American Superbike racing at Road Atlanta in 2009. (Larry Lawrence photo)

When AMA Pro Racing released its 2011 Road Racing schedule a month ago, Road Atlanta, one of the longtime established venues in the series, was not on the schedule. The Rider Files learned today that negotiations between Road Atlanta and AMA Pro Racing are continuing and that the race is likley to run this year.

Road Atlanta sent us this statement concerning its 2011 schedule:

Thank you for your continued support of Road Atlanta, we’re looking forward to announcing our complete, action-packed 2011 schedule shortly.  Please note that neither AMA or Road Atlanta have released their final 2011 schedules yet.  We are still in discussions and negotiations with AMA in hopes of hosting the annual Superbike Showdown and preserving the rich history of AMA motorcycle racing at Road Atlanta.  Stay tuned for more news coming soon!

Officials did not have a specific date worked out for this year’s race, but from what we were able to gather it sounded as if chances are good the race will be on the schedule and an official announcement should be forthcoming.

Road Atlanta, just north of Braselton, Georgia, features a 2.54-mile, 12-turn road course that is one of the fastest and most technically challenging in the American Superbike Championship. The track was built in 1970 and began hosting AMA road races the following year. Motorcycle Hall of Famer Kel Carruthers won the first AMA national riding a Yamaha on April 25, 1971.

The track hosted AMA national road races on and off throughout the 1970s and ‘80s, but often suffered poor attendance. Then when home state hero Scott Russell came to national prominence there was an explosion of interest in the race in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but by 1995 the race was off the schedule. In the 1998 a group led by Dan Murphy, took over promotion of the event. It was dubbed the Big Kahuna and became the first regularly scheduled AMA Superbike doubleheader, setting a trend that most tracks would follow. Under Murphy the race saw a tremendous revival in popularity. Road Atlanta eventually took back over the promotion of the event from Murphy.

In addition to AMA events, Road Atlanta has been the permanent home the WERA Grand National Finals since the mid-1980s.

To keep up to date with the latest information visit www.roadatlanta.com.