The Rider Files

September 3, 2010

CARDENAS EARNS PROVISIONAL POLE IN NEW JERSEY, HOPKINS THIRD

Filed under: Road Racing — admin @ 11:36 pm

(News Release)

Martin Cardenas and his Monster Energy M4 Suzuki are on the provisional pole in the Daytona SportBike class in New Jersey.

Martin Cardenas and his Monster Energy M4 Suzuki are on the provisional pole in the Daytona SportBike class in New Jersey.

Team M4 Monster Energy Suzuki registered a powerful opening day performance on Friday at New Jersey Motorsport Park, consistently ranking at or near the top of the charts in both the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike and American Superbike classes.

SportBike title hopeful Martin Cardenas was narrowly bumped from first to second at the end of the day’s opening free practice session, but stormed back to claim the provisional pole in the afternoon.

The Colombian, who didn’t race at NJMP in ‘09 due to injury, took little time get up to speed, leaping to the top of the charts early with a 1:23.683 lap aboard his GSX-R600 racer. That time that ultimately proved quick enough for provisional pole.

Martin, who is currently third in the title chase just 14 points removed from first, explained his strategy on a day of mixed conditions. “It was kind of complicated at the beginning because we didn’t know if it was going to start raining again or not. We tried to get as fast as we could at the beginning and put in a good lap in case it rained later or maybe tomorrow. We tried to make a good lap and that’s what we did — we put a soft tire on very early and made a good lap. Then we waited to see if someone got close enough I went back out but I saw my pit board was still saying ‘P1′. It’s great to be on provisional pole.

“The bike seems to be working very good. We came here a couple days ago and the bike is very stable, very well balanced for this track. We haven’t done anything to it yet. We’re going to try a small change for tomorrow to see if can improve in one area a little bit but so far the bike is great.”

John Hopkins was equally impressive in the Superbike class, leading the first free practice and following that up with a third-ranked showing in provisional qualifying. Encouragingly, the former MotoGP superstar also confirmed that his riding is only improving as his surgically repaired wrist continues to get stronger.

The Californian ripped off a 1:21.561 on his GSX-R1000 in the practice and further lowered his mark to a 1:21.048 during qualifying.

“It’s just good to be out here and have a good setting,” Hopkins said. “The team has worked really hard and put a lot of effort in last week when we rode the track day here and got the bike working really, really good. We barely even changed the bike around throughout the day here.

“The conditions were a little bit off because it was drying out and we weren’t sure if it wasn’t going to be wet but it was perfect. It was a little bit windy in the last session. The bike is working really, really well and the M4 Monster Energy Suzuki team has been incredible. We’ve just got to keep moving forward and see if we can’t put it on the podium for the mechanics and everyone on the team who have worked so hard for me.”

Meanwhile, Chris Ulrich was also solidly in the top ten in what was a very impressive all-around effort for the squad. Ulrich came out eighth fastest in the free practice and followed that up with a ninth-place showing in qualifying, cutting a best time of 1:22.316. The consistent Californian, seventh in the AMA Pro American Superbike standings, is looking for another solid result in the points.

Team M4 Monster Energy Suzuki will now look to turn their Friday form into raceday results on Saturday at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

I want to be Tino!

Filed under: General, Road Racing — admin @ 3:35 pm
Tino accepts applause as he takes the stage with a group of his TNT graduates

Tino accepts applause as he takes the stage with a group of his TNT graduates

Many racers or racing enthusiasts would love to trade places with Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo or Ben Spies. Forget those guys, if I had to name one rider in all of motorcycle racing who I’d want to be, there’s no question, 100 percent, no bout a doubt it, it would most definitely be Robertino Pietri.

You see the Moto2 World Championship racer from Venezuela has developed the most incredible training program, I believe, in the history of physical fitness. When Robertino releases his training DVD it’s going to blow away Billy Blanks Tae Bo, P90X or even Richard Simmons Sweatin’ to the Oldies.

