Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc. By David Swarts AMA Supersport and Superstock racer James Lee of Demarest, New Jersey did not race last weekend at Mid-Ohio, said AMA Pro Racing’s Ron Barrick, because “he’s not ready for this.” Lee was informed by AMA Pro Racing officials during a red flag break in Saturday morning Supersport practice that he should not be on track for the rest of the weekend following what Barrick characterized as “a number of complaints from riders” about him. After Lee came off the track and onto pit lane, AMA officials approached Lee and found that Lee had slicks on his Yamaha YZF-R6 Supersport bike. Lee was entered in Supersport and Superstock, which require DOT-labeled tires. “We looked at his lap times,” said Barrick, “and for whatever reason, he’s not ready for this.” Lee’s best lap time in Saturday-morning practice was a 2:07. The fastest rider in the session, Jake Zemke, turned a 1:31.6. Lee, who says he is an Expert-licensed racer from the LRRS and Florida regions of CCS and has been racing for two years, has ridden at several AMA Nationals in 2002 and has become well-known among AMA regulars. Lee nearly came to blows with Corona Extra Suzuki’s Jimmy Moore during Friday Superstock practice at Mid-Ohio. From the media center, Lee could be seen making obscene gestures at Moore. Moore returned the gestures and waved to Lee to follow him to pit lane. “The guy was in the back section and looked like he was at coming-in speed but he was riding edge-to-edge on the track,” said Moore Friday night. “I tried to get by him, but he had some really weird lines. I came up beside him and signaled for him to put a hand up. “I think I might have spooked him because he ran off the track. He came back up and signaled to me like, ‘You want to fight?’ I was signaling for him to follow me into the pits so we can talk. On pit lane, I went to find the nearest AMA official to help explain to the guy to put his hand up.” “I was trying to go off track, and he (Moore) just came to me before the Carousel and kicked me. I came back and I punched him, and he said, ‘Come on! Let’s go to pit lane and get it on,'” said an angry Lee. “He told the official that I hit him first, then he said to me, ‘Don’t you speak English? Everybody knows when you leave the track you raise your hand.'” “I think what really pissed him off,” said Moore, “was that I kept saying, ‘Put your hand up. Put your hand up. Put your hand up.'” “Yes, I had my hand up. That’s when he kicked me,” said Lee. “There’s a lot of us guys out there trying to learn our way around. Those guys didn’t just instantly come out to the AMA going fast.” When asked why he was riding in the Supersport practice session on slick tires Saturday morning, Lee said, “The tire guy wouldn’t change my tires, and I thought practice started at 8:30 (a.m.) instead of 8:00 (a.m.).” Lee later said that he had apologized to AMA officials for his behavior and that he looked forward to riding in more AMA Nationals.