All good things… Earlier this week, a brief announcement was posted on the NMA website:
“World Mini Grand Prix has been postponed to a later date. If you have pre-entered the event, you will receive a refund shortly.”
That was it. After forty-four years of hosting pretty much every top minicycle rider in the country (and from around the world), the World Mini Grand Prix was put on ice. The event that launched minicycle racing as we know it—the race where Jeff “The Flying Freckle” Ward and his constant rival Brian Myerscough rose to fame—has been mothballed. Will it come back? Hopefully. When? That's a little harder to answer.
The event was founded by Ron Henricksen, who at the time was working in the aerospace industry. Henricksen and his partners in the National MiniCycle Association, Ted and Patty Moorewood, got it all rolling back in the early seventies at Indian Dunes, a little ways west of Valencia, California. It was the first standalone minicycle race of such caliber, and it became popular so quickly that Kurt Henricksen, Ron's son, even ended up on the cover of Sports Illustrated (one of only three motorcyclists to ever grace the cover of America's biggest mainstream sports magazine—can you name the other two?).
Over the years, the World Mini GP grew into a massive event, boasting such big races as the Yamaha Race of Champions (which included everyone from Ward and Myerscough to Gene McKay and the OG Mike Brown, Jim "Hollywood" Holley, Erik Kehoe, the late Troy Blake, George Holland, Erik Kehoe and more) to the Italjet Jr. Cycle Race of Champions (the 1979 entry list included future FIM World Champ Bobby Moore, future 125 SX Champ Ron Tichenor, and future factory rider Larry Ward). In those Race of Champions deals, the kids would race identical bikes supplied by the OEMs and wear identical riding gear provided by an event sponsor.
Later on it became the Kawasaki Race of Champions, and that was going terrifically until about 1986 or '87, when the factories started backing young riders like Damon Bradshaw (Yamaha) and didn't want them to race another brand's bike or wear the Thor gear (he was already a Fox Racing athlete) and that aspect of the event lost its luster.
Nevertheless, it was from the World Mini GP that Ponca City was born, and from that the AMA Amateur Nationals at Loretta Lynn's were born. And we might as well credit the World Mini for the invention of the GNCs in Texas, the Mini Os, the Spring Nationals, and every other big amateur race that came along in the shadow of its success.
Unfortunately, some of those events started to surpass the World Mini GP in stature, including Ponca City (which was also created by Henricksen and the NMA). Part of it was that the World Mini GP took place in the spring in the middle of the school year (and those were pre-homeschool years), and soon the event had a problem finding a steady home; first Indian Dunes closed, and then so did Saddleback Park, where it really flourished. It moved out to Las Vegas, then back to Southern California. It was supposed to be at Glen Helen this time, but Henricksen and the NMA (which no longer has the late Ted Moorewood nor his widow, Patty) decided to postpone it for now, for reasons that are still unclear.
Paul Denis, Mouse McCoy, Bruce Bunch, Mike Healey, Eddie Hicks, Rick Hemme, Rick Simmett, Shaun Kalos, Kyle Fleming, Jeff Emig, Larry Brooks, Buddy Antunez, Damon Huffman, Craig Decker, Ezra Lusk, Spud Walters, Phil Lawrence, Jeff Dement, Tallon Vohland, Charley Bogard, Brian Swink, Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart, Davi Millsaps, Mike Alessi, Jeff Alessi, and pretty much every pro out there today all rode across the starting gates at the World Mini GP, along with thousands of other kids. We all really hate to see it go, and hope that it really is just postponed. Good luck, Mr. Henricksen.
Let's get into Racerhead.
NELSON DOWN, ROCZEN OUT, BARCIA IN BETWEEN (Weigandt)
The Easter off-weekend has the chance to coincide with some riders returning to action, but we've gotten mixed news on that front. Back when RCH Racing Suzuki’s Ken Roczen bowed out of the championship hunt at Daytona, the word was he'd take a few weeks off to rest his ankle and return in Houston. Social media shows us that Kenny's back on the bike, but then a PR yesterday announced he's not racing in Houston. My guess? Kenny's the defending 450 National Champ in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross, so the team is erring far on the side of caution with that ankle. He probably could go this weekend, but there's a bit of risk where measured up against a big potential title fight outdoors.