His training DVD is still in production, but you’ll love the working title: “TNT – Tino’s Nighttime Training”

The promo for the DVD opens with a tight shot on Robertino’s handsome mug, flickering candlelight, his head lying on a soft pillow. Tino gives us his million dollar smile and perfectly nails the tag line in his subtle Spanish accent.

“If your body is not becoming to you, you should be coming to me.”

Keeping hydrated is a big part of Tino's training regimen.

Keeping hydrated is a big part of Tino's training regimen.

The camera pans back to reveal two lovely ladies lying next to Tino, their heads nestled up to his chiseled bare chest, their hands rubbing his washboard abs, as they say in unison, “Tino! We never dreamed we could get in such great shape and have so much fun doing it.”

You’ve got to hand it to Robertino. A third generation racer, who worked his way from the Venezuelan domestic series, up through the AMA and is now racing Grand Prix, all this while helping hundreds on young ladies get the smooth, flat tummy and nice firm bum they’ve been trying to get for years.

I’m sure Olympian Dominique Dawes is a wonderful representative for The President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, but after hearing of Robertino’s selfless sharing of his training techniques I can’t help but think the President could use someone like Robertino. A man with laser like focus and dedication to fitness, who wants to share it with the world.

When Tino read that many girls gain a few pounds in college, he knew what he had to do and rented an apartment right across the street from the University of Miami. When I asked him why he didn’t live on the beach Robertino replied that he could reach more coeds by living next to the campus.

Remember Tino's motto: "If your body is not becoming to you, you should be coming to me."

Remember Tino's motto: "If your body is not becoming to you, you should be coming to me."

The man is a saint I tell ya.

Why just recently Robertino was flying to a test session when an evening flight was canceled. Instead of sulking and worrying about being tired for the next day’s test, Tino found two weary flight attendants who were looking for a way to increase their stamina on long flights. Robertino bravely put testing thoughts aside for the moment and invited both attendants to his hotel suite to practice the wonderful TNT training techniques Tino has developed over years of study. Tino graciously helped both young ladies reach their peak of fitness.

Not everyone is accepted into Tino's program. Here an applicant receives the bad news.

Not everyone is accepted into Tino's program. Here an applicant receives the bad news.

Sure Robertino was a little tired during his test session the next day, but he had inner piece knowing that at least two more airline employees would fly the friendly skies from that day forward totally rejuvenated by Tino’s training.

In Indianapolis last week for the GP Robertino was again racing his heart out, but it was just like him working overtime with some sweet Hoosier girls, helping them develop a stronger core and shedding those stubborn last five pounds. The girls were forgetting they’re even exercising and having nothing but fun along the way.

Tino is still trying to get the TNT Training infomercial past network censors, but hopefully we’ll see Tino’s Nighttime Training DVD in stores soon.

Yates out for the season

Filed under: Road Racing — admin @ 11:03 am

(News Release)

CHICAGO, IL (September 3, 2010) – Michael Jordan Motorsports’ (MJM) Aaron Yates will miss the remaining two rounds of the 2010 AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike Championship. Yates had hoped to participate in the last two events of the series after an encouraging attempt to compete at the last round at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in Alton, VA. After practice and qualifying eighth at VIR, Yates felt he wasn’t quite ready to compete at race distances and pulled out of the event. His rehabilitation seemed to be going well until he recently experienced some pain in his leg while walking.

“I’d been exercising and feeling good all last week,” said Yates. “Then, at the beginning of this week, I was just walking down the sidewalk and heard a pop and felt something in my leg. Apparently, the plate separated from the bone or something like that and it looks like I’m going to need some more surgery. I’m real bummed because I was feeling pretty good at VIR and thought that with the extra time, I should be able to ride pretty decent at the last couple of races. I really wanted to be out there with my team and fans and finish off the season.”

Yates is scheduled to see a specialist to determine exactly what additional surgery will be required. In the meantime, Michael Jordan Motorsports’ Brett McCormick will continue to fill in for Yates at the last two events of the season.

