Crossover Appeal

The big sign alongside Edison Field on Interstate 57 says it all:

TONIGHT’S EVENT IS SOLD OUT

Four times out of four, EA Supercross has filled stadiums this season, twice at Edison Field, once at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium and last Saturday night at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix.

No. 5, Saturday night at Edison Field, is expected to be the same.

What is the appeal of supercross?

First, for the uninitiated, what is supercross?

It is an encapsulated version of the exciting European sport of motocross, where races are held over natural terrain well away from cities.

It has all the ingredients for today’s success story--speed, daring, spectacle, color, athleticism and noise, lots and lots of noise.

In 1971, at the U.S. Motocross Grand Prix in the hills outside of Carlsbad, Mike Goodwin conceived the idea of packaging the outdoor excitement and putting it in the Coliseum, where spectators could enjoy motorcycle racing while sitting down in a clean environment. A year later he organized what he called the Super Bowl of Motocross, and in the three decades since it has evolved into cycling’s fastest growing and most successful sport with a new name, supercross.

(Goodwin faces two counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the 1988 slayings of racing promoter Mickey Thompson and his wife Trudy. )

In 16 events last year, the American Motorcyclist Assn.-sanctioned series attracted 791,273 fans, an average of 49,455. Already this year, attendance has been up at Anaheim, San Diego and Phoenix.

But why?

“Watching the start, all those guys revving it up to the first turn, is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done in my life,” gushed Diana, a 20ish woman wearing shorts and a halter top partially covered by a leather racing jacket.

Danny, her companion from La Mirada, said: “I haven’t missed a supercross for 18 years at Anaheim or the Coliseum.”

The start of the Indianapolis 500, universally considered the most exciting moment in motor racing, has three cars abreast as they head for the first turn.

In supercross, there are 20 riders, lined up side-by-side for a make-or-break dash to the first turn of a man-made obstacle course that includes double and triple jumps--some as high as a three-story building--tight U-turns and a series of whoop-de-doos, which are closely spaced bumps, similar to moguls in snow skiing, designed to shake the handlebars out of a rider’s hands.

“If you don’t get the hole-shot, you can feel like a pinball in the middle of that pack,” said defending supercross champion Ricky Carmichael, who won last Saturday night’s event in Phoenix.

Supercross appeals to Generation X, with its extreme sports attitude, and an older generation of fans from the ‘70s who contributed to the off-road and desert motorcycle riding boom of their era and now enjoy sitting and watching.

“It’s a combination of great events, in great locations, with great athletes performing spectacularly [and] close to the spectators,” said Scott Hollingsworth, AMA chief executive officer. “It is visually exciting to watch and what separates it from freestyle jumping is that it is racing. Jumping is only one element. Speed is another. The combination is addictive.”

Jeremy McGrath, the sport’s best known superstar, has been the catalyst in its remarkable growth. The winner of seven of the last nine championships and 74 individual events (next best is Rick Johnson’s 28), the 30-year-old from Encinitas has become a cottage industry.

He has his own line of riding gear, a toy X-Treme Cycle, a radio-controlled motorcycle, complete with a figure of McGrath; X-Treme Motocross, with replica motorcycles featuring race action on a simulated motocross track; and a Jeremy McGrath line of Hot Wheels. He even has a signature shoe, the MC1.

“Jeremy has done for supercross what Michael Jordan did for basketball,” said Ken Hudgens, vice president of Clear Channel Entertainment, promoters of the EA Supercross season. “Every sport needs a superstar who has personality and helped get the sport out to people who might not otherwise be interested. Jeremy is not only a great rider, but he’s a great ambassador for supercross.”

A few years ago, McGrath was so dominating that he developed a spectacular midair trick he called “Nac-Nac,” in which he takes one foot off the foot peg and swings it back over the other side of the bike, as though he’s dismounting the bike in midair.

It was his Nac-Nacs that led to the increasingly popular X Games sport of freestyle jumping.

