Re: AMA Pros at club races?

[roadracer797]

Ok Dave got it now thanks for clearing it up.
He has nothing to prove to me because I know he is very fast.
Hey Dave you know you aren't to slow yourself. lol

[sdiver68]

Hey, I didn't mean to imply that Ed or anyone has anything to prove.  I was more interested like in the IROC series where they bring the best from several different auto classes and run them together in equal equipment.  Still doesn't prove anything, but sure is fun :)

[Super Dave]

I under stand (and thanks for the compliment...)

I would be cool to have a spec class.  I know some guys in Norway that race, and they had a series where you showed up with your shock, forks, tires and carbs.  Bolted it on to the bike and away you went.  That would be cool!  

I agree it would be fun to do something like that.  I guess I did...

In 1998 I ran the MZ Skorpion Cup National Championship.  You could put on a slip on, change jets, change the fork oil, change tires, aftermarket bodywork, chain and sprockets, and install a new dog bone at the rear suspension link to raise the back end up.  That was it.  Go.  Really fun, really equal.  

[the_weggie_man]

So...if someone buys (you don't have to qualify) an AMA Pro license you should not be able to come back and run club races? Or do you then say,"OK, you are a fast club racer, you qualified on the back row, now you can't race with us anymore"?  Where do you put the cut off on pro riders to not run club races? Top 5, top 10, 15, 20, 25??  Is that cut off point then a lucky 12th place one weekend or season point tandings?

Notice you don't see Nicky Hayden, Doug Chandler, Aaron Yates, Gobert, Roberts, etc. at these races. It's usually an ex-factory racer  looking to extend their careers a bit longer. In time they go away ... when the up and coming future factory riders start beating on them.  Those "future factory riders" are the riders not complaining about the factory racers but working on ways to beat them.

Go out and give them hell. As I once heard the famous car driver/ team owner A.J. Foyt tell his driver at Road America..."Quit bitchin' and drive the S.O.B.!"

[the_weggie_man]

Force him to ride a bigger bike?  Ed rode many a bigger bike in his day. I seem to remember him winning an endurance race in St Louis aboard  the Team Lockhart GSX-R 1110 a few years back.  Along with a VFR750 superbike, Kawasaki superbike, etc. and he was fast on all of them.

He is now enjoying life racing what he chooses and lately having a bit of a battle out front with some up and coming talent.  What do you do with him? Let him win while he can, the young guns are coming.

Force him to run a MW or bigger bike so we can all judge exactly how fast he is....

No offense to Ed as he's a great guy, but haven't you always wondered???   ;D

[spyderchick]

Aw hell,
         Let's dog on Ed some more. ;) I mean, Apparently Tripp Nobles must have been having an off day, right? Right. Ed is still fast. Congrats to Mr. Key on all of his National and Regional Championships.

[WebCrush]

old topic, but i was bored and decided to reply:

why not differentiate between 'Pro' licenses and the level of 'Pro' license.

For instance, you can hold an AMA Pro license and race club events but if you have a AMA Superbike license you cannot.

[Super Dave]

I'm not sure what it will prove.

If you have enough points, you can buy an AMA Superbike license.  Others that have enough points don't.  A license doesn't make you fast.  And an AMA Superbike license doesn't pay the rent.

[251am]

 There are a couple of issues and one currently standing example that is a parallel. issue a. professional courtesy: If you have a factory contract why cherry pick club races? If Larry P. needs track time at Road America or Atlanta, great. Let the checker drop on an up and comer. b. faster racers: following fast racers around the track makes me alot faster. It would be good for all of us, right?   Parallel situation: the AMA just banned factory Superbike sponsored racers from running in Supersport. I believe this came out of the whining of Miguel DuHamel about the Yosh team snagging extra practice time in registering for FX, using FX practice time, and then not gridding for the big show. The Yosh boys found a loophole that allowed them more set-up time and used it. Now the loophole is gone. So, where is the line drawn. Is it all AMA Pros or, just factory sponsored AMA pros. Pardon my ignorance, again, do we have factory sponsored racers in CCS? Is anyone here receiving bikes or motors from Honda, Suzuki, etc.?    

[Super Dave]

First, you won't see Mladin, Yates, or Roberts at a CCS event.  Their contracts will not allow them to risk themselves at that level.

Support.  Hard to define.  I was supported by Kawasaki for two years.  The focus of my program was local racing and my school.  Didn't offer me any advantage, but I had the support for my program.  It got a Kawasaki on the track for Kawasaki.

Others are supported by manufacturers, etc., in ways through parts budgets or deals on bikes.  Again it still doesn't make them fast, but it does represent the fact that they work hard on their program.  

For 2004 contracted Superbike riders will not be allowed to run in Superstock.  Or even any rider, I think.  Currently the rules are not set.

So, I think you can expect that Mladin and Yates will be contracted by Yosh to ride Superbike.  They will not be able to do Superstock.  However, Yamaha doesn't have a Superbike team, so Bucky, Hacking, DiSalvo, and Gobert will ride Superstock.

The Formula Extreme problem with practice time...well, superbike riders have been entering other classes for some time.  One of the tricks this year was that some of the top guys were entering on their superbikes, doing a qualifying time, and then not showing up to race.  This diminished the field.

The problem with the Superbike/no Superstock issue is that most AMA Pro racers do NOT have a factory contract.  So, they do NOT have the money to do three to four test days at each track.  Often, they rely on having two classes to run so that they can get some decent time so that they can get a set up together.  Restricting it for them will only hurt them.

During the year, the AMA put a program in place for top guys in Superbike. FX, and Superstock...  So, if you were a privateer guy like Brain Stokes, and you were in the top ten in Superbike because you persevered and did good laps keeping it up right, your reward was that you couldn't race in the other classes.  Guys like that rely on being able to make a good showing in those other classes to get support from their sponsors and to possibly make a little cash back.

[balistic]

I have raced in a few nationals in the early 90s and now an expert, would I qualify for the excluded list? how would it work? by lap times? If the guy is faster than the fastest local he can't race. If he's from another club and fast he can't race?
This would be a very slippery slope indeed. Fast is fast, having an AMA license doesn't make you fast nor slow without one. I can still qualify for nationals but I don't because those guys are trying to make a career out of it and I am just playing. I don't however have any problem taking the money at CCS event, If I can get it.
  the way it looks to me there are two types of club racers, guys like me who are having fun and guys who are serious. If you are in it for fun no big deal who comes, if you are serious then you welcome the challenge and see  what a tow can teach you.

Will Eikenberry #63 pacific

[laohu69]

 :)I used to box and I was a damn good ameteur. Would it be a fair fight if I crawled into the ring with Tyson, Hearns, Holyfield, etc.? No, they would have beaten the stuffing out of me. Would I have done it? Hell yeah, just for the experience and to say I did. I haven't raced in over 20 years and I'll be fielding a bike next season. If Mladdin, Yates, Bostrom, etc. want to grid up with me fine. Will they beat me? Hell yeah, that is more than likely a foregone conclusion. Will it prove anything for them? No. I have no problem with racing anyone who wants to come out but as a matter of common courtesy if you're only on the track to get in some practice time then pull into the pits before the checker and let someone take the flag who it would mean something to. I don't see how it could be much fun to win a race if you're turning lap times 5 or 6 seconds faster than everyone else, the result is a foregone conclusion unless you do something stupid. Besides which if one of the pros crash you can tell the story for the rest of your life about how you beat them, just leave out the part about them crashing.  :)