On The Fast-Trak 12-19-01

Year 3, Issue 9

AMA Clear Channel War
You’ve probably heard by now that the AMA and Clear Channel (formerly SFX/Pace) couldn’t agree on terms for the 2003 Supercross series. The two will now go their separate ways. In my opinion, it’s probably the worst thing that could have happened to motorcycle racing. The only positive thing that I can think of is that an AMA Pro Racing Supercross event might make its way into venues that would normally miss out on such an event. Cleveland, Ohio comes to mind, be warned however – Cleveland fans have great throwing arms – officiating would need to be top notch.

For us ATVers, who knows, down the road maybe ATVA Pro Racing could ride the coat tails of the new series and big-time ATV supercross events, complete with quality racetracks, will be born. But I’m thinking that Jam Productions, a concert promoter with no motor sports history, will have their hands pretty full with the needs of pro bike racers. Handling the needs of ATVers would probably be the last thing on their minds.

From watching Motoworld and reading about the split, I think there is way more involved than what’s been printed or televised. All I know is that AMA Pro Racing and Clear Channel Entertainment made a huge mistake in not figuring out an agreement, 9-11 tragedies and hectic schedules or not, these two should have met personally until some sort of plan on a fair way to split up the millions was reached.

I guess I was under the impression that bike and quad racing didn’t have to deal with all the politics like the NBA, NFL and the National Baseball League does. In reality, I guess I was wrong. Motorcycle racing now has the same problems as the big leagues do. Hopefully this wont happen to ATV racing. It very well could however. AMA Pro Racing just shelled out $3,000,000 in a lawsuit for road racing promotion and sponsorship disputes. Now there’s similar problems in supercross. You should know of yet another problem. The new AMA Pro Racing’s rider contract states that AMA Pro Racing has rights to use all riders regardless of rider’s sponsors in officially licensed merchandise. I think this will become a big dispute in weeks to come. That might halt McGrath and his Bud Light/Yamaha/McGrath Racing Team from ever racing AMA again. Hopefully this stuff will all be worked out, and the ground work for happy compromises will be in place when ATV racing reaches this point of money making potential.

In the meantime, I’m a little worried that because of this split, industry sponsors will end up shelling out twice their yearly sponsorship allowances, leaving ATV sponsorships high and dry. Instead I invite big name sponsors to sit out the ’03 supercross season, avoid the whole mess and provide the support to ATV racing! Wait, would that make us scabs?

Mickey Thompson murder case update
Check out the news on this at racerxill.com’s Racerhead. It’s quite a story to say the least.

Prendergast’s stolen ATV FOUND!
I received this e mail message last week from Brian Ransco “Hey did Tom the AMA ref ever get his 400EX back? If not, I think I might have spotted it”,

Brian just happened to be driving by the shop on that Tuesday afternoon on his way to work. Durring the drive he saw a very familiar yellow 400EX in the front of a motorcycle dealership in Nashville, TN. Brian remembered seeing it on the most wanted list at ATV Scene.com.

With a vin number confirmation, the police set up a sting. When the crook came in to pick up the the stolen quad, which he brought in for repairs, the cops cuffed him and stuffed him was loading it into his Chevy S-10. Did I say “His” truck? Wrong! The police ran the truck’s plates and found it to be hot as well!

Tom happily drove from Missouri to Tennessee to pick up his long lost buddy from the police impound lot. “I was surprised, it was in pretty good condition. He must have only been riding it some on the street because the tires are worn but that’s no big deal. He had taken all of the stickers off except for the one that covered up the serial number. For some reason he left the MO ATV state sticker on the frame”, commented Prendergast.

In apperception of Brian’s good memory and keen eye, ATVA Grand National Promoters teamed up and rewarded him with a check for $500. “Thanks to Brian, ATV Scene.com and the GNC promoters – I have my quad back!”, said Prendergast after telling us yet another part of the story. He says that the crook brought the ATV in for repairs, but all it needed was a spark plug! Goes to show how dumb crooks are.

