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
w ill be honored in O ctob er, she said, adding that ticket sales wer e up SO per cent. Conn ie Rice , Sou th Boston Speedway general manager, was philosophical about the postponem ent. "They postponed it, the AMA, due to the hurricane and the heavy rains that we were ex pecti ng," she said. "You have to do w hat you have to do . I know this hurricane, every bod y's watching it. We don't want anybody coming into the hurricane areas. And we've had to do this befor e with another to uring event. so it' s not the first time. We don't like canceling and postponing. We like to go on schedule just like everybody else." AMA Supermoto points leader Jeff Ward said he was disappo inted , but that it was out of anyone's control. "I would certain ly love to have gone from last weekend to just gett ing right back out to race again," he said. "Hopefully, they'll get another date so that we don't drop a round The big issue was Aaron Gobert' s wedding. The Rep sol Superstoc k Championship leader has tens of thousands of dollars invested in his wedding to fiancee Melanie Riley, planned for Octobe r 6 on Hamilton Island, off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Gobert was livid about the delay and spoke of conced ing the champ ionship, but later agree d to take part. "I'm pretty pissed off," Gobert said from his California home after word of the postponement circulated . "To tellyou the tru th, I don't give a shit abo ut the championship . It's just racing. It's just something they give you at the end of the year if you win it," Because of the cost of accommodations and airfare , only 3S friends and family mem bers were invited to the wedding, many of whom are paying their own way. "It' s like $17 ,000 in plane tickets alone everyone got accommodations [at $300 a night for a wee k]," Gobert said. "It's all nonrefundab le. Everyone's going for a holiday Kawasa ki w ill win the Pro Hond a Oils Super sport Championship; whet her it w ill be Tommy or Roger Lee Hayden is the only I Briefly... que stion . "The boys want to race: ' Presto n said. "They want to see w hich one it's going to be . And then in the Superstock, we 're right there. There's no reas we can't win that on eithe r." Ame rican Honda team manager Chuck Miller said his race bikes had bee n prepped after Road Atlanta. "We were actua lly rea lly fort unate ," he said. "We stayed in Atlanta and worked on Clear Channe l Entertai nment's Motor Sports division has announc ed that Honda's Kevin Windham will race the Maxxis U.S. Open Octo ber 8 and 9 at the MGM Grand Garden Are na in Las Vegas for the first time since 200 I, Wlndham, 26, has turned in some successful finishes at the U.S. O pen , placing second (2000) and third (200 I), respectively. In 2004 Wlndham enjoyed the our bikes after the race ." mo st successful season of his care er, finish- The team wasn't schedule d to Oy out unt il Wed nesday. "We were able to save the flights," Yoshimura Suzuki left the Atlanta area straight after the race due to the threa t of ing second to Chad Reed in the THQ AMA Supercross Series championship in a battl e that wen t down to the final race of the season at UNLV's Sam Boyd Stad ium in Las Vegas. "Kevin definitely turne d som e heads H ur ri cane Frances. "We w e re going to have one long-ass day th is year with his return to supercro ss," said Charlie Mancuso, president of Clear Channe l Ente rtainment-Motor Sports. "N ow that he has another season of indoor "It sort of pisses me off that the AMA thinks we're going to dance around and wait for them to make a decision. It's not just their show," racing under his belt, he is in serious con- - Aaron Gobert ten tion for the $ 100,000 payout." "This will be the first time I have raced the U.S. O pe n since ret urning to supercross, and I am from the already short series that we have." Yamaha and, specifically Aaron Gobert , were the most aggrieved by the move. Yamaha's crews were in the air en ro ute to VIR on Tuesday whe n the eve nt was post poned . They turned aro und and came home. "They had to go early beca use they cou ldn't really work on the bikes after Atlanta because of the rain," Yamaha team manager Keith McCarty said. "I have to Oy them again in a coup le of weeks." With some contracts ending at the end of the race season, and ot hers a few w eeks later, there was the chance that some of the mechan ics and riders might not be under contract for the O ctober race . "Honestly, I haven't even loo ked at it," McCarty said. "I know there are some issues, some guys have mechanics through Se pte mber, not O ctober. I don't think anybody 's going to be a jerk if they 've got some thing e lse going on. As far as our guys go, I don't think it will be an issue for them. " without us if we have to race , but I'm still thinking about maybe going home. Raci ng's not everything. It sort of pisses me off that the AMA thinks we're going to dance aro und and wa it for them to make a decision. It's not just their show," On Monday, Sep tember 20, McCarty confirmed that Gobert wou ld indee d be at the make up race . "He had a lot of plans that were basically destroyed by this," McCarty said. "But he knows wha t he has to do ," Teammate Jamie Hacking and Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden are five points back of Gobe rt , setting up what cou ld be a winnertake-all event , depending on qualifying and laps led . None of the other teams suffered as much as