FIRST PERSON/OPINION Via e-mail: I appreciate the kind words by Ashley Peterson about a wild card 250cc ride at Indy. I would like to clarify some of the comments posted on your site about that situation. I did try to be a part of the 250cc race as soon as the event was announced and we found out that the 250s and 125s would be part of the Indianapolis program. I would have really liked to race, but there were problems with sponsor conflicts that prevented me in good conscience from going forward with it. My first choice of course was to ride a Yamaha factory bike for an existing team, but that was not available. There were some possibilities on another brand of bike, but the sponsor was in conflict with my current school sponsors. So in the end nothing really developed past that point. I’m sure Yamaha USA would have helped me race with my current bike, but even as fast as my production TZ250 is here in America, I thought that it being five years old it may be outclassed to some degree by the current factory Gran Prix machines. I’m sure that the readers will understand that my goal would not be to run around in the middle of the pack, but to try to win or at least run near the front on equal machinery. I would still like to do the race with the right situation, so maybe there will be some opportunity next year! I sure wish all the American wild card riders the best of luck, it’s a great experience to witness first hand the depth of talent at the world level. Rich Oliver Auberry, California