A would-be race promoter with no easily found professional motorsports experience says his mission is “to put an end to the AMA/DMG racing series” and claims to be lining up a 15-race series for 2012. In addition to proposing a 50% (5-race) increase in the number of races run by professional teams (and thus a 50% increase in the cost of following the series), Alan Smith’s plans also include two, week-long official pre-season test sessions scheduled for the currently closed Arizona Motorsports Park in January 2012 and for Spring Mountain Motorsports Park in Pahrump, Nevada in February 2012. Smith, who calls himself President of Superbike America (SBKA), says on his Tailored Development Custom Filemaker Development website (~http://tailoreddevelopment.com/AboutUs.html~) that “I specialize in interface design and navigation control. Design is a very underrated process of Filemaker application design and with our background in graphic design and desktop publishing, our interface design is unmatched in the industry.” Nothing on the site indicates that Smith has any experience in organizing, running, promoting, sanctioning or participating in professional motorcycle road races. The Superbike America (SBKA) website (~http://www.sbkamerica.com~) is registered to “Consultants List, Alan Smith ([email protected]), +1.9164736845, 3125 Tamworth Way, Sacramento, CA 95833.” Smith has posted a proposed schedule (~/files/ProposedSBKA2012Schedule.pdf~) that includes events run in conjunction with NHRA drag races on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Classic Course (located outside the Speedway), and at Heartland Park Topeka, Portland International Raceway and Brainerd International Raceway. At post time, NHRA officials had not responded to a Roadracing World request for a statement regarding the proposed scheduling of SBKA road races in conjunction with NHRA drag races. Subsequently, at 5:25 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, NHRA spokesman Anthony Vestal e-mailed a statement that read, “NHRA does not have a business relationship or event partnership with Alan Smith or Superbike America.” Smith’s schedule also lists events held in conjunction with the 2012 FIM World Superbike race at Miller Motorsports Park on Memorial Day weekend and in conjunction with the 2012 FIM MotoGP race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Asked about Smith’s stated goal of putting “an end to the AMA/DMG racing series” and his schedule showing Superbike America (SBKA) races running in conjunction with the 2012 FIM World Superbike event at Miller Motorsports Park and the 2012 FIM MotoGP event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, AMA and FIM North America President Rob Dingman told Roadracing World, “As President of the AMA, the U.S. member federation of the FIM and President of FIM North America, I will do everything within my authority to prevent this entity, whose stated purpose is to put an end to the AMA road racing series, from being part of any FIM events in North America including the World Superbike round at Miller and the MotoGP round at Laguna Seca.” Contacted by Roadracing World’s David Swarts via e-mail earlier this month and asked about the SBKA Series, SBK Superbike World Championship Director Paolo Ciabatti replied, “Thank you for your e-mail and the information. We have no connections at all with this company and we will take legal action to protect the SBK name which belongs to Infront Motor Sports exclusively and cannot be used by third parties. I will keep you updated and please do the same if you hear more news from them…Looking forward to seeing you at Miller.” In an e-mail today, Ciabatti followed up by stating “When we found out about them last week we actually sent them, through our US lawyer, a ‘cease and desist’ letter asking them to stop using the SBK name, which is a registered trademark of Infront Motor Sports…Also, we never heard from Miller about any ongoing negotiations with them for 2012.” Reached by phone and asked if Miller Motorsports Park has been contacted by Superbike America (SBKA) regarding holding races during its 2012 FIM Superbike World Championship weekend, Media Manager John Gardner checked with Director of Track Operations Dan McKeever and reported back, “He has not been contacted by SBKA.” The proposed SBKA schedule also lists events at MSR Houston and Eagles Canyon Raceway in Texas; not-yet-open Alanta Motorsports Park in Georgia; NOLA Motorsports Park in Louisiana; Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida; New Jersey Motorsports Park; Carolina Motorsports Park in South Carolina, Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama and the not-yet-built “Austin Raceway Park” in Texas. (Ironically, Homestead-Miami Speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation; ISC in turn is run by some of the same people who own the Daytona Motorsports Group, dba AMA Pro Racing, which currently operates the AMA Pro Superbike Series.) Smith also initially listed “Future Tracks,” including the not-yet-built Liberty Bell Motorsports Park in Douglassville, Pennsylvania; the not-open Bluegrass Motorsports Park in Warsaw, Kentucky; and the not-yet-built Alabama Motorsports Park in Saraland, Alabama. Several of the tracks listed on the proposed 2012 Superbike America (SBKA) schedule have serious rider safety issues and/or lack the infrastructure needed to host professional motorcycle road races. Reached by phone today and asked about the week-long February 2012 test seen in the proposed schedule, Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club Vice President of Sales Mike Weeks said that the track had not been contacted by Smith or anyone else from Superbike America (SBKA). “No. They’ve not contacted me at all,” Weeks told Roadracing World’s Swarts. Asked if he would know about it if SBKA had contacted the track, Weeks said “Absolutely. I’m the one who actually schedules all of the track rentals. So they go directly through me.” Responding to an inquiry made by Roadracing World’s Swarts earlier this year, Smith e-mailed: “From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your interest in Superbike America (SBKA). I look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with you and Roadracing World Publishing. I’ve been developing this project for some time. Until two weeks ago, SBKA has been a closely guarded secret. Many elements of this project remain under non-disclosure. I am not sure if you know, but we’ve begun building relationships with several of the tracks in the United States, and the responses have been overwhelming. We’re building much more, too. Sadly, at this time, I’m not in a position to disclose any additional information. As our project develops, however, I look forward to speaking with you and answering any questions you might have.” Shortly afterwards, Swarts e-mailed Smith and asked about the SBKA Facebook page, which showed a doctored photo of Eric Bostrom’s Cycle World Attack Performance Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike from the 2010 AMA Pro Superbike season, with the SBKA logo placed on the front of the fairing. Smith responded via e-mail, stating, “Thank you for contacting me and I want to apologize for any misunderstanding with our Facebook page. I did have the Facebook page turned off temporarily as we thought it was a private page only accessible by parties involved with SBKA. We are not associated with the AMA/DMG or any of the current AMA teams. Those images were simply images that were posted by our designers showing examples of the SBKA logo. Again, I apologize for any misunderstandings from our Facebook page.” Smith recently sent the following (redacted) e-mail to a company he wants to be involved in the series: Subject: Superbike America Racing Message: Hello, My name is Alan Smith, President of Superbike America (SBKA). I would like to speak with someone about (XXXXXXXXXX) being involved in the 2012 Superbike America Championship. Here is a link to our proposed schedule: www.sbka.us/2012.html We have one mission and that is to put an end to the AMA/DMG racing series and build a new, better and much more popular racing series in the US. One of our goals is to allow teams to select which tire sponsor to sign with. We are hoping to include Bridgestone, Dunlop, Metzeler, Michelin, and Pirelli tires in our racing series. I would greatly appreciate hearing from a representative at (XXXXXXXXXX) to discuss our racing series. Thank you in advance for your time, Alan Smith President, Superbike America (SBKA) [email protected] 916-604-4836 Skype: sbkamerica www.sbkamerica.com