Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Kneedraggers.com’s Matt Wait qualified third-fastest in Formula USA 600cc Sportbike Saturday at Daytona but will start from last on the 46-rider grid after being protested by title rival Larry Pegram. That could potentially cost Wait the Grand National Championship combined dirt track/road race title, and the $20,000 bonus that comes with it, due to a rules infraction.

“Paul Curtis, our head tech (official), had said that Matt Wait had left the hot pit and sight was lost of him. So that was not following our procedure,” said Phil Sberna, F-USA National Race Referee. The top five qualifiers from each of F-USA’s three dyno-controlled classes are required to go straight to the dyno for horsepower checks immediately after qualifying ends.

Instead of disallowing Wait’s qualifying times and placing him last on the 600cc Sportbike grid, Sberna, Curtis, F-USA official Randy Stem and CCS boss Kevin Elliott decided to grid Wait 20th based on an average of his Saturday morning practice times.

“Pretty simple stuff,” said Pegram before quoting Rule 7.2.1. of the F-USA rulebook. “‘All machines must remain on pit road until officially released after the qualifying session has ended. Failure to do so will result in loss of all qualifying times up to that point in the event. The rider may be added to the grid, if eligible, under the regulations set forth in 3.4.3.’

“You go to 3.4.3,”continued Pegram. “‘A rider will be gridded based upon timed qualifying sessions, heat races, point standings or by order of entry for that class.'”

Pegram’s motivation for wanting Wait to start 46th on the grid versus 20th on the grid is that Wait is leading Pegram in the Grand National Championship by six points coming into the final round.

At 5:05 p.m. local time, Pegram filed an official scoring protest against Wait being gridded 20th. F-USA officials quickly denied Pegram’s protest, and just as quickly Pegram paid $500 to file an appeal. An appeal board consisting of photographer Brian J. Nelson, Buell Racing Manager Henry Duga and Michelin tire distributor Frank Kinsey was formed, and an appeal hearing started at approximately 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the tech building in the Daytona paddock.

At 7:30 p.m., Kinsey announced the appeal board’s decision, saying, “We made our decision based ultimately on fairness to all the racers, what are the responsibilities of people who are professional racers and also what would be the long-term effect of interfering with the integrity of the interpretation of the rulebook…We’re all big boys. We need to know the rules. We need to know how to follow them. Sometimes things happen that look ultimately unfair. The organization absorbs some responsibility for managing things, but in the hecticness of what is going on, it ultimately still becomes a responsibility of the rider to know what to do and how to do it.

“We uphold the appeal, and Matt Wait will be positioned at the end of the grid per rulebook. No gray area interpretation of 20th place. We felt that would be something that long-term would sort of be re-writing the rulebook in the middle of an event, and we can’t do that.”

“It makes my work a lot harder now,” said Wait. “I’m a person. I forget things. After qualifying I wasn’t thinking about going to the dyno. I made a mistake. I went to the pits and didn’t go to the dyno. It’s a simple mistake, and I won’t make it again.”