JU's opinion @ RRW

just wanted to make a few comments about the article written at RRW. it was a very good article, kept my interest and i think that is the objective in writing.
i have to say that i completely, 100% agree with JU on this issue. any and all sanctioning bodies should listen and poll thier members about rule changes. but i also think that riders, sorry ALL riders need to learn how to stick together and let thier concerns be heard.
for example lets talk about safety, this has been an ongoing problem for a while in the AMA. lets say that several major factory teams showed up at a track. went out in one pratice and decided that the track was very dangerous and not "safe" for racing. the riders involved decide that they won't race. the teams turn around and call some "fast" guys from where ever and ask them to ride this race for X amount of dollars. will the guys that were called race? mare than likely they will.
the only way i see forcing the AMA to do things differently is show the AMA that the riders/racers/members should be involved in these decisions, is to stick together and not race at thier venues. i will probably get some real criticism for that statement but if no one showed up to race, the AMA would listen. its obviously that they don't now. but as long as racers show up, pay thier money, race under thier rules and the AMA can make money they don't care if your happy or not.
the AMA was formed by riders/racers to represent the riders/racers. thats not the case any longer. its now there to collect your money let you race under "thier" rules. that "they" see fit to change when ever and how ever they want.

[This message has been edited by brian (edited 01-11-2001).]

 

AMA definetly has had some problems with safety in the past. Hopefully things will keep improving. Nobody needs another scene like Jouliet a couple of years ago when we stood around for 6 hours for a decision not to ride.
In those situations a lot of time/money is lost by the teams/riders as well as fans.

Not to mention what a difference a couple of hay bales could have made out in Cali.

 

if its not safe to ride then i don't care about the money or time spent. there have been people killed and seriously injured when the orginazations know its not safe to ride. everything we've discussed should be pro-active not re-active.

 

Until Joliet, it was impossible to get the riders to stick together on anything, and even at Joliet several riders wanted to ride. The only thing that kept the boycott together was team managers and owners ordering the teams to pack up the trucks and leave.

I was first involved in trying to get a rider safety union together in 1982. It didn't work then, and it won't work now, because there is always some guy who figures it is his big chance to win and argues that everybody should ride, or just goes ahead and rides (see Kipp and Picotte at Mosport WSB in the 1980s). It is up to team owners and managers and motorcycle industry execs who don't want their riders (and son, in my case) exposed to any extra risk. The exposed concrete chunk inside T3 at Road Atlanta that broke CU's wrist (compound) in 1998 and ended Rodney Fee's racing career the same weekend was covered up for the AMA race in 1999 because we published its existance in RW, not because some riders complained.

Exposure and pressure is the key, reasoned arguments that stand on their own, published in print and on the net.

Which is what I'm going to continue to use.

 

FWIW, the World Superbike/FIM track inspector is the person who left the track setup the way it was at Laguna when Jamie crashed. The AMA safety person did not like the way the wall was set in that area, but was overruled... At least that's what I heard.

 

Isn't it crazy how AMA works just like the corporate world!!! JU, thanks for the article. I really enjoyed it.

 

I've tried to follow most of the recent beratement aimed at the AMA, and still be objective.(I actually can be sometimes.) I have never been an AMA or FUSA member, but due to the recent press, especially the 800cc Ducati thing, and 380lbs minimum for SV's, I wouldn't waste my time even thinking about the AMA.

Previously, there hasn't been any competition to the AMA, but now FUSA has stepped it up a notch. Is FUSA learning from the mistakes of the AMA? Are they doing things right in terms of safety, rider communication, etc, or has the program just not been around long enough to test the sands of time?

I suppose that you're currently in favor of FUSA right now, as I see that CU is going to be competing there, plus the AMA hasn't been very forthright lately.

I think it would be interesting to start contrasting problems that occur in the AMA with problems that occur in FUSA. Are they having the same problem(s)? How are each of them solving it(them)? If FUSA is repeating the same problems, then we'll know it's status quo.

When you address FUSA, can you bring up the topics that plague the AMA, and asked what FUSA plans to do to rectify that situation inside of their organization?