The 2010 Michael Jordan Motorsports team’s next event begins today and continues through the weekend at the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ.

The inside story of DeCoster leaving Suzuki for KTM

Filed under: Motocross-Supercross — admin @ 1:05 am
Roger DeCoster (Larry Lawrence photo)

Roger DeCoster (Larry Lawrence photo)

A totally unexpected announcement came out yesterday from Suzuki that Roger DeCoster would no longer be heading the championship-winning Rockstar Makita Suzuki team. On the surface the split is a real head scratcher. After all DeCoster won world championships with Suzuki dating back to the early 1970s and has had a successful 15-year run heading up Suzuki’s motocross and Supercross racing program.

In a candid radio interview with DMXS Radio DeCoster said he was looking for a three-year contract extension with Suzuki after which he planned to retire. When Suzuki offered him only a one-year extension DeCoster decided to look elsewhere. While it hasn’t been finalized DeCoster confirmed on the show that he was in talks with KTM and joining them looked likely.

DeCoster’s departure indicates to me that Suzuki is in very big trouble financially. A company would not let one of its icons get away when all he wanted was three more years on his contract unless they were looking to make drastic cutbacks.

“The Japanese management [of Suzuki] has decided that they are so unsure of the future of the economy that they did not want to commit to more than a one-year deal,” DeCoster said.

Ironically DeCoster has been known to turn the small budgets Suzuki gave him into gold. He brought in Ricky Carmichael, after RC went through knee reconstruction and Honda’s management apparently thought he would not be able to perform at the level he had previously. Carmichael proved to be as strong as ever in his comeback and he frequently praised DeCoster’s running of Suzuki’s racing team.

DeCoster also recognized the talent of a young rider named Ryan Dungey when no one else saw his potential. The move to sign the relative then unknown rider has worked out pretty well. Dungey is the first rookie in AMA history to win the Supercross and motocross title.

Interestingly if DeCoster does end up with KTM he will be working with Mike Alessi, a rider that DeCoster fired from Suzuki.

DeCoster praised Suzuki, especially the engineering side of the company. He said it was not an easy decision to leave the company. “Unfortunately in these times the accountants have more power in the company than the engineers,” DeCoster claimed.

In the surprisingly open interview with DMXS DeCoster said he might have stayed with Suzuki, even with a one-year deal, had his retirement plans stayed on track. DeCoster, who is 66, admitted he is heavily invested in real estate, which has taken a huge hit in recent years.

DeCoster said KTM seems to be in a “forward-thinking mode” and is not letting the bad economy hinder its future racing plans. DeCoster said he believes KTM can be successful in U.S. championships. KTM last won an AMA Motocross title in the 250cc class with Grant Langston in 2003. The Austrian company has never won in the premier AMA 450cc Motocross class or the AMA Supercross Series. KTM took a major hit in motocross after Jeremy McGrath was injured practicing for the KTM team before the 2003 AMA Supercross season and later blamed the suspension on the motorcycle for his crash.

DeCoster will continue through the end of this season with Suzuki before moving to his new job. He is once again the team manager for the U.S. Motocross des Nations squad.

In the interview DeCoster also briefly addressed the James Stewart/Motocross des Nations controversy, where Stewart claimed he was lied to after being told he would have the opportunity to ride for Team USA if he raced and in some of the final rounds of the outdoor nationals and proved he was healthy. While DeCoster denies ever talking directly with Stewart he admitted talking to Oakley’s Anthony Paggio about Stewart, mentioning to Paggio that Stewart needed to race some nationals soon if he wanted a chance to race in the des Nations. “Exactly what was told to him if he did good in the last four races… that I don’t know,” DeCoster said.

DeCoster said he also did not know why the AMA chose to announce the team before Stewart even raced in his comeback at Unadilla on August 14.

Looking back on his career at Suzuki, when asked if he would have done anything differently he said he wished he could have won championships earlier with Suzuki when he started there as manager and wished also that they could have sold more motorcycles in recent years so he could have continued with the company.

