Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

- Dirt; inconsistent medium: First, dirt is a fragile, weather-sensitive and inconsistent medium. When we turn iii a poor-quality show, it is often because we are truggling to make a track rid- . able. - Vulnerability to weather: We lost two live major network telecasts this year because the show could not go on due to weather. This is a problem that is inherent in the sport. It will never be eliminated, but we may be able to find ways to reduce our vulnerability to weather and track conditions. - Limited equipment availabilty: Perhaps one of the greatest threats to Grand National competition is the limited availability of competitive equipment. The escalating cost of Honda parts is moving the program closer to one-brand racing, and teams express concern about the·future availability of parts and support for Harley~Davidson XR engines. One of the key questions facing the planning group has been, "Where will we get the future power plants for Grand National racing?" - Absence of television; 'sponsorship: For a variety of reasons, dirt track racing has not received television coverage comparable to other forms of motorcycle competition. It is clear, though, that our effort to get dirt track racing on television suffers from the absence of an advertiser base. Road racing, motocross and supercross get coverage because major manufacturers are ready to spend their ad vertising dollars. No similar support is forthcoming for dirt track racing. And the absence of television and limited involvement by motorcycle and aftermarket companies has made sponsorship harder to come by. - Appearance of facilities: Access to high-quality facilities has declined over the past two decades, and many oval tracks have disappeared or been' changed from dirt to pavement. Truthfully, some of the facilities currently used in Grand National competition are of such a quality that it may be better not to expose through television. - Quality of the show: Overall, the show needs improvement. Shorter programs and greater consistency are being achieved, but the Grand National series remains plagued by delays. - Number of events: The number of events may be a weakneSs since it is difficult for teams to maintain quality equipment through so many races, and sponsors may not want to support SO many events. Different opinions prevail on this subject, but I suspect all would agree that a shorter Grand National series might be preferable if it included only larger, higher-quality facilities, bigger purses and full series television coverage. - Inadequate farm system: The number of riders competing at the. Grand National level is frighteningly few. This is related in part to the availability of equipment, but there is no doubt that it is exacerba ted by an inadequate fa~m system. . This SWOT analysis leads to an evaluation of the current AMA professional dirt track program. - Questionable relevance of 250cc as an entry-level machine: First, it iS'doubtful that a 250cc class provides relevant experience for entry-level professionals. It probably teaches little applicable. to graduation to the big twins, and most first-year professionals have probably been cutting their amateur teeth on much larger machines anyway. - Questionable entertainment value of 600cc as Grand ational substitute: While debate will continue about bringing 600cc singles into the Grand National class, there is little doubt that they, by comparison to the big twins, do not provide the entertainment value that fans are looking for at the highest level. - Confusion of the PIO-Am program: We believe that the AMA's Pro-Am program has brought confusion rather than value. It likely has helped destroy professional racing below the Grand National Championship level, because it has given promoters a cheap option wbere they can obtain professional riders with no purse, no medical insurance and a very low sanction fee. This option needs to be closed off in favor of something better for p'rofessional riders and teams. - Impending crisis in Grand National equipment: Most· serious is the impending equipment crisis facing Grand National racing. How to identify, test and evolve toward the engines of the future without upsetting the current Grand National show is one of the great challenges faced by the planning group. Having evaluated the current program, based on its strengths and weaknesses, we can move toward articulating our "needs" in the process of moving toward a healthier program. - Reasonably protect current investments: We need to make a very serious effort to protect current investments. Significant changes are required, but they cannot be implemented overnight. Changes must be staged and announced in advance to enable team owners to phase out and fully amortize current machines. - Maintain Grand National show quality: However this.is undertaken, it needs to be done with careful attention to protecting and maintaining the quality of Grand National racing. It would be dangerous to conduct radical experiments within the Grand National class. - Improve equipment availability: We badly need greater availability of equipment and involvement by more brands. This need can only be filled by moving toward serial production engines. ~ Create better transition from amateur to professional; We need to create a better, more logical, more effective, more rider-friendly transition from amateur to professional dirt track racing. - Improve the consistency and quality of events: We need to improve the consistency and quality of events if dirt track racing is going to better sa tisfy fans, become more televisable and be taken seriously by sponsors. - Find a way to identify and develop the next generation of engines: And we must find a way to· develop the next genera tion of engines. The XR750 will not (and should not) prevail'forever, and the RS750 may already have become too costly to be practical beyond the life of the current remaining examples. Consequently, through SWOT analysis, program evaluation and needs assessment, the strategic planning team has drafted a five-year plan that we hope all stakeholders in the dirt track community will embrace and support. We are well aware that details will continue to be debated, but we urge all who' are concerned about the future of dirt track racing to take an open-minded and big-picture approach to this plan. Before describing its components, I would like to define the objectives of the plan. It is intended to better define the division between amateur and professionallevels of competition, improve the training and transition of riders to the Grand National level and eliminate the features of the current Pro-Am program that have caused confusion and been . damaging to professional racing. One of its main objectives is to create an opportunity for riders and teams to select from an abundance of new, readily available engines. It is designed to create a laboratory for the development of the next generation of Grand National engines. We don't yet know what that next generation will be, but the plan creates an opportunity for experimentation and development to take place without disrupting the current Grand National class. In this way we hope to meet the important objective of facilitating necessary change at the highest level without disadvantaging current teams. The objective is to create a staged transition to long-term solutions. And we plan to continue to improve and professionalize the Grand National show and better position it as high-value entertainment. So, let's look at the five-year plan, unrolling it one year at a time. First, we propose no radical or disruptive changes during the coming year. The year 1997 will be used to introduce and publicize the plan while we focus on qualitative improvements in the current program. First we will introduce new, formal, documented event evaluation proce- . dures on the Grand National circuit. A written evaluation procedure has been developed in which the AMA, the PMROG, the riders and promoters will all participate. This proced ure is not for placing blame on failings, but rather to identify, through clear communication among all parties, the areas where improvements can be made. This evaluation procedure will become the AMA's sanctioning yardstick for systematically upgrading the series. All of us - the promoters, the teams and the sanctioning body - need to adopt a Total Quality Management mentality. TQM works only when all parties buy into the process of shared responsibility. It cannot be confrontational. It must be_cO\lPerative. 1997 During 1997 we will introduce the AMA National Hot Shoe Series. In the short term, this program is designed to consolidate our confusing array of Regionals, Nationals and other events that exist below the Grand National level. In the long term it will enable us to alter the current Pro-Am program, and it will provide a development field for venues and promotions that may not yet be up to Grand National standards. Think of the relationship between Busch Grand National and Winston Cup racing within the NASCAR program. It is our intention that a similar relationship will be achieved between AMA Hot Shoe and AMA Grand National, providing more opportunities for riders and promoters alike, as well as more good quality events for the fans. We have strongly recommended that the AMA test a paved venue at the Grand National level in the near future. We are not suggesting that dirt track racing will eventually be replaced by paved ovals. However, we believe that as we look for better, more manageable facilities, pavement is likely to play an important role. To gain more knowledge in this area, we hope to include a paved venue in the new National Hot Shoe Series during 1997 or 1998. Key to stability in the five-year plan is a commitment to maintain the current Grand National equipment rules for five year. This commitment will enable

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