Racer John Hopkins and girlfriend Deseree Crossman arrived in Newark early this evening, on a flight from Bermuda, where they had been since their original flight from Lisbon to Newark was diverted on Tuesday.
At Newark, Hopkins and Crossman were told that they may not be able to get out on a flight home to San Diego, California until Sunday.
AMA Pro Racing has issued a press release blaming the promoters of the Willow Springs AMA National for cancellation of the event, which was originally postponed from this weekend by AMA Pro Racing.
Willow Springs’ Greg Huth said he wanted to go ahead with the race this weekend, or at least delay a decision, but AMA Pro Racing CEO Scott Hollingsworth cancelled the race, citing travel problems and “questionable appropriateness of holding the event.”
But the track had limited options available for rescheduling.
AMA officials refused to allow the race to be postponed one week, to September 20-23, saying that it would be too close to the following weekend’s race at Virginia International Raceway, and that giving teams just one week to get from Willow Springs to VIR would create a hardship. The race could not be postponed two weeks to September 27-30 because it would have been on top of the AMA race at VIR.
The race could not be rescheduled for October 4-7 because, again according to AMA officials, it would be too much of a hardship for teams to get from VIR to Willow Springs for back-to-back races.
The October 12-14 weekend is a long-planned and promoted Porsche Owners’ Club charity event, which could not be moved.
Moving the AMA race to the October 18-21 weekend date would have put the event on top of the Formula USA season finale and CCS Race Of Champions at Daytona, which is attended by several riders and teams competing in the AMA Series, and would have also displaced a WSMC event at the track.
Rescheduling to October 25-28 would have put the event on top of the WERA Grand National Finals and Suzuki Cup Finals at Road Atlanta.
AMA officials also declined to allowed the race to be rescheduled in November.
The AMA Pro Racing press release on the cancellation follows:
Willow Springs round of AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championships cancelled
PICKERINGTON, Ohio — Round 10 of the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship has been cancelled by the event promoters of Willow Springs International Raceway.
Originally scheduled for Sept. 14-16, the race was postponed following the tragic attack on the United States in New York and Washington, D.C. on Sept. 11. The difficulty of air travel as well as the questionable appropriateness of holding the event were the factors in the postponement, and substantial efforts were made to schedule an alternate date.
However, despite best efforts by AMA Pro Racing, racing teams and key television partners, the promoters of Willow Springs International Raceway opted instead to cancel this weekend’s event entirely. Promoters of Willow Springs Raceway cited insurmountable scheduling conflicts as the driving force behind their decision.
Fans who have purchased tickets in advance for the Willow Springs round should contact Willow Springs International Raceway at (661) 256-2471 for more information.
The AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship concludes at the end of this month, Sept. 28-30 at the new Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va., with a unique 150-kilometer Superbike race featuring the drama of pit stops.
AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin has gotten back the point he was fined following a press conference at Loudon, but his $5000 fine stands in a settlement announced today by AMA Pro Racing.
The settlement will avoid litigation between Mladin and AMA Pro Racing. Mladin agreed to the settlement because the major issue was the loss of the point and because, according to one source close to the controversy, “$5000 isn’t worth litigating over.”
An AMA press release announcing the modified penalty follows:
AMA Pro racing modifies Mladin/Loudon conduct penalty
PICKERINGTON, Ohio — AMA Pro Racing announced today that it has agreed to modify the penalty imposed on Yoshimura Suzuki Superbike racer Mat Mladin following an incident at New Hampshire International Speedway on June 16.
An AMA Pro Racing press release dated June 19 explained that Mladin had been fined $5,000 and penalized a Superbike championship pole point for detrimental conduct during a post-qualifying press conference at the track. More specifically, the press release stated Mladin had been “using profanity at times” during the press conference, and had raised “personal issues” within this forum.
