Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cycle News 2000 02 09

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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@oru r o o 250cc Grand Prix class with his own team, the four-time champion has announced that former 250cc GP rider and longtime tuner Danny Coe will handle the crew-chief duties for the team. Oliver and crew are hoping to begin testing the 2000-model TZ250 beginning this month. There were no repeat winners when rounds 15 and 16 of the National Arenacross Series visited the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton. Virginia. January 2829, although Team Bill's Pipes/ Motorious.com riders Buddy Antunez (Suz) and Denny Stephenson (Suz) once again displayed the consistency that has seen them remain in the top two spots of the series standings. Stephenson rode to the 125cc main event win on Friday night. followed by Pedro Gonzalez (Kaw) and Josh Demuth (Hon). After finishing fifth in the 125cc main, Antunez came back to win the 250cc main. followed by Gonzalez and Jeff Willoh (Hon). Gonzalez then won Saturday night's 125cc main, with Antunez second and Demuth third. Demuth then made a trip to the top of the podium in the 250cc main. Antunez was second, and Stephenson third. o o o c o o o o o o o o The North American Motorcycle Union (NAMU), a, collaboration of the Canadian Motorcycle Association (CMA) and the AMA. will present its first international championship event this spring. according the AMA. The event will see the best trials riders from the United States and Canada compete against each other for the North American Championship. The NAMU Trials Championship will consist of two rounds: March 25·26 in. Whistler, British Columbia and April 1-2 in Goldendale, Washington. For more information, call the AMA at 614/856·1900 or the CMA at 905/522-5705. PACE Motor Sports has announced that all competitors who pre-pay their entries for the Formula USA/Wrenchead.com National Road Race Series will have their insurance coverage increased to $50.000. "We thought it was important to step up to the plate on insurance for our racers," said PACE Motor Sports vice president Mike Kidd. "The standard policy is one of the best in the nation for racers. The $50,000 for riders committing to full season is absolutely the best in our sport. This coverage is a very visible way for PACE to show it is ready to treat f ' professional racers as professionals. " The standard PACE policy is $10,000 in medical and aCCidental death coverage. Former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz will be the guest instructor at the Southwest Sportbike School's session at Sandia Motorsports Park in Albuquerque. New Mexico, April 29-30. For more information, call Anna at 505/8921692. '0 Chaparral Motorsports will hold a recovery benefit auction for injured motocrosser Jimmy Button on Tuesday, February 8 beginning at 6 p.m. Chaparral is still looking for Supercrossers and road racers to donate apparel and other collectibles to be auctioned off. Six-time AMA Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath will be on hand for the auction. For more information, call Dorina Groves at 909/8892761, ext. 480. a' U o o o o o o o o o o o o The first meeting of the AMA Speedway Advisory Committee was held recently in Sacramento, California. to assist with planning for the 2000 and 2001 racing seasons. "We were very pleased with the tone of our first meet· ing," said AMA vice president Bill Amick. "We covered a lot of ground, and it came as no surprise that the committee members and guests in attendance shared an abiding love of one of our sport's 'most venerable disciplines." The committee was created to advise AMA Sports on establishment of rules goveming American speedway. The committee will meet three times in 2000 and twice annually thereafter. Reports of those meetings will be delivered each year to the AMA Congress and the AMA Board of Trustees. No major rule changes have been made for the 2000 season, but members of the committee were asked to thoroughly examine current rules in preparation for the 2001 season. The AMA will host a Washington, D.C., seminar for motorcyclists who want to learn how to influence governmental decisions, whether it's in Congress or at their local councils. The seminar, scheduled for February 26-29 at the Phoenix Park Hotel, allows participants to meet and learn from the AMA's Washington staff as well as other political experts. The seminar costs $75 and the deadline for registration is February 11. for more information. call 614/856-1900, ext. 1248. Six-time AMA Supercross Cbampion Jeremy McGrath has joined in the ownership of the internet site Supercross.com with former supercross and motocross champion Rick Johnson. "As I look to the future, it's a very logical extension of what my family and I will be involved with in the years to !Jj[fjJ!Jj W@@!JJg ~fJiJD@71JDO[JDrv%:B fJiJDO~OUlIfL In a somewhat anticipated move that has become part of a much-talkedabout chess game, AMA Pro Racing ~as released a tentative Progressive Insurance AMA U.S. Flat Track Championships schedule that is qUite different from the original schedule, which was released earlier in the year. The biggest difference with the updated version has to do not with what events are on the schedUle, but rather what events are omitted from the schedule, namely the Oklahoma City Half Mile, which is a property of PACE Motor Sports, and the West Coast dates for the mile races at Sacramento and Del Mar, Califomia, which Ilave heretofore been promoted by Chris Agajanian of Agajanian Presents, Inc. Instead, tile Sacramento date is now a TBA on the AMA schedule, while the September 30 and October 1 dates now feature what appears to be the AMA series finale, a two-day mile event at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds in Du Quoin, Illinois. The Del Mar date of October 7-8 has not been replaced with an alternate AMA date. AMA Dirt Track Manager Bruce Bober offered the following explanation for the changes: "The removal of Oklahoma City from our s<:hedule was tile result of a request by PACE Motor Sports to have it removed," Bober said. "The rumor that Chris Agajanian was going with PACE was the reason that we removed the Sacramento and Del Mar dates. As of this morning (January 31) Chris Agajanian has confirmed that Sacramento and Del Mar will not be on the AMA schedule. Whether or not those will be PACE races, he did not say. "Obviously, this [schedule change) is unfortunate," Bober continued. "but what are we going to do? To secure promotions in California at this late a date would be impossible, but we do have some potential for the future at venues in Portland, Oregon, and Perris, California, which might be ready to step up. Possibly in 2001, we will have a California swing again. It's just a shame that this had to happen." As for the new schedule, there may still be some question as to whether or not the Rapid City, South Dakota, date is a firm AMA date, as it is rumored that promotional rights to the event have been purchased by Agajanian. Noth· ing has been confirmed as of press time, and Agajanian could not be reached for comment. Is PACE Motor Sports gearing up to announce that it has entered the dirt track game? Stay tuned. The new Progressive Insurance AMA U.S. Flat Track Championships Schedule is as follows: March 11 May 20 May 28 June 10 June 17 June 24 July 1 July 15 July 22 July 29 August 5 August 9 August 13 August 19 August 26 September 2 September 3 September 9 September 23 September 30 October 1 Daytona Beach, Florida Harrington, Delaware Springfield, Illinois Topeka, Kansas Mineral Wells, West Virginia Uma, Ohio Joliet, lUinois TBA Charlotte, North Carolina Rossburg, Ohio Lake Odessa, Michigan Rapid City, South Dakota Peoria, Illinois Hagerstown, Maryland Sedalia,Missouri Springfield, Illinois Springfield, Illinois TBA TBA Du Quoin, U1inois Du Quoin, lIIinois Short Track Half Mile Mile Short Track Half Mile Half Mile Half Mile Half Mile Half Mile Half Mile Half Mile TT Half Mile Half Mile Mile Mile o o o~[!JWJ[bCB[?------With Rich Oliver retuming to the AMA 2 FEBRUABY 9. 2000' cue • • n _ ..... s: Mile Mile

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