What happened to the Boo Koo Arenacross series?? They have not posted a schedule and all the numbers are out of service.
Bill Petitt
Dear Bill,
No more BooKoo photo: Steve Bruhn
The BooKoo series is dead. Because Live Nation promotes the AMA series (Boo Koo’s competitor) Mike Kidd and his team were having a hard time advertising on many popular radio stations in their venue’s markets (Live Nation also owns just about every big radio station). Because of that and also because it was a first-year series, the BooKoo series just didn’t pan out. Sure, the purse money was great and Mike Kidd always ran a great program but at the end of the day the manufacturers are hesitant to support anything if it isn’t an AMA championship. To make matters worse, the champion in that series, Darcy Lange, is on the sidelines for the entire season battling cancer! Things just haven’t gone the way they hoped all around. It was good for some riders, monetarily, but splitting the talent up between two series was also bad for the fans. I will miss Erin Normoyle though, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.
PING
Ping,
I just watched the first moto of Steel City. As I was watching Gavin Gracyk riding his ass of in the top five, Jeff "Back when I raced at this track.." Emig mentioned that there was a rumor Gracyk was running too many cc's in his bike. It was also said that Gracyk offered five grand to whoever wanted to check his bike. This pisses me off. This guy is beating factory guys every week on a privateer bike. Now people think he's cheating? I really don't think a 450 needs anymore displacement. Even if he was running a little more than 450cc's, he still doesn't have the suspension and titanium parts of the factory guys. I think Gavin Gracyk deserves a factory ride more than most other guys. Vuilleminn gets a factory ride and Hansen gets basically a factory ride? Hansen can't even handle the outdoors and yes I believe you could kick his ass nine ways to Sunday at a national. My only question is do you think this guy deserves a factory ride or what?
By the way I am a true Ping fan. I got a signed radiator shroud off your '95 Splitfire KX from Southwick that I proudly hung on my garage wall. Some guys would throw that shroud on Ebay and cash in on the thousands it would bring, but I know I have a true piece of MX history and could never do such a thing.
Thanks Ping,
Brad Fischer.
Dear Brad,
You can buy Ping's helmet on eBay, but not his '95 Splitfire Kawasaki plastic.
The factories and their riders get a little frustrated when a full-blown privateer starts beating them to the first turn and especially to the finish line. And it can make some of them speculate about how that is happening. Gavin Gracyk wasn’t cheating and his 5k offer was pretty solid proof of that. I think the only reason Gavin didn’t land a factory ride for 2008 is because he has yet to prove himself in Supercross. Don’t get your Fruit of the Looms in a bunch, Brad. Gavin has a great deal with the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/Honda team this year. He might not be raking in the cash like a Detroit crack dealer but he will have great bikes to go out and show everyone that he has skills in the stadiums too. And I believe he does. I totally appreciate that you are a fan of mine; that is truly heart-warming. I’m feeling all warm and fuzzy inside about it. But I feel like I should tell you that that piece of old-school green plastic on your garage wall isn’t worth two squirts of pee-pee on the internet. Trust me; I’ve looked thoroughly. So I hope you really were planning on keeping it.
PING
Hey Ping,
What did you think of the U.S. Open on CBS ?? To quote the Simpsons comic book guy, "Worst show ever". A 90 minute broadcast to show 2 nights of racing, and they only showed about 15 minutes of Saturday nights main? As a racer I am insulted with all the fluff they show, and if I was new to the sport, I would have changed the channel after the first 20 minutes of wasted airtime. And motocross on Speed only showing the second moto??? It is time the MX Nation stands up and tells these channels to get a clue. Racers and fans want to see racing. So, you being a former tv announcer, I ask you to lead the way, or point us in some direction to tell the powers that be to do it right.
Thanks, Paul
Dear Paul,
First of all, your Simpson’s reference was “excellent.” I didn’t catch the U.S. Open show but I definitely liked the old format of the national telecast better. It seems like they should show the good racing that was caught on tape, regardless of what moto it was in. And the fluffy stuff that they show before and between the races is, well, let’s just say I’d usually rather see more racing. Mrs. Bates is fabulous for sure but I can watch Baywatch reruns if that’s what I’m looking for. Unfortunately, not everything is caught on tape. If a pass happens when a camera is focused on something else there isn’t much you can do about it. The producers can’t show what they don’t have. And by the time the commentators voice the race over (if it isn’t live to tape) the show is already put together. So, it’s not like you can change it afterwards. If you have respectful suggestions you should send them to SPEED. I can only assume that they take fan input seriously. If you have something disrespectful to say then send it to me because I get a kick out of reading it.
PING