Since June, ensuing discussions with AMA Pro Racing officials, including a review of an audio recording from the June 16th press conference, clarified that Mladin used profanity only one time during that session, and that any criticisms he voiced were not intended to be personal in nature. Given this clarification, AMA Pro Racing has agreed to suspend the 1-point penalty for the duration of the 2001 racing season; barring any further incidents, the point will be restored to Mladin’s point tally at season’s end. The $5,000 fine, however, will remain intact.
Merrill Vanderslice, AMA Pro Racing’s Director of Competition, explained, “The key issue here is appropriateness. In a setting such as a press conference, racers serve as spokespersons for our sport. Their attitudes, actions and words have great impact on the general public, many of whom are youngsters coming up in our sport. It is important for all concerned with motorcycle racing to conduct themselves in a manner that reflects positively on our sport.”
Editorial comment: We’re waiting for some explanation of how Valderslice’s conduct in meetings with riders along pit lane at Loudon qualifies as “appropriateness” or how it “reflects positively on our sport.”
FIRST PERSON/OPINION:
By John Ulrich
AMA Pro Racing CEO Scott Hollingsworth has mounted a slippery slope with recent press releases issued by the organization, one of which refers to “the questionable appropriateness of holding the event” in reference to the postponement and ultimate cancellation of this weekend’s scheduled AMA National at Willow Springs.
In the first place, if “appropriateness” was the real issue, the AMA hillclimbs going on as planned (according to AMA press releases) in Pennsylvania and Indiana this weekend would also have been postponed, revealing this latest AMA press release as just more BS and spin from AMA Pro Racing.
In the second place, even bringing up the subject of “appropriateness” sets up motorcycle racing for huge problems in the future, and buys into the argument–often advanced by motorsports writers who have even less true racing experience than Hollingsworth–that race events should be cancelled immediately and everyone sent home any time anyone is seriously hurt (or worse).
Hollingsworth should have referred to “insurmountable travel problems” and left it at that.
The same release contains a line about the race being cancelled by race promoters “despite the best efforts by AMA Pro Racing, racing teams and key television partners”? Which “racing teams”? The guys who routinely criss-cross the country in 50 hours of driving time or less chasing after purse and contingency money? That’s a drive I’ve done with co-drivers many times, including 44 hours straight from LA to Daytona, 39 from Savannah to LA, 35 from LA to Indy, 53 from LA to Pocono.
Last week it took Chris Ulrich (driving alone) 37 hours over a three-day period (16 hours the first day, 17 hours the second day, 4 hours the third day) to get from Huntsville, Alabama to Lake Elsinore, California. It’s a drive Chris has done solo in 40 driving hours or less over three days, six times this year alone.
Driving Chris’ truck and trailer, David Swarts drove solo from VIR to Lake Elsinore in 50 driving hours over three days, June 29-July 1.
There were several race teams at Willow Springs yesterday, including World Sports/Corbin Yamaha from San Francisco, GP Tech from Florida, AMS Ducati from Texas, Valvoline EMGO Suzuki from Alabama. Nobody consulted them, nobody asked if it was too hard to get from Willow Springs to VIR, or from VIR to Willow Springs in one week.
So instead of refering to “best efforts by AMA Pro Racing, racing teams and key television partners,” what the AMA Pro Racing release should have said to be truthful was, “we talked to the usual Factory Few and eliminated the weekends before and after VIR because it was inconvenient for them, and too bad for everyody else.”
Another recent press release issued by AMA Pro Racing revealed that a motocross Championship was won when one rider pulled over and let another pass. That may be true–but stating it as fact in an official AMA press release puts the sanctioning body in the position of publicizing and seemingly signing-off on a practice which could be said to be illegal under a strict interpretation of the rules banning any actions which “fix” races.
In both cases, it is clear that the potential ramifications of the press release language were not well-thought-out by anybody with any significant racing experience.
What a surprise…
The CRA event scheduled for this weekend at Brainerd International Raceway will still be held, stated CRA President Ed Karow in a phone call to Roadracing World this morning. The event includes Friday practice, sprint races on Saturday, and a five-hour endurance race Sunday.
