Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

o U I Mul ti-time AMA 250cc Grand Prix Champion and former 250cc Grand Prix winner Ji m m y F ilice may have a f uture in NHRA Pro Stock drag racing . if things go acco rding to plan. Filice will attend a twoday drag racing school run by G eo rg e Bry c e in Florida in D ece mbe r and w ill attempt to get his N HRA Pro Stock drag racing lice nse . In order to do so, Filice has to pos t a sub-e ight -second run. Filice attended the N HRA Summer Nat ionals in Ind ian ap o l i s as a guest of th e RJ Reynolds tobacco c o mpany where he " met some people." Filice left the race impressed w ith the sport and what it cou ld mean for his future . "I think they are looking for somebody to bring some credibility over the re from t he motorcycling world, " Filice said to day fro m his home in M odesto , California. "They are pretty much ca r-orien ted people in th at series . I wi ll be going to the school and it's something I wan t to pursue . I have to go under eight seconds. but that doesn't seem to o difficult. I spent some time with Antron B row n and he explained some things to me. " Filice may know the right people in the right places to make the deal happen. He has establ ished ties with RJ Rey no ld s , who se Winsto n brand sponsors not only the series but also the tea m for whom Angelle S eeling rides. Those ties go way back to his dirt track racing day s when the series was backed by Camel . and he also raced a Camelsponsored Honda in t he U .S . 2 50cc G ran d Pr ix one year. " It' s de fin itely something I'm interested i n." Filice said. " I' ve got a couple of deals going rig ht now. and perhaps I'll race a 250 again next year . The drag racing thi ng may not happen in 2001. but maybe in 2002 . It's so met hing I coul d do for anothe r 10 years. It' s a big arena and they really do a good jo b of turn ing the racers into pe rsonalities . " AMA Pro Racing is currently condu cing a spectator survey via their website at ww w .ama p roraci ng.c o m. After lo gging on, all yo u have to do is fill out a questionnaire . and th ey wi ll send yo u a new AMA Pro Racing decal. "We do surveys like thi s on a regular basis to leam more abou t AMA Pro Racin g fans , t he prod ucts they choose to purchase. and their demographic profile. " said Tom M ueller. president o f S po rt M anag eme nt. Inc .. who commissioned the study. "AM A Pro Racing fans are essential to the success of our market ing programs. and we want to be able to tell our sponsors about our audience base. The survey only takes a few m inutes to compl ete . and we 're encouraging fans to participate. " In the su rvey. ind iv id ual s w ill be asked t o declare their primary sport of interest fiat track. motocross/ Supercross. or road racing - and wi ll t h e n be prompted through the questionnaire. Suzuki has announced that C hris Walker will be competing in th e World Superb ik e Championship on a new Suzuki GS X-R750 Superbike next season. Walker will contest the 2001 championship with his existing Crescent Racing Team, manage d by Paul D enning . This tea m took him to nine British Superbike victories and three W orld Superbi ke podiums in 20 0 0 , narrowly mis s ing o ut o n the British titl e at the very last rou nd when his bike suffered a mechanical failure. The Cresce nt team w ill be a Suzuki GB supported sate llite team and will run alongsi d e t he fact o ry Te am S uzu ki Alstare under t he Te am Su zu ki bann er. " This package and the commitment shown by Suzuki GB is an amazing opportunity for me . - W al k e r said in a Suz u k i pre ss release. "I've always said that I'd like to create a long-term relat ionship with Suzuki and now I have the chance . I am really pleased that I will be a Team Suzuki rider. representing Suzuki at th e very highest level at World C hamp io nship events . Also, it means that next year I'll be on a bike that is as good as it can be in all areas . I've had so me other goo d offers . but none that show such com plete com mitment as the Suzuki GB deal. Basically I'm glad that the talking is over and that I can look forwa rd to next season . I want to thank Suzuki GB ' s M anaging Director M r. Kakei and Nick Barnes and his tea