Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

The Last Carlsbad... he headline fo r Cycle New s ' cove rage of the eve nt was "Jo hnson ru les Carlsbad 's final USGP. " The ex planati on for that headline was written further into the story: "The high value of land and co ntinu ing liability pro blems will see the famo us track site be sold and deve loped , making the 1986 U.S. GP most likely the last in Southern California." For Team Honda's Rick Johnso n, w ho grew up in nearby EI Cajon, the 13th and final U.S. GP at Carlsbad Raceway was also going to be his last chance to take down the world's best motocrossers in his own backyard . Many of them were his co untrymen, as America's motocross world do minance was alread y in full swing. Since Marty Moates' grou nd-breaki ng Carlsbad U.S. GP win in 1980, on ly one European rider, Hakan Carlqvist in 1983, had bro ken the string of American victories at the race . Johnson came to Carlsbad determined to place himself on the list of Ame rican U.S. GP T on a SOO, but to my advantage, I knew that he didn't like t he tra ck." Johnso n was confident, but that confiden ce was shaken just a bit w hen he saw just how fast the Euro s we re going in timed qualifying, while the best he cou ld muster was fifth fastest time. "Geboers and quite a few others beat me, and I thought I was flying," Johnson said. "I was a little bit disco uraged, thinking, 'How can these guys go so fast.' '' O ne lap doesn't make a race, however, and w hen the gat e dropped , Johns o n pulled the holeshot and put it on kill to lead every lap of the first moto , car ding the fastest lap of the day - a two-mi nute, I 1.2second lap blast that wo uld stan d as t he fastest of t he day - on lap three. "I had lines around t hat t rack that nobody did," Johnson said. "What really helped me the most to figure the t rack out it was in my own backyard . I knew t he dirt, I knew the walls, I knew everythi ng about the place ." And he hated it - or so Johnso n said at the time . During the postrace interview, Johnson quipped : "I do n't really care if we come back he re or not ." Today, he sings a different tune, though he recalls w hy he said w hat he did back then, "I hated the track management then," Johnson recalled . "The truth is that I snuck in one time to see a friend of mine racing, and Larry Gr ismer ca ught me and screamed at me , and I screamed back at him, so that was that . I have since made amen ds with him and his son [jeff], and later I actua lly had a test track for my sta dium t ruck t here. But when I said what I said back then , it was strictly because of that . I re member that Larry said, 'I'm going to tell Yamaha, and you're never going to 1 t5 issue ..~~~=~! aboThisthe newwas all ut bikes. On the cover was a I shot of the KDX200, a popular enduro bike at the time . We foun d it to be the best small... .... bore enduro bike available...To go along w ith the new bike theme of t he issue, we also did an introduction to the new Harley Davidsons of the t ime...ln racing news, Ricky Johnson clinched the 250cc National Motocross Championship with his win in Washougal, Washington . Jeff Ward did the same thing t hat day but won t he cham pionship in the 125cc-dass...Mouse McCoy won the I25cc Stock and Modified classes in Po nca City, O klahoma. Mike Healy and Larry 8 roo ks were among some of t he oth er mini stars in attendance. Today, McCoy is still fast, tho ugh he isn't racing as much. He is a Hollywood stuntman. was that when I was 14 years old, I took a Suzuki Schoo l of Motocross there, We got to go to t he track and ride it every day for a week. I got to learn how to use the wa lls there w hen the trac k got dry. They didn't have hoses then, so they woul d just water the t rack so that it was muddy in practice and dry at the en d of t he day. When the track started slicking up, I knew where to go, and other guys didn't." Mot o two was mo re difficult, as Johnson found himself sixth off the start , behind Geboers, Malherbe , Ward , Ron Lechien and Bailey. Johnso n went to work picking his way toward the front