After being suspended for not moving out of the way of the leaders when shown blue flags during American Superbike Race One at Mid-Ohio, Johnny Rock Page was back in action at New Jersey Motorsports Park September 4-6 even though his race hauler broke down shortly after leaving his base in Arizona and he had to fly to New Jersey and rent a Suzuki GSX-R1000 in order to compete. In spite of having limited time on the unfamiliar machine and track and other hurdles, Page made the qualifying cut-off time for the American Superbike races. During the September 5 (Saturday) race in New Jersey, Page said he was very mindful of getting out of the way of the leaders and went so far as to pull onto pit lane as the lead group came up to lap him near the halfway point of the 23-lap race. “They [cornerworkers] were really bad with the blue flags,” said Page. “They put blue flags out there, and there was no one even near me. So the blue flags were horrible. The way I was seeing people was looking back across the track when I was in the big, long corners, but it got to the point where there were so many lappers you couldn’t tell who was who. It’s not easy when you’re going so fast.” Towards the end of the race, Page was lapped again, and according to Larry Pegram, this time Page disregarded clearly visible blue flags and affected Pegram’s race for fourth with Ben Bostrom. “There are other guys that go a similar speed to him that make a point out of getting out of the way,” said Pegram, “because they realize, ‘Hey, this is the last lap. I’m not in the race. Let me get out of the way.’ This guy he’s two laps down and pulled right in front of me and Bostrom and he tried to pass Bostrom back. He almost took Bostrom out, too, but he damned near cleaned me right off the track.” But Pegram’s version of reality is not the same as Bostrom’s, who, like Pegram, is no friend to Page. “We came around and caught him [Page] in the worst spot,” Bostrom told Roadracingworld.com. “But I thought he heard me and the Ducati, because he did move, but not until after we had to follow him through two long corners. But he did actually move, first time. He cost us a second, but he did move in the end. There wasn’t a blue flag, in his defense, and it’s tough to defend him, but he did move.” “I never realized I blocked Pegram,” said Page. “I saw [race leader] Josh Hayes coming, so I pulled over and let him by. Then I had all these other lappers I was fighting with. So at that time you’re focused on what you’re trying to do. It was such a big cluster of people. And the part where Yates and Bostrom passed me, there’s like one line through that part. I guess Pegram got stuck behind me.” Neither Pegram nor Bostrom made any mention of Page chopping the throttle immediately after taking the checkered flag–contrary to what officials would claim later when defending their treatment of Page. After the race, Page filed a formal written protest against Pegram, who Page said tried to run him off the track after taking the checkered flag. Page says officials ignored his protest and when asked about its status, told him, “It’s none of your business.” Page also says that Pegram invited him to fight after the race, in front of AMA Pro Racing Technical Director of Competition Al Ludington, who said and did nothing. The conflicting reports from the riders directly affected by Page’s actions–or lack thereof–combined with AMA Pro Racing officials apparently turning a blind eye to Pegram’s post-finish actions gave plenty of ammunition to critics who are accusing AMA Pro Racing officials of picking on Page simply because they do not like him. Pegram said that Page purposely sought to create drama for his reality show with his actions on the track and in the paddock, adding that Page was fitted with a hidden microphone and brought his video crew along with him when he came to Pegram’s pit area for the purpose of starting an argument post-race. When Page told Pegram that he could settle their disagreement by apologizing, Pegram admits that he responded by saying that he knew another way they could settle things. It was basically an invitation to fight caught on videotape and witnessed by AMA Pro Racing’s Ludington–Pegram had taken the bait. Ironically, Pegram’s televised account of a confrontation with Mat Mladin at Heartland Park Topeka led to Mladin being put on double secret probation for the final two rounds of the 2009 series, at VIR and New Jersey Motorsports Park. In that confrontation over whether or not riders should boycott the weekend’s races to protest safety conditions, Mladin allegedly repeatedly told Pegram “I ought to punch you in the nose” until (as Pegram tells it) Pegram stood up off his scooter and said, “OK, let’s go,” at which point Mladin walked away. As a condition of being allowed to compete at those two tracks, Mladin was required to apologize to Pegram, which he did in a phone call placed to Pegram from attorney (and racer) Alessandro Assanti’s office. DMG critics say that Page has been denied due process and that it’s important to resist unfair DMG officiating now when it targets Page, rather than wait until the same type of harassment is directed toward other riders or teams that may have angered DMG officials in some way. AMA Pro Racing President Roger Edmondson denies that there has been any selective enforcement, but rather than issue a press release or discuss the issue with reporters, Edmondson posted on the WERA BBS (an online forum at www.wera.com) and questioned the “mentality” and “maturity” of DMG critics. “Some of you are running down the ‘selective enforcement’ and ‘DMG incompetence’ road pretty fast with almost zero facts,” Edmondson posted under his user name “RogerE” September 7. “Would it temper your bias if you knew that corner marshals who don’t know or have an axe to grind with Mr. Page called in the egregious blocking? Would it have an effect if you knew that riders following the incident offered written statements of what they saw, if needed? Would it help if you knew that the starter called it in when at the checker Mr. Page chopped his throttle immediately upon crossing the line and almost precipitated a rear ender by the guys behind him? Would it help if you knew that riders have been complaining about this exact issue by this exact rider for several events, extending into prior seasons? Would it help if you saw a rider return from a suspension turn right around and engage in the exact same behavior at his very first opportunity? Would any of this help, or would you prefer not to have help and just continue to immediately run down the run-down-the-series road? “We hire the best humans we can to run these events and they are all honest hard-working people who deserve to get the benefit of the doubt,” continued Edmondson in his post. “I seldom see that. Instead it seems that buying a racing license and qualifying for a race moves one closer to the Gods and Angels and produces beings without stain or blemish who could not possibly ever screw the pooch on their own. “If you want to criticize me for my concepts and ideas in trying to move things forward, that is fine, I don’t mind and I’ve been there before, and further, I’m not going anywhere, so bring it on,” Edmondson wrote. “But, I’m sick and tired of seeing our hard working officials always characterized as lacking positive character traits. To me, it speaks more to the mentality and maturity of the critics than to the quality of our staff.”