WERA officials say they will carry on and hold a scheduled regional race at Roebling Road Raceway in Faulkville, Georgia this weekend, despite a rash of sporting events being cancelled across the country.
It can be argued that the best way to respond to the terrorist attacks on the United States is to refuse to allow said attacks to completely disrupt life in this country.
In other words, to go racing as planned…
Cancellation of this weekend’s AMA National at Willow Springs assures Corona EBSCO Suzuki’s Jimmy Moore of the AMA 750cc Supersport Championship.
Moore has a 53-point lead over Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Ben Spies with a maximum 37 points available at the season finale scheduled for Virginia International Raceway at the end of this month.
This release just in from Clear Channel Motor Sports:
CHAMPIONSHIP CUP SERIES’ WEEKEND EVENTS CANCELLED AT GATEWAY INT’L RACEWAY AND PHOENIX INT’L RACEWAY AURORA, Ill. (September 12, 2001) –Championship Cup Series (CCS) has announced that the regional motorcycle road race events scheduled for this weekend, Sept. 15-16, 2001 have been cancelled and will not run as scheduled. After consulting with Gateway International Raceway officials, it was agreed that the CCS event will not be re-scheduled, however, the regional 200 Mile Team Challenge race that was to run at this event will now move to the CCS event scheduled at Gateway on the weekend of October 6-7, 2001. Phoenix International Raceway officials also concurred that it would be best to reschedule the CCS event scheduled for this weekend at date available soon. Pre-entered riders for both events should contact the CCS office in Fort Worth, TX at (817) 332-4822 regarding the disposition of their entries for both events.
Interestingly, the Sacramento Mile dirt track promoted by Clear Channel has not been cancelled, as demonstrated by the following press release:
SACRAMENTO MILE CONTINUES TRADITION
AURORA, Ill. (September 12, 2001) — Formula USA announced today that the tradition of the Sacramento Mile, round eight of the Drag Specialties National Dirt Track Series will continue as scheduled for this Saturday evening.
After consulting with officials Cal Expo, a state operated facility, Formula USA agreed that this event will continue as planned.
Rider information is available by calling 817-332-4822 and venue & tickets are available by calling 916-263-3049 or visiting dirttrack.com.
This weekend’s AMA National, tentatively rescheduled for Oct 13 -14, has now been cancelled.
The Porsche Owners Club has a major charity event scheduled for the 13th and 14th, and would not budge off the date, according to a Willow Springs spokesman.
“The race cannot be rescheduled this year,” said spokesman Rick Romo.
AMA Pro Racing’s event at Willow Springs Raceway has been rescheduled for the weekend of October 12-14.
Initial word that the event had been scheduled on top of the October 19-21 Formula USA Finale at Daytona came from Willow Springs Raceway’s Greg Huth. He now says that was an error.
The AMA press release on the postponement follows:
September 11
Willow Springs Superbike Championship event postponed
AMA Pro Racing continues with the rest of America and the world in mourning the devastating loss of human life that took place Tuesday morning.
Given these tragic circumstances, and in consideration of the disruption of services in nationwide air transportation, the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship event scheduled for September 14-16 at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, California, has been postponed until further notice.
“A number of compelling reasons dictate the postponement of this event,” said Scott Hollingsworth, CEO of AMA Pro Racing. “From a purely logistical standpoint, it does not appear feasible to expect cross-country travel to be fully restored soon enough to accommodate attending or participating in this race. Of equal importance are considerations regarding the appropriateness of holding a sporting event in the wake of Tuesday’s horrible events.
“Our deepest sympathy and most sincere prayers go out to the thousands of families that have been impacted by these terrible events.”
AMA Pro Racing, Willow Springs International Raceway and teams will coordinate the rescheduling of this event, while factoring in other important logistical considerations such as live television.
A decision about the running of this weekend’s AMA U.S. Hillclimb Championship presented by Pace American event in Jefferson (York Co.), Penn., has not yet been made, but will be coming shortly.
