AHRMA vintage racers rallied to support motorcycle racing safety with donations totaling $2,404 for the Roadracing World Action Fund.
AHRMA racer and trustee Arthur Kowitz started the grassroots fund-raising effort in the middle of the 2019 season.
“I’m fond of what you folks do, and I make contributions accordingly,” said Kowitz. “I had this idea and went to AHRMA’s Executive Director [Curtis Comer] and asked about AHRMA having a fund-raising drive.
“It didn’t go through AHRMA’s account or anything. It was merely allowing me to stand up during rider’s meetings and ask people to send money to the Roadracing World Action Fund and make sure to make a note on the donation that it’s for AHRMA.
“Part of my pitch was, ‘When you’re on your butt and sliding toward the Armco it’s too late to stroke that check. Do it now while you can.’ I also hand-made a flyer letting people know how they can [contribute] with a little bit of basic information, and I put that up at each of the last race meets.”
The AHRMA fundraiser was announced in July and ran to a scheduled end-date of October 31, 2019. Contributors included: Pam and Herb Haigh, who won a raffle at the 2019 AHRMA awards ceremony and immediately donated $200 to the fundraiser; David A. Pierce, $500; AHRMA, $500; Kevin Dinsmoor (AHRMA #304), $304; Arthur Kowitz, $300; Lorraine Crussell, $200; New Jersey Motorsports Park, $150; Curtis Comer, $100; William Doran, $100; and John Rickard, $50.
“We raised $2,400 or so,” said Kowitz, “and it was all directly from members sending in their $50 or $200 or whatever they did. So it was good. We’ll probably do it again.”
About the Roadracing World Action Fund
The Roadracing World Action Fund – a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization – began back in 2001 as a grassroots movement to improve racetrack safety for motorcycle racers and riders. At the time, hay bales or stacks of tires were sometimes placed in front of concrete walls for rider protection in case of a crash. A far better solution for rider safety existed – inflatable soft barriers which absorb the energy of a crash. Soft barriers – made by Airfence or Alpina – can allow racers to often walk away from a crash which in the past might have caused catastrophic injury, or even death.
The Roadracing World Action Fund gained the support of the motorcycle community, as racers, riders, family and friends, motorcycle businesses, and racing organizations and racetracks helped to make use of soft barriers the standard, rather than the exception, for motorcycle races and track days at racetracks across the nation. Now, from Laguna to Daytona, Motorsports Ranch to VIR, AutoClub Speedway to Blackhawk Farms, and many more, soft barriers are deployed more frequently and in greater quantities than ever before, thanks to the contributors who, over 18 years, have donated $2,101,154.09 to support the Roadracing World Action Fund mission of helping prevent racetrack injuries and spread the word through motorcycle road racing safety education. Donations are tax-deductible.
How to Donate
To help save lives and prevent injuries at the racetrack, you may make your donation as follows:
•call (909) 654-4779 to donate by credit card (M – F, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time);
•donate via Paypal to [email protected]; or
•send your tax deductible donation to:
Roadracing World Action Fund
P.O. Box 1428
Lake Elsinore, CA 92531
Your name will be added to Roadracing World’s growing list of contributors.
More About Soft Barriers
Soft barriers come in two versions, a inflatable longer version (about 30 feet long) designed to be folded up and transported between tracks, and another, shorter version (about six feet long) which does not fold up and is designed to deploy at a single track. The ambient air chamber in the longer version is supported by inflated ribs and columns, and the barrier is inflated before being deployed and tied down. The ambient air chamber in the shorter version (which does not fold up) is supported by closed-cell foam ribs and columns, which are less likely to be damaged or need repair after being hit by a crashed motorcycle. Both types of soft barriers have been deployed during every AHRMA event weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park since 2012, with the inflatable sections deployed and maintained by an ASRA/CCS crew.
Other racing organizations RWAF is currently working with (or has worked with) include MotoAmerica, AHRMA, AMA Racing, ASRA/CCS, AFM, CMRA, LRRS, MCRA, SMRI, and WERA. Track day organizations RWAF is currently working with include Fastrack Riders, Midwest, Motovid, N2, PRE, XCEL, and others.
For more information, go to https://www.roadracingworld.com/actionfund/