until lap three, where 4.3 seconds sep arat ed him fro m the leader, Ward. Two laps later, that lead was down to 1,5 seconds. Johnson made an easy pass on Ward 16 minutes into the moto; Ward w ould eventually pull off, co mplaining of sto mach cra mps . "It worked out to my advantage ," Johnso n said. "But it should have, because com e in her e and test Yamahas again.' I said, ' Fine ,' because I knew that I had already signed a contract with Honda already." Today, Johnson has a soft spot in his heart for the vene rable t rack, which finally did see its dem ise on August 8, 2004 some 18 years afte r it was supposed to . "Carlsbad played a big role in me becoming a man as a racer," Johnso n said, "The downh ill is wha t separated the men fro m the boys, and I remember cras hing on the down hill there as a kid, and it made me afraid of dow nhills. I had to go back there time afte r time because I raced there at least every ot her week w ith CMC, and I got to wh ere t hat was my strong point. The reason I got to be so fast on down hills was because I raced Carlsbad, and Carlsbad had t he fastest dow nhill. If you cou ld be comfortable th ere, yo u cou ld be com forta ble on any down hill." 1 6 0876 UGUST 25 2004 • Eve l Knievel is poss ibly one of the luckiest men alive today. Back in 1974 he attempted to jump t he Snake Rive r Canyon aboa rd a "Sky Cycle" and failed misera bly. O n the cover is a photo of Kne ivel's co ntra ptio n befo re it is launche d into t he sky...Kenny Roberts won the Peoria TT in Peo ria, Illinois. It was his fifth w in of the season, and with it, he became o nly the third man to w in a grand slam in AMA Histo ry...Marty Tripes w on t he 250ccclass and Jim Weinert won t he O pen class at an AMA Motocro ss National in Mexico, New Yo rk. Wit h the win, Weinert took the points lead in the Open-class. 20 YEARS AGO... Augu!it 29.1984 w inners. "I rem ember eve ryt hing about that day," Johnson, now 40 and a riding coach for Team Suzuki, said. "It was still a major deal to win that race , espec ially being at Carlsbad, a track that I grew up on . I remembered .going there with my pare nts and walking aro und all day at the Hang Ten Grands Prix, and watching Heikki Mikkola, Roger DeCoster and Brad Lackey against the local guys like Rex State n and all of them, and just dreaming how it wou ld be so coo l to do that. When the opportunity arose, Idid it. I rode it in '84 and then again in '86." Johnso n's '84 race had not gone at all the way he wan ted it to, as shock pro blems and a crash left him o ut of the hunt. "I was trying to ride the 500 like a 250 that day," Joh nson recalled. ''And it bit me . I found myself on the ground ." At t he final Carlsbad U.S. GP, a w iser Joh nson arrived to do battle . "I knew that I was going to be stro ng bec ause w e had tested a lot t here," Johnso n said. "I had tes te d 500s with David Bailey, Dave Thorpe, Eric Geboers, Andre Malhe rbe, guys like tha t, so before we raced there , I knew I was st ro ng. I was really com fortable with the bikes and t he track, and I knew t hat Iwo uld be fast in t he race. I also knew that Jeff Ward wou ld be fast because he tested a lot t here, and my teammate, David Bailey, was unbelievable 30 YEARS AGO••• Augu!it 27. 1974 CYCLE NEWS 40th Anniversary Scott Rousseau 10 YEARS AGO... Augmjt 24. 1994 Team Kawasaki's ~~~;~~~ Mike laRocco I clinched his first, and only, 250cc ~~~II National Champions hip. He won ro und lO in Washougal, Washingto n, ahead of supercro ss specialist Jeremy McGrat h...WiII Davis won his fifth career Grand National Champ ionship event, and did so after lead ing from start to finish...Marcus Hansson won roun d I I of the 500cc World Mot ocross Champ ionship ser ies in Namu r, Belgium. He did so a1head of Dirk Geukens in second and Joel Smets in third ...We did an interv iew w ith World Motocro ss star Greg Albertyn. Today, Albertyn is retired from racing but still comes o ut for one nationa l a year. This year, he is planning o n racing Glen Helen, again, like he did last year.

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