Attack Suzuki mechanic Jacob West asked to miss the Road Atlanta AMA National so he could stay at home and race in WSMC competition at Willow Springs Raceway the same weekend, May 19-20.

At Willow, West rode his personal Yamaha YZF-R6 to wins in GTU and 600cc Modified Production. West also took second place finishes in 600cc Supersport, 650cc Superbike and Formula Two in addition to a fifth place in the premier Toyota Cup Unlimited Grand Prix. West parlayed his
weekend off into nearly $2000 in Yamaha contingency and WSMC purse money.

Meanwhile, Valvoline EMGO Suzuki mechanic Shane Clarke is making plans to compete in the Suzuki Cup Finals at Road Atlanta next October. Clarke’s day job is building and tuning GSX-R750 Suzukis for Ben Spies.

Fast Freddie Spencer, who won the 1983 500cc World Championship and both the 500cc World Championship and 250cc World Championship in 1985, was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on Wednesday, June 6.

An AMA press release on Spencer’s induction follows:

“The Thirteenth Annual Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Induction Ceremony concluded last evening, June 6, with nine new ‘Heroes of Horsepower’ joining the impressive who’s who list of legends inducted into the Hall of Fame over the past 12 years. Among the newest Heroes of Horsepower is AMA road-racing legend ‘Fast Freddie’ Spencer.

“Spencer’s racing career started in dirt track events at the age of five, and he won numerous amateur events and titles before turning pro in 1978 at 18 years of age. Spencer chalked up impressive numbers during the 17-year span of his professional career. He has logged three Grand Prix World Championships, holds the record as the youngest 500cc Grand Prix World Champion (he was 21 at the time), is the only rider in history to win both the 250cc and 500cc Grand Prix World Championships in the same season (1985) and the only rider to ever win the AMA Superbike, 250cc (Formula II) and 500cc (Formula I) events in one race weekend, which happened at Daytona International Speedway in 1985.

“By 1988, Spencer had effectively retired from Grand Prix racing, but in the following years ‘Fast Freddie’ competed in select AMA Superbike events, officially hanging up his leathers in 1996. Several years later, Spencer again partnered with Honda and began his successful Freddie Spencer’s High-Performance Riding School at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“The Motorsports Hall of Fame, recognizing AMA Pro Racing as the premier motorcycle sanctioning body in the U.S., asked Scott Hollingsworth, CEO of AMA Pro Racing, to present Freddie with his ‘Horsepower’ award.

“‘I can think of no honor higher than to be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame,’ said Hollingsworth. ‘Freddie Spencer’s accomplishments, in terms of races and championships won, qualify him to take his place with all of you. But, it’s how he won those championships, and the span of time in which he won them, that elevates him to the top of the podium.’

“Freddie Spencer now takes his place alongside nine other previously enshrined AMA greats, including Carroll Resweber, Cannonball Baker, Kenny Roberts, Joe Leonard, Joe Petrali, Dick Mann, Roger DeCoster, Malcolm Smith and Jim Davis. Along with these legends of two-wheel motorsport is a laundry list of motorsports icons that includes the likes of Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Carroll Shelby, Richard Petty, Henry Ford, J.C. Agajanian and the list just goes on and on.

“The Hall of Fame enshrines ‘Heroes of Horsepower’ into nine different categories from air racing to motorcycle racing, from the early part of the century to current champions. A panel of historians, retired competitors, journalists, and prior living inductees voted for the final selections. Each inductee receives the Hall of Fame’s prestigious ‘Horsepower’ award — an original bronze statuette created by Ann Arbor, Michigan sculptor Michael Curtis.”

Racer Ed Marchini and tuner Dave Pressler are at Road America pitted separately from the PJ1/Tech Star Industries/Team Turfrey 250cc Grand Prix team. When asked about the situation, Marchini said that he was not provided with what the team had agreed to provide him.

Team Owner Brian Turfrey was even more tight-lipped, saying “I’d rather not get into a bunch of mud-slinging. Ed’s a good guy. Let’s just say that we agreed to disagree and go our separate ways.”

Marchini is sixth in the MBNA 250cc Grand Prix point standings coming into Road America.

Meanwhile, Turfrey revealed that his team will not compete in the AMA 250cc Grand Prix Series next year, instead switching to 600cc Supersport.

“At the end of the year we’ll either have a really big sale or a really big bonfire,” Turfrey said.

With one lap remaining in the second Superbike race at Road Atlanta May 20, Harley-Davidson”s Mike Smith was running well inside the top 10 when he crashed coming under the turn 11 bridge. Smith”s VR1000 Superbike slid on its side, tore a hole in its fuel tank as it skipped over the outside curbing, and traveled all the way to the old pit lane entrance road where metal parts on the bike sparked on the pavement and ignited the spilled race fuel.

With Smith at a safe distance, his Harley-Davidson Superbike burst into a huge ball of fire.