m for their belief in me. I can 't wait to repay them for thei r effo rts with race results. " For those interested in pit support fo r the Best in the Desert "Las Vegas 2000," sc he duled for De cember 1-3 . you can co ntact Kawa saki Team Green at 9491770- 0400, ext. 2226 or ext. 2222 . Space is limited . The Illinois M otorcycl e Dealers A ssociation issued a press release stating that all tickets fo r the rained out AMAIProg ressive Insurance U .S. Flat Track Championsh ips final round at the D u Q uoi n M ile will be honored at the July 7 even t on the 2001 schedule. This edition of the " Mag ic M ile " w ill offer a bit o f extra magic . as it will mark the firs t time that a Du Quoin M ile has been held under the lights . For mo re i n f orm a ti o n. call 2171753-8866 . St . Louis Cardinal s pitcher M ike James w ill be a c e le b r it y gue st at the 20 0 1 AMAlEA Sports Supercro ss Crossover Challenge in Anaheim . California. according to an SFX pre ss release. James will compete against top extreme athletes at Edison Internationa l Field on January 5. James. 33 . is the first profe ssional baseba ll p lay e r ever to co m p e t e i n the Crossover C hallenge. A ste llar 2000 season for James WIth the Cardin al organization saw him pitch 5 1 innings as a reliever with a 3.16 ERA. Ironically. James played for the Anah eim Angel s at the site of the 2001 Crossover Challenge. and we will see if (former) home- t ur f w ill p lay an advan tage fo r th e Fort Walton Beach . Florida. native. Jam e s' acc epting of the invitatio n to the Cro s sover Challenge came just minutes after buying a new dirt bike from Jeff Emig' s TheEdgeSports.com team . '" am stoked to be a part of the Crossover Challenge," said James. " I just bo ug ht a new bike f ro m Tim D ixon ITheEdgeSports .com team manager] and am going to start practicing righ t now. I have another b ike . but th at t hing is n' t nea rly as good as t his one." In James' five-year career as a p rofess ional ball player. he has a co mbined ERA of 3.37, 21 1 st rikeou ts . 15 w ins . 12 lo ses. and 264 innings pitched . The Cro ssover Chal lenge . orig inated in 1999, invites athletes in the extreme sports genre to compete on the same supercross track as the stars of EA Sport s Supercross . Past participants include: Victo r Sheldo n (five-time national watercrah champion ). Sunny Garcia (seven-ti me world champion surfer). Ron C app s (Top Fuel funny car driver), and Brian Lopes ( 1998 World Cup dow nhill mountain bike champion), The inaugural event saw David Barrett, who is a Hollywood stunt man, dominate the field as he was crown ed champion, In 2000, V ictor S held on used his J e t Sk iin g s ki ll s t o crossover and wi n the second edition of the Crossove r Challenge. Ot hers expected to compet e in tbis year's race include AMA 750cc Supersport Champion John Hopkins. Holly McG ee of Chicago. Illinois was the Grand Prize w inner o f the Excit ebi ke N64 Sweepst a k e s on Cy cl e N ew s Online. McGee . whose name was chosen in the drawing at the Cyc le News offices on Monday. November 6. won a Nintendo N64 game platform . a co py of t he new Excitebike 64 game ca rtri dge . and an official Nintendo Excitebike 64 limited-edition jersey made for the game' s design team. Innovat ion Spor t s (makers of th e CT i2 Kneebrac e) w ill be on hand at the November 19-25 W inter Olympics in Flo rid a. lend in g ass is tance to anyone needing parts or service for their braces. L.A. Sleeve/N iks Pro -X pis tons w ill also have a rep resen ta tive at t h e Min i O ly mpic s , w ith a support va n stocked w ith pistons . c lutc hes . gaskets and appare l. The company is also offering support at the first th ree rounds of the N a t io na l Arenacr o ss Serie s. a circu it in which it is posting $ 66.000 in con tingency mo ney. For information. contact SFX Motor Spo rt s or L.A. Sleeve/ N iks Pro-X directly at 562/ 693-2746 . And last but certainly not least. the Pro C i r c u it race su pport team will be on hand at the 29t h A nnual W inter National O ly mpic s in Flo rida over ThanksgiVing Weekend. Pro C ircuit w ill ass ist in motorcycle setup and will also have pipes and silencers Oncluding for all t he new 2001 models) for testing