Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

AMA Pro Racing officials are claiming that they were not required to allow comment on the recently-announced, immediately-effective rule restricting who can enter both the Superbike and Formula Xtreme races and both the Supersport and Superstock races at AMA Nationals because it wasn’t actually a “rule,” but rather a “supplemental regulation.”

Allowing comment on proposed rules via the AMA website became standard AMA procedure after a series of last-minute, poorly-thought-out rule enactments outraged racers, teams and sponsors. The theory was that a comment period would reveal any unintended consequences of a proposed rule.

One fouled-up rule that helped drive the change in procedure banned any rider who was in the top 10 in Superbike or Supersport points from participating in Thursday practice. It was intended to keep factory riders out of Thursday practice but because it used points as a criteria instead of factory ride status, it also caught out riders like privateer Brian Livengood, who made it into the top 10 in Superbike points and thus was unable to use Thursday practice, for example, to learn Sears Point the first time he raced there.

AMA officials refused to change the rule when the problem was exposed, claiming it was inappropriate to make a change mid-season. But the rule has since been changed to specifically target factory Superbike and Supersport riders.

Despite that experience, AMA again used top-10-in-points as a criteria for the latest rule (uh, sorry, supplemental regulation) and again caught non-targeted riders in the net. According to AMA officials, they had to do something immediately because Mat Mladin entered the Formula Xtreme race at Mid-Ohio and ran in FX practice with no intention of actually racing, and other factory teams threatened to do the same, raising the prospect of much of the first two rows of the grid being empty when the race started.

But instead of specifically targeting factory riders as they did with the revised Thursday practice rule, AMA officials banned any rider in the top 10 in points in Superbike or Formula Xtreme from entering both races, unless he is top 10 in both classes, like Jason Pridmore.

One unintended effect was to keep some riders (like Josh Hayes, fourth in Formula Xtreme points, and Steve Rapp, sixth in Formula Xtreme points) out of Superbike practice while others (like Hayes’ Superstock title rival Vincent Haskovec, ninth in Superbike points) will be allowed to use vastly-longer Superbike practice time to set up his Superstock bike. At VIR, for example, Haskovec will have two hours of available practice time to Hayes’ 30 minutes prior to Superstock qualifying.

The rule also prevents Rapp from running any more Superbike races. Rapp went from last place on the grid to 6th in the Superbike race at Infineon Raceway and finished 10th in the Superbike race at Pikes Peak, but missed races at Atlanta (after destroying his Superbike in a fiery crash into an unpadded concrete wall), Road America (after blowing up all his 1000cc engines), and Laguna Seca (after separating his shoulder in Formula Xtreme qualifying). He started the first Superbike race at Mid-Ohio but DNF.

The new rule also came close to taking Jason DiSalvo, who has run every Superstock and Supersport race this year, out of either the Superstock class or the Supersport class–DiSalvo is 10th in Supersport points and ninth in Superstock points and a bad race at VIR could see him banned from either at Barber.

So, the question at hand is, what is a “rule” and what is a “regulation.” We looked the words up in the Encarta World English Dictionary, North American Edition, and found that the terms mean (no surprise) virtually the same thing.

Are AMA officials playing a game of semantics to suit the demands of the factory few, with no regard for the impact on non-factory riders?

You decide.

The definitions follow:

rule [ rool ] noun (plural rules)
1. principle governing conduct: an authoritative principle set forth to guide behavior or action
the rules of the game

2. usual condition: a prevailing condition or quality

3. governing power: a governing or reigning power
under Communist rule

4. reign or government: a period during which a person or group reigns or governs

5. religion, religious principles: a body of principles governing a religious order or group
the Benedictine rule


reg·u·la·tion [ règgyə láysh’n ]

noun (plural reg·u·la·tions)

1. rule or order: an official rule, law, or order stating what may or may not be done or how something must be done (often used in the plural)


2. regulating of something: the adjusting, organizing, or controlling of something, or the state of being adjusted, organized, or controlled


3. law, government order with force of law: an order issued by a government department or agency that has the force of law


4. biology ability of embryo to grow normally: the process or mechanism by which an embryo restores its ability to develop normally after being damaged or altered without creating new tissue

See related posts:


8/13/2003 Updated Post: New Rule Was Never Discussed By AMA Pro Road Racing Advisory Board

8/13/2003 New AMA Rule Will Penalize Hayes In Superstock Championship Battle

8/12/2003 Updated Post: Haskovec Banned From Formula Xtreme By New AMA Pro Rule

8/12/2003 Pick One: AMA Pro Racing Limits Superbike/FX And Supersport/Superstock Entries