Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Rampant paddock rumors at Mid-Ohio say that the 2005 edition of the Daytona 200 by Arai at Daytona International Speedway could be an AMA Formula Xtreme race while the AMA Superbike class runs a shorter distance, as few as 12 laps.

“There are a lot of things on the table. That is one thing,” said AMA Pro Racing Vice President – Director of Communications, Kerry Graeber. “We’re continuing conversations with Daytona about next year regarding the class structure, the track or anything. We’re aware of the rumors. We’ve heard them all, too. When there’s time for something to say, we’ll announce it.”

“That’s just another discussion item on the table,” said AMA Pro Racing Superbike Series Manager Ron Barrick. “I’ve been down there (Daytona) a couple of times. There have been lots of phone calls back and forth between Scott (Hollingsworth, AMA Pro Racing CEO), Jim France (International Speedway Corporation CEO) and some of their other minions down there. All kinds of possibilities there for next year’s event. I would hope there will be some decisions taken and we can announce some news, but there’s a lot of things going on.”

Another possibility concerning Daytona is the potential that the road course may be altered to where motorcycles only use the east banking, NASCAR Turns Three and Four.