Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DIRT TRACK Editor's note: The following is the AMA's five-year plan to revitalize the sport of American dirt track racing. It is being presented in its entirety, just as it was when AMA President Ed Youngblood unveiled it before a congregation of team owners, riders, officials, media and dirt track racing fons in Cincinnati, Ohio, on February 14. The assembly totaled more than 100, and after much discussion, the majority of attendees responded to it in a positive fashion. While nobody involved in the sport knows exactly what the future will bring; this plan repre- . sents the sanctioning body's commilmentto take dirt track racing into the 21st century and beyond, and a compass heading to get it there. entirety, divide it into smaller manageable segments, establish priorities, then identify strategies which should, over time, result in beneficial and managed change. This approach has resiJlted in a fiveyear plan which we hope will reverse declining trends and take professional dirt track racing to a healthier state between now and the year 2001. However, before delineating that plan, I would 'like to talk briefly about the dirt track strategic planning project as a whole and how it intends to proceed in three stages. While the problem has many facets, it was the feeling of the strategic planning group, based on the intensity of opinion among enthusiasts, riders, the central item on the agenda of the next meeting of the planning group. I estimate that this phase of the planning project will continue through most of the 1997 season. During this phase we intend to expand the strategic planning team to better incorporate both the rider's and the promoter's point of view. Finally, a third phase of the strategic planning process will address dirt' track racing at the grass-roots level. We have noted revitalized dirt track activity at the amateur level in some parts of the country. We intend to bring the organizers of strong amateur programs into the planning process, identify the ideas that appear to be working and develop plans to disseminate that information to other great deal of concern has been expressed about the decline of professional dirt track racing within an environment where young people seem to be turning to motocross and road racing, for which racing-quality serial-production equipment is readily available. A wide range of ideas and suggestions has come from all quarters about how to revitalize dirt track racing. While many are good ideas, taken individually, each represents a "Band-Aid" approach to a large and complex problem.. Discussions between the American Motorcyclist Association and the Professional Motorcycle Racing Owners Group undertaken during 1996 resulted in the decision to confront the issue as any business would confront a large and complex problem, namely through a strategic planning process which would attempt to define the problem in its teams and the press, that the first aspect to confront was the overall quality of the professional racing program. hi other words, better grass-roots activity will lead nowhere if the sport remains troubled at the highest level, and effective marketing cannot be undertaken unless we are convinced that we have a marketable product. Consequently, the planning team has initially focused on evaluating the "product" from top to bottom. While time has been spent on other important issues, the main focus has been on improving and repackaging the professional racing program, which will be outlined today as the proposed five-year plan. The second phase of the planning process will focus on marketing, including. sponsorship and television. This phase has already begun, and the development of a systematic plan to get better interested parties throughout the country. Members of the dirt track advisory committee of the AMA Congress will playa significant role in this phase of the planning process. Furthermore, the AMA will take steps during 1997 to improve its amateur dirt track national championship program as one of the keys to improving dirt track racing throughout America at the grass-roots level. . The first phase of our strategic planning project was initiated in August last year, and was finalized just a month ago. I want to thank everyone who has participated in the project, and that includes the team owners, promoters, fans, officials and the press, who have submitted ideas, suggestions and insights to the planning group. You all have made vital contributions. As is customary with any strategic planning process, we began with a dirt track coverage on television will be SWOT Analysis - an identification of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats affecting the current AMA professional dirt track program. first we'll discuss the strengths and opportunities. - Quality of the Grand National show: Perhaps the greatest strength is the quality of the Grand National show. I am speaking of what happens from flag to flag, which compares favorably for sound, ~xcitement, color and quality to any motorsport in America. In terms of the ability of the athletes, and the close parity between machines, dirt track racing has probably never been better. It has been a goal of the strategic planning group to not inadvertently damage this asset while seeking solutions to other problems. - Fan loyalty and enthusiasm: Clearly, the program benefits from fan loyalty and enthusiasm. To protect and strengthen this asset, ways need to be found to give the paying customers better value. - Camaraderie; Sense of community: Camaraderie and the sense of community among dirt track riders and teams is the glue that has kept the program together. Competition is intense on the track, but cooperation prevails otherwise. For example, just think of how our young athletes compare favorably to the arrogance, aloofness, backbiting and rivalry that exists in leading forms of automobile open-wheel racing. We need to nurture and reinforce our strong sense of community. - Cost of equipment: At fiist blush many will doubt that the cost of equipment is a strength. All forms of motor racing are expensive, but to put Grand National dirt track racing in perspective, we must compare it to the other options that a team owner or rider has today. With Japanese factory support behind road racing and motocross, huge sums are spent, but rarely talked about. The true cost of racing .is hidden within factory racing budgets. Consider that you can probably campaign a Grand National dirt' tracker for two seasons for the cost of puffing a superbike on the pole at Daytona. Wherever we plan to take dirt track racing, we should avoid a course that would lead it away from its current relatively economical equipment formula. - High interest among promoters: There is also a high interest among promoters. Dirt track racing still has many, many individuals ready to promote an event, and we need to give them better and more diverse opportunities. - Officiating: We believe that in its cur-. rent state, officiating can be classified as a strength. AMA Dirt Track Manager Bruce Bober and his team have achieved better coopera tion, improved morale and a higher-quality show during the past two seasons. . • AMAlPMROG relationship for marketing coordination: We also believe that the AMA/PMROG relationship, as it has evolved during 1996, must be regarded a strength. Concerned parties have stopped the unproductive practice of trying to figure out who to blame for the state of dirt track racing, and have refocused that energy into communication, resource-pooling, cooperation and problem-solving. Yet dirt track racing remains a threatened form of the sport, and the strategic planning group has done its best to identify the weaknesses and threats that must be overcome.

• Cover