A letter to competitors was sent out by the AMA yesterday stating that “Racer Productions decided that the woods-racing events formerly known as the AMA-sanctioned Grand National Cross Country Series (GNCC) would not be sanctioned with the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) for 2012.”

It was surprising and disappointing to find that the AMA and Racer Productions could not come to some compromise. My understanding is that the GNCC felt the new $49 AMA membership was going to have an adverse effect on the number of riders who might enter a GNCC race. If anyone has their finger on the pulse of off-road racers it’s the Coombs family, who runs the GNCC Series. When the late Dave Coombs Sr. (a Motorcycle Hall of Famer) founded the legendary Blackwater 100, the outgrowth of that seminal event was the GNCC Series. Over the years the GNCC has become the most successful, most visible and best supported off-road series in motorcycling. Factories and aftermarket companies participate against one another in this championship. Some of these events attract thousands of spectators and are nationally televised.

It’s safe to say Racer Productions has done more for the world of off-road racing than any other entity in the last 30 years. The record speaks for itself. I also know the Coombs family has been an ardent supporter of the AMA for years and their companies have very likely been responsible for bringing as many or more members than any other group in the country. Dave Coombs Sr. was a big believer in the AMA and stuck by them through thick and then. Dave and Rita Coombs shared the AMA Dud Perkins Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994. The award was given to acknowledge the highest level of service to the AMA in any activity.

I’m certain Racer Productions did not take dropping the AMA sanction lightly at all and I’m equally certain they were eager to find a solution. But they are a company that, like all companies, needs to be profitable and my guess is they felt in order to remain viable, and to keep riders coming to their events, they had to do something to make it more affordable. I don’t know all the details but my understanding is that Racer Productions wasn’t getting many of the benefits available to other off-road promoters, such as insurance, because of the broad type of equipment (specifically side by side ATVs) that run in their events. Without being able to take advantage of major parts of the benefits AMA sanctions provide, and with membership fees going up in tough economic times, they probably looked at the numbers and made a difficult business decision.

On the other hand, having AMA sanction is important in that, as the AMA rightly points out, being part of the association means riders are racing for AMA national titles, not to mention supporting the rights of all motorcyclists. The manufacturers, in the short term may support a non-AMA GNCC series, but I feel it’s possible the tradition-loving factories could ultimately look elsewhere should the GNCC not be recognized by the AMA as a national championship.

I’ve seen other non-AMA “national series” have their moments in the sun, but ultimately fail (can you say Formula USA road racing and flat track?). The AMA umbrella is no doubt an important one,  to competitors (who deep down want to say they are racing an AMA event) and to the manufacturers and aftermarket companies.

Ultimately I would like to see the two parties come to some compromise. To me there is an easy solution – single-day AMA memberships.

I used to race a regional mountain bike series that was sanctioned by the national body (then IMBA) and we had the choice – a single-day membership or a full membership. The math was usually pretty easy. If you were going to race more than one event it only made sense to pay the full membership, but you had that option. If you were a little short on cash you could simply pay the single-day fee and still race.

Guess what happened, not only to me, but to some of my buddies? We bought the single day memberships… and, you guessed it – then we raced again later and turned around and bought another single-day membership. The minute we signed up for that second race we’d paid more than we would have for a full membership. But we were racers. We don’t think ahead. We’re more worried about a new set of tires. We pay the minimal amount to get us in the race and then move on.

OK, I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but I think I bought three or four single-day IMBA memberships that year, so the IMBA ended up getting twice the money from me had I joined with a full membership in the first place.

I would venture to say a single-day racing membership could actually prove to be a boon to AMA membership income, especially in GNCC racing where racing venues are close enough that riders frequently run more than one event.

Let’s hope cooler heads prevail and something can be worked out. Give riders options and I bet it will work out well for both parties.