Racer John Hopkins and girlfriend Deseree Crossman arrived in Newark early this evening, on a flight from Bermuda, where they had been since their original flight from Lisbon to Newark was diverted on Tuesday.
At Newark, Hopkins and Crossman were told that they may not be able to get out on a flight home to San Diego, California until Sunday.
AMA Pro Racing has issued a press release blaming the promoters of the Willow Springs AMA National for cancellation of the event, which was originally postponed from this weekend by AMA Pro Racing.
Willow Springs’ Greg Huth said he wanted to go ahead with the race this weekend, or at least delay a decision, but AMA Pro Racing CEO Scott Hollingsworth cancelled the race, citing travel problems and “questionable appropriateness of holding the event.”
But the track had limited options available for rescheduling.
AMA officials refused to allow the race to be postponed one week, to September 20-23, saying that it would be too close to the following weekend’s race at Virginia International Raceway, and that giving teams just one week to get from Willow Springs to VIR would create a hardship. The race could not be postponed two weeks to September 27-30 because it would have been on top of the AMA race at VIR.
The race could not be rescheduled for October 4-7 because, again according to AMA officials, it would be too much of a hardship for teams to get from VIR to Willow Springs for back-to-back races.
The October 12-14 weekend is a long-planned and promoted Porsche Owners’ Club charity event, which could not be moved.
Moving the AMA race to the October 18-21 weekend date would have put the event on top of the Formula USA season finale and CCS Race Of Champions at Daytona, which is attended by several riders and teams competing in the AMA Series, and would have also displaced a WSMC event at the track.
Rescheduling to October 25-28 would have put the event on top of the WERA Grand National Finals and Suzuki Cup Finals at Road Atlanta.
AMA officials also declined to allowed the race to be rescheduled in November.
The AMA Pro Racing press release on the cancellation follows:
Willow Springs round of AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championships cancelled
PICKERINGTON, Ohio — Round 10 of the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship has been cancelled by the event promoters of Willow Springs International Raceway.
Originally scheduled for Sept. 14-16, the race was postponed following the tragic attack on the United States in New York and Washington, D.C. on Sept. 11. The difficulty of air travel as well as the questionable appropriateness of holding the event were the factors in the postponement, and substantial efforts were made to schedule an alternate date.
However, despite best efforts by AMA Pro Racing, racing teams and key television partners, the promoters of Willow Springs International Raceway opted instead to cancel this weekend’s event entirely. Promoters of Willow Springs Raceway cited insurmountable scheduling conflicts as the driving force behind their decision.
Fans who have purchased tickets in advance for the Willow Springs round should contact Willow Springs International Raceway at (661) 256-2471 for more information.
The AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship concludes at the end of this month, Sept. 28-30 at the new Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va., with a unique 150-kilometer Superbike race featuring the drama of pit stops.
AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin has gotten back the point he was fined following a press conference at Loudon, but his $5000 fine stands in a settlement announced today by AMA Pro Racing.
The settlement will avoid litigation between Mladin and AMA Pro Racing. Mladin agreed to the settlement because the major issue was the loss of the point and because, according to one source close to the controversy, “$5000 isn’t worth litigating over.”
An AMA press release announcing the modified penalty follows:
AMA Pro racing modifies Mladin/Loudon conduct penalty
PICKERINGTON, Ohio — AMA Pro Racing announced today that it has agreed to modify the penalty imposed on Yoshimura Suzuki Superbike racer Mat Mladin following an incident at New Hampshire International Speedway on June 16.
An AMA Pro Racing press release dated June 19 explained that Mladin had been fined $5,000 and penalized a Superbike championship pole point for detrimental conduct during a post-qualifying press conference at the track. More specifically, the press release stated Mladin had been “using profanity at times” during the press conference, and had raised “personal issues” within this forum.