September 2, 2010

National Teams for the 2010 Red Bull FIM Motocross of Nations Announced

Filed under: Motocross-Supercross — admin @ 11:49 pm

(News Release)

31 Countries Are Primed and Ready to Challenge Reigning Champion Team USA

LAKEWOOD, Colo. (September 2, 2010) – As the month of September officially begins, the countdown to the 2010 Red Bull FIM Motocross of Nations from Thunder Valley Motocross Park is heating up. In just a few weeks, the best motocross riders from across the globe will converge on Lakewood, Colo., for the biggest, most exciting professional motocross event in the world.

In a recent announcement, Youthstream revealed the lineups for all 32 countries that will compete just outside of Denver on the final weekend of September. The three-rider teams are littered with the biggest names in the sport, including riders from both the U.S.-based Lucas Oil Motocross Championship and the European FIM World Motocross Championship.

Team USA leads the way after capturing its fifth straight win at the prestigious event last season in Italy. Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey returns as Team Captain for the U.S. in the MX1 class, just one year after leading the team to victory. Joining the newly crowned 450 Class Champion of the Lucas Oil Motocross Championship are a pair of his American motocross counterparts that will each be making their respective debut at the Olympics of Motocross.

Honda Red Bull Racing’s Andrew Short is a veteran of the sport and coincidentally enough, a native of the state of Colorado. Thunder Valley serves as the eight-year pro’s home track and there isn’t a better place in the world for Short to make his first appearance as a competitor in the MX3 class. Rounding out the impressive Team USA lineup is GEICO Powersports Honda’s Trey Canard. The third-year rider had experienced a breakout season in 2010 and has risen to become the top 250cc rider in the U.S., making him the obvious choice for the MX2 class.

Here are the remaining lineups for the 2010 Red Bull FIM Motocross of Nations:

Team France Team Brazil Team Iceland
Christophe Pourcel – MX1 Marcello Lima – MX1 Gylfi Gudmundsson – MX1
Marvin Musquin – MX2 Cristopher Castro – MX2 Eythor Reynisson – MX2
Xavier Boog – MX3 Antonio Balbi – MX3 Hjalmar Jonsson – MX3
     
Team Belgium Team Ireland Team Lithuania
Steve Ramon – MX1 Stuart Edmonds – MX1 Mindaugus Kazakevicius – MX1
Jeremy Van Horebeek – MX2 Martin Barr – MX2 Nerijus Rukstela – MX2
Clement Desalle – MX3 Gordon Crockard – MX3 Rimantas Pazemeckas – MX3
     
Team Germany Team Latvia Team Venezuela
Max Nagl – MX1 Ivo Steinbergs – MX1 Giovanni Perrotta – MX1
Ken Roczen – MX2 Matiss Karro – MX2 Humberto Martin – MX2
Marcus Schiffer – MX3 Lauris Freibergs – MX3 Raimundo Trasolini – MX3
     
Team Great Britain Team Finland Team Philippines
Shaun Simpson – MX1 Toni Eriksson – MX1 Jolet Jao – MX1
Dean Wilson – MX2 Harri Kullas – MX2 Ralph Alvarez – MX2
Tommy Searle – MX3 Jon Soderberg – MX3 Kenneth San Andres – MX3
     
Team Italy Team Sweden Team Ukraine
Davide Guarneri – MX1 Tom Soderstrom – MX1 Oleksandr Pashchynskyi – MX1
Alessandro Lupino – MX2 Fredrik Noren – MX2 Mykola Pashchynskyi – MX2
Manuel Monni – MX3 Alex Eriksson – MX3 Roman Morozov – MX3
     
Team Australia Team Russia Team Japan
Brett Metcalfe – MX1 Evgeny Bobrishev – MX1 Akira Narita – MX1
Dean Ferris – MX2 Alexander Tonkov – MX2 Takuya Mihara – MX2
Jay Marmont – MX3 Sergey Astaykin – MX3 Yoshitaka Astuta – MX3
     