The situation is a little different for Justin Barcia. He had a major crash and injury back before San Diego, but he's back on a bike now and even did some outdoor testing already with his team last week. This week, Justin rode some supercross and appeared ready to race again, but he's not 100 percent back to where he was before the injury. He'll most likely race, though the JGR/Toyota Yamaha team will have bench player Phil Nicoletti at Houston just in case Barcia can't go. It's really a story of two different riders and two different teams going two different directions with the same situation. If Barcia had a #1 plate to defend this summer, the roles might be flipped.
We’ve also learned that TLD KTM rider Jessy Nelson is out for Houston. He crashed a few weeks back and isn't ready to race yet, as his team is also playing this with caution so he can be ready for the outdoors. Jessy is second in 250SX West points, but Cooper Webb pretty much has it on lock with a 30-point lead and two races to go. Webb, by the way, used the West break to heal up from injury as well. After his vicious practice crash in San Diego, we hear he needed some time to mend up, despite winning the race that night. For him and only him, the break ends at the perfect time.
COOPER COVER PROMO! (DC)
Speaking of Cooper Webb, we were proud to unveil the latest Racer X Illustrated cover featuring the Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha rider and West Region points leader on the cover of the June 2015 issue. This is the first cover for the North Carolinian, and to help him celebrate we are doing a Cover T-Shirt Sub Drive: subscribe now or renew and we will send you a FREE Cooper Webb cover T-shirt! The cost for a one-year subscription is just $20, but you have to act now—this offer is available for a limited time only and good only while supplies last. Just click on the banner for more details, then subscribe and get yourself a free Cooper Webb Cover Tee!
DUNGEY TIME (Andras Hegyi)
Red Bull KTM's Ryan Dungey has earned six wins and twelve podiums with just four rounds to go in Monster Energy Supercross. In doing so, Dungey became the fourth rider with this kind of efficiency. Jean-Michel Bayle, Ricky Carmichael, and Chad Reed all became champions with similar performances, and Dungey likely will too as soon as the checkered flag falls tomorrow night in Houston.
In 1991, with just four rounds to go, the Frenchman JMB had seven wins and twelve podiums. At that point Bayle had a 77-point lead over Damon Bradshaw. Bayle had 311 points while Yamaha's Bradshaw had 234.
In 2001 Ricky Carmichael reached ten wins and twelve podiums before the last four rounds. The GOAT became champion, of course, as he had a 39-point gap over Bud Light Yamaha's Jeremy McGrath. The then-Kawasaki-mounted RC had had 292 points while defending champion McGrath had 253.
In 2005 Carmichael did it again, only this time on Suzuki. Carmichael had seven wins and a dozen podiums with just four races to go. RC became again champion, the fourth of five times. RC sat 31 points ahead of Yamaha's Chad Reed, with 283 points to Reed’s 252.
Speaking of Reed, one year earlier the Australian had eight wins and twelve podiums with just four races to go. Reedy had a 30-point gap over Factory Connection Honda's Kevin Windham, 286 to 256.
Those statistics weigh heavily in favor of Dungey, who has even more advantages right now. Two of his main rivals—Trey Canard and Ken Roczen—are out of the championship fight. More importantly with just four rounds to go, Dungey has a bigger gap over next active rider compared to Bayle, Carmichael, or Reed before him. Dungey has an 80-point lead, with 296 points to Eli Tomac's 216.
Of course if Dungey clinches the title tomorrow night, it will be a historic night for KTM and Europe in general: no brand outside of the Japanese “Big Four” has ever won the AMA Supercross Championship in the premier class!
Podium Pleasure (Matthes)
No, Podium Pleasure is not the name of the local strip joint. What it means is that although we’re all pretty sure Ryan Dungey will win the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross Championship, and we’re also pretty sure Eli Tomac will finish in the runner-up position (as long as he doesn’t do anything silly), we don’t know what’s up with third.
Right now Honda’s Cole Seely has a nice shot at it, as he’s six points back of the injured Trey Canard, but also lurking is Chad Reed. Reed’s 15 back of Seely with four races left. The dichotomy of each rider’s feelings if they finish third will be something else. I imagine Seely, Honda, and all the sponsors involved would be hella pumped with Seely, a rookie, ending up on the podium after seventeen races. Reed, on the other hand, will probably not care all that much—his sights are set higher—but third overall is still nice for his sponsors to see. I like Seely’s chances to solidify a very nice start to his 450 career.
