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…

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.

Eyewitness Tyler Sandell disputes some parts of the official OMRRA account of the Portland F-USA crash as given by OMRRA President Spiros Gabrilis and posted on roadracingworld.com.

Sandell said he was watching the F-USA race after racing himself in the Super TT event held at Portland International Raceway, and that the first rider to crash was Zlock Racing’s Ty Howard, who highsided–just as we reported from the scene on Sunday. Sandell agreed with our earlier report that Craig Connell was collected by Howard’s bike, and that John Dugan–as Dugan himself told us on Sunday–fell while trying to turn inside the earlier crashes.

Sandell also backed up Gabrilis’ statement that an OMRRA cornerworker–Richard Matthews–was the first person to reach Connell, and pulled Connell out of the reach of flames set off when his gas tank spilled fuel. Matthews was assisted in pulling Connell to safety by racer Marc Palazzo.

Sandell called Roadracing World headquarters after reading Gabrilis’ statement, posted earlier today on roadracingworld.com.


This second eyewitness report just in from Morgan Broadhead:

Sorry for not responding sooner but I wanted to clarify something in regards to the fire in turn 9 at Portland. I was probably 30 yards from the end of the pits heading for the bridge when the accident occurred. I missed the actual incident but saw the post-crash events.

My hat is off to Marc Palazzo for returning to help the injured Craig Connell. The fuel from Connell’s tank ignited almost immediately. From my vantage point Craig was laying either in, or right next to, the fire. The other person that helped Marc was a cornerworker who had run up from turn 9. He actually reached Connell just before Marc but hesitated because of the fire. He was dressed only in a white T-shirt and shorts. Marc, (with full leathers, helmet and gloves) went right in and started pulling Connell out. As soon as Marc started pulling Craig, the cornerworker jumped in to assist. Kudos to both of these heroes.

The annual Kawasaki dealer meeting, scheduled for this weekend in Anaheim, California has been cancelled due to concerns related to terrorist attacks in the United States. According to Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. media relations manager Sheryl Bussard, the company cancelled the meeting because it was unsure whether its out-of-state dealers could actually get to the meeting, and whether or not they would attend in any case given the current situation. According to Bussard, it’s uncertain whether the meeting will be rescheduled.


Kawasaki issued the following press release Tuesday afternoon, California time:


Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A.
Cancels Dealer Meeting


(Irvine, Calif. – September 11, 2001) In the wake of today’s tragedies in New York and Washington, D.C., Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. has cancelled its annual Dealer Meeting, which had been scheduled for September 15-18, 2001 in Anaheim, Calif.

The meeting will not be rescheduled.

More than 3,500 representatives from Kawasaki dealerships across the country had been registered for the event, which showcases new 2002 models. The company’s thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by today’s national emergency.

John Hopkins is stranded in Bermuda after his flight from Lisbon to Newark was diverted due to terrorist attacks in the United States. Hopkins was returning from the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril and is scheduled to ride at Willow Springs Friday morning. No further information was available at post time.