Yamaha, though all had left their race rigs back east after the Road Atlanta race. "It doe sn't really affect us a whole lot," Kawasaki team manager Mik e Preston said. "It just kind of puts things off a little bit." Hepler N amed Rookie of t he Year Team Suzuki's Broc Hep ler has bee n named as the 2004 AMA Moto cross/Supe rcross Rookie of the Year by AMA Pro Raci ng after finishing seco nd in the AMA Chevrolet 12Scc Motocross Champ ionship. A fter an illustrious amateur racing career, th e 18-ye ar-old fro m 12Scc Motocross Championsh ip this year. His late-season drive included four consecutive second-place finishes and pushed Hepler past veteran Mike Brown for second place in the standings. Hepler 's season came to an end w hen he on Thursday [at VIR]," tea m co ordinator Rich D oan said. Yosh's problems w ere m ostly logist ical, re book ing flights, picking up shipped engines and parts , and get ting the trucks back to California. Mat Mladin and most of his team of A ustralians was scheduled to fly home a week after VIR, but all had to rebook their flights. O ne ride r who may be nefit is Eric Bostro m. T he Ducati Aust in ride r, who injured his shoul der and broke a rib in the Satu rday race at Road Atlanta , was to be replaced by Italian Lore nzo Lanzi at VIR, w ith Giovanni Bussei also re turn ing to AMA racing for a one-race cameo . Bostrom 's manager, Norm Viano, said Bostrom may be ready, pe nding his checkup by Dr. Art hur Ting this week, "It's too early to say," Viano said. The shoulder was to be immobilized for two weeks and then have it looked at or probe d. "Eric [Bostrom] is pushing for no surgery and to not have it pro bed," Viano said. Henny Ray Abrams Suzuki, I don't know if it wo uld have bee n possible. I just come prepared to the race s, Suzuki builds the bikes, and I just ride my hardest." O n the subject of the high expectations placed on him for next season, H epler seems to have the right attitude . ''I'm going to work super hard," he says. "I Kittanning, injured his shoulder in the final moto at Glen want to take what I learned from this year Pennsylvania, made his Pro debut late in H elen Raceway in San Bernardino , California , 2003 . This season was his first full year in the Pro ranks and Hepler finshed second to James Stewart in the 12Scc Outdoor Championship. He also on Sunday, September 12. In spite of the injury, Hep ler said he plans and take it a ste p farther. Hopefully things w ill go my way," As AMA Roo kie of the Year, He pler adds o n heali ng and coming his name to a prestigious list of past w inners back strong in 2OOS, and finished second to Stewart in the he is considered to be one of the award that includes James Stewart , Ricky Carmichael , Travis Pastrana, Kevin AMA 12Scc East Super cro ss Ser ies, though 12Scc Supercross points do not count towa rd the Rook ie of the of the top contenders for both AMA 12Scc Windham and many more of the top names in mo tocross and super cross. Supercross and Motocross titles next season. The AMA Motocross/Supercross Roo kie of the Y award is given to the rider tallying ear Year award . Hepler e arned his first podium result at the High Point Nat ional, appro priate ly enough in his home state of Pennsylvania. In all, Hepler scored six podiums in the AMA He pler was qu ick to the most points in his or her first full season cred it his team for his success. with a Pro lice nse. Points from the AMA Supercross Series and AMA 12Scc and 2SOcc "This yea r has gone great," he said. "Without M otocross championships toward the awar d. www.cyclenEWs.com are counted e xcited to be on the starting grid with guys like Ricky Carmichael and Chad Reed ," said Windham. "The track inside the MGM Grand Garde n Arena offers tech nical r hythm sections that suit my riding style:' Harley-Davidson's fund -rais ing for the Muscular Dystrop hy Association has top ped the $SOmillion mark, according to Harley. During the September S and 6 Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon, Harley-Davidson announced a 2004 fund-raising total of $4 m illion, bringing cumulative fund-raising in the 24 years of company involvement with the MDA to $SI million . Harley-Davidson Moto r Company president and chief operating officer Jim McCaslin presented the $4 milli n on beh alf of the thousands who o raised the funds. "Harley-Davidson's family of dealers, suppliers, riders and e mployees wer e hard at wo rk planning open house s. rides and other special events to raise money for MDA," said McCaslin during the te lethon broadcast. "The ir hard work he lps make life brighter for people with neuromuscular disease and helps make headway in finding a cure ," Joining McCaslin in the prese ntatio n we re the top fund-raising Harley-Davidson dealers in the United States: Brian Bentley, Brian's Harley-Davidson, Langhorn e, Pennsylvania.; Robert and Dev Johnson, Cycle Con nection, Joplin, Missouri.; Billy Laws, Mitchell's Modesto (California) Harley-Davidson and Jamestown (California) Harley-Davidson; Dennis and Carol Schaeffer, Schaeffer's Harley-Davidson , O rwigsburg, Pennsylvania.; and Stretch and Karen Smaltz, Smaltz's Harley-Davidson , Eagle , Pennsylvania. Following the recent hos pitalization of Co lin Zarczynski with chemical burns, Micha el Byrne has been selected as t he I Ith-hou r re place men t ride r in Aust ralia's 2004 Trial des Nations te am, with the eve nt set do w n for Spain, Sept e mbe r 2S Continued on page T CYCLE NEWS • SEPTEMBER 29,2004 5