Team Estonia Team Austria Team Costa Rica
Tanel Leok – MX1 Matthias Walkner – MX1 Johan Mora – MX1
Pritt Ratsep – MX2 Pascal Rauchenecker – MX2 Alejandro Rojas – MX2
Gert Krestinov – MX3 Gunter Schmidinger – MX3 Roberto Castro – MX3
     
Team Switzerland Team Puerto Rico Team Ecuador
Greg Wicht – MX1 Christian Ruiz – MX1 Felipe Espinosa – MX1
Valentin Guillod – MX2 Zach Osborne – MX2 Martin Davalos – MX2
Arnaud Tonus – MX3 Kyle Regal – MX3 Andres Benenaula – MX3
     
Team New Zealand Team Canada Team Guatemala
Josh Coppins – MX1 Jeremy Medaglia – MX1 Rodolfo Fernandez – MX1
Brad Groombridge – MX2 Kaven Benoit – MX2 Esteban Castillo – MX2
Ben Townley – MX3 Kyle Keast – MX3 Tomas Angel Castillo – MX3
     
Team Spain Team Croatia Team Mexico
Jonathan Barragan – MX1 Nenad Sipek – MX1 Martin Garcia – MX1
Jose Antonio Butron – MX2 Marko Tumbri – MX2 Alberto Herdia – MX2
Carlos Campano – MX3 Danijel Bozic – MX3 Giovanni Blanco Victor – MX3
     
Team Portugal    
Rui Goncalves – MX1    
Hugo Basaula – MX2    
Luis Correia – MX3    

 

      

Tickets to the 2010 Red Bull FIM Motocross of Nations are available now! VIP Packages start at $150 and General Admission tickets are available for as low as $45, but are going fast. With a new starting area and a never-before-seen section being implemented for this event only, fans can get an up close look at one of the most challenging and technical layouts in Red Bull FIM Motocross of Nations history. The picturesque hillside with breathtaking views of the Mile High City serves as the ideal spot to watch the fastest riders on the planet lay it all on the line for national pride and glory.

To take advantage of this rare opportunity to see the fastest riders from around the globe compete head-to-head for national honor, log onto www.tvmx.net today to get a head start on the competition and reserve a spot for the world’s biggest professional motocross competition before its too late.

Kawasaki’s Grand National Breakthrough

Filed under: Flat Track — admin @ 5:45 pm
The three men mostly responsible for Kawasaki's first AMA Grand National Twins victory at the Indy Mile - rider Bryan Smith, R&D tester Jay Springsteen and builder Bill Werner, here pictured atop the Indy Mile podium. (Larry Lawrence photo)

The three men most responsible for Kawasaki's first AMA Grand National Twins victory at the Indy Mile - rider Bryan Smith, R&D tester Jay Springsteen and builder Bill Werner, here pictured atop the Indy Mile podium. (Larry Lawrence photo)

MotoGP and the tragic events of this past weekend somewhat overshadowed an incredibly important milestone in the history of AMA Grand National racing on Saturday night. Bryan Smith rode a Kawasaki Ninja 650-based flat track bike to victory in the AMA Grand National on the famed Indy Mile, marking the first time a Kawasaki won a Grand National Twins race.

To be clear this isn’t Kawasaki’s first Grand National victory. Yvon DuHamel gave Team Green that honor way back in 1971 when he won the AMA National road race at Talladega on a Kawasaki H1R 500cc two-stroke triple. Nor was it the first Grand National flat track win for Kawasaki. That honor went to Henry Wiles when he won the Springfield (Ill.) TT in May of 2008 on a Kawasaki KX450F. Smith’s victory was the first for Kawasaki against the dominant Harley-Davidson XR750 in a Twins races, or in other words on a Mile of Half-Mile AMA Grand National race.

