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/128343
"Congratulations to RC and James Stewart - the most dominant motocrossers in history." letters 10theeditorshould be senllo Voices, Cycle News, PO Box 5084, CosioMesa, CA92628-5084; foxed10 7 14·751-6685 exemoiled 10 editorClcyclenews.com. Published leiters do not necessarily reRect th position ofCycle News, lnc. lette e rsshould notexceed 200 WOI"ds, cnd 011 orewbjed to editing. Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication. A1llel1efs should conloin thewriter's nom oddressond daytime phone number... E e, dilot. AMA and NASCAR Ricky is The I Who's in Charge? Enough with making the AMA like NASCAR. It certain ly is unfortunate that so many people want to see our beloved AMA Pro Racing be turned into a se ries that is mo re like NASCAR . I mean, let' s take a look at som e of the issues that NASCAR is facing: The se ries has mo re mon ey than it knows what to do w ith; it's tough to find parking on qualifying days; when NASCAR says "jump ," race tracks , race teams and O EMs ask "How high!"; NASCAR coverage takes up way to o much air time on Speed Channel; the grid is ove rflowing with big-name spo nsors ; and it is such a well-known sport that no one has to explain to all their friends what NASCAR is. T hese are just the kinds of issues that the AMAand its fans sho uldn't have to put up with. Paul Pace M organ Hill, CA In an era of riders who are immature, co nceited, arrogan t, break -dancing idiots, Ricky Carmichael is a humble, respectful and gracious example of how not only a true champ ion should be , but how every on e should be , I'd like to not only congratulate him on winning another champions hip, but on the class and heart with which he always does it. O ur spo rt has see n ple nty of champions , but never one like Carmichael. Lewis Greer Springfield, MO Q : What do Guy Cooper, Doug He nry, jere my McGrath and Ricky Ca rmichael have in common! A: Th ey are all ride rs w ho Hond a let get away and have each won at least one championship with another company. And co ngratulations on Mike Alessi. Now Honda's riders are jumping ship before they even get a factory contact, Honda, who is in charge over there! Gerald McCommons via the Internet Bridging the Gap have been thinking about all the good things that I have gotten out of racing the VC HSS (Virginia Champio nship Hare Scrambles Series), and I think that the most rewa rding thing is friendship. Ove r the last 15 years, I have watched many young riders progress up to the ranks of the fast, but it is watching them become adults that I most e njoy. I don't know any other sport that offers us the ability to com municate w ith different ages on the same level as mo tor cycle racing. The fact that I can call a sixyear-o ld my friend as well as an la -yearold or a 60-year-old and have them feel the same abo ut me makes me feel goo d. I know many adults w ho don't eve n know a teenager, except maybe their childre n, much less are able to call them their friend and carry on a conversati o n with them . Phillip Doyle via the Intern et Ricky and the I Wow! The number-one rider with a number one on his bike - what a co ncept! Gee, maybe this will start a trend. Bill Bauman San Clemente, CA Ricky is The I, II Forty eight and O. That's not racing - it's more like a two-season victory lap fo r Ricky Carmichael. I fullyrespect and am awed by his utt e r dominance and think the re st of the "co mpetition" ought to hang their heads in shame for allowing themselves to be so ruthl essly smo ked . I'm so looking forward to next season when Bubba Stewart will join the fray. At least the n we might be able to call it racing again. Congratulat io ns to RC and james Stewart the mo st domi nant mo to cros se rs in histo ry. Chris Dayle via th e fnternet Ricky's Numbers Two perfect seasons. Who would have tho ught! Or even dreamed! Number 2, number 4 and number 24 are very inte res ting wit h Carm ichael's tw o pe rfect seaso ns! Each perfe ct season - 24 moto s and 24 w ins. Number of overall wins of the two (2) perfect seasons com bined - 24 overalls! Accomplished by numb er 4! Year 2002 - last number being a 2, Carmichael did it on a two-stroke! Year 2004 - last number being a 4, Carmichael did it on a four-stroke! Two -stroke to four-stro ke - 2 and 4, you have 24. All of this ending with good old numbe r 4! Way to go, Ricky. It was meant to be . Ricky is the best the sport has see n so far. Weird how 200 3 (3) is not relevant to this numbers coincide nt. Bill Pulliam Chenoa, lL Who's in Charge II? Sorry, I forgot Ste fan Eve rts and Mickael Pichon. Gerald McCommons via the Internet Who's in Charge III? Sorry, I forgot Mike Kiedrowski. Gerald McCommons via the Internet Wanting 1255 and 2505 I felt tremendous excitement after learning that MotoGP woul d finally be co ming to the U.S., then felt an equ al amount of disappointment at the decision to not run the 125cc and 250cc classes! Who is responsible for this decision and what are they thinking! These are important classes and have prod uced som e of the most exciting, close racing I have see n this year. Has this sho rt-sighted decision bee n finalized! It looks like co ncern s such as mine are going to fall on deaf ears , but I hop e that oth ers voice their op inions so we can en joy the support classes, as we ll. It makes about as much sense as running the "one-brand" 600cc Formula Extrem e bikes as the pre miere race at Daytona. John A, Stockma n Tacoma, WA No Class? I was watchi ng the Steel City race on TV yesterday and saw how after Cha d Ree d and joaq uim Rodrigues cras hed together, Reed pushed Rodrigues to the ground yet the AMA and the mo tocross publications have never mentioned it. Rodrigues was obviously hurt. Reed pushed him to the grou nd, the n again www.cyclenews.com showed incred ible lack of class and sportsmanship by knocki ng over Rodrigues' bike once it was up. while joaquim was be nt over in pain. O the r riders have bee n punished by the AMA and duly wr itten up in the motorcycle media for such behav ior. I was shocked since I thought Chad Reed to be the young gentlemen that he is portrayed to be most of the time - a future peo ple's champion in the making. His actions we re dep lorable and low class, and I wish the me dia had take n him to tas k for it. Reed owes Mr. Rod riques an official apology and need s to change his future reactions to such incide nts. Scott Anderson via the Internet Wanting Jeremy, Bailey It was gre at to see je re my McGrath's return at Steel City. Now if on ly David Bailey would return to do the color com mentary on ESPN II , all wo uld be right with the wo rld and we wo uldn't have to liste n to Cameron "Ste el the Show " embarrass himself every other week. Dan Radlauer via the fnternet No Fan of the Glen My son and I just ret urned from the last nationa l roun d at Glen Helen, and I'll probably neve r return. Although this was the fift h yea r we've att e nde d and we were looking forward to the changes in the venue, this year was our worst ex perience for two reasons. Numb er one: For some reason folks believe that buying a ticket e ntitles the m to block off anywhere from IOta 2S feet of trac kside real estate , put up "caution" tape and an EZ-up, then drop one side of the canopy to keep the sun off their backs. Whe n this is do ne by a few doz e n "property owners," large sections of the track become nearly impossible to view. Numbe r tw o: Although the track layout looked okay, for those of us who like to see the w hole track, there were a number of ped estrian cho ke points that made getting around the layout way more time consuming and wo rk than it should have been. We left disappointed , frustra ted and early. Chad Spa rgo Santa Clarita, CA CYCLE NEWS • SEPTEMBER 29,2004 3