Ups & Downs

Ups & Downs

ROUNDUP

UP: To “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” for goin’ the extra mile. Not enough to merely host supercrossers Jeremy McGrath and Travis Pastrana, show producers brought in 175 truck-loads of prime hardpack to turn the NBC-TV lot into a mini-racetrack, complete with a triple-jump, whoops and a rhythm section. Both McGrath and Pastrana made multiple leaps on-camera, and McGrath won the one-lap Tonight Show Cup race (which started and finished on stage!), besting 16-year-old Pastrana by a mere .27-seconds.

DOWN: To the “Dirtbike Bandit,” for taking dual-purpose to the extreme. According to The Orange County Register, Howard Letzkus, 29, of Mission Viejo, California, is charged with 11 counts of bank robbery. Witnesses say the suspect would enter a bank, give the teller a demand note and then take flight on his street-licensed dirtbike. Fingerprints—not knobby tracks!—lifted from one of the notes led to Letzkus’ arrest.

UP: To C\N contributor David Booth, for putting Canadian newspaper readers on two wheels. Booth, a motorcycle enthusiast who writes a syndicated weekly automotive supplement, recently sneaked in a couple of bike-only sections, one in March and another in May. Both included color photos and riding impressions of the latest machinery. Keep it up, Dave.

UP: To Polaris, for going big. The Minneapolis-based ATV, watercraft, snowmobile and motorcycle maker inked a deal with fast-food giant McDonald’s to help promote the Disney movie, Dinosaur. Through the “Hatch, Match & Win” game, consumers can score a six-wheel-drive Ranger ATV, among other products.