The history of Kawasaki on the big Grand National dirt tracks is fairly limited. Erv Kanamoto built Kawasaki H2-based flat trackers in the mid-1970s. Scott Brelsford scored the first AMA National points on Kanamoto’s Kawasaki Triple on the Albany (N.Y.) Mile on Sept. 29, 1974. Kawasaki reached its high point in 1970s Grand National flat track competition at the San Jose Mile on Sept. 21, 1975. In that race two of Kanamoto’s bikes made the national. Scott Brelsford scored ninth, ultimately the best result of the Kawasaki Triple on the dirt ovals. Don Castro also qualified at San Jose on one of the H2s and was 15th.

Castro remembers racing the H2. “The things had so much power that the problem was the back tire,” he said. “It would just spin and chew up the rear tire, but once it hooked up we were probably hitting 140 mph on the straights. It was a blast to ride.”

Bryan Smith on the No. 42 Kawasaki leading in the Dash for Cash at Indy. (Larry Lawrence photo)

Bryan Smith on the No. 42 Kawasaki leading in the Dash for Cash at Indy. (Larry Lawrence photo)

Castro went on to say that Goodyear was developing a bigger rear tire that would have allowed the two-strokes to hook up. “Had the AMA not banned those bikes I’m sure within a year or two the Grand Nationals would have been nothing but 750cc two-strokes. The tire technology was coming and there’s no way the Harleys could have run with those two strokes.”

With the banning of the two-stroke road race motors Kawasaki was out of Grand National Twins racing for over 30 years.

The now defunct Basic Expert Twins class inspired legendary Harley-Davidson tuner Bill Werner to build a relatively low-cost Kawasaki flat tracker. That machine became the basis for the Monster Energy Kawasaki Grand National entry. In 2009 the bike just missed making the main with Brock Schwarzenbacher. For this season the team signed one of the elite riders in Bryan Smith and suddenly the Kawasaki has been a consistent contender, culminating with the victory on the Indy Mile.

In interviewing Werner earlier in the season at the Gas City (Ind.) Short Track National, he talked about the difference in cost between his Kawasaki and a typical Grand National bike.

Even though Werner’s Monster Energy Kawasaki was relatively inexpensive, is it a fair comparison to what a typical customer Kawasaki could be compared to the hours of R&D Werner, Jay Springsteen and Bryan Smith have done with the bike?

Could Werner make a kit Kawasaki customer bike?

Werner on what he’d like his legacy in the sport to be.

Werner’s opinion on the long held notion that parallel twins couldn’t be made competitive in flat track racing.

FLUIDYNE POWERSPORTS CONGRATULATES BRYAN SMITH ON HIS HISTORIC INDY MILE WIN

Filed under: Flat Track, General — admin @ 3:38 pm

(News Release)

Victory lap at the Indy Mile.

Victory lap at the Indy Mile.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (September 2, 2010) – FLUIDYNE® Powersports is proud to have kept Bryan Smith’s Ninja 650-based flattracker running cool and consistent as he powered to an historic victory at the Indy Mile, Kawasaki’s first win in the premier AMA Grand National Twins class.

“If I can’t ride flat-out, the race is over,” said Smith, 27, a former Harley factory rider who has earned two other Mile victories, as well as an AMA 883 championship, Rookie of the Year honors and the Horizon Award in his young career. “I was wide-open around the Indy Mile for 25 laps and the bike never got over 200 degrees,” he continued. “Most of the bikes we compete against are air-cooled, so they lose power during the race. Cooled properly with a Fluidyne radiator, ours had the same power throughout each lap.”

Bill Werner, co-owner and tuner of the Monster Energy- and Kawasaki-sponsored team, is an AMA Hall of Famer who has wrenched to more than 130 wins and 13 championships. “Bless his soul, he can race his little heart out,” Werner said of his star rider. “A water-cooled motorcycle is only as good as its radiator. Bryan kept his cool and so did the Kawasaki, due to our Fluidyne Powersports radiator. Nobody’s laughing now. We’ve got a great setup now and I have high expectations for the rest of the year.”

On the Indy Mile podium.

On the Indy Mile podium.