ATV Sport’s Jerrod Kelley goes overseas
ATV Sport’s Jerrod Kelley recently went to Lesotho, South Africa to cover the Roof of Africa Rally and the Bombardier ATV race team for Ehlert Publishing’s new magazine called REV (their new real-world motorcycle adventure mag.). After reading some of what he’s written for the story, I say it’s a must read! Jerrod calls it the most difficult ATV race in the world! “Holy mother of God was that trip cool! Long, yes, but definitely worth the long flights. The terrain is awesome and the people are incredibly friendly. Their game reserves put zoos to shame – the animals were impressive, though I missed seeing elephants and lions. American ATVers should try their hand at this event”, explained J-Rod on his safari adventure. “While there I went on a motorcycle tour through S. Africa with Africa Offroad Tours. The tribal woman in the photo is unmarried, that’s why she’s on “display.” That’s homade beer she’s giving me in the photo. I tasted more like grainy vinegar-water than beer though”. Sounds like a BYOB to us.

ATV Racing on television
Although nothing official yet, verbal agreements have been reached on a new ATV television program! All that can be said at this time is that the weekly show will feature highlights of the GNC series as well as other big ATV events. It’s said that if ratings are good, the same production company will buy time-slots to broadcast entire GNC pro races! If you’re thinking this is good news, you’re wrong. It’s much better than just good! Since the show will reach over 75 million households, it might be the best news story in the history of the sport!

Speaking of ATV television
Reports from Fox Sports Net and the Empire Network say that their ratings for both bike and ATV racing from the GNCC series were better than expected! So good that powerhouse ESPN is now interested in obtaining a piece of the action. All this great news should help inspire your off season training to say the least. More details as they come.

OMS or Ray Christy?
Fred Bramblet and the gang at OMS Ltd (the marketing firm handling the ATVA’s advertising) are waiting for the official go-ahead to pursue GNC sponsorships. The ATVA wants OMS to handle all the sponsorship acquisitions, including the ATVA’s Maxxis Tires Grand National Championship Series. As you know the series has grown exceptionally since Gear Moto Tees’ Ray Christy took the sponsorship coordinator job three years ago. Christy seemed to win over the respect and support of many sponsors. This goes a long way in developing long term sponsorship success. At the same time OMS is responsible for bringing heavy hitting mainstream sponsors into motorsports. Not to mention the company’s success with rider sponsorship representation.

As of this date GNC promoters, the ATVA and OMS have yet to reach an agreement on whether OMS or Christy should head the sponsorship program for the ’02 GNCs. Negotiations are in the works as to providing the best program for all parties, including all the ATV riders participating in the series. It’s mutually agreed by all parties that both halves of the GNC series will fall under the same sponsorship program (regardless as to who heads the operation) for 2002, but at the same time, conversation of splitting sponsorship programs between TT and MX in the future are being discussed. With the explosive growth of the ATV sport segment and the above mention of future television, these sponsorship agreements are an extremely important matter. Stay tuned to ATV Scene for the latest on this as soon as an official agreement is reached.

The new and improved ATV 4-Wheel Action
Have you noticed the changes in ATV 4-Wheel Action? You do subscribe to all the mags right? If not, this one needs to be on your short list for sure. I say get ’em all, the knowledge you learn from evaluations alone can save you more than the subscription prices each year. Plus there are far too many study-hall periods for just one monthly rag. Anyway, back to the new and improved 4-Wheel Action. New and enthusiastic editor John Howell, who is actually a returning editor, (Howell was a former Hi-Torque editor in the early 90s) has a familiar obsession with the sport that I can definitely relate to, especially the sport and race end of ATVing. It shows in the magazine, which for a while seemed to cater more to the sport utility side of ATVing. Also getting major props from me is lead artist Tim La Paglia. Other than the stale out of date 4-Wheel Action logo (which is not Tim’s doing) – the new look is wickedly dynamic. Cant forget the other reasons the magazine is now on my hip list; Joe Kosch, Dennis West, DJ Williams and Adam Campbell (supplying some of the best ATV photography in the industry). Keep up the mack daddy rag guys!

ATV Industry Magazine
The boys at Motorcycle Industry Magazine know what’s up. They already devote one issue of MI each month to ATVs, but since the ATV industry is kickin’ so hard, they’ll launch ATV Industry Magazine in Feb. The new magazine will be a supplement to MI at first, but long term plans involve a completely separate magazine. The monthly publications are for distributors, dealers, aftermarket companies and manufacturers. I’m predicting this publication will take off huge, since currently there aren’t any ATV specific industry publications. Ehlert Publishing’s Powersports Business and Advanstar Communication’s Dealernews are very pro ATV (and produce fantastic editorial), but neither provide a complete ATV specific industry magazine.