Of course if you’re Reed or a fan of his, you can point to his disqualification at Anaheim 2, which cost him probably a dozen points or more, but let’s not open that can of worms again.
PRO PERSPECTIVE (David Pingree and Jason Thomas)
PING: This weekend we head to Houston, where the West Region 250SX class steps back up to finish off their series. With the Texas round and a new one in Santa Clara, California, next weekend, a champion will be crowned (and it will likely be Cooper Webb). But coming back into a series after two months off is difficult. There isn’t quite the pressure these riders had at the series opener in Anaheim back on January 3, but getting back behind a gate after that long will affect some riders. When you’re racing every weekend, you get in a rhythm and you begin to relax as the races keep coming. This weekend you will likely see arm-pump make a prominent return and really mess up somebody’s race.
Most of these guys have been hitting the outdoor tracks and prepping for Sacramento for much of the break, and the two forms of racing require very different types of fitness, as strange as that may seem. I expect the same riders to be up front, but we may see a rejuvenated Justin Hill (Red Bull KTM), who should be healed from injury, as well as Zach Osborne (Rockstar Racing Husqvarna), who had been nursing a sore hand through the opening rounds. Houston always has good dirt and provides great racing, so this Saturday should be fun to watch.
JT: After two long months of waiting and surely outdoor riding, the 250 West boys are back—well, almost all of them. Jessy Nelson won't be in Houston, and that's a bummer for the racing. Cooper Webb has a 30-plus-point lead; barring disaster, he’ll clinch his first professional championship tomorrow night in the Lone Star State.
Most of these guys will be excited to race again. They haven't been in airports every weekend for the last couple of months like the 450 riders have. They have been forced to watch from their couches as everyone else went head-to-head. Whether injured or healthy, it's tough for racers to just watch. Every Saturday morning since early February, they have wished they were in action. That's just how racers are wired on a molecular level.
The real opportunity here is for Justin Hill, who had an underwhelming early swing of the series after high expectations. He has a chance to do himself a favor with the KTM brass, who will probably all be there to see if Dungey can wrap it up. Cooper Webb will be preoccupied with winning a championship, and with Jessy Nelson out, the door may be more open than ever. Tyler Bowers will certainly be out for a win as well, knowing he was right in the midst of this championship before a few mishaps. Osborne certainly hasn't had the series he wanted, so look for him to press hard for a race win, salvaging his West series and maybe getting what would be his first SX win. Then there is TLD KTM’s Shane McElrath, coming off a runner-up finish, even though it was two months ago. Who will find their form and return to the podium after such a long break? We find out tomorrow.
Wacko Zacho (Matthes)
With the unfortunate departure of TLD’s Jessy Nelson from the 250SX West, the runner-up spot in the points is up for grabs. Like I just wrote about the 450s, it’s not a spot the riders will tell you they’re happy to get, but it still means something. Tyler Bowers and Zach Osborne are duking it out for this spot, and if Osborne were to get it, I think that would be a pretty nice feat for him. The #16 Husky rider came out at A1 with guns blazing and looked great.
Then Bowers had an aggressive pass on Zach and may or may not have broken his thumb in the crash. (There was a big debate about whether it was the collision with Tyler or a later crash that did it; Zach says it was the rough pass and Tyler says it was the later one, and I say I don’t want to pick a side.) The thumb set Zach back for a few rounds. There were times Osborne looked pretty good and then would jam it and have a few bad laps. And of course I don’t think there was a ton of practicing during the week for Zacho. So through all that, for Osborne to get a career-best second in a 250SX series, I’d say that’s pretty good for him and his team.
TUNE IN
Make sure you tune in to tomorrow night’s race live on Fox Sports 2 at 8 p.m., hosted by Ralph Sheheen and Jeff Emig, along with Jenny Taft down on the track. And also watch Jim Holley and Andy Bowyer on Supercross Live! tomorrow afternoon as they bring you practice and the preshow. And check back with Racer X Online and @racerxonline for all of the updates from the pits and press box.
