Cycle News

VOL. 52 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 20, 2015 P141 Cup is cool, but it is no U.S. Open. I miss the U.S. Open. I miss staying at the MGM Grand and being able to walk from my hotel room down to the track—without having to drive anywhere. Sure, the Grand Garden Arena was a tiny venue, more suitable for Arenacross than Supercross, but it had a definite vibe to it. You knew what you were getting when you went there, it had a character all its own. The atmo- sphere was relaxed and it was more like an end of the season party, with some racing during intermission. For those of you who are won- dering what I'm talking about, here's a quick history lesson. Before the Monster Energy Cup was a glint in Ricky Carmichael's eye, there was something called the U.S. Open of Supercross. It was the ultimate cool event and the brainchild of Eric Peron- nard, a brilliant and likeable Frenchman who also brought EnduroCross to America. Eric was the liaison between Xavier Audouard, promoter of the Paris Bercy Supercross, and the American riders during the McGrath years. In 1998, he brought the laser lights and flamboyant French theatrics to the MGM Grand and announced "The Richest Motorcycle Race in the World," with $100,000 to the winner. It was a huge success and Damon Huffman won the inaugural event. People loved it and it sold out both nights. The sports book at the casino enlisted some help from industry insiders to assist them in setting some odds for betting and it was game on! In 1999, Jeff Emig had just been let go by Kawasaki and was listed as a longshot, I believe at 20:1, maybe more. I know I was not the only one who cashed in when "Fro" trounced the field on a Yamaha 250 with an FMF pipe. The AMA Supercross Series promoters did not take kindly to the upstart event, so they sued Eric, and then decided to buy the event and hire Eric to run it, which he did until it was can- celed in 2010 and replaced by the MEC the following year. I witnessed many memorable moments and even a few mile- stones over the years, including Bubba Stewart's debut on a KX85; Josh Hansen winning the Engine Ice Amateur Champion- ship; Billy Laninovich's death launch at the finish; Mike Brown stuffing Andrew Short for the win, then telling me "he'd do the same thing to me if he had the chance" when I asked him about it at the press conference. However, the best memories of the U.S. Open were not on the track. I recall one night, sit- ting at a blackjack table between Kevin Windham and Mitch Payton, watching them double down on $5,000 bets when the dealer had a face card up and somehow winning. I remember how cool it was to check into the MGM and all of the room keys had pictures of Chad Reed on them, then walking through the casino at 4:00 a.m. and seeing Reed sitting alone at a Blackjack table. Chad had won that night and I sat down and played for a bit, then showed the dealer Chad's picture on the room key and Chad hadn't even noticed it. I thought that was about the coolest thing ever. My most vivid memory is of Marty Moates, my friend Bobby "M" and me at the MGM. Bob lost a leg in 1979 racing in Texas, between 500 Nationals, but never let it slow him down. I had just introduced him to Marty and we were all three in a hurry going somewhere. I went up the wrong escalator and Marty and Bob followed me. Halfway up I turned around, jamming down the wrong way, with Marty right behind me. We got to the bot- tom, laughing our asses off and looked up, expecting to see Bob still heading up. Instead, he was hopping down that thing, all the way to the bottom. It was funny as hell, but old Marty didn't know if he should laugh or not, till we were laughing at him for being a wuss. It was the only time I saw Moates worry about being politi- cally correct! CN

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