In addition to keeping their cool, FLUIDYNE® radiators are also built more rugged to fend off damage. Constructed from aircraft-quality aluminum, structural highlights include thicker materials throughout, a CNC-machined billet filler neck, beaded hose connections for leak-proof sealing and a stainless-steel radiator caps. These components are held together with substantial TIG welds to withstand extreme conditions and produce a crash survival rate far exceeding the OEM parts.

Not only do FLUIDYNE® radiators out-cool and outlast the stock units, they’re much less expensive, come with a one-year warranty and install easily, utilizing the factory mounts and hardware.

Multi-time winners in the SCORE and Best in the Desert series, including the grueling Baja 1000 and 1000-mile Vegas-to-Reno race, FLUIDYNE® Powersports radiators have been proven around the world. Developed and manufactured in the United States, they are built upon 50 years of experience in vehicular fluid dynamics.

Available for nearly 100 motorcycles, ATVs and side-by-side vehicles, FLUIDYNE® Powersports radiators are also available for custom applications such as this race-winning dirt tracker. Distributed by Parts Unlimited, Tucker-Rocky, WPS, KK Motorcycle Supply, MTA, Southern Motorcycle Supply, CV-4 and IMS Products- FLUIDYNE® Powersports radiators are readily available through thousands of dealers nationwide.

When the heat is on, FLUIDYNE® Powersports radiators keep things cool.For more information, log on to FluidynePowersports.com.

Meet the Champ at Springfield

Filed under: Flat Track — admin @ 2:38 pm

(News Release)

Jared Mees will have a special hospitality tent set up to greet fans at this weekend’s Springfield Mile.

Jared Mees will have a special hospitality tent set up to greet fans at this weekend’s Springfield Mile.

Current AMA Grand National Twins Champion #1 “Jammin” Jared Mees will have a special “Blue Springs Harley-Davidson/ Lucas Oil/ Rogers-Lake/ Rocky’s On-line. com” hospitality tent set up to greet his fans at this weekends Springfield Mile Grand National Race!! Last week at Indy went so well, that we are going to have Jared’s Hospitaility Tent opened for all the fans at Sunday afternoons “Springfield Mile”

The AMA paddock is scheduled to be opened to spectators at 12 noon on Sunday Sept 5th. Jared will be on hand to sign autographs, have photo’s taken, and talk to his many fans. Some snacks and cold drinks will also be served, while Jared will have his merchandise table opened to purchase t-shirts, mini plates, and poker chips. Miss AMA Pro Flattrack will also join Jared at his hospitality tent to sign autograph’s while the paddock is opened.

Come join us at Springfield this Sunday, Labor Day Weekend!!

Jared would like to thank Blue Springs Harley-Davidson/ Lucas Oil/ Rogers-Lake/ Rocky’s On-line. com, the AMA Pro Racing Crew, and the promoters of the I.M.D.A. Springfield Mile for making this possible.

Cycle News: Perhaps not a death, but an opportunity

Filed under: Flat Track, General, Motocross-Supercross, Road Racing, Supermoto — admin @ 12:01 am
Cycle News is gone for now. Let's hope it can be revived somehow.

Cycle News is gone for now. Let's hope it can be revived somehow.

I’ll never forget the first day I saw it. It was at England Cycle on West 10th Street in Indianapolis. I had been riding my Honda CL100 up and down the trails along the railroad tracks on the Westside of Indianapolis getting roosted by the occasional Husky being tested after service from the dealership. I was probably 13 or 14 when I walked into the showroom and milled around looking at the Husqvarnas, Moto Guzzis and Yamahas. I ventured up to the parts counter and there it was… Cycle News.

I picked up a copy and started leafing through it and my eyes opened wide. Yes there was the occasional race coverage in the glossies in the mid-1970s, but here was cover-to-cover racing and the races just happened the week before! I was hooked. I dug deep in my jeans and fished out 50 cents and bought the issue. I rolled it up, tucked it in my pants and rode home to read it.