It's possible that I might build a better SV over the next couple of years and try my hand at a pro series. I've come this far, what the heck, but I sure don't want to be screwed like those poor Ducati guys were.(I'd probably be thinking legal action or guerilla tactics, if I were them.)

Hopefully, you get the gist of what I'm requesting, and will find some way to integrate it into the never ending tales of woe and folly of the AMA.

Thanks for reading.

 

Come on, dudes! I'm still workin' on solving the R1 dyno mystery. How many of me do you think there are, anyway? When is this assignment due?

You're losing points for reading comprehension, or for not reading at all. CU is racing AMA 750cc Supersport between his WERA and FUSA gigs, and 2001 is a four-stroke training year prior to his possible return to the entire AMA series in 2002. In 2000, Grant Lopez made some ridiculous amount of money in Formula USA, and that got CU's attention, as he explained in one of his columns that you didn't read before you made your assumption regarding his activities.

FUSA gains points for paying pretty well in 2000, loses some for cutting the purse in 2001 and not saying a word about the points fund status for 2001 yet, gains points for actually trying to listen to people, gains points for actually paying for a racetrack to remove fences (and paying again to re-install them afterwards), etc. etc.

What FUSA does not have is the widespread industry support that AMA has, nor the tradition AMA has. It will be a tough battle for FUSA to ever displace AMA as the top series in the U.S., for those reasons. That doesn't mean the competition won't improve the lot of AMA racers.

But ultimately, getting some change going at a non-glacier pace will take continuing to point out how incredibly screwed up the AMA bureaucracy is, and opening the public debate, as often as needed.

For racers, finding a way to continue to be able to race without finding one's bike to be instantly rendered illegal, with no warning, right after you built new engines for the following season, should be priority. As should actually making enough money to be able to stay in racing for a long time.

And one way to do that is by racing and winning money with FUSA...

[This message has been edited by julrich (edited 01-11-2001).]

 

Yeah and if I remember correctly it was also covered up for the 1998 WERA GNF; CU specifically asked Sublet about it there.

The point is, there is a real limit to what riders will and can do. And that publicizing all the crazy stuff that AMA does or does not do is a more effective way to make change happen. The fact that we're discussing this on a WERA BBS illustrates how far ahead of AMA Pro that WERA is in terms of gathering input and interacting with what you could call WERA Stakeholders if you were into that sort of terminology.

And just when is the last time you saw anybody at the AMA with a title even remotely similar to "Operations Manager" grab plywood and a shovel and go fix a problem at a corner because he knew it was a problem and had friends racing?

 

I guess here is a good place to point out that WERA has walked away from huge paydays at tracks due to safety concerns. (He asked me about FUSA vs. AMA, not WERA). If I had a legitimate problem with WERA, I feel like I could call up Mongo or Czar and get it handled. If I have a legitimate problem with AMA Pro Racing, I feel like I may as well stand next to the freeway and yell at the cars as they go by, because that'll make as much difference, even if I'm 100 percent right about something. One of their execs actually told me in early 2000 that I would have an opportunity to give input on new rules in the future, and asked me to cut them some slack in the meantime. But at the end of the year Merrill & Co. enacted a stack of new rules I didn't know anything about, so what happened to that promise? Nobody else knew about them, either, and that's just not right. And they're obviously not trustworthy.

So it's business as usual, and the way to make change is to expose the problems.

 

JU and the rest of you make good points. One thing in particular that I like so much about WERA is that safety concerns that we(the riders) bring to the attention of the officials get acted upon without hesitation. I think PACE did an excellent job at Pocono this past year as well. It was reported in the Sunday morning riders meeting, that PACE officials and others worked almost overnight to remove some armco barrier and fencing that was an issue. I'm glad to be part of those organizations that truly do care about the well being of the riders. Opie

 

I couldn't agree more. JU, I wish there were more journalists, like yourself, with the stones to defend us racers and promote safety and legitimacy within our chosen sport and/or profession.

