Editorial: Any Hope Left?

With all of the turmoil surrounding AMA Superbike and everyone wishing everything was "back the way it was" pre-DMG, it almost makes me laugh. It’s funny how quickly people forget the problems and endless complaints the riders and media had with the "old" AMA. For the most part everyone thought anything would be better than what was going on. The general saying at the time was: It can't get any worse, right?

Race promotion was next to nothing and as a result little to no spectators would show up for most races. The riders were constantly battling for safer tracks, or at least air fence, while team owners constantly criticized the always-changing rules. It’s for this reason that no matter how much us motorcycle people may dislike NASCAR, when DMG and the France family took AMA racing over, we all saw it as a glimmer of hope. I know. I was there both as a racer and a journalist.

To think that we all now wish the previous ownership was back is borderline insane. But it’s true. Little did we know, DMG, or more its then-CEO Roger Edmondson, would turn things on its head – and fast. Before the ink had even dried on the contract to buy the series (is it even paid for yet?) he had 1125cc Buells racing against 600s in the "premiere" Daytona SportBike class and was trying to eliminate Superbike altogether. All of a sudden, the old regime wanting to change swingarm pivot adjustability and Daytona pit-stop regulations from year-to-year, which was earth-shattering at the time, seemed like small peanuts. A serious game of hardball resulted, and thankfully we were able to keep Superbike, but with extreme rule changes that made it into a slightly modified form of the old 1000cc Superstock class.

Oh yeah, did I mention Daytona SportBike would be a rolling start, ala NASCAR, while a pace car was to be used during yellow flag situations? Aimed to keep the racing going for live TV, the intentions may have had merit but amidst all the other changes it was just too much. People were in an uproar within months of the takeover, Edmondson’s approval rating tanking almost instantly. It didn’t help that he called for riders to race at dangerous tracks like Mid-Ohio in the event of rain, and said they had the comfort zone the size of a gnat. Who says that?

The immediate effect of all this was factory Honda, after several decades in the sport, pulling out. The Red Riders kept its crew around to run Neil Hodgson on a Corona Honda, as he was to get paid in the second year of a two-year deal whether he rode or not. Ditto for Kawasaki, which farmed its two Superbike riders to the Attack squad, who then relegated the not-happy-campers to riding only Daytona SportBike. And things only got worse.

A botched Daytona 200, at DMG’s (their name is Daytona Motorsports Group) home track and under the lights for the first time, started the year. That was followed by a series of incidents, most revolving around the pace car. This all came to a peak at Laguna Seca when the miss-deployment of the pace vehicle almost resulted in some serious consequences and could have easily hurt or even killed several riders. This prompted me to write an editorial then as well, which I called DMG: Delusional Motorsports Group? It was bad. And while this was the result of a series of mistakes by several people on staff, the root of it all originated with one man - The Czar.

As seven-time champ Mat Mladin said after the race: “Umm, yeah, it could have been very ugly. I’m not sure what it’s going to take to understand that the pace car doesn’t belong in motorcycle racing. This isn’t NASCAR we’re not having a cup of tea in the race car."

As for the slightly more long-term effects, Honda and Kawasaki are now totally out of the sport for 2010, while Yamaha no longer has a factory team, farming out its single Superbike rider, Josh Hayes, to Graves Motorsports, leaving only Yoshimura Suzuki as an official factory squad. One factory team in the premiere road racing series in the world’s leading nation. What’s going on here? Not to mention Buell, the company they tried so hard to usher in as the way forward, even breaking their own rules to do so, going out of business. While most manufacturers cited economic reasons for pulling out, there was little doubt that if the rules had remained as they were the downward spiral wouldn’t have been nearly this bad - Buell being the exception. And as for the privateer, say goodbye to them as well, with the purse for Superbike now a measly $6500 (from $73,500) per round and Daytona SportBike cut by 60%, only those flush with cash will be able to race. And Johnny Rock Page aside, that's about 0% of privateers.

Just a couple weeks ago I was talking to a colleague about the series and it really hit me. There’s a seriously good chance that Superbike could potentially be a 10-rider grid. With two Jordan Motorsports riders, one Yamaha rider, two Yosh guys and a single M4 Suzuki entrant, at that time it looked to be the most dismal forecast the sport has ever seen. And that’s downright depressing.

Road racing is an awesome sport, one which anyone who has witnessed in person or participated in can attest to. No matter the bikes' size or power, if it’s a good race there’s nothing like it. Now I’m a little biased, but I think most of you will agree. Just look at World Superbike. Which, by the way, why couldn’t DMG have simply adopted those rules and been the hero of the decade? It’s so easy, yet apparently so hard.

Is there any hope left? Maybe. A faint glimmer finally emerged when AMA announced a couple weeks ago that Edmondson would be "stepping down" as CEO due to "health issues" and would be around to "consult" where needed. Reading between the lines: Edmondson was shoved out by the France family for single-handedly ruining the sport in a last ditch effort to try and save their investment. Fellow DMG man David Atlas (no, we're not related; at least that I know of...) was put in charge of day-to-day operations for AMA Pro Racing, and here’s hoping his ego fits through his new office door, unlike his predecessor.

On the heels of this came the announcement that Ben Bostrom has signed on to the Pat Clark Motorsports team for next year to ride a leased factory-built Yamaha R1 Superbike, adding another big name to the series. It’s also being reported that ex-MotoGP and World Superbike rider John Hopkins will make his return to the championship in which he got his start for the team that gave it to him. He’s linked to M4 Suzuki, which was Valvoline Suzuki during his first stint with Team Hammer, to ride a GSX-R1000 in Superbike next year. That’s two talented fan favorites to add to the faint list. While not a revolution, at least it’s something. In fact, it’s a lot more than we had three weeks ago when Captain Roger was still at the helm, and it looked like the sport was on course to be a glorified club race, at best.

Is it enough? Will the new guy do things right? How could it be any worse, right? Wow - Just had a serious case of déjà vu! While I’m remotely optimistic due to my love for the sport, Atlas certainly has his hands full. He could either be the hero or the final nail in the coffin. Let’s hope that great last name of his grants some wisdom and it’s the former. Frankly, it’s the last shot we’ve got.

P.S. Mr. Atlas, if you are reading this, grab the phone and give those World Superbike guys a call. They sure know how to run a good series!