To Smith and the Harley crew, it may have seemed like the bike burned for an eternity but the fire more likely lasted about two minutes before safety crews extinguished the flames.

Many people thought that the bike was a complete
write-off, but Smith”s machine was back in service Thursday, June 7 at Road America. According to Harley-Davidson”s Communications Manager Paul James, only the fuel tank/bodywork, wiring harness, and rubber hoses had to be
replaced. The bike was cleaned and a fresh engine installed before Smith rode the Superbike in promoter practice Thursday at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

Dr. Robin Tuluie’s Tul-Aris two-stroke Grand Prix racebike survived its first crash last weekend when test rider Steve Johnson lowsided at Blackhawk Farms Raceway near South Beloit, Illinois.

While the bike did not suffer major structural damage, Tuluie didn’t have a spare fairing and so went home.

Tuluie’s press release on the weekend follows:

“Last weekend Steve Johnson and I took the Tul-aris to the CCS race at Blackhawk Farms Raceway in Illinois for some extra track time, since our
last weekend at Brainerd had been rained out. We started Friday practice with our BIR set-up, except for shorter gearing. Steve started of with some 1:16 lap times, but the suspension was much too stiff–both from Steve’s comments and also when looking at the data acquisition. For reference, the lap record at Blackhawk is right at the 1:13 mark. We continued to improve
on the suspension, geared even shorter and made an adjustment to the rear suspension eccentric, which enabled Steve to hold a tighter line out of the bumpy turns. By all means, Blackhawk really isn’t the ideal track for the Tul-aris, it’s very bumpy and quite tight, but by the end of the day Steve had gotten into the 1:14s, and this was after 60 laps that day on the same set of tires!

“Steve figured that with fresh set of Michelin slicks (sent to us by Walt Schaefer) and installing softer fork springs (sent to us in the nick of time by Mike Watts from Ohlins) on Saturday we could try to shoot for the track record. Unfortunately, things came to and end in the Saturday morning practice session, when on a damp track, with a new tire and a temperamental (when cold, but otherwise awesome) front brake, Steve low-sided. He was okay, but the bike sustained some mostly cosmetic damage.

“Unfortunately, I did not have a spare upper fairing – which is exactly what Steve Davey at Carbon Fiber Specialties is making for us now, as I just send him the plug for the mold – so we packed up the bike and I headed home.

“Steve stayed on and won everything he entered on an Aprilia Superbike, great riding on his part.

“In retrospect, I was really happy with how things went Friday, Steve’s riding was fast and really consistent, and we really communicated well on set-up. Every change we made was an improvement. The bike ran all day, 60 laps, with no problems, we only made adjustments to suspension, gearing, jetting.

“I’m really looking forward to our next race at Brainerd on 6/22-24, where we will try the new power valve cylinders with special Hot Seat Performance 750cc pistons, porting and heads for the first time, along with some new brake rotors from AP Racing. Should be a rocket!

“Hope to see you there!”

The following is a press release issued by the AMA:

The American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation is pleased to announce the donation of 114 motorcycling books from the estate of Joe Parkhurst. The books will be housed in the archives of the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum in Pickerington, Ohio.

Parkhurst, who died last December at the age of 74, was the founder and original publisher of Cycle World magazine. In recognition of his contributions to motorcycling, Parkhurst is part of the Motorcycle Hall of Fame’s 2001 class of enshrinees.

“We’re honored that Joe Parkhurst remembered us with this gift,” said Mark Mederski, Executive Director of the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. “These books are an important addition to our archives — especially coming from Joe, who gave so much to motorcycling.”

The Parkhurst collection spans the spectrum of motorcycling topics–from road riding to racing, from maintenance to vintage machines. It includes
English-language titles published in the United States, Great Britain, and New Zealand, as well as several foreign-language books in French, Italian, and German. Publication dates range from 1947 to 1995.

The 2001 Motorcycle Hall of Fame class will be inducted during ceremonies September 8 at the Museum. The ceremony, and a reception the night before, will be open to the public.

Volunteers are needed to help set up 35 sections of Air Fence at Road America today, Wednesday, June 6, starting at 5:00 p.m.

Volunteers can sign up by seeing the AMA’s Hugh Fleming at Road America.

A Federal Court Judge has issued a ruling setting the ground rules for the AMA vs. Edmondson retrial and even the most optimistic of AMA supporters will have a hard time finding any hope of vindication in the case.

Judge Lacy H. Thornburg has ruled that the jury in the retrial will determine what damages (how much money) Edmondson is due, with the guilt of the AMA already established as a given. While Edmondson’s lawyers will be allowed to present virtually their entire case regarding the damages he suffered when the AMA unilaterally took over a joint venture established between the AMA and Edmondson, the AMA lawyers will not be allowed to offer any mitigating evidence or claims of innocence.