Since June, ensuing discussions with AMA Pro Racing officials, including a review of an audio recording from the June 16th press conference, clarified that Mladin used profanity only one time during that session, and that any criticisms he voiced were not intended to be personal in nature. Given this clarification, AMA Pro Racing has agreed to suspend the 1-point penalty for the duration of the 2001 racing season; barring any further incidents, the point will be restored to Mladin’s point tally at season’s end. The $5,000 fine, however, will remain intact.
Merrill Vanderslice, AMA Pro Racing’s Director of Competition, explained, “The key issue here is appropriateness. In a setting such as a press conference, racers serve as spokespersons for our sport. Their attitudes, actions and words have great impact on the general public, many of whom are youngsters coming up in our sport. It is important for all concerned with motorcycle racing to conduct themselves in a manner that reflects positively on our sport.”
Editorial comment: We’re waiting for some explanation of how Valderslice’s conduct in meetings with riders along pit lane at Loudon qualifies as “appropriateness” or how it “reflects positively on our sport.”
FIRST PERSON/OPINION:
By John Ulrich
AMA Pro Racing CEO Scott Hollingsworth has mounted a slippery slope with recent press releases issued by the organization, one of which refers to “the questionable appropriateness of holding the event” in reference to the postponement and ultimate cancellation of this weekend’s scheduled AMA National at Willow Springs.
In the first place, if “appropriateness” was the real issue, the AMA hillclimbs going on as planned (according to AMA press releases) in Pennsylvania and Indiana this weekend would also have been postponed, revealing this latest AMA press release as just more BS and spin from AMA Pro Racing.
In the second place, even bringing up the subject of “appropriateness” sets up motorcycle racing for huge problems in the future, and buys into the argument–often advanced by motorsports writers who have even less true racing experience than Hollingsworth–that race events should be cancelled immediately and everyone sent home any time anyone is seriously hurt (or worse).
Hollingsworth should have referred to “insurmountable travel problems” and left it at that.
The same release contains a line about the race being cancelled by race promoters “despite the best efforts by AMA Pro Racing, racing teams and key television partners”? Which “racing teams”? The guys who routinely criss-cross the country in 50 hours of driving time or less chasing after purse and contingency money? That’s a drive I’ve done with co-drivers many times, including 44 hours straight from LA to Daytona, 39 from Savannah to LA, 35 from LA to Indy, 53 from LA to Pocono.
Last week it took Chris Ulrich (driving alone) 37 hours over a three-day period (16 hours the first day, 17 hours the second day, 4 hours the third day) to get from Huntsville, Alabama to Lake Elsinore, California. It’s a drive Chris has done solo in 40 driving hours or less over three days, six times this year alone.
Driving Chris’ truck and trailer, David Swarts drove solo from VIR to Lake Elsinore in 50 driving hours over three days, June 29-July 1.
There were several race teams at Willow Springs yesterday, including World Sports/Corbin Yamaha from San Francisco, GP Tech from Florida, AMS Ducati from Texas, Valvoline EMGO Suzuki from Alabama. Nobody consulted them, nobody asked if it was too hard to get from Willow Springs to VIR, or from VIR to Willow Springs in one week.
So instead of refering to “best efforts by AMA Pro Racing, racing teams and key television partners,” what the AMA Pro Racing release should have said to be truthful was, “we talked to the usual Factory Few and eliminated the weekends before and after VIR because it was inconvenient for them, and too bad for everyody else.”
Another recent press release issued by AMA Pro Racing revealed that a motocross Championship was won when one rider pulled over and let another pass. That may be true–but stating it as fact in an official AMA press release puts the sanctioning body in the position of publicizing and seemingly signing-off on a practice which could be said to be illegal under a strict interpretation of the rules banning any actions which “fix” races.
In both cases, it is clear that the potential ramifications of the press release language were not well-thought-out by anybody with any significant racing experience.
What a surprise…
The CRA event scheduled for this weekend at Brainerd International Raceway will still be held, stated CRA President Ed Karow in a phone call to Roadracing World this morning. The event includes Friday practice, sprint races on Saturday, and a five-hour endurance race Sunday.
