The USBA did used tactics to lure tracks away from the ABA, including track operator Gary Ellis Sr.,
father of pro racer Gary Ellis Jr., who ran the ABA affiliated River Valley BMX track in
Sumner, Washington State. This was an unsuccessful attempt to have Ellis transfer his allegiance to the USBA from the ABA. The USBA denounced the ABA and warned of its supposed imminent demise without saying how joining the USBA would benefit the track operator and what the USBA could do for BMX as a whole. While many ABA track operators remained loyal to the ABA despite its past problems, over 160 left to the USBA, effectively dividing the ABA BMX racing world. ABA had many creditors, some of them with substantial funds at risk that may have been involved. The
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was cited as a suspect since they had ongoing legal actions against them. Indeed, it was pressure from them that made the ABA file Chapter 11 even though the new owners were trying to avoid it. IRS agents were on hand observing the 1985 ABA Grand National in Oklahoma. It was very clear that they were under investigation. The IRS had easy access to the ABA's Bank records. Unless they had a court order, bugging a telephone line would be an illegal and unnecessary risk with little to gain. In ill-advised move, the new USBA management had business dealings with disgraced promoter
Renny Roker. This promoter who gained so much respect with his JAG World Championship series held from 1978 to 1982 lost all that respect with his ill-fated
1983 ESPN Pro Spectacular Series, culminating in the defaulting of the professional racer's winnings in the last race in
Burbank, California, including series champion
Greg Hill. His and other pro racer's checks "bounced" when they attempted to redeem them. For that and other infractions had made
Renny Roker a pariah in the BMX World. Thus it was a surprise for USBA who knew of Roker's soiled reputation to have dealings with him in any fashion. As much as it was ill-advised, they had an agreement with Roker that he would tape for broadcast on cable TV by the
Nickelodeon network the USBA's San Diego National held in early 1986. The USBA promoted heavily in advertising that that event would be broad cast by the cable network. Many of the top BMX bicycle manufactures including Murry, Redline, GT, CW et al. sent their
factory teams to that race in the hope of TV exposure for their products. Not only was that San Diego national was a typical low turnout USBA event, Roker did not appear to tape the nations for the promised TV coverage. The USBA blamed Renny Roker for making false promises to them while many suspected that the USBA used the ruse of promised national television coverage to boost their attendance levels. Whatever the truth it left many manufactures embittered toward the USBA for the rest of its existence. The ending of that existence was not long in coming. After a shaky first two years of operations, it met with financial problems during 1986 which was the result of low sign ups for its nationals that plagued it from the beginning. Factors that fed this apathy by racers were poor track construction; delays in running of races; equipment failure, holding their nationals which coincided with those of the ABA and NBL. For instance during the low amateur sign up (the professionals attended in mass) Pro Series No.3 held near
Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1986 the electronic starting gate broke and starts had to look back to an earlier era of BMX and manually drop the gate. This was on top of race delays and a poorly constructed, maintained and dusty track. In early 1986 to obtain more members, the USBA brought the
freestyle BMX National Freestyle Association (NFA) sanctioning body in early 1986 from Hutch Hi-Performance BMX, a bicycle company that had created the NFA originally in 1985. Within a couple of months the USBA itself would be bought out. Ironically, the USBA approached the ABA with an offer of a buyout despite its own financial difficulties. The ABA itself was in financial dire straits and was in
Chapter 11 financial reorganization. As it turned out, the USBA turned out to be in worse financial health and it was the ABA who would make a counter offer to buy the USBA. While the ABA was in Chapter 11, it could not buy any part the USBA or merge with it under the law as a company. However, two new
stockholders of the ABA
corporation at the time, Jamie Vargas and Bernie Anderson brought a 60% controlling shares of USBA
stock as individuals from USBA investor Ira Hall. Bernie Anderson and Jamie Vargas had jointly bought controlling shares of stock in the struggling ABA in April 1985 from its founder and president Merl Mennenga and took control of the USBA on April 1, 1986. By all accounts were turning it around financially. They allowed the USBA to run as a separate sanctioning body for the rest of the 1986 racing season. The two sanctioning bodies formally merged in 1987 after the ABA cleared Chapter 11. It inherited all of the USBA's 136 tracks and membership. The last USBA sanctioned (but under ABA management) race, the 1986 Grand Nationals was held in
Ft. Worth, Texas, on October 26, 1986, at the famed Cowtown track, an ABA affiliated race course. This was a next to last minute change of venue when the previously chosen site proved unsuitable. Approximately 700 racers attended in 116 motos, very well attended by USBA standards. It was by all accounts a well run race on a well received track. The short, inglorious days of United States Bicycle Association ended on an up note. ==Vital statistics==