NEVER FORGET
UPDATE YOUR SKILLS (Andrew Fredrickson)
You may have heard, Mad Skills Motocross 2 Version 2.0 is now available on the App Store and Google Play! Be prepared to be unproductive this weekend, because there’s a bunch of new features in version 2.0 that are making this update well worth the download. The most impressive is the new Versus Mode, where you can battle an opponent (friends or random players) on a particular track. You’re given exactly 2:00 to set your fastest lap, and restarts don’t hurt—just make sure you have enough time left to complete your fast lap! Then you send your “friend” a nice and encouraging taunt so they’ll see who the real winner is.
That’s what it’s all about, right? Along with Versus, a Pro Career division is now included, and are twelve additional tracks, a leveling system, a bunch of visual rewards, and a faster #8 bike. Check it out, and play all weekend long. Click here for the update.
JS7 Pod (Matthes)
Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart and I reconnected this week to do a podcast about his time off, his appeal, safety in racing, and much more. As always, Stewart’s an interesting listen, and although he doesn’t do a lot of press, when he does, it’s always fantastic. Take a listen here.
NFL CAREERS (DC)
As Steve Matthes mentioned as we were gathering The List's Impressive "NFL" Careers (not for long), many people consider 80cc superstar Eddie Hicks a bust, but after jumping right up to factory Yamaha, Eddie finished fifth overall in his first outdoor national and had ten top-ten finishes in just twenty-six career 125 SX/MX races. Not too bad!
TEACHING THE CHILDREN, POSSIBLY WELL (Jason Weigandt)
This week, KTM invited me to California to attend its Orange Brigade amateur camp at Glen Helen, where all twenty-some KTM factory amateur riders got a chance to meet, ride, and learn. Yes, there really are twenty-two riders within KTM's amateur support network. Orange Brigade riding coach Nathan Ramsey ran drills all morning, and then the riders logged motos on Glen Helen's REM track. At night, I got to host a media training session at a hotel nearby. Now, I've never hosted a media training session before, but my audience was amateur riders aged 8 to 18, so they've never gone through one before either. It was a learning experience for all of us.
What did I teach? One phrase, over and over: be specific. If a rider really wants to cut through the clutter and make himself stand out from others—which then helps his personal brand and those who sponsor him—saying specific, interesting, memorable things that the press and fans will remember is the best way to do that. The only other way to stand out is to win every race you enter, and that's pretty hard to do. Telling the media and fans interesting things? Any rider can do that.
So I brought each kid up to the front of the room and made them say interesting things about their last race. No "working on things" or "we learned a lot of stuff" but actual specifics. One rider mentioned trying a third-gear start in a muddy moto at the James Stewart Spring Classic at Freestone a few weeks back. That rolled us all into a conversation about Andrew Short's third-gear supercross starts, which have become a huge talking point for Ralph, Jeff, and Ricky on the Fox Sports supercross broadcasts. Andrew's little start secret is a perfect example of one small, specific piece of information helping one rider stick out from all the others. It's the kind of thing Andrew has done his entire career—being up front, honest, and specific—and that's part of the reason he's had such a long and lucrative career even without winning every single race he's ever entered. It's a message a lot of the kids I spoke with, and their parents, really seemed to absorb.
The next day the kids were off to do some more work on the bike with Ramsey. It's all part of a really cool program KTM is starting to build, and a tip of the visor to KTM's Christy LaCurelle, who spearheads the effort. Is there anything KTM isn't getting right these days?
THINGS YOU COULDN’T GET AWAY WITH TODAY
THE GREEK (DC)
The List was based on "NFL Careers" in the Racer X Online Vault—NFL as in "not for long." There were some impressive single-digit entries, and we included Jim Gianatsis' one and only entry in this entry:
"Finally, we will close with one very short professional career—as a racer anyway. The legendary photographer Jim Gianatsis pops up with one finish, and it came the 1972 Road Atlanta 250 National, which marked the first-ever AMA Motocross National. He made the top twenty. Few would remember Gianatsis’ brief “cup of coffee” as a pro rider, but his work throughout the years to come as a Cycle News and Motocross Action photographer, as well as a publisher of countless moto books and calendars, will likely never be forgotten."
