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Edited Date/Time
5/17/2019 3:26pm
https://racerxonline.com/2019/05/10/the-rise-fall-of-no-fear
I grew up with these guys, met them in FL in late 70's early 80's remember the whole story from the beginning...called Surwall Screwball...Mark and Brian were really just a couple of goofballs that wouldn't take no for an answer...was a great time to be part of moto...years later was at a Trans Am car race and ran into to Brian who invited me into his motorhome and we benchraced like it was yesterday...oh the stories we could tell!!...few know that Mark & Brian's last name was really Simonitus...
I grew up with these guys, met them in FL in late 70's early 80's remember the whole story from the beginning...called Surwall Screwball...Mark and Brian were really just a couple of goofballs that wouldn't take no for an answer...was a great time to be part of moto...years later was at a Trans Am car race and ran into to Brian who invited me into his motorhome and we benchraced like it was yesterday...oh the stories we could tell!!...few know that Mark & Brian's last name was really Simonitus...
Talking to the protagonists, getting the facts. Completely real. We need more stuff like this. Great journalism.
I wonder what he means at the end of the story
The very last paragraph when he says the industry is gone?
What we got to really realize, stepping back, the entire industry that we were party to is gone. It’s not a little gone. It’s gone. If you look at the legacy and the country club of people we sat with—the Quicksilvers, the Billabongs—we brought the gears and oil to the action-sports industry. Although industries change and move on, the industry is gone. So no matter what we would have done, our ride was coming to an end.
The Shop
Plus, and this is a big one- people don't want to be Eli Tomac, Cooper Webb or Marvin Musquin the way they wanted to be RJ, Lechien, Bailey, Ward and McGrath and Pastrana. Those guys were cool and seemed to be having fun (Ward was the most serious). Guys today don't seem to be having fun at all! Especially Tomac. Moto in the 90s was a lifestyle, but something happened.
No Fear also hit people over the head because the name alone reflected a mentality and a way of life that people could instantly connect with.
"The gear came out in September, and in four months we did $4 million in gear. When I sold it, we were about just over $20 million in sales. We didn’t have the rights for casual clothing. That was the main brand. We had a helmet and boots and a chest protector, simple stuff. The gear part of it grew quick."
I wonder how they got the money out of it.
Did they pay themselves hefty salaries?
Did they take big bonuses?
Bankruptcy is mentioned, and even tho it sounds like the kind where you reorganize, I have a feeling that ship did not sail for long after that.
I was big into skateboarding in the late 80’s so it was cool hearing about all the life’s a beach and bad boy club stuff.
But the "oral history" style is a poor fit for what is essentially a business story. We could have used more narrative to better show the facts and timeline - it's still quite muddy on what actually happened and this is a giant article.
But those guys DID look like they were having fun! I don’t get that vibe from modern racing—the bar is so high in so many ways. You don’t see guys partying together like MC and Fro after the races
Pit Row
And as a 40 year veteran of this industry, we are in trouble.
This is only my opinion. Great read... i always wanted to know a little more of the back story.
Would still love to hear the "drill down" on what exactly went down with Laurens....
Somebody should make this story into a short documentary (here's looking at you Motocross Files dude)!
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