WERA is a close knit organisation that sincerely cares for its members. I witnessed this first hand, and have yet to see anyone come to the aid of racers the way the Clarke's do. 'Nuff said!

 

i'm glad to see that everyone seems to be feeling the same way. but i do have one question for you JU. i race for s and s powersports who also selss alot of dirt bikes as well. we (alot of the local riders) have been going to these meetings with people from the hoosier national forest to try and get trails opened back up for dirt bikes. the shop in turn wrote a standardized letter for people to sign. stating our wishes and our concerns and then the shope mails them in when we get 20 or so letters signed. could you write something like that for us to sign and then print out and send it to the AMA? or better yet place it in RRW for people to sign then we can take it out of the mag. and mail it in.

 

If you agree with it, just print out the editorial, write across the top "I'm an AMA member and I agree with this", sign it, and mail it to Rick Gray, 53 N. Duke St., Suite 420, Lancaster, PA 17602. Actually it would probably be better to mail it to Mark Tuttle since he's Chairman of the Board of AMA Pro Racing and Gray is a Board member, but I'm at home and don't have Tuttle's address here. I got Gray's address out of the Feb 2001 issue of American Motorcyclist, page 8, because he's also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of AMA, as well as a member of the AMA Pro Racing Board. Tuttle's address isn't listed. You can call Natalie at Roadracing World (909-245-6411) during business hours and get Tuttle's address or maybe AMA Pro Racing (614-856-1920) will give it to you. Maybe Tuttle's address is on the AMA website, www.amadirectlink.com, I'm not sure. Of course you could also contact Merrill Vanderslice, AMA Pro Racing Director of Competition, but my recent experience says that's a waste of time 99.9999837% of the time. Oh, what the hell, 100% of the time.

Good luck, Brian, and thanks for the effort. I hope to see you at the races.

 

thanks for the reply! i would like to encourage everyone to get involved with the issues at hand. if we could get the ama on the right track and some day make road racing in america as big as it is in the european countries. it would blow most peoples mind as to how big the club racing events are over there. the better pro racing is the better club racing is!!

 

IMHO:

What the AMA riders need is something akin to the Formula 1 drivers association. Take someone who is not a competitor and make the decisions for the AMA. The AMA has no show without the riders. The safety assoc. can then get things done. Being a member of the assoc. would require riders to stand together and hopefully make a positive impact on the sport.

 

That's exactly what Dan Lance has done for the past couple of years. Then again, he wasn't a full-time AMA employee, and he won't be doing the same job this year.

 

I recall doing any number of things at Road Atlanta for the GNF and other Nationals that were either the result of conversations some one had with Bargey, Sublet or myself. Every one of them resulted in a lot of sweat, clay on me and my clothes, and an inch or so of clay, hay, oil dry, grease and holes in the back of the seats in my van. Mrs. Rain Director hated the dirt in the van part the most, but she never said "Go buy a pick-up truck to replace The Great Pumpkin."

Track persons questioned me closely as to why I wanted wood pallets, plywood, picks, shovels and other implements of destruction. My stock answer was "I'm on a mission from God."

One of the more creative ones was the placement of some 200 plastic trash barrels in front of the Jersey barrier on rider's left in turn 4, then fronting those barrels with hay bales.

I believe it was 1998 (97?). Track Security was chasing my butt for "stealing the trash cans" from the "new" pits. Any number of people asked me why we placed the barrels in that turn. The question turned mute when on Saturday, on of JU's Young Guns parked a GSXR on the OTHER SIDE of the barrier. As I recall, the young man - heck, he was a kid, like 16 - walked back to the pits. We re-positioned the barrels, put a few new bales in place, and then figured that the bike retrieval process could wait til the morning.

As I recall, Keith P. and a small army he enlisted retrieved the bike from a point some 30 feet below the track level. Amzingly, the bike started and was pushed/ridden/walked through a drain culvert that runs under the track to get to track level. I heard some one rode the bike back to the pits.

JU can verify, deny or correct the facts involved. What remains in my mind is that this was a pro-active action WERA undertook that allowed the young man to ride the next day.

THE Rain Director