on a special track. For more information. call 909 1738-8050. Moto rcycl e A sphalt Racing Se ries promote r Ken Lilly of Myrtl e Beach, South Carolina. suffered cr itica l inj uries dunnq the Dumpl ing Valley Flat Track in Kodiak. Tennessee. on November 5. Lilly suffere d severe head traum a alo ng wit h broken rib s . serious sho ulder laceratio ns an d bro ken facial bones. and he has been in a coma since the crash . M edical updates can be found at www.my rt leo nline .com. whic h is also serving as a forum for ge twell wishes . The family has set up a Relief Fund for his rehabilitation and is asking that any gifts be sent in check form to : Ken Lilly. Centura Bank, 2513 Oak St reet . Myrtle Bea c h. SC 29577. Attn: Ja ne Can non . ................. .. . .. . . . . .. .. . .. .. .. . . . . . . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .. . . .. .. .. . . . .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . . .. .. .. .. .. . .. . .. . . . . .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . "" ....J I I ~ I I ;=:; I LJ o t1 U ('l John Burr HondalYamaha has announced that it wi ll s ponsor B r i t is h f e male motocrosser Kell y P hillips as she travels from her home land to race at the - A Day in the D irt " event on November 26 at Los Angeles County Raceway in Palmdale . California. Phillips will race a 2000model Honda CR80 in the 80c c mini clas s against the boys on Novembe r 25 and then will race in th e W ML Pro -Am Grand Pr ix in the A m at eu r c la ss o n November 26 . For more information. call 6611263 -8722. . S IG NED: Off-road racer Jimmy Lewis. to wear Suomy helmets. Third FMF ha s announced that it has sign ed S idi boots as an o fficial sponsor o f FMF Racing 's amat eur team activiti es fo r the 2001 season. " FM F is very happy to have Sidi on bo ard" W ebb commen ted. " They offer one of the safest boots on th e planet and are f ully behind FMF ' s efforts o ff ering support to all our team rider s. Add itionally the companies strong advertis ing p ro g ram will further FMF' s impac t and vis ibility with o ff roa d riders acro ss the count ry. " overall in last year's Dakar Raily (and first of the twin-cylinders), Lewis is contracted to once again campaign a BMW GIS in the tran s-A fnca n event. The Cycle World off-road editor will sport Suomy"s ProCross helCORRECTION : In the contact information for the Steve Lamson's met in the Paris-Dakar Rally and all other competition events he enters Racing Techniques video that we published on the Stuff page of Issue #43, we published the wrong phone number. The correct number is 949/58 2-0351 . during the 2001 season, according to Suomy. ACCEPTING: L.A. Sleeve/Nik s Pro-X pistons are now acceptmq race resumes for the 2001 season. Resumes can be sent to L.A. Sleeve/N iks Pro-X, 12051 Rivera Rd.. Santa Fe Spring s, CA 9067 0, att n: Bill Treguboff. ACC EPTING: APE. American Performance Engineering. IS now accepting resumes from road racer s for their racer support program for the 2001 racing seaso n. Resumes can be sent to Team APE road racing, P.O. Box 6998. Burbank, CA 9151 O . OPEN ED: VP Racing Fuel's home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the following address: www.vpracingfuels.com. RESCHED ULED : The Women's Schooi of Motocross session at the call 949/837-2206. MOVED: Factory R&D, to 13825 Alton Pkwy. Suite A, Irvine, CA 92618,949/2 06-0894.949/206-0881 (fax). O P ENED: Mota Stull's home page on the World Wide Web. The site MARRIED: Motocrosser Robbie Skaggs. to Jennifer Villarreal. Septem- Verde V alley, Arizona , facility, to D ecember 16 . For more information, can be found at the followinq address: httpJ /www ber 9, in Gavilan Hills. . ................................ ..................................motostuffplus.com.. . ........... ..............................California. ... ..... ......... . ...... .. ....... . . .................................................. . . ......... . ... . . c ue I e n e S p ud Walters and Mark M oore. wit h the help of Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino . Californ ia. and W hit e Bros .. - - - - - - - - Continued on page 80 _ S • N O V EMBER 2 2 . 2 000 3 r, u

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