thin k of at least four violations in th e recent past tha t were not any more severe, and the pen alties we re complete disqual ification . First , Kevin Varnes at the LaSalle. Illinois, short track, had his fuel tes t just below the spe cific gravity limits. Seco nd , J.R. Schnabe l at t he Knoxville , Iowa , half mile w here his intake man ifolds w ere just thousandths of an inch too sma ll. Th ird , Rich King and Bill Werner's "honest mista ke" on the engine disp lacement at Dayto na that cos t him not on ly a disq ualificat ion, but also a four-race suspe nsion. Fourt h. Jay Springste en was disqu alified after the Ho usto n, Texas, race his fue l tested just be lo w the specific gravity limits. Withou t going into detail , Spr ingsteen was rein stated after the appea ls process (there was also an incide nt abo ut 20 years ago whe n Mer rill Vand erslice was in the same "decisio n making posit ion" wh ere Bubba Shob e rt was disqualified for being a half of a pound unde r the weight limit. My tuner, Skip Eaken , was also Bubba 's tun er). As for these four violations , I am sure that three of t he "decision-making" people in charge of o ur sport were in th e same positions then as they are now. So, w hy the sudden change of heart? It has been sta te d that since it was each co mpetitor's first infraction of t he fuel requi rement (tha t has been documented, no matter how "ve ry close" it is) that they w o uld be allowed to ke e p their finish and the money. but lose 23 points . I'm wonderi ng if that w ill be the case, as it should, fro m here o n out for ea ch first violation of each ru le. As long as the cur rent "decision- making" people stay in their current positions , th is w o uld have to be the case . 6 "This ruling is wrong on so many levels and sends t he w rong message to fans, sponsors and competitors. " So you can bet that we will be building a motorcycle to w in the Springfield Mile, and each rule that the engine and the fuel is not in accordance with will, of course, be our first violatio n of each rule . costing us only 23 points for each violat ion . Great , they can have the po ints. I'll take the win and the cash! The fuel rule violations at Lima were, I believe, unintentional and close to the set limits, both of wh ich have neve r mattered in the past . I wonder if anyone has taken into cons ideration that I was beaten by .743 of a second, .03 of a second a lap, and the w inner received a break for being so close . What do I and every other featur e participant get? This ruling is wrong on so many leve ls and sends the wrong me ssage to fans, sponsors and competitors. This ruling has not only upset our tea m but also our spo nsors. Don Andress of Las Vegas Harley-Davidson has stated to me that he has become discouraged with t he wa y the AMA has handled dirt trac k racing, and this ru ling and the handling of t his sit uatio n (like the fact th at AMA dirt track manager Bruce Bober never called me - I had to find o ut from someone at the office w hen I called about ano ther ma tter and then re ceived the sec ond-place chec k just hou rs late r!) has he lped him to conclude that he may no longe r w ish to be involved in our sport . Th an ks, Merrill, Bruce , and whoever e lse w as involved. Someone has got to take control of o ur spo rt and lead it w ith the visio n and t he authority tha t will bring our sport back to a leve l of enthusiasm and respect it once e njoyed in the I970s . The on ly feeling of sat isfaction that I can take away fro m this whole mess is knowing tha t our team had the first "legal" mo torcycle to cross that finish line at Lima, Ohio, in 2004 , My Dad always told me that "ignorance is no excuse ." As far as the AMA is conce rn ed, maybe ignorance is an excu se , George Roeder /I M onr oeville. OH Roeder is AMA Grand Nat ional number 66 . He finished second in his home event, the Uma Half Mile, on June 26... Editor Speedway History Cool story on Bruce Penhall and Bobby JULY 21, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS Schwartz. I'm happy to say that I gave Bo bby his first speedway start. He came to Bakersfield with Sonny Nutter, and we were sho rt of riders. Sonny asked me to put Bobby in the lineup - and the rest was history. He couldn't get on the program at Costa Mesa because Harry always had a full field . We weren't that lucky in Bakersfield . It was also up here that Penhall "streaked" on his speedway bike . It w as the big deal back then, and the re fe ree came over and asked me what I thought abou t st reakers . It had happened the night before at Costa Mesa when a guy came ou t of the stands. I told him that I "d idn't wan t to know abo ut it." The next thing I know Bruce , Troy McKee and Bobby Hardison were on the track in nothing but helmets and boots. Ch ec k him out. Again, great story. Digge r Helm via the Internet Two vs. Four I read Randy Olse n's lett er, "Th e Deat h of Two-Strokes " in Voices (Issue #27, July 14). Wow, I could n't have said it bette r myself - ex ce pt maybe the smack talk about cherry pickers and such . At this po int , it's time to talk solutio ns. The o riginal pre mise was to satisfy the po litically correct not io n t hat four-st ro kes are qu ieter and produce less pollution . I don 't know about current pollution comparison s, but there is no doubt that fourstrokes are louder than two-strokes. In fact, I've been told that all that need be done is enforce existing four-stroke AMA noise rules , and they wo uld be reduced to glorified trail bikes again. But, that aside, allowing fo ur-st ro kes a two-to-one displacement advantage w as clearly a wel fare arrangement wh ich was never me ant to be permanent. So how do we wean t hem off the ir legal cheat ing fix w ithout ruining everyone 's investment in them? Since you cannot red uce their displacements, ma ke t he 125cc class a 249cc-and-under class and let the ch ips fall where they may. I'm sure the four-strokes would be as gracious as the two-stokes w e re w hen they w ere on the short en d of the cc rule stick - wouldn't you guys? Peter Golden E.I Cajon . CA 40th Anniversary The Alessis Afte r reading the side note in a recent Cycle News about Steven Everts and his conversations w ith the Alessi Brothers, I am embarrassed for the rest of the motocross racers and fans here in the States. In fact, the look that Mike Alessi is giving in the photo makes me w ant to flick th is kid in the ear and tell him to have some respect. Everts stated that he felt that Alessi felt he cou ld beat him. I hope that punk real izes that until he can consistently beat riders like Tim Ferry and Ryan Hughes and do it all while not on ly having the pressure fro m the press, but also be ing a good father and hus band (like Everts and Hughes), he should keep his mouth shut (w asn't it Everts who came in second at t he Motocross des Nations last yea r, while Ferry and Hughes fell beh ind?). I hope his debut in th e Pro Ranks puts th is pun k in his place . However, I could be w ro ng. Note to Mike: It takes mo re than w inning a bunch of motocross race s to become a true champion. You have to have things like res pect for othe rs an d ho w you treat yo ur family and fans (if you have any) to be a tru e champ ion. Take a lesson from Everts, Jeremy McGrath and Rodney Smith . These are tru e champions no matt e r how many races they win . Good luck nonetheless. K. Beckman Laguna Niguel. CA Remembering Tom Cates With deep regret I read of the passing of a tru e gent lema n - Tom Cates. Tom hired me to run his service department at BSA Western back in 1966 where he was service manager. He was more than just a boss - he took me unde r his w ing. helped me get established in a new country and taught me how to t reat people with kindness . Peop le like Tom, the old school of the motorcycle industry, will be sorely missed , and I feel it's an ho nor to have kno w n such a man . I hope w e can find a place in the Hall of Fame for a guy who ded icated his life to motorcycles. Brion Slark via the Int ernet