Succession
Within the ABA there was a growing disaffection with the leadership of ABA. The disaffected ABA members believed that Merl Mennenga, the founder and President of the ABA, led the ABA into financial dire straits like the ill fated Bicycles and Dirt magazine affair and focused too much on nationals at the expense of local districts and tracks, thereby neglecting the sport's roots and potential new members. Mr. Mennenga's treatment of employees, the departure of former ABA Vice-President, Gene Roden, the BMX Action magazine and professional boycotts of the ABA of the early 1980s and his attitude toward local track operators was the genesis of the revolt. A short interview of Rod Keeling by Bicycle Motocross Action magazine (BMX Action) in its February 1985 issue reflected this idea:
"Our very first goal is to rejuvenate BMX at a local level. I believe that when the number of nationals gets too great, you take away from the local tracks. Next year (1985) we'll only have eight nationals plus a grandnational, and I don't think we'll ever have more than ten or twelve nationals."
He went on to say:
"We're also going to reduce the number of double and triple points races at a local level for the same reason -- too many big races. The track operator still has to have the opportunity to hold big races, but we're not going to have nearly as many."
Some detractors, not all ABA staff members, questioned Mr. Keeling's motives and commitment to BMX since he did not have deep roots in the sport either as a former racer or a former promoter. Mr. Mennenga also claimed that Mr. Keeling and the other ABA defectors gave him poor advice and that was why the ABA was in poor fiscal condition and it was a deliberate act of sabotage.
Some believe this is not accurate to what actually happened, as Mr. Mennenga was the sole owner of the ABA at the time and directed the sanctioning body in an autocratic fashion. Mr. Mennenga filed suit against the 5 individuals for breech of a claimed employment contract in 1984. No contracts were ever produced by Mr. Mennenga and the suit was dismissed. Many believe that the lawsuit was an attempt by the ABA to crush the new competitors, and while unsuccessful, it did bleed time and resources from the USBA and engendered the destructive atmosphere that was to follow.
Of the original five founders of the USBA, Dave Cook and Geoff Sims, both commercial pilots, left the company for flying jobs shortly after its creation. Soon after the 1985 USBA Grand National in October, Mr. Keeling was forced out of the USBA by the major USBA investor group, led by Phoenix businessman, Ira Hall. This occurred while Hall was negotiating a "merger" with the potential new ABA owners and Keeling became a liability to the deal. The 1985 USBA Grand National held in the Tarrant County Civic Center in Fort Worth, Texas, could arguably be recognized as the high point for the sanctioning body. With over 200 motos, an indoor arena dirt track and most of the top riders participating, it demonstrated to Mennenga and the ABA that the USBA was for real. After Keeling's departure however, the later actions of the new USBA management brought in by Hall would lend some credence to Mr. Mennenga's earlier charges.
Read more about this topic: United States Bicycle Motocross Association
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