Yesterday I got this note from "The Greek" himself, Jim Giantastis:
"I loved to race and wanted to race more AMA Nationals, but I also had to earn a living, and as the National Motocross Editor at Cycle News, I had to report on and photograph the races, instead. I did get to race one other AMA MX National at Burnt Hickory, Georgia, and was excited to beat local hero Barry Higgins (Maico rider). But working an 8-6 p.m. job six days a week, I seldom got to race or practice more than a couple times a month, so my racing results did suffer. But I did earn enough points in 1972 to earn AMA Pro National Number 100, which I kept up through 1980. At that point my number was was given to Bob Hannah was was returning to racing after an 18 month layoff from his broken leg in a water skiing accident with buddy Marty Tripes. The number 100 paid tribute to Bob's previous AMA #1s at the time he was injured."
HEAD-SCRATCHING HEADLINE OF THE WEEK
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month
The MSF Encourages Drivers to Expect to See Motorcyclists
WHAT THE HELL MOMENTS OF THE WEEK
Monster Energy put together this new online show called Hot Lap, co-created by Ash "Dirt Shark" Hodges and Josh Hill (who's also the host) and featuring SX highlights, offbeat humor, and bench racing with Jeremy McGrath, Grant Langston, and Jeremy "Twitch" Stenberg, plus Seth Enslow as the house band and a bevy of Monster Energy girls. They even have Josh Hansen doing a "live" feed from the test track below Corona. It's 13:51 and, well, you have to watch it and make up your own mind.
RANDOM NOTES
Part-time moto journalist and all-around fan Michael James has had a tough go of it since suffering serious injuries in a road cycling mishap. He's trying to get back on his feet and back out to the races. He and his family have started a GoFundMe campaign, please check it out and help if you can.
If you watched the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament, you probably saw Rihanna up on the stage wearing a pair of retro AXO pants, circa late eighties (and the powder blue coat she probably picked up at the same thrift store was cool in its own right!).
Best wishes and speedy recovery to our friend Brett Cue, who did some damage to his knee a couple of weeks ago and had surgery a couple of days ago. He posted this @bq365 Instagram feed:
"Well, got some bummer news! After putting my knee on backwards a couple weeks ago, I'm headed into surgery to get it all pieced back together as we speak! Looks like it could be a long road to recovery before I'm back on a bike. I'm sorry if I ignored anyone who had asked what was wrong. But up until yesterday, I wasn't positive about the answer. Thank you guys so much for all the love and support! I'll be back as soon as possible, hopefully better than ever!"
Final preparations for the 8th annual Racer X Inter-AM are in the works.
This weekend's event features vintage mx bikes racing at the same track that hosted a round of the famous Inter-AM series back in 1971 &72.
Guest riders include 1973 AMA Champion Pierre Karsmakers, 500 National champ and MXdN winner Chuck Sun, Swedish star Lars Larsson, and UK factory CZ rider Mike George. Bike Week radio show generously supplied the special autograph stock shown here.
Motosport.com is sending a film crew to document the event. You can learn more and see pictures on the event Facebook page.
PULP LINKS THAT YOU HAVE TO CLICK ON
Our guy Troy Boy profiled Justin Starling this week here.
JT says don’t watch the races, he’s got a look at what’s going to happen here.
Our guy Moser sent out a bunch of texts to a bunch of industry people and riders to see what they did on their week off here.
Jason Thomas and Jason Weigandt joined me on the Fly Racing Moto:60 Show to talk about Houston, Pro Circuit, the GP’s and much more here.
So who all could you name in the intro photo from the 1985 Kawasaki Race of Champions at the World Mini GP? (From top left, standing): Jason Langford, Vince DeVane, Mike Craig, Rob Gordon, Lowell Thomson, Terry Bostard, Shaun Kalos, Canada's Rodney Himler. (Kneeling, from left) Jeff Emig, Denny Stephenson, New Zealand's Darryl Atkins, Colin Karcher, Australia's Lee Hogan, Scott Brown, and that's former Team Green manager Bruce Stjernstrom standing on the far left.
The overall winner? Lowell Thomson over Kalos and Langford.
That’s it for Racerhead. Thanks for reading, see you at the races, and don’t forget to get your free Cooper Webb Cover-T by subscribing now!