Jimmy Filice is irate at last-minute 250cc Grand Prix grid changes that moved local star Jeff Wood out of the “stacked” second 250cc heat race into the “easier” first 250cc heat race, both heat races scheduled for this afternoon at Loudon.

Wood was originally in the same heat race as Rich Oliver, Chuck Sorensen and 1999 Loudon winner Derek MacKelvie King. Filice was in the first heat with no strong competitors.

But apparently due to a registration error, local Gus Holcomb and several other riders were not assigned grid positions. When registration workers corrected that error, they also gave Randy Renfrow a grid position even though he is not at Loudon. That obvious error bumped Wood from one heat race into the other.

Since the procedure for establishing 250cc heat race grid order is to alternate heat assignments, sending entered riders who are first, third, fifth, etc. in points to one heat race and entered riders who are second, fourth, sixth, etc. in points to the other heat race, Filice was outraged that his protests to AMA Pro Racing Director of Competition Merrill Vanderslice resulted in no definite promise of action.