CN
III TRACKSIDE
P116
BY ANDREA WILSON
R
oad racing in the U.S. was
at an all-time low. So low,
in fact, that many thought
it was done. Even with the news
of a fresh start for the series with
new management—the KRAVE
Group—it was a general feeling of,
"okay, there's hope, but let's not
get our hopes too high."
The reasons for that hope were
the four partners at KRAVE, the
most notable being three-time
500cc World Champion Wayne
Rainey, who is very much respect-
ed in the racing community. In ad-
dition to his racing accolades both
here in the U.S. and overseas,
Rainey has also managed a team.
Also with a strong racing pedigree
is the "A" in KRAVE, Chuck Ak-
sland. Although not in the limelight
as much as Rainey, Aksland also
grew up around racing and is
best known for his time manag-
ing Kenny Robert's MotoGP race
team. So these are two guys with
strong road racing pedigrees.
There were some new names—
Richard Varner and Terry Karg-
es—a bit unknown in the racing
paddock, but both are successful
businessmen who thankfully love
racing and jumped in to complete
the partnership that would try and
bring back road racing in the U.S.
On the flipside, and the reason
for that feeling of caution, is the
reality that running a race series is
a challenge in itself, let alone try-
ing to resuscitate a series that was
on life support. A difficult task that
posed a series of challenges out-
lined in a feature written by Chris
Martin in last year's Cycle News
issue 50. (http://magazine.cycle-
news.com/i/434045-cycle-news-
2014-issue-50-december-16/92)
Adding to that wariness was the
fact that the paddock had already
heard the song and dance of a
better future from the previous
BELIEVING THE HYPE
(L-R) Wayne
Rainey, Terry
Karges, Chuck
Aksland
and Richard
Varner, the four
partners at
KRAVE Group.
