The pros wanted a bigger purse that would be spread out over eight places, instead of the top four at ABA Nationals. This would ensure anyone making nationals would get a share of the winnings. The claim was that while NBL, NBA, and independent promotional race purses went up over the years, the ABA purses remained relatively stagnant. ABA races only warranted brief comments and listings of race results.
The Newport has a classic cruiser steel frame with CruzFit geometry for better fit and comfort. With embroidered spring saddle, dual density grips and larger pedals, this bike provides Schwinn Meridian the ultimate comfortable and stable riding experience. The V-luxe 7-speed index twist shifting system and Shimano TZ-30 rear derailleur combine for easy shifting and great performance.
Redline Bicycles had been sponsoring the Gold Cup Series for the prior six racing seasons. Today the Gold Cup Series Championship or simply the Gold Cup, is the second most sought after title in the ABA. The ABA felt it was a deliberate action to siphon off racers, particularly the pros from their season-ending Grand National. The hiring by the Knott’s Berry promoter Thomas Henn of former NBA founder and President Ernie Alexander to run the race (he also designed the temporary track at Knott’s) didn’t help matters. Alexander had a reputation of deliberately scheduling NBA events against the events of other sanctioning bodies when he ran the NBA.
Legitimate complaints regarding such issues as high entry fees and subpar tracks that hosted nationals have been lodged to the ABA. Mennenga designed and built special tracks to run the nationals. In 1978, the National Bicycle Association had 50 tracks and 5,000 racers.
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Redline/Gold Cup races are a series of regional championship events that are held mostly for the benefit of the amateur racer with a No.1 plate on the line for the overall winner of the age and classification. It originally was a one-off Jag like Championship race on November 27, 1981, in which the competitors just had to come in the top 100 in their districts to compete. It became a six race qualifying series in 1982 held in conjunction with standard nationals. Like in its inaugural year, the Championships was held the day before the ABA Grand Nationals in Oklahoma as a pre race.
The USBA, suffering its own financial dire straits, sold it back to Hutch who in turn sold it to the ABA. Several ABA tracks left the ABA and joined Roker to participate in his series which were to be NBL sanctioned. With this siege mentality in his background it was easy for Mennenga to believe that USBA stole the valuable ABA membership records to proposition ABA racers to join the USBA. While the value of this list would be a motive to steal it, Mennenga provided no evidence. The magazine had left the ABA on the verge of bankruptcy. The rising costs of the insurance crises of the early 1980s, with its skyrocketing rates, affected every sanctioning body, but given the ABA’s greatly weakened state it, was life-threatening.
The amateur girls class champion Nikki Murray (unlike the NBL at this time, the ABA did not have a professional women’s division) and the Pro Cruiser number one Eric Rupe also received Honda Reflex motorcycles. The events were restricted to pros, eliminating the amateur and children classes, and invested heavily in television advertisements. Races were held on Friday nights and kept to two hours in length, which fit a television schedule and the attention span of an audience. The increased exposure of BMX was hoped to spark an upsurge of beginner classes at the local level. Greater revenue was obtained from entrance fees, making the ABA less dependent on participation on the local level.