I hope this column isn’t perceived as piling on because that’s not how it is intended. Let me say up front that I love all forms of motorcycle racing. I’ve attended countless road races, motocross and supercross events, flat tracks, hillclimbs, Speedway races, various off-road races and trials. I’ve competed in motorcycle racing since my teens. I continue to ride off-road and street bikes today with great enjoyment. I consider myself a student of motorcycle racing and have extensively studied and written about the history sport and its key players.

The bottom line is I love the sport and want to see it advance.

Under the current leadership of the Daytona Motorsports Group (DMG) professional racing overall as experienced its worst season in the post-World War II era. This is especially true in road racing where I’ve talked to dozens of racers, journalists, enthusiasts, team members and long-time industry insiders, in other words a large cross section of people in the sport. I have not been able to find one person that believes the DMG is doing a good job in its stewardship of the sport.

That’s really saying something. When someone with as many contacts in the industry as I have cannot find a single solitary person (outside of those directly involved with the DMG) who believes the sport is heading in the right direction under the DMG.

I should point out that there was at least one very important industry insider I’ve known and respected for years, who seemed to be on the DMG’s side for most of the season, but now even this person has changed his opinion. That person is John Ulrich, long-time racing team owner, safety advocate and editor of Roadracing World.

I must admit I was stunned when Ulrich wrote that perhaps the sport would be better off if the DMG got out of the picture and gave Pro Racing back to the AMA to run. Ulrich after all was part of the AMA board of directors who voted to sell off AMA Pro Racing to the DMG. To me it was an ill-advised decision for the AMA to give up its birthright of professional racing, the single biggest reason the AMA was formed in 1924.

If you read the WERA BBS, you’ll find that Ulrich has been quite vocal in giving the DMG the benefit of the doubt, telling people to come to the races and see for themselves if the show is better than it has been in the past. If you actually went you would have found that it wasn’t better. Yes if you compare the domination of Suzuki (specifically Ben Spies and Mat Mladin) in Superbike in recent years, that class was more competitive this year. But in terms of the overall quality of the series, I would argue the championship reached its zenith in the mid-1990s to early 2000s.

How bad was the DMG’s management of the sport? Many team insiders, who I don’t take as exactly gullible, figure the NASCAR owners of DMG wanted motorcycle racing ruined so that the ever dwindling pool of corporate sponsorship would go to NASCAR exclusively and not be diluted by a strong motorcycle racing series, that was making serious inroads in terms of  fan and sponsor support during the previous decade.

I don’t buy the conspiracy theory, but it illustrates how hugely mistrusted the DMG is by those in the motorcycling industry when level-headed people truly believe it. The bottom line is the DMG is owned by car people and while there is some cross over, car people by and large are car people. Motorcycle enthusiasts are a different breed all together. Motorcycle racing people like close racing as much as anyone, but they don’t want it artificially made to be close. How much more significant would it have been for Yamaha for example if they’d been able to beat Mladin and Yoshimura Suzuki under “real” Superbike rules, versus the watered down class rules offered by the DMG? Sure Suzuki had dominated for a long time – the longest time in history – but eventually another maker would have caught them, either by hiring better riders or by working hard to make a better racing bike. And once they did it would have been truly significant.

Even one of the most neutral and well-respected voices in the recent history of motorcycle racing, none other than Dave Despain, could do nothing but scratch his head in watching the DMG blunder time and time again. I honestly can think of few people I respect more in the industry. When someone as fair, knowledgeable and measured as Despain voices his dismay at the DMG, you know something must be wrong.

I do not write this lightly, but I think it is time for Roger Edmondson to step down from the DMG and concentrate on his successful leadership of Grand Am. Jim France should step up and take a more direct leadership roll, at least in the short term, until he can find a leader respected by the motorcycling industry. I know Jim France and I know how much he cares about motorcycle racing. He’s an ex-motorcycle flat tracker who wants to see the sport succeed. That’s why I know the conspiracy theories of wrecking motorcycle racing are bunk.

I simply believe France is loyal to a fault and would be hard-pressed to replace his long-time friend Edmondson, even though deep down he may know it is the right thing to do. But if Roger is honest with himself he will recognize his leadership of the DMG has been troubled from the start. Even his own generals have largely lost faith in him. While Edmondson may believe that he can rally and get things turned around (Roger has been counted out before and come back strong), the fact remains it would take years of flawless decision making for the industry to gain trust in Edmondson. If Roger truly wants to see the sport go forward quickly surely even he can see it might be best to step aside and let someone else take the reins.

As for the AMA taking back over racing, I say no, at least not under the current administration. AMA CEO Rob Dingman has stated that he sees Pro Racing as something that generates controversy, so why would he want it back? I’ve exhaustively studied the history of AMA leaders from A.B. Coffman to E.C. Smith, from Lin Kuchler to Ed Youngblood (there were other leaders that were short-lived in the position and not as significant) and as a historian I submit that under Dingman the AMA has become more insular than ever. During his brief tenure the AMA has already lost 40,000 members! Dingman was nearly booed off the stage at the Indy Mile. That gives you an idea what the everyday rider and racing fan think of him. Many of the leaders I’ve talked to in the industry have little respect for Dingman and to trust him with Pro Racing I believe would be a major mistake.

For now fans of AMA Pro Racing can only hope that France will reposition Edmondson to focus on Grand Am and bring in a new and respected leader to run the DMG.