American Superbike racing is in deep trouble. If the disappointing turnout at Mid-Ohio – traditionally one of the best attended events – wasn’t indication enough, the late cancellation of the Virginia International Raceway (VIR) round confirms it.
I’ve been around the sport since the late 1970s and this is the worst shape I’ve seen the series in since 1995, and that was just a temporary lull. That was the year that the AMA had to scramble after former AMA Road Racing Manager Roger Edmondson formed a competing road racing series (NASB) and announced that he had signed many of the tracks away from the AMA. In response the AMA went to not-ready for primetime tracks like Firebird Raceway in Phoenix and Gateway International, across the river from St. Louis. Those will go down as two of the worst events in AMA Superbike history.
I see the current dilemma as worse than 1995. In ’95 the factories stuck by the AMA, the promoters came back, the series quickly rallied and for the next decade, thanks in large part to a booming economy, it enjoyed the most successful years in series history.
I talked to longtime racing photographer Tom Riles after Mid-Ohio discussing the series. Tom has been around the sport for nearly 40 years and knows just about everyone in the industry. He told me he was hopeful that we’d seen rock bottom. He pointed to KTM’s entrance into the series as an indicator that maybe things were going to turn around. We lamented the current woes of Mid-Ohio; both of us clearly remembering the massive crowds that filled that track for AMA Superbike events in the late 1990s. Mid-Ohio is under new management and you could write this weekend off as the new ownership not yet having their feet under them. Say what you will about former owner Michelle Trueman-Gajoch, but she promoted the hell out of the races at her track and it will be difficult for the new management to duplicate the work Trueman family put into building up the events at Mid-Ohio.
Perhaps rock bottom was actually hit today with the VIR announcement. With VIR now looking like it’s out of the picture, combined with the earlier loss of Road Atlanta and Fontana, American Superbike racing is looking pretty bleak and if something doesn’t change the situation could even get worse.
The biggest problem I see since the Daytona Motorsports Group (DMG) took over AMA Pro Racing, is the company’s lack of investment in the series to help it grow and unfocused direction by its leadership. I’ve talked to former DMG employees who say they were shocked to find that everything was to be done on the cheap and how little their input counted to bosses who lacked fundamental knowledge of the motorcycling industry.
The problem is investment and excellent stewardship is exactly what the industry hoped Jim France via DMG would bring to professional motorcycle racing in America when he took it over in 2008. We were all hoping a little of that NASCAR gold dust would rub off on us. Unfortunately the timing could not have been worse, with DMG taking over the series just as the recession hit.
Ask DMG officials today why road racing is doing so poorly and they’ll point to the economy and poor motorcycle sales. While I won’t argue those facts, I believe one needs look no further than the current success of AMA Supercross and Motocross to understand that it is possible to continue to attract nearly as many fans in today’s poor economy as once came through the gates during the booming ‘90s.
In my next installment of File POV, I’ll point out what I think Feld Motor Sports and MX Sports are doing right with Supercross and motocross respectively and what lessons the DMG could take from those successes and perhaps apply to road racing.
Rider Files 
I was doing the AmA Castrol gp250cc series when it was in its prime 87/89.I would be only to pleased to help racing needs a massive revamp world wide.
Regards
Alan Carter
The youngest ever gp winner.
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Really sorry to hear this, although not totally unexpected. Watching the highlights on SpeedTV.com from the weekend’s event upon my return home, what crowd shots you could see during the action looked enemic at best. This is doubly sad since the racing is some of the best seen in the series in some times-at least in terms of closeness and more competitors running up at the front and battling for position.
We can only hope that the new KTM entries, and Erik Buell’s new bike on track, that it will at least help some to bring in/back more/new fans to the great action on the track. At this point, watching and seeing the thinning crowds reminds me of watching your favorite pet die a slow, painful death. Let’s hope this isn’t the case here.
Great POV LL! Thanks for the insight!
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Alan,
We need some personalities over here racing like you, that’s for sure.
Larry
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Stu
There are things they could do in road racing that I think could get the train rolling again. I’m all about finding solutions. Watch here for my next column.
Larry
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i think the split of the vintage race from super bike hurt the mid ohio turn out,in past you had like a bike week back to back weekends of racing and the swap meet,people would come and stay all week but this year they split it up,they did that a few years and the turn out was bad,and they moved super bike up 1 week putting just after the 4th weekend,also the goodguy car show was in columbus witch i had to miss to go to mid ohio,but that is just i love mid ohio and hope to see super bike racing every year,this being the 23rd stright,
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Thank you Dinger!
You can trace this failure all the way back to the “sale” of Pro. The original stewardship of “AMA” Pro Racing truly, deeply cared for the sport–for they were motorcyclists first and foremost. You have to care about a thing to make it work well, and when that went away, so did the fans.
Admittedly, this season has seen some of the tightest racing in years, but who cares? Where are the stars of the show? Can the average fan figure out who even owns this thing, or what the heck each of these classes represent?
When the Dingbat said it was his plan to sell off Pro Racing, is it any wonder the manufacturers pulled out of the AMA? Things just went downhill fast from there.
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Personally I think DMG/AMA Pro Racing needs to hire LL to help promote the racing and the brand. You did one heckuva job with it in the ’90s/early ’00s and know what the fans want. Of course, that may not be an avenue you would want to pursue at this time with everything being in the crosshairs at this time. Nonetheless, the sport suffers without your direct involvement!
I can’t wait to hear what your next POV has to say, should be some great reading–as always!
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Darn it Stu! You stole my thunder. That was my next column. All the DMG needs to do is hire me and all their problems will be over! 🙂
Thanks for the support.
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I believe that…and sorry I pulled the curtain up too soon! HA! And always glad to give support where it is due and needed (and I still can’t wait to hear your next one, regardless!)
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It is a shame that such a great sport has been relegated to inferior stature. The new rules and format are worse than the old poorly structured rules and format. The sport needs less regulation, as in; no spec tires, no specific machine requirements. If someone is going to spend their time and money to go to a weekend event there should be plenty of action, more classes on tract, a full schedule of races. The current format leaves spectators sitting around the course waiting all day for the pomp and circumstance of pit row to end. A full weekend spent waiting so they can watch a small field of bikes compete. It’s really no wonder people don’t return to AMA races. The solution is simple: 1 More classes, 2 Open classes (any bike under so & so ccs, etc) 3 A claim rule on winning machines to prevent the factories from spoiling the show. And 4 enough $ going back to the competitors (better purses). I hope someone takes over and puts Super Bike Racing back atop the podium.
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