I don’t remember the specific race coverage of the very first issue of Cycle News I ever bought, but I recall a story about a Hare Scrambles race down at Stoney Lonesome in Southern Indiana and I recognized some of the names of local riders. If I recall there was an interview with a national rider and I became a fan of rider profiles, something I most enjoy to this day.

As a kid I didn’t have the bucks to subscribe to Cycle News (it was Cycle News East to be specific), but when I had an extra 50 cents I rode down to England Cycle and picked up an issue. It was the start of a love affair that lasted nearly 40 years.

That love affair just might have ended yesterday when Cycle News closed its doors after nearly a half century of being America’s motorcycle racing’s publication of record.

In the early 1980s – my very brief WERA road racing career ran into a little problemo called lack of funding. I really enjoyed road racing, the people involved, many of which were friends, so I thought maybe I could cover the races for Cycle News. Associate Editor Gary Van Voorhis gave me my first chance at covering a race and I’ll never forget the thrill when I picked up that issue with my first byline.

In nearly 30 years of contributing to Cycle News I guesstimate I’ve written over 600 articles, including everything you could imagine from race coverage, rider profiles, product and book reviews, obituaries and most recently I filed the Archives column for over four years.

So many of the journalist and photographers in motorcycling worked for Cycle News at one point or another. When I started there were still two editions, Cycle News West and East. I worked for editors Jack Mangus, Gary Van Voorhis, John Ulrich and Paul Carruthers. I only ever visited the classic old office on Signal Hill in Long Beach once or twice and never saw their newer office.

I, like everyone else involved with the publication, have ideas how they could have changed things to survive, but the bottom line is that Cycle News was a very successful and profitable publication that had a number of small things gradually mount up to catch it out when the Recession hit.

Times were so good in the 1990s and early 2000s that CN Publishing expanded and bought new offices with dreams of becoming a publishing giant. They bought the offices at the height of the real estate boom, so there was no opportunity to survive the downturn by borrowing on its property. When the factories largely dropped out of racing it affected Cycle News, a racing publication, more than other motorcycle books because of the drastic drop in win ads. Also Cycle News used to have the industry’s best classified ads. Free online classifieds wiped that out. Management also seemed slow and or reluctant to change the way it did business in the rapidly changing media landscape.

Perhaps more than anything time passed Cycle News by. How often have you heard someone say, Cycle News used to be the first place to find out what happened at the races? Well don’t look now, but that hasn’t been the case for better than 15 years.

Cycle News is not alone in the industry as a victim of the Great Recession. Buell most notably bit the dust, although maybe not permanently. And that’s my hope for Cycle News. I hope that somehow, someone can pick up the publication from the ashes and revive it. The industry needs a book like Cycle News and I’m certain it will be supported; maybe just not at the level the current publication is accustomed to.

I talked to one longtime publishing insider who said that Cycle News’ demise presents a tremendous opportunity for someone out there. The concept is still viable if a party can come in and run it more efficiently and creatively.

Let’s hope that a knight in shining armor is thinking about this and decides to come in to save the day for all of us.

September 1, 2010

Harley-Davidson 883 Twin Sports Action

Filed under: Road Racing — admin @ 5:31 pm

After hearing of the passing of Randy Texter, Tony Montenegro sent in this 883 road race photo from Daytona back in the early ’90s with Montenegro (143) leading an all-star cast that includes Texter (65) and Roger Reiman (155). He says Matt Wait and Ron McGill are back there too. Classic shot with some great riders. Thanks Tony.

Tony Montenegro leads Randy Texter (65), Roger Reiman (155) and others including Matt Wait and Ron McGill in a Harley-Davidson 883 Twin Sports race at Daytona in the early 1990s. (Tony Montenegro collection)

Tony Montenegro leads Randy Texter (65), Roger Reiman (155) and others including Matt Wait and Ron McGill in a Harley-Davidson 883 Twin Sports race at Daytona in the early 1990s. (Tony Montenegro collection)

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