2013 AMA Pro Roadracing No-Spoiler Catch-All Thread

You forgot the stuntas. Kids and stuntas.

Roadracing isn't stunting. Stunters don't care about roadracing. All they have in common is the hardware - and not really at that.

Stunting, if properly promoted and presented could be bigger than roadracing in this country. Look at freestyle. Some smart fucker is someday gonna put both in a football stadium and blow it wide open. Have them both going at the same time on different ends of the stadium...lots of fireworks and explosions and Monster Truck screaming/announcing...Jumbo-Trons showing close-ups...can ya just see it?

Then they'll all go to McDonalds and celebrate.


Watching roadracing on TV is boring if you don't know what you're looking at. I'm a former roadracer and I think it's boring. Years ago I tried to get a roomate to sit down and watch a World Superbike race on the tube. He knew nothing about motorcycles. He watched a few laps with me and finally turned to me and said, "So they ride around the track and lean way over around the corners...I really don't get it."

http://www.nuclearcowboyz.com/

I understand your logic, but it doesn't seem to be affecting MotoGP or WSBK the way it is for AMA/DMG SBK. Having said that, another kind of racing that is HUGE in Europe and other parts of the world is F1, and that struggles here as well; so if you limit your logic to the USA television/sports viewers, you're probably pretty close...

Road racing in general struggles in the USA; SCCA, Trans-Am, etc. have all not gotten the coverage that they deserve; it will be interesting when the V8 Supercar (Australian series) comes to COTA; I will be interested to see how many American fans show up to that event...

The thread is called "2013 AMA Pro Roadracing No-Spoiler Catch-All Thread", so yeah, we're talking about AMA racing.

And Roadracing in this country is cooked.

I think it is more than poor promotion or fan interest. Motorcycle road racing has become too expensive for laymen. As soon as riders hit the 'expert' level, their costs go parabolic if they want to be competitive. Not too many families will afford the $50k/year it takes to race a limited club schedule with a couple pro events thrown in.

Add in the fact that there are no real purses anymore, few cash contingency pots to shoot for, no media coverage to sell; and the only people left to populate the grids are the same old guys that have been there for decades, and a handful of new riders, supported by families that haven't run out of budget yet.

Really? Name another motorsport that's as inexpensive as motorcycle racing, especially at the expert level.

The reason it's expensive for individuals is that there's insufficient fan interest (partly a promotion problem) which means there's less inside and outside sponsorship money available.

The only people who race cars are fat old rich guys. Nobody supports them either. But they have the money to burn. Take a look at any road race paddock for yourself. Grand Am IMSA or whatever.

DMG promised new sponserships and money to the sport, they have failed and need to go away. The only money they brought to the series they probably gave to themselves, you know, for the bang-up job they've been doing. It sure as hell didn't make to to the teams or riders.
tired of hearing excuses about economy, costs, etc. Other series around the world are doing fine. It's their job to forcast things and find answers, be creative, get out there and find the money, find sponsorship, ask themselves "what could make things better"? What can we do to improve this"? It's DMG's JOB to promote and grow the sport, in this, they have FAILED!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I gotta agree with you. It seems like the series took a dump when DMG took the wheel. 5-10 years ago, it was a vibrant series. Good tracks, big crowds, factory support, and good racing. It's when DMG tried to derail the Yoshimira machine and " tighten the field up " that things went south.Once they chased the factories away, the rest fell like dominoes.

Guess i have been to races everyone here has'nt Rolex 24 lot's of young folks watching, Sebring 12hours even more, COTA F1 could have been Le Mans with extras in cowboy hats. DMG/Ama since 09 not so much just us old timers looking for the next Kevin,Nickey,Freddy,Eddy,Wayne to take Kenny's place who took Baldwins spot. Motorcycle road racing in the USA makes indoor soccer a World Sport.

I call bullshit. Despite Swimmer's tantrum I think the sport bike as a turn key street legal vehicle available to anyone who wants to sign on the dotted line has hurt the sport and given my disdain for sport bikes and my less than enthusiastic interest in road racing I find it pleasingly ironic that the sport has suffered in the US. Those things don't belong on the street and if they aren't showing up on the tracks it serves the big 4 right.

Geez, I hope I don't get as crotchety as you when I get older

"given my disdain for sport bikes and my less than enthusiastic interest in road racing I find it pleasingly ironic that the sport has suffered in the US."

Than stay the fuck out of this thread, and go take some more pics of your TV.

+1, wow. What an amazing tool.

as a fellow member of the last kickstart generation your clock is ticking..

Dave has become one of the best journalists in motorcycle roadracing. He is a smart fellow. We should pay attention to him:
http://www.roadracingworld.com/news...hreat-to-professional-road-racing-in-america/

The false premise that Superbike-Planet pushed that things were great prior to DMG and suck now drives me crazy.

Prior to DMG it was bad and getting worse. Now it's bad but with some improvement.

I continue to believe TV is the make-or-break detail and coverage prior to DMG was terrible.

. . . but with that said, if there is no TV deal this year, the best racing in the world may not save the series.

Talk about revisionist . . . TV coverage has done nothing but decline since DMG took over. Now there is none.

actually, coverage was great not that long ago, most of the superbike races were live, and then replayed on Tuesdays, and the other races were usually same day delay, but once dmg took over, it all went to shit!