My Observations & Experiences at Cycle Jam 2010

Wouldn't a club org benefit from this since the club riders who race a number of events, possibly chasing a championship or whatever could "assume" that the PROS aren't going to take their money/points. I mean if I was a club racer entering the full national series (or even regionals), I'd be a lil disappointed if the big rigs showed up and snatched the money/points on weekends that just so happened to be prior to their next AMA PRO race weekend. I've heard of guys having a lil time off and entering on their personal bikes out of an avg sized trailer but c'mon, full support at a club race... hmmmmmmmm...

Plus with the spin that's put on everything in the media, the minute Bostrom or Hayes wins a club race prior to an AMA PRO race, I could imagine the opposition bitching and moaning (or at least mentioning) that they had a lil more track time because they decided to cherry pick two weeks prior at a club weekend (as if the team bitching and moaning wasn't allowed to do the same.)

 

lol Buck, it was great meeting you this weekend. :up: You can be our groupie any day.

 

DAAAAAAMN Palmer. That did not look like fun and I am sure it wasn't the least bit.

So are you gettn a Diamond Grill now to replace those missing teeth?

 

I saw one club racing team with a big rig out there. M3 racing has pretty big presence at the club race.

 

But their concentration is "club racing" and mostly regional stuff if I'm not mistaken.

 

If contingency pays top 3 or top 5 and you have 3 fast ass/heavily supported Pros entering (and finishing) the races on the box, it would kinda suck for a club racer to have spent/utilized numerous resources and $$$ to travel, enter/tire bill, compete, etc for next to nothing in return. The clubber might as well go backmark in the AMA for that matter or strategically run select events at Grattan/Beaver Run/Summit to maintain their relevance. I truly believe that PROS pulling off or getting DQ'd benefits the club orgs and the racers that regularly support it.

 

Hey buddy! I picked up your number plates this weekend. PM me or email me with an address I can send them to!

 

Wether it benefits the race organization as a whole or not, I have a higher respect for them as a competitor and fan when they do pull off!:up:

What's Bostrom going to do with a $50.00 cert. for Silkolene or a $100 certificate for vortex?

 

hahahahahaha... I feel you.

If it were me, I'd demand that my entry fees were waived (as well as a few other perks) if the org wanted me to go start to finish in return for throwing my name in the press release!

 

Two-wheeled affirmative action!

I liked it better when WERA guys like Mike Smith showed up on their own bikes and beat the pros, and as a result ended up with a ride on a team which will not be named at this time.

If if two-wheeled affirmative action was a good idea (which it is not), the problem is, in determining who should pull over and who shouldn't.

Is it the size of the truck you came in?

That was the view of the irate lady who accosted us when we brought 16-year-old John Hopkins to Daytona for the first time, during the CCS Race of Champions. He didn't win all his races, but when he did, the lady came over screaming that it wasn't fair that he showed up with the big truck and won.

Racers race. They don't pull over and give somebody a mercy win. And who'd want a mercy win anyway? A couple years later Hopkins pulled over and let his then-teammate Grant Lopez win a F-USA race at Road America, and Lopez was furious afterwards.

Racers race.

This is just my personal opinion.

 

PS: Often, people who want other guys to pull over, define the guy who should pull over as anybody who has more resources than they do.

They describe themselves as being a "true privateer" and call the other guy a "factory rider" whether he's contracted to a motorcycle manufacturer or not.

Racers race.

 

It's not a matter of affirmative action, imo. But if an AMA licensed racer shows up to race WERA, perhaps they should be scored seperately from the clubracing guys ('Pro' vs. 'Expert').

Then you can have good racing and club-level guys who can earn their carrot amongst their peers.

 

So, Melissa Paris Hayes shouldn't be allowed to keep her 2nd place in 750 Superbike from this last weekend at VIR because she has an AMA Pro license?

 

If it's my team and I'm running Bostrom, Acree, Lynn or Buckwild, the rider will finish the race (barring the usual issues). They will race for the win or whatever postion they are in. No pulling off as to not take away points from racer X, Y or Z.

But I don't have a team and who really cares what I think? lol!

 

I'd take that "mercy" win from a championship leading/contending pro in a heartbeat if it meant $1500-$2000 in contingency towards my program. Call me whatever you want...

 

I wasn't around those days and I'm only familar with the N.East / Mid Atlantic tracks. But what I witnessed on Saturday and Sunday was pretty much demoralizing for any club racer in those races.

But then again, I can see your point as to where this can actually help a club racer go faster as he or she tries to hang on to the pros.

 

If I remember correctly, the pro I worked with pulled over for any regional CCS race we were in but I believe he finished the national races. My memory is faded and we didn't do enough of it for me to really learn how the CCS stuff works. I do remember him pulling in on the last lap to avoid taking contingency from his friends that work racing with him.

 

I didn't even grid up for that 750 race Paris was in. Talk about a gimmie! There were 4 people in it?

 

My contracts say that and Hopkins pulled over during the CCS stuff at Daytona anyway. So you can't really control what a guy will do.

But in the case of a WERA National Challenge Series event, you can't have it both ways. It's either a Professional event and the guys who win are winning a National race, or it's not. If somebody with an AMA Pro license is excluded, it's not.

And if y'all are not saying that anybody with an AMA Pro license should pull over or be excluded or not get money or whatever, are you also saying that guys who started with WERA like AMA Pro Taylor Knapp and three-time AMA Pro race winner Lee Acree are included in that?

Is the definition of who should pull over or whatever, based on who you personally know and like? Truck size? Phase of moon? What?