Kawasaki gives a little back
Manufacturers have enjoyed incredible success in their ATV market for the last few years. In fact, OEMs report higher than anticipated sales from several models. That makes going forward with contests like the Kawasaki Prairie Sweepstakes an easy decision. Todd Hammock, district sales manager for Kawasaki Motor Corp, recently presented the keys to a brand new Kawie Prairie 650 to Mrs. Linda Willis of Waganer, OK. If any OEM reps are reading this, ATV Scene, the ATVA, GNCC or the GNC series would love to be involved in a giveaway of this kind. Give us a call, I’m sure we wont have any trouble putting together a plan to give a away an ATV of your choice and in the process provide a ton of exposure for the brand and model.

Upper Muddy
Pro ATVers, Johnny Hale and Josh Frederick (and family) have teamed up to form Upper Muddy Racing in Las Vegas, NV.

“It’s all about friendly service, fair prices and fast shipment”, claims Josh Frederick. “We won’t give you the run-around, because being racers ourselves, we know it is important to get quality parts on time. We carry a full line of after-market parts for all the performance brands from companies like LoneStar, Works, Fullbore, AC, Houser and many more. In addition, all OEM Honda parts are easily available”, says Hale.
Check them out at www.uppermuddyracing.com or (877) 770-8155.

Clear Channel Stadium Racing — Pro Quads
Just in case you don’t have this year’s stadium schedule:
2002 Schedule of Events

Round 1 TT
1/12/01 St. Louis, MO – TWA Dome
Round 2 MX
1/20/02 Anaheim, CA – Edison Field
Round 3 TT
1/26/02 Anaheim, CA – Edison Field
Round 4 TT
2/02/02 Houston, TX – Astrodome
Round 5 MX
2/24/02 Atlanta, GA – Georgia Dome
Round 6 TT
3/09/02 Pontiac, MI – Silverdome

Final Standings from 2001:
1 Tim Farr
2 Kory Ellis
3 Ben Jackson
4 John Natalie, Jr.
5 Dana Creech
6 Johnny Hale
7 Josh Frederick
8 Greg Little
9 David Diver
10 Brad Warner

E mail of the Week:
Dear ATV Scene,
I think having an OEM frame and motor idea would be a great rule change! It takes away the high cost needed to be on a machine that can win on any level. The Cannondale needs to be able to win on any level. For that reason, since they are willing to support ATV racing and no body else seems to, the 250R should be banned from the now 250 Pro class and be forced to run in the open classes in the amateur ranks only. Honda will never re-release the 250R, and its time to stop making people find ragged worn out 13 year old machines to start an ATV racing career with.

In motorcycle racing, you can go buy a new bike and it is good enough to win if you are a good rider. ATV racing needs to be the same or the sport will never explode like it was doing back in the late 80’s. The Cannondale, Z400, 400EX and Raptor should be good enough to win with some mods, but they can’t if they have to compete against totally tricked out, high dollar 250Rs – so I say retire the R! I own a 250R by the way so I am not bashing it, it was/is the best quad ever made. But that was a LONG time ago now, its time to let go of the past.
-Scott Sheffield

Quotes of the Week
“Youth pics? Ahhh finally! A mother gets her revenge! Do I choose the naked in the back yard pics? How about the bare butt ones, hmmm, maybe I will send in the ones of him cross dressing, or the ones of him sleeping in his soup. Naahhh, that’s too cruel, I’ll play it straight” — Teresa “Mom” Creech on submitting a photo of her superstar son, Dana, for the next contest on ATV Scene called “Identify this rug-rat”.

“I did get a fright from a gang of Shongololo – a six-inch centipede! They intimidated me so much, I slept with my MX goggles on and my airplane eye shades over my mouth. They make good hockey pucks, however” — Jerrod Kelly on his recent trip to South Africa.

See ya later – Merry Christmas and Happy ’02!
JP

Pix of the Week

 

 

 

 

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