pace car

[weggie_man]

So, Ron Barrick says AMA should probably do away with the Daytona pace car. Yeah, or get another driver since he can't seem to manage to do it right.

It's not that hard. I was the passenger in the pace car the first time it was used in a race (CCS endurance).

Barrick, the race director driving the pace car? What is he thinking? He doesn't have anything else to do during the 200? And he goes out without a passenger.....who the hell was supposed to direct the racers behind him?

Now he says that it had no direct effect on the race results.........bullnuts! Eboz and Duhamel were stuck behind that car nearly a full lap behind Zemke rather than in the pack behind the leader.

AMA...as Eboz said, "Each race it's like their first time.

[Super Dave]

I missed everything...driving to Chicago...and I don't have that on cable either.

I think they had Quarterley driving it one year once and it was a mess.  Can't we just make it go away?  is that so wrong?

[Super_KC124]

From Bostrum:

http://superbikeplanet.com/2006/Mar/e/n060311p.htm

"He was just like, having fun driving the pace car. Squealling the tires around the corners ..."

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

Glad to se the AMA is in good hands. ;D ;D

[Fat_Nate]

What are these people thinking?
http://superbikeplanet.com/2006/Mar/060311lst5.htm

[dylanfan53]

I love the part where he says Miguel just thought the pace car should have been his free ticket to get back in the race again after being 30 seconds back.

No Ronnie...the riders expected to live by the rules and circumstances of racing, none of which should include official incompetence.  The rules and circumstances are why they continue to risk life and limb to stay out there, even after they crash hard.  They know things happen, LEGITIMATE things happen, when the rules are followed that can change the outcome.


Then the comment that there wasn't a spotter in the car today because "Just basically we were short on personnel."

Right.  It's really tough to find anyone who wants to ride around Daytona in a pace car in one of the biggest races of the year.  

That press conference is big on excuses.  I'd have respect for him if he acknowledged that they screwed up and couldn't identify the lead rider, and then screwed up again when he didn't wave the appropriate bikes past to get to the lead rider.  He was more interested in defending incompetence.  

Bostrums, Duhamel et al are right to be p1ssed.

[Gixxer124]

"The riders still finished in the same posistion as before the pace car coming out" WTF Instead of being at the back of the pack on the restart, Eric and Miguel were 9/10 of a lap down. >:(

[weggie_man]

Exactly.

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

There's no denying that the pace car incident was a major screwup that affected the possible outcome of the race.  Don't AMA riders have the right to protest in a situation like that?  Man, the NASCAR boys would have started a war over such a mistake! :o

[weggie_man]

The rights of racers in AMA is pretty much none existant.

[tug296]

Incompetent boob.
In one swell foop he managed to ruin many racers positions on the track, 17 and 32 got the big screw.
 This is an incident where the 6 P's comes in to play.
Pryor- Planning- Prevents- Piss- Poor- Production.
 Barrick has no business being in the position he holds, I say step aside and let someone that actually gives a crap in, but he won't, he's making too much money.
 I think I was in that race when CCS Endurance first used the pace car with no problem, 6 hrs. at Daytona.
 Wasn't it AMACCS back then, and called the U.S. Endurance Series?
When we did the Paul Revere 250, we had a pace car with no problems, I remember being waved past the pace car with about 15 other racers.
 I think Quarterly just got a little excited when he drove the thing.

Seems like no big deal to Barrik, someone needs to make sure that it turns into a big deal for him.

[weggie_man]

Yes it was AMA/CCS back then. All CCS racers had to be AMA members as well.

The U.S. Endurance Series wasn't long lived unfortunately. Edmondson couldn't find the proper return on investment for it so it went away.

I know Yamaha is pissed as well as Honda and that may be what is needed to get things headed in the right direction. They piss off enough of the factories and their little game of upmanship may just bite them in the ass. They can only go so long before someone knocks their ass off that high pedestal they think they're on.