Daytona 200 winner Steve Rapp thought he was riding for Attack Kawasaki up until he read a Kawasaki press release issued yesterday stating that Jamie Hacking and Roger Hayden were Attack’s 2009 riders.

“I got f–ked,” Rapp told Roadracingworld.com today after returning a phone call seeking comment. “I don’t even know what to do now. It’s not good.

“From the last race at Laguna Seca up until last week I was told that I was on the team, and they said we just had to sort out the paperwork. They were asking me what mechanics I wanted to work with,” continued Rapp.

“In December I had a meeting with (Kawasaki Team Manager Mike) Preston about what they wanted to pay me and the bonus structure. Then I hadn’t heard anything else until last week when it started to leak out on the Internet. They still haven’t told me that I’m not on the team. The thing is I didn’t look for anything else because I was supposed to be riding for them and that’s where I wanted to be, so it was perfect. Now it’s too late because everything is taken,” Rapp said.

While he spoke to Roadracingworld.com, Rapp was driving with his girlfriend Cyrcee Perreault to the airport in Seattle, where they had been visiting one of Cyrcee’s friends. “I dragged her around to all the races all year so it was time for a little payback,” Rapp said.

A local newspaper from Rapp’s hometown area reports (scroll down to Motorsports):

~http://www.contracostatimes.com/golf/ci_11622303~