“I don’t know whether to call McGrath a breakthrough or a crossover from supercross to X Games,” Hollingsworth said. “Clearly he is the breakthrough for supercross’ increasing popularity and he is the crossover that has brought a whole new generation of fans.

“The Bob Hannahs of the world are still highly regarded, but outside the motorcycle industry they are not well known. McGrath has taken the sport public, so to speak.”

Roy Janson, vice president of operations for Clear Channel Entertainment, seconds the McGrath theory.

“There is no question that his impact has been significant, for a couple of reasons,” Janson said. “One, he dominated the series for the decade of the ‘90s and also, in a way that is not in the record book, he has been a really wonderful image for the sport. His professionalism and accessibility to his fans has been remarkable, considering his successes.

“Jeremy’s influence is seen at the turnstiles. Even though he totally dominated the sport, people came to see him perform, to see him win. He had the same impact on our sport that Tiger Woods had on golf.”

Johnson, who was supercross’ superstar before wrist injuries cut short his career in 1991, believes that the sport’s popularity is an offshoot of the off-road motorcycle boom of the ‘70s when the film “On Any Sunday” stimulated interest in riding.

“All of those young people who went riding in the desert and the mountains are grown now and enjoy watching supercross because, having ridden a bike themselves, they can appreciate the difficulty and the athletic ability of today’s riders,” said Johnson, who runs the supercross.com Web site.

“Anyone who has ridden at all knows how amazing it is to defy gravity the way SX riders do every lap. And those people are coming to the races with their children. I have been amazed how many families are at supercross events.

“Supercross is also like Winston Cup racing. All the major riders are at every event, so when you go you see the best, all of them. In most sports, you only see two teams, or even in golf and tennis, all the top players are not in every event. In supercross, they’re all there.”

They also are available for autographs in the pits before each event.

Between afternoon practice and the first heat race, teams schedule signing sessions for their riders. Usually fans are given pictures to be autographed, but they often bring toys, model motorcycles and shirts; some even ask to have a rider sign their backs or their arms.

“One of the most difficult duties I have as PR director for Kawasaki is cutting off the line every week,” said Tony Gardea, who had Carmichael last year and this year has 125cc phenom James “Bubba” Stewart. “If we let everyone in, Ricky and James would be signing for eight hours.”

Hudgens said the autograph sessions serve a double purpose.

“We found a couple of years ago that we had a big problem with so many people arriving late,” Hudgens said. “It created problems with parking, traffic and getting people seated. We decided if a person had an event ticket, we would make the pits open to them between 12:30 and 5:30 so they could see the bikes up close and get autographs.

“It’s pretty unique. You couldn’t go to a Laker game three hours early and line up for Shaq’s and Kobe’s autograph.”

Five-time world champion Roger DeCoster, widely considered the greatest motocross rider of all time when he was winning races in the ‘70s, sees his sport benefiting from problems in more conventional stick-and-ball sports.

“I think sports fans get sick and tired of hearing about salaries getting so far out of control, ballplayers getting into all kinds of trouble and all the violence,” said DeCoster, a native of Belgium who now manages of the U.S. Suzuki team.

“The more it sours them on other sports, when they hear about motocross or supercross, they decide to give it a look.”

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At a Glance

* What--EA Supercross Series, fifth of 16 events for 250cc and 125cc motorcycles.

* Where--Edison Field, Anaheim.

* When--Saturday, 7 p.m.; practice at 12:30 p.m.

* Series leaders--250cc--David Vuillemin, France, Yamaha, 92 points; Mike LaRocco, South Bend, Ind., Honda, 85; Travis Pastrana, Annapolis, Md., Suzuki, 66; Ricky Carmichael, Havana, Fla., Honda, 62. 125cc--James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., 94; Ivan Tedesco, Albuquerque, N.M., Yamaha, 69; Travis Preston, Hesperia, Honda, 64.

* Admission--$25-$40, children $10-$40, tickets available through Ticketmaster and at Edison Field.