WERA officials say they will carry on and hold a scheduled regional race at Roebling Road Raceway in Faulkville, Georgia this weekend, despite a rash of sporting events being cancelled across the country.
It can be argued that the best way to respond to the terrorist attacks on the United States is to refuse to allow said attacks to completely disrupt life in this country.
In other words, to go racing as planned…
Cancellation of this weekend’s AMA National at Willow Springs assures Corona EBSCO Suzuki’s Jimmy Moore of the AMA 750cc Supersport Championship.
Moore has a 53-point lead over Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Ben Spies with a maximum 37 points available at the season finale scheduled for Virginia International Raceway at the end of this month.
This release just in from Clear Channel Motor Sports:
CHAMPIONSHIP CUP SERIES’ WEEKEND EVENTS CANCELLED AT GATEWAY INT’L RACEWAY AND PHOENIX INT’L RACEWAY AURORA, Ill. (September 12, 2001) –Championship Cup Series (CCS) has announced that the regional motorcycle road race events scheduled for this weekend, Sept. 15-16, 2001 have been cancelled and will not run as scheduled. After consulting with Gateway International Raceway officials, it was agreed that the CCS event will not be re-scheduled, however, the regional 200 Mile Team Challenge race that was to run at this event will now move to the CCS event scheduled at Gateway on the weekend of October 6-7, 2001. Phoenix International Raceway officials also concurred that it would be best to reschedule the CCS event scheduled for this weekend at date available soon. Pre-entered riders for both events should contact the CCS office in Fort Worth, TX at (817) 332-4822 regarding the disposition of their entries for both events.
Interestingly, the Sacramento Mile dirt track promoted by Clear Channel has not been cancelled, as demonstrated by the following press release:
SACRAMENTO MILE CONTINUES TRADITION
AURORA, Ill. (September 12, 2001) — Formula USA announced today that the tradition of the Sacramento Mile, round eight of the Drag Specialties National Dirt Track Series will continue as scheduled for this Saturday evening.
After consulting with officials Cal Expo, a state operated facility, Formula USA agreed that this event will continue as planned.
Rider information is available by calling 817-332-4822 and venue & tickets are available by calling 916-263-3049 or visiting dirttrack.com.
This weekend’s AMA National, tentatively rescheduled for Oct 13 -14, has now been cancelled.
The Porsche Owners Club has a major charity event scheduled for the 13th and 14th, and would not budge off the date, according to a Willow Springs spokesman.
“The race cannot be rescheduled this year,” said spokesman Rick Romo.
AMA Pro Racing’s event at Willow Springs Raceway has been rescheduled for the weekend of October 12-14.
Initial word that the event had been scheduled on top of the October 19-21 Formula USA Finale at Daytona came from Willow Springs Raceway’s Greg Huth. He now says that was an error.
The AMA press release on the postponement follows:
September 11
Willow Springs Superbike Championship event postponed
AMA Pro Racing continues with the rest of America and the world in mourning the devastating loss of human life that took place Tuesday morning.
Given these tragic circumstances, and in consideration of the disruption of services in nationwide air transportation, the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship event scheduled for September 14-16 at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, California, has been postponed until further notice.
“A number of compelling reasons dictate the postponement of this event,” said Scott Hollingsworth, CEO of AMA Pro Racing. “From a purely logistical standpoint, it does not appear feasible to expect cross-country travel to be fully restored soon enough to accommodate attending or participating in this race. Of equal importance are considerations regarding the appropriateness of holding a sporting event in the wake of Tuesday’s horrible events.
“Our deepest sympathy and most sincere prayers go out to the thousands of families that have been impacted by these terrible events.”
AMA Pro Racing, Willow Springs International Raceway and teams will coordinate the rescheduling of this event, while factoring in other important logistical considerations such as live television.
A decision about the running of this weekend’s AMA U.S. Hillclimb Championship presented by Pace American event in Jefferson (York Co.), Penn., has not yet been made, but will be coming shortly.
