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/1463762
N o one thought it could be done, but a small group of dedicated enthusiasts, headed by filmmaker Paul Winters and former AMA Superbike racer and author Keith Code, managed to put the WERA Pro Formula USA Series on national television. It was 1990 and Formula USA was going into its second year. Wil- low Springs Raceway's owner Bill Huth launched Formula USA at his track as a run-what-you-brung motorcycle road-racing class and some interesting machines partici- pated in the Willow Springs cham- pionship, but when WERA Pro took the series national in 1989, things really exploded. There was a crazy mix of motorcycles, from 250cc two-strokes to Suzuki GSX-R 1100s breathing nitrous oxide. As Huth so succinctly described the rules of F-USA in the opening national TV broadcast of the series, "They have to run gasoline and they have to have two wheels." The no-holds-barred machines of Formula USA drew fans almost immediately. First of all, Formula USA was a catchy name, and it didn't hurt when Kenny Roberts got into a dispute with the AMA and pulled his team over from that series to Formula USA, bringing along his sponsor Marlboro and its promotional juggernaut with it. F-USA was managed by a young and aggressive staff led by Doug Gonda and WERA's Evelyne Pritz (now Clarke) that promoted the races with vigor and enthusiasm. Thanks to a strong PR effort, For- mula USA almost immediately was featured in newspapers, TV sports- casts and radio stations across the country. The Associated Press ran results and a short story from each round and USA Today regularly featured the series, none of which was happening on a regular basis in AMA Superbike. Then when it was announced that the series was getting na- tional television, there was even talk inside the industry that F-USA might battle the AMA for control of road racing in America. A few of the factory AMA Superbike teams took notice and began participating in select rounds against the estab- lished F-USA teams, further deep- ening the credibility of the series. "It's hard to fathom now just how big getting a national TV deal for the entire series was at the time," said Doug Gonda, whose company Protac was contracted to promote the series. "It shook CN III ARCHIVES P120 BY LARRY LAWRENCE Paul Winters in the yellow hat, then Motorcyclist Magazine editor, and pro racer Nick Ienatsch sitting on the Valvoline Suzuki, next to him with the microphone is author and racing instructor Keith Code and to the right David West, director of photography at Road Atlanta in 1990. Ienatsch and Code were the main commentators on the F-USA shows, the first road race series that was broadcast on TV nationally. PHOTOS: LARRY LAWRENCE A CAMERA AND A DREAM