Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Supercross Goes On Trial Briefly... A Con rinued from p ag e 7 set to hit the road on Satu rd ay, Sep te mb er II , with hund reds of riders taki ng part, all to ben efit t he kids at Duke Child re n's Hospital in No rt h Carolina. The charity ride, started in July of 2000 by CCS racer and registere d lawsu it against cu rrent AHA Supercross ~eri es promo ter C lear Channel Ente rta inme nt, by JamSpo rts , the co mpa ny that had been tabbed by AHA Pro Racingto take ove r t he series at the start of the 200 3 season, is going to court and could cost CCE more than $20 million, the amount that JamSports is seeking in damages. The story o f t he lawsuit, w hich was first br o ke n by O ra nge C o unty Registe r motorsports editor Damion Dottore on page 12 of t hat pape r 's Augus t 25 Sports section, was tol d in greater deta il in a front-page story in the Business section of the August 30 edition o f the New York Times . Accord ing t o both stories, Fede ral Judge Matt hew F. Kenne lly has ruled t hat while t he facts are in d ispute, a jury trial wlll be necessary to determine whether or no t Clear C hannel "used its tremendo us co lleagues at CCE of do ubtf ul co ntract negotia tions w ith AMA Pro Racing, according to t he T imes. Th e e-mail included t he following st atem en ts: "I want to 'lock up' our key Supercross stad iums... Th is is the o nly way to protect the co mpany if t he AHA str ikes ou t o n its own." In N ovember 200 I, AHA Pro Racing annou nce d that it had selected JamSpo rts to promote the AMA Supercross Series from 200 3 to 2009. C C E then announced that it was creating a rival motorcycle series sanctioned by the world motorsports body FIM, of wh ich the AMA is a member. In notes that are also part of the evidence in the lawsuit, another CCE execu - t ive said t ha t he to ld offic ials at the America's Center in St . Louis that any attempt to boo k a competing Supercross event "w ould have serious implications not market pow er to pressure stadium s... with the sole intent of restrai ning the competi tive process, to prevent a takeover of the o nly for o ur Superc ross, but o n ou r janua ry promotional rights to the series after AMA Pro Racing named the Chicago-based JamSports as its promotional part ne r fro m 200 3 to 2009. If Ja mSpo rts proves its case. CC E could be found in violat ion of the Sherman Act , a federal antitrust statute . In the lawsu it, JamSpo rts principal Je rry Mic kelso n contends tha t CCE monopolized the Superc ross ma rket by pressuring stadiums not to book jam's races, typically by raising the prospect of w ithholding other promotions it had booked at the to It same venues, such as monster-truck eve nts or concerts . The lawsuit also charges that CC E co e rced AMA Pro Racing to sever ties w ith JarnSports after JamSpo rts had already been selected as the new promo ter of AMA Supercross Series , and that CCE furthe r interfered by attempt ing to de rail a Jam Spo rt s ag ree ment to te levise its Sup e rcross events on Speed C hanne l. Acco rding to the Times article, evidence in the law suit, in the form of court docume nts , reveal how CCE went abo ut protecting its Super cross interests even before the term ination of its agreeme nt with AMA Pro Racing. In an O ct o ber 4 , 2000 , e-mail , C lear Chan nel Ente rtai nmen t Moto rsports' Charlie Mancuso wamed his monster-truc k event as we ll." In a separate commu nication , the same executive wrote C C E's co nce rt promoter in San Francisco, seeking to gain help in coercing Pac Bell Par k into choosing C CE's motorCycle event over Jam Sports' AMA event. "I want him to t hink t hat Jam is poiso n," the exec com mu nicated . The Register story re po rt ed that AMA Pro Racing has bee n named as a defendant in the laws uit. Accordi ng to t hat story, Kennelly foun d that the evidence submitted by JamSports indicated that there was a "factual d ispute " be tween the parties as to w hether AMA Pro Racing o fficials secretly engaged in