FIRST PERSON/OPINION

By John Ulrich

The 2009 AMA Pro road racing season is over, the finale having already run at New Jersey Motorsports Park and the awards banquet already held in Atlantic City. And a few readers are questioning why Roadracingword.com is now running articles and editorials that deal with examples of selective, vindictive, punitive officiating from earlier in the season.

The answers are simple. Because…

–We now know that it was happening when the season started at Daytona in March, and it was still happening at the season finale in September, despite the best efforts of competitors and team owners to document the problems and get Daytona Motorsports Group (DMG) upper management to resolve the issues all season long. As it turns out, DMG upper management not only knew what was going on, DMG Vice President Roy Janson personally had a hand in some of the most problematic officiating. When the criticism of series officiating went public, Janson and DMG boss Roger Edmondson reacted first by denying it took place and then by attempting to discredit anybody who complained about it. That was happening as recently as a few weeks ago.

–It is currently affecting commercial support for the series and sponsorship support for race teams heading into the 2010 racing season. For example, American Honda Senior Vice President Ray Blank mentioned the very real, very obvious problems with DMG officiating when Michael Gougis talked to him a week ago about why Honda had decided not to race in American Superbike or Daytona SportBike in 2010.

–Banned racer Johnny Rock Page’s ordeal is a cautionary tale. Page was singled out, persecuted and told he couldn’t appeal various penalties he was assessed while other racers were not penalized in similar situations. Various officials were gloating over Page’s banishment at New Jersey Motorsports Park, with Al Ludington telling one team that Page would never be allowed to return to the series. The problem is, if it can happen to Page, it can happen to anybody, anytime, for any reason. (Page may be headed to court over his denial of due process. On the plus side, if the case is filed, I have no doubt that the subsequent depositions of various involved DMG officials will make fascinating reading.)

–But more than anything, the evidence illustrates a season-long pattern and practice of unfair officiating that runs throughout the DMG organization from top to bottom and makes a mockery of everything a sport should be, especially the concept of “fair competition.”

Some critics have suggested that if I don’t like the way the series is being run, then I should stay home. I’m not going to do that.

I have been involved in motorcycle road racing for 36 years, first as a racer loading up my own bikes and heading off to race, and then as a team owner spending way too much money to win races and championships. During those years I’ve written and re-written rulebooks and served on appeal boards; worked hard to improve safety conditions for riders; raised money for Airfence; helped launch a few riders’ careers, starting with Kevin Schwantz and more recently with John Hopkins, Ben Spies, Jamie Hacking and Josh Hayes, among others.

I wrote the original proposal that Steve McLaughlin and Hurley Wilvert presented to the AMA and which led to the establishment of the AMA Superbike class–it was McLaughlin’s idea, but I was able to put it into words better than he could. (He consulted with the well-liked Wilvert because otherwise he figured AMA officials would simply reject the proposal out of hand, and he was probably right.) The point is, I was there when AMA Superbike started. I’ve been involved in this sport as long as anybody connected to DMG, I’ve got as much right to be involved in this sport as anybody connected to DMG, and I’ve got as much right as anybody on Earth to point out how it is being ruined by out of control officials.

DMG officiating during the 2009 season was the worst I have ever seen.

The fault lies with the DMG managers who either didn’t pay attention to what DMG employees were doing or, in the case of Roy Janson, actively participated in a systematic abuse of power.

The question is, what happens now?

It’s not a question I can answer. In an ideal world, DMG would acknowledge its screw-ups, replace its entire management team, resolve the problems and commit to fair officiating based on what the rulebook actually says, not what an official feels like doing at any given moment. And then actually make it happen, even if that means firing everybody and starting over.

Or maybe a better solution would be for DMG to fold its tent and get out of motorcycle racing, sending road racing back to the AMA to either run it or find commercial partners who can and will promote races sanctioned and officiated by AMA, with a heavy emphasis on fair competition. In other words, recreating the successful Supercross model, of races sanctioned and officiated by the AMA, and promoted by a commercial partner.

What can’t happen is continuation of the status quo, as the following articles and editorials make perfectly clear:

Big Macs prove to be in short supply at AMA events, and DMG Technical Director of Competition Al Ludington goes crazy in Ohio: ~https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37389~ ~https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=38237~ ~https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37880~

DMG officials fail to learn from history, ignoring problems with SuperSport kids crashing their brains out on unsuitably hard mandatory spec tires (also mandatory for MotoGT) and dismissing concerned parents by saying that it’s not a safety issue: ~https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37607~ ~https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=38020~ ~https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=38044~

DMG officials come close to creating a disaster by deploying a pace car over the blind crest in the front straight at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca: ~https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37228~ ~https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37235~

Ben Bostrom says Johnny Rock Page didn’t do what officials said he did in New Jersey, and we learn that Mat Mladin was on double secret probation for the end of the season: ~https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=38115~

Roger Edmondson defends his officials and rejects charges of selective enforcement at AMA Pro road races run by DMG: ~https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=38115~

American Honda’s Ray Blank mentions problems with officiating in an interview explaining why Honda won’t race in American Superbike or Daytona SportBike in 2010: ~https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=38197~

DMG insiders confirm that selective enforcement has been going on at AMA Pro road races run by DMG: ~https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=38226~

Roger Edmondson admits that selective enforcement may have been going on and says some officials may be replaced: ~https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=38227~