The retrial is tentatively set to start July 9 in Asheville, North Carolina and will be open to the public, including any AMA members who want to see for themselves how the actual court proceedings compare to AMA press releases on the matter.

In his ruling, Thornburg stated that the issues the jury will decide are as follows:

A. Plaintiff’s Claim For Conversion:

1. Did the Plaintiff bring tangible business assets to the 1994 joint venture with the Defendants?

2. Did the Defendants AMA and Paradama convert any of those tangible business assets brought to the 1994 joint venture by the Plaintiff?

3. What amount of damages, if any, is the Plaintiff entitled to recover of the Defendants for the conversion of tangible business assets brought to the 1994 joint venture?


B. Plaintiff’s Claim For Unfair Competition:

1. What amount of damages, if any, is the Plaintiff entitled to recover of the Defendants as a result of the following:

a. The Defendants’ conversion of the Plaintiff’s mailing list?

b. The Defendants’ assertion of control over the Plaintiff’s interest in the 1994 joint venture and/or exclusion of him from the business, including damages, if any, flowing from Edmondson’s loss of intangible business assets such as business expectancies and good will?

c. The Defendants’ misrepresentation to the Plaintiff of their intentions to purchase his interest in the joint venture?

d. The Defendants’ marketing and promotion of professional motorcycle races in 1995 and/or thereafter as if those races were the same product which had been produced by the joint venture?

e. The Defendants’ marketing and promotion of professional motorcycle races in 1995 and/or thereafter as if those races were a continuation of the series operated by the joint venture prior to 1995?

f. The Defendants’ interference with any contractual right of the Plaintiff when he was attempting to carry on his new motorcycle racing business?

g. The Defendants’ interference with any prospective contractual rights of the Plaintiff when he was attempting to carry on his new motorcycle racing business?


C. The Plaintiff’s Claim For Punitive Damages:

1. What amount of punitive damages, if any, does the jury in its discretion award the Plaintiff for the following?

a. The conversion by Defendants AMA and Paradama of the Plaintiff’s mailing list:
i. From the Defendant AMA?
ii. From the Defendant Paradama?

b. The Defendants’ wrongful interference with a contract right between the Plaintiff and Mid-Ohio Race Track for 1995:
i. From the Defendant AMA?
ii. From the Defendant Paradama?

c. The Defendants’ wrongful interference with a contact right between the Plaintiff and Brainerd Race Track for 1995:
i. From the Defendant AMA?
ii. From the Defendant Paradama?

d. The Defendants’ wrongful interference with a contract right between the Plaintiff and Road America Race Track for 1995:
i. From the Defendant AMA?
ii. From the Defendant Paradama?

e. The Defendants’ conversion of tangible business assets brought to the 1994 joint venture by the Plaintiff:
i. From the Defendant AMA?
ii. From the Defendant Paradama?

f. The Defendants’ assertion of control over the Plaintiff’s business interest in the 1994 joint venture and/or exclusion of him from the business, including damages, if any, flowing from Edmondson’s loss of intangible business assets such as business expectancies and good will?
i. From the Defendant AMA?
ii. From the Defendant Paradama?

g. The Defendants’ misrepresentation to the Plaintiff of their intention to purchase his interest in the joint venture?
i. From the Defendant AMA?
ii. From the Defendant Paradama?

h. The Defendants’ marketing and promotion of professional motorcycle races in 1995 and/or thereafter as if those races were the same product which had been produced by the joint venture?
i. From the Defendant AMA?
ii. From the Defendant Paradama?

i. The Defendants’ marketing and promotion of professional motorcycle races in 1995 and/or thereafter as if those races were a continuation of the series operated by the joint venture prior to 1995?
i. From the Defendant AMA?
ii. From the Defendant Paradama?

j. The Defendants’ interference with any contractual right of the Plaintiff when he was attem;ting to carry on his new motorcycle racing business?
i. From the Defendant AMA?
ii. From the Defendant Paradama?

k. The Defendants’ interference with any prospective contractual right of the Plaintiff when he was attempting to carry on his new motorcycle racing business?
i. From the Defendant AMA?
ii. From the Defendant Paradama?


Some AMA sources have claimed the retrial will vindicate the AMA and result in a damage award far smaller than the award in the original trial. If that is the case, Roadracing World will report that as fact. But as a handy tip, don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen. Our prediction as the only media source to attend the original trial and the appeal, is that the AMA will end up being forced to pay Roger Edmondson far in excess of $3 million. Our hunch is that the magic number will be around $7 million. Stay tuned to see what actually happens.

Sam McDonald broke the motorcycle lap record at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit in Hallett, Oklahoma Sunday, June 3. Timed by the CMRA, McDonald set a new record at 1:18.61 in the Unlimited GP race, breaking the previous record of 1:18.91 set by Rick Kirk in 1998. McDonald was riding a K&N Motorcycles-sponsored Yamaha YZF-R1 on Michelin DOT-labeled tires.