discussions with C lear Channel e xecutives after they contractually agreed to have jamSpo rt s serve as a promotio n part ne r. AMA and C lear Channel reached an agreement after Clear Channel increased its earlier o ffer, and AHA re fused to provi de JamSports with its sanction." In bo th sto ries, C C E lawyers co nten d t hat the company has not engaged in any anticom petitive co nd uct, an d t hat t he above communications discus s legal business pract ices that are com mon to a com - petitive indus try . Th ey say that the re is no basis for the lawsuit. Th e t rial is scheduled to start on Novembe r 15 in Ch icago. Rutter, Kagayama Take BSB Wins O ne year after sufferi ng a near-fatal acciden t at Ca dwell Park in England , Rizla Suzuki's Yukio Kagayama took an emotio nal victory in race two of t he I Ith rou nd of t he British Superbike Ser ies on August 29, addi ng t hat to the th ird-place finish fro m race o ne . Kagayama w on the second race under wet but d rying co nd itions, lead ing from start to finish o ver Kawasaki's Scott Sma rt and Ducat i-mo unt ed Sea n Emme tt . Th e win was Kagayama's fo urt h of th e seaso n, and he is now with in six poin ts o f th ird overall in the race ove r Honda' s Ryuich i Kiyona ri a nd Kagayama, Rutte r failed to finish race two. Th e 12t h and pe nultimate ro und of th e 200S series takes place at O ulton Park on Septe mber I2. " Befo re I come he re , I had many bad me mo ries of C adwell Park fro m last year and my big accide nt," Kagayama said . " But no w I have o nly good memories and thoughts. I wa nted so mu ch to win and beat Cad w ell Park. I a m so hap py. Thank you, my fans, for suppo rting me, and my team for helping me, series point standings. so much to win this race. Now , one year C hamp io nsh ip le ader jo hn Reyno lds, Kagayama' s team mate, did not finish the first race afte r tu mbling off his Suz uki, but he bounced back to finish eight h in th e sec ond later, I have finished with bad memories and my bo dy is nearly com plet ely healed . How you say? Th is is full circle . I now wa nt to win mo re races thi s year a nd he lp jo hn-san [Reyno lds] to ta ke title for best tea m in British Supe rb ikes - Rizla Suzu ki!" race. H e now leads race -o ne wi nner M ichael Rutte r by 33 po ints . After w inning the first nurse Stan Simme r son, has seen its ranks increase each year, and this year 's roster includes five-t ime Dayto na 200 wi nne r and former Wo rld Supe rbike Ch ampion Scott Russell, current AMA 600 Supersport Ch ampion Jam ie Hacking, former m ultitime AMA Ch ampion and MotoGP rider Kurtis Roberts, forme r AMA Superbike Ch amp ion Jam ie jam es , AMA Horizon win ne r Brian Stokes, and mu ltitim e WERA champio n and AMA Superbike pr ivateer Scott Carpe nter. The ride w ill begin and en d at Sco oter's Gr ill and Bar in Raleigh, N ort h Carolina, wit h stops at some o f th e ar ea's be st bike sho ps, restaur ants and attractions, and then mov e on to the Ch ildre n's Hospital under ho norary po lice escort, where the ride rs w ill meet so me o f th e kids who will ben efit from everyone's generos ity. Former speed way and sprint racer Jim Gresham, 55, the bro the r o f forme r Team USA speedw ay racer Steve Gresh am , was killed in a car accident at 4 a.m. Friday, August 27, on Highway 126 just west of Piru MX Park in Piru , Cal ifornia. Gresham wa s returni ng from a car race in Kansasand was hauling a trai ler loaded with ATVs and two sprint car s. Gresham veered into the eastbound lanes, ran off t he road and hit a utility po le sup po rt w ire , according to the California Highwa y Pat ro l. Services w ill be held at Pierce Brot hers Mort uary in Thousand O aks, C aliforn ia, at I I a.m . o n Frid ay, Septe mber 3. Australian speedway racer Brett Oberthur has been suspe nd ed from compe tition until July 10, 2006, after testing pos itive for metham phe ta mine and amphetamine at a long-t rac k meeting on May 2 th is year, acco rding to Motorcycling Australi a. At a jud icial committee he ar ing on August 24 , Obe rthur, 30, acce pted his tes t result from the Q ueen sland Long Track Ch ampionship, w it h his case falling under th e ausp ices of Moto rcycling Aust ralia's an ti-dopi ng po licy as found in chap te r 2B of the "2004 Man ual of Moto rcycle Sport." It w as a first-time offense for Oberthu r. After de libe ration, Oberthur w as suspended fro m co m pe ting in any event co nducted by or under th e auspices of Motorcycling Australia until the afore ment ioned date. The November 2004 issue w ill be the final re gular edition o f MXracer. as the Primed ia Motorcycle G roup fo cuses its re sources on the Dirt Rider magaz ine , according to a rel ease issued by Pr imed ia. Sean Finley, pub lishe r of MXra ce r a nd Dirt Rider, co m me nted : "T he ed ito rial staff of Andy Taylor and Jaso n Webb have don e an incredible job tra nsforming M Xracer into a great magazine, but in t his crowded ma rket w e decided to con ce nt rate on st rengthen ing Dirt Rider and www.cyclenews.com introducing some special an nual projects." Following the t rad ition of the prestigious ':America' s Most Bea utiful Roadster," the 2005 Grand National Roadster Show will con tinue to ex pand w ith th e addit ion of t he 'America' s Most Beautiful Moto rcycle" (AMBMC) title . Dan Cyr Ente rp rises, Inc. (DC E) anno unced that the hot-rod show will fill two additional buildings at Pomo na, Ca lifornia's Fairplex wi th a custom motorcycle show. More than 150 ofthe natio n's top custom mo to rcycles , from the leading custo m bike bu ilders across America, will com pete for th e top honor, according to th e pro mo ters. " For the first time in the S6-year history of th e Grand Nati on al Ro adst er Show, we w ill host a co mp etition open to U.S.-m ade and -ma nufactu red moto rcycles," says Dan Cyr, presiden t of DCE . "C ustom bike b uilders have taken motorcycle designs to new heights In rec e nt years, and we deci ded t he time was right to acknowledge th eir contribu tion s wi th an an nual award th at w ill showcase and reward the best and brightest in the fie ld." Th e prize fund fo r the AMBMC award w ill be $5000, includ ing $3000 for first place , $ 100 0 for sec o nd and five runne rup awar ds o f $200 each. The sho w will be he ld january 21-23 . Fo r more inform ation, call 877/236-06 32. AFM , the American Fede rat ion of Motorcyclists, is ce lebrating 50 years of racing in 2004. As part of the ce lebration, they'r e having a reuni on on Saturday, Octob er 2, at Infineo n Racewa y in Sonom a, Califom ia, for all of those wh o are part of that histo ry. Registration inform ation is now available at http://www.afmracing.org or by calling 510/796-700S . Du ring the past 50 years , AFM eve nts have included racers wh o went on to nat ional and inte rnational fame : Ke nny Roberts, Edd ie Lawson, Kevin Schwantz, Mike Hailwood, Joh n Mclaughlin, and many mo re . Th e re have been chapters in New York, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi and Nevada, in addition to the original California chapt e rs. Founded in 1954 , theAFM is America's old est o rgan ization ded icated solely to moto rcycle road racing, accord ing to t he AFM. Th e Wegman Benefit Fund Auction will be he ld o n September IB at Blackhaw k Farms Race w ay in Roc kton, Illi no is. The Wegman Benefit Fund is a nonprofit organization that assists seriously injured road rac- e rs . To date, the Wegm an Fund has paid o ut more th an $1 S2,OOO to injured racers acros s the country. The fund is cu rre ntly seeking donatio ns for t he auctio n, in th e form of goods and/or services for its biggest fund raiser of the year. The fund also has a new w e bsite at www.wegmanfund.org. Former AMA Superbike Champion Thomas Stevens w an ts e veryone to know Supermo tard is alive and well in th e sta te of Florida. According to Steve ns, he was lead ing a r ecent Supermotard Pro -class event on his W hite Brothers Yamaha, o nly to fall in the Conrinued on page II CYCLE NEWS • SEPTEMBER B, 2004 9

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