Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

VOICEs letlers to e ediicr should be r€nt to Voice!, Cycl€ News, PO 8ox 508d, Costo Meso, CA 92628-5084; Ioxed ro 714-751{685 or emoiled lo €ditor@cyclenews.com. Publis[ed "lt's up to you to promote, write, and congratulate the women involved." An Omission I iust received an issue of Cycle News and was very disappointed to see a glaring omission. ln your Briefly section from the Seattle Supercrors, you have a short little blurb about how the Washington fans had much to cheer about at the Seatde Supercross, with our local favorites Rfan Villopoto and Ryan Abrigo - and you even mentioned Rjcky Dietrich. You are right, we are quite proud of them. You failed to mention, however, that number 153, Greg Crater, of Renton, Washington, a privateer who has ridden in almost every Supercross this year in the premier Supercross class, has made almost every night show this season. You failed to mention that he made the main event for his first time here in front of his hometown fans in Seattle. He even qualified from the semi - didn't even have to go to the LCQ, ln fact, he almost beat Kevin Windham in the semi! This is a maior accomplishment lor an out- standing rider. who without any maior sup- port has done an incredible job this year. Certainly he deserves this recognirion. We are so very proud of him and his accomplishment and feel terrible that he was skipped over in SettinS reco8nition. lt would be awesome if you could make up for this omission by doing a nice little fea- ture article on him for your next issue. Koren Hills vio the ,nterret Ms. Hills is the secrctory of the Seottle Motorcycle Club ond we thonk het fot point- ing out the foct thot we ovetlooked Croter's occomql ishment... Editor Another Omission My hLsband and I have received and read Cycle News for as loflg as I can remember What a great maSazine. We enioy Cycle News more than any magazine we receive. Howewe6 we did hrve one huge disappointnEnt. We were very disgusted at the sorry write-up that you Save the Las Vegas World f4inis. World Minis is so imponant to allthat race it for many reasons. I feel there should have been way better coverage on several more classes of riders. This is a race that had record numbers of entries with an incredible amount of repre- sentatives from prominent companies in this industry The worst of it all... this was the first year women were given their own class to race in, and there delinitely should have been a write-up on that. lvly daughter, Jacqueline Strong, was a first-place finisher. Her best buddies/competitors. Tatum Sik and Nikki Richards, finished right behind her. How about the fact that a few Pro leters should 200 women racers showed up for this event alsol Katie McGuire being one of them. She toughed it out and ra(ed with the men and finished seventh in one of her motos. You know it's taken long enough for ven- ues like this to finally open their minds and include women in their own race. lt's up to you to promote, write, and congratulate the women involved. lt's what draws more riders like them. I can guarantee you that us women will get out our wallets a heck of a lot quicker and spend more than any man will if promoted correctly. lncludinE buyinS the magazines that represent them. Ellen ond Fruok Strong - id the lnternet Honey Lake Rules! I have been to three Honey Lake motocross events and am writing to let everyone know what a great iob the staff is doing out there. The Wosicks and their entire staff are extremely friendly and always helpful with race questions. The track speaks for itself (check out www.honeylakemx.com) and when in the pits or at the track observing, you'll see that the staff is always busy doing something. The hard work that they do shows in the spectacular events they put on. I highly rec- ommend attending events there, whether you want to race or iust spectate. Great thank to everyone one involved with the operation at Honey Lake l'4X. Grcgg Bargds vio the lnternet We conduct ot ledst one of our Motocross Shootouts every yeot nt Honey Loke ond we wholeheortedly ogree. The tock is top-notch ond so ore the Wosicks ond qew.-. Editor Godspeed, Frank Danielsen My dad had a good handful of racing beliefs: one being a race could be won on a good peanut-butter and jelly sandwich and a ther- mos of hot coffee, or lost for lack thereof. Outfitting his kids in the latest offerings from Webco or Ted Evans assured for good rac- ing and better bench racing. So off we went, sneaking out in the wee hours of the week- end to spend the day at Hopetown. lndian Dunes, Elsinore and other local Southern California favorites of the early '70s. l"1om would pack lots of sandwiches, l'd pack my Barbies, don my newest T-shirt and Side Hack As5ociation jacket (l was the only kid in school with one, and, yes, I still have it!) and so went many of my early years- Dad would be on and off the racetrack most of the day. l'd get established with the cars, dogs and neighbors parked near by, then l'd stake my claim early for a prime position near the mudhole. But if we were racing in Decembet I'd go for a nice sweeper turn, as Sidehack Santa was soon to show up tossing candy for us kids, and who wants mud on their candy? Dad was the cooldad on the block. host- in8 many summer nighs of Racing l0l in our garage in west L.A. for the local boyr - how to change a tire, tune an engine, get more speed. I'd tootle out with mom, tray piled high with peanut butter and jelly sand- wiches, wave to the group and kiss dad goodnight. Ten years down the road (liter- ally, as we had moved from L.A. to Palos Verdes), Dad and those boys mer up again. everyone was a bit older, not much wiser, my dad a bit grayet and all still racing. Dad was a firm believer in the American dream: Work hard, play hard and make your feelings known. From T-shirts to hats, my dad loved to be a billboard for the ri8hts of racers. One of his proudesr possessions was his Belstall Jacket, emblazed with the hand-painted wording'American Taxpayer." Next to those sandwiches, this was the sec- ond item packed as we readied for our yearly pilgrimaSe to Barstow To Vegas, when the race was "real," according to dad - with a smoke-bomb stert. So Dad put this racinS into my soul, and bought me a Hodaka to seal the deal. Then | "grew up" and had "real jobs," but it was- n't unril I got into the motocaoss business that I found my true passion. When I landed at FME I found a home. And Dad made sure everyone knew it, "Yeah, you know that FMI my kid runs the place." (Sorry Donnie!) Next to his grandkids and his lat- est race, "that FMF" turned out to be a pretty proud moment for the both of us. Mom and Dad moved to Northern California in the last l0 years and Dad turned in his two-wheel passion into the four-wheel kind and he took up Land Speed Car racing and another group of friends. Racing was less frequent at El Mirage and Bonneville, but the thrill of the race was there, and so was my dad, complete with the standard offerinSs of PB&J and coffee to all. Dad has a sayinS tacked to a wall in the garage that reads: "lf you don't crash once in a while, you're not goinS fast enough." He lived that to the end- My dad took his final checkered fla8 iust seven days after his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer at the age of 79. True to the passion that consumed him, he raced to the finish. I miss you Dad so much it hurts. I'll be with you at Bonneville Speedweek in August when we scafter your ashes, and bench race long into the night. But for now, like you said, I'm "trying to get my head around this." But l'm runninS low on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches- Kcren Donieken Cristl vio the ,rterlet Egclel{ews Yolurne XLlll Sh CLtt r -P'6iddrt R.hdt Norlbtl. - Arbrdlr EDITORIAL P.ul C.rsth.6 - Edlror rk P.lro - O,f-i&d Edh.. St rc Arla -a$

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