AMA Pro Road Racing....thoughts???

[ssmotorcycle]

I know a few of you are memebers on Sportrider.com and are involved in posts with regards to the cancelled event at VIR next month. I put this on FZ6 Forum because I see a lot of knowledgable motorcyclists here, and I am curious as to the opinions out there about this unfortunate situation.

As a few of you know, I am a long time member of the media and have covered plenty of AMA events as well as Indy Car and NASCAR....even did Rolex Sports Cars this year. Anyway, I have many opinions from an "insiders" prospective, but I would love to hear what the fans think. This situation as well as the state of AMA Pro Racing as a whole.

Ride safely all.

 

[ssmotorcycle]

Wow. 12 hrs later with 20 views and no replies. Now I really see why motorcycle road racing in America is doomed. No regard for the very labratory of research and developement that brings us the performace adavances on the bikes we love to ride. Our Aussie buddy's are looking at this and saying, "WTF is he talking about???" That's because they understand the importance of the results on the track. So do our European friends. I am embarrassed!

 

[sharethesecret]

We were just in Elkhart Lake at the AMA's. There was hardly anyone there. You could sit wherever you wanted...unlike previous years where there was no room to sit anywhere. There were hardly any vendors there this year too...very dissappointing.

 

[callmegandhi]

We were just in Elkhart Lake at the AMA's. There was hardly anyone there. You could sit wherever you wanted...unlike previous years where there was no room to sit anywhere. There were hardly any vendors there this year too...very dissappointing.

I was there this year too. The racing was awesome but no venders, no people. The people that did show up were great! We had a great time but overall we all were a bit disappointed. I was there in 1999 and you could hardly find somewhere to sit, much less see the track. 10x as many people.

 

[abraxas]

I'm not in the states ....
Seems like i'm missing some important info ... road racing?

peace

 

[Old Fart]

I agree with y0ur th0ughts ab0ut AMA R0ad Racing.L00ks like the AMA is up t the same 0ld stuff with VIR drpping 0ut.I was l00king f0rward t0 riding 0ver. All the classes are really c0mpetitive and great racing.
I went t0 Dayt0na and Miller and H0pe t0 make Indy. I can't make up my mind as t0 what i like best Dirt Track 0r R0ad Race.


I t0 am suprised by h0w little f0urm interest there is in racing 0f anykind.

 

[iSteve]

The VIR race has been a great event that has been very well attended. Don't know what the AMA was thinking.

 

[04fizzer]

The big issue with any motorcycle racing is that it's not readily accessible on TV. NASCAR and even INDY show up on either local TV, or a basic cable channel that nearly every TV watcher has (yes, I know there are exceptions). I've only ever seen motorcycle racing on Speed, and you have to pay extra for that around here. There's just no coverage, so no one knows or cares about it. You want people to follow it? Show it on "regular" TV channels.

 

[hankhill11]

+1 to 04fizzer. I would watch a lot more racing if it were available. i dont have cable, and even if i did, i would have to get the 'next' level package in order to get speed. i dont like nascar but thats all i have ever seen on normal tv.

 

[ssmotorcycle]

I'm not in the states ....
Seems like i'm missing some important info ... road racing?

peace

Yes, we are talking about the premier road racers here in America. The same series that were the home of Ben Spies, Nicky Hayden, Collin Edwards, John Hopkins, Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer, Kevin Schwantz, Kenny Lawson and Scott Russel. I'm sure I probably missed one or two.

Basically the series was taken over by DMG (the same management group as NASCAR). They have run it right in to the ground and are losing some of America's best tracks. The fans are not turning up because of poor promotion.

As for TV, I see what you mean about (normal tv), but the biggest problem is not as much which network, but more what time they are showing the broadcast (I mean nationally). The idiots will show MotoGP and WSBK at normal hours (which I love), but for some dumbass reason, won't show the AMA races until 11pm or midnight. Makes no sense. We need to petition AMA and Speed TV. Give them something to think about!