Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

interests as bes t we can and make decisions that we think are in the best interests of the most number of those stakeh o ld er s, because every decision we ma ke, for the most part, is going to have an adversaria l effect for someone, or de trimental effect for so m eo ne, and someone else is going to benefit." The detrimental effect in the Chevy deal is that Mazda Trucks, which sponsored motocross last year, as well as the left out. AMA 250cc GP class , " We w ere i n an option yea r with Ma zda and Mazda couldn't commit to . the motocross p rogram due to their budget issues, a nd with our ongoi ng dialogue wit h Chevy we were provided an opportun ity to do a la rger ki nd of ma rketing partnership tha t C hevy fou nd attractive," Hollingsworth sa id . "It does spell the en d of our rela tion ship w ith Mazda, w h ic h is not so methi ng we're happy abo u t, or proud to report to them. " Pro Racing encompasses fou r discip lines - road race, dirt track, hill climb, m ot ocr o ss a n d s u percross . In s upercross , the AMA has a cooperative agreement with PACE Motor Sports. Though the relationship has often been roc ky and occasionally li ti g iou s , Hollingsworth said those problems are in the past, though PACE chose no t to r u n this winter's Arenacross series under AMA sanction. "Well, I think we 've resolved our differences and we' re going to wo r k together," he said, "And I'm very hopeful that we find that w e can wo r k together. I think the dialogue there is better today than it has been in quite some time and we're going to try to put aside our d ifferences and, again, work together for the betterment of the sport." The Supe rcross agreement continues for three more years. After that, "We're developing plans right now. Th e dialogues with PACE will continue abo u t what the future would lo o k like," Holli ngsworth said. The more immediate conce rn would see m to be PACE's en try into road racing , thou gh Hollingsworth sees it more as a cha llenge. "Generally speaking, we thi nk competition is a good thing," he said . "So it will make us a better company, it w ill make us serve our constituents, our stakeholders better. We think the market will be better served by it." Hollingsworth said that they would announce specifi c plans to improve road racing after the first of the year. Though they haven't released a complete schedule, PACE did pick up the date at Willow Springs International Raceway left vacant when Willow couldn't come to terms with the AMA . As to whether he's worried that the factory teams will migrate to the PACE series, Hollingsworth said, "I think we just have to do our job. We just have to do our job and do our job better. And that's what we're going to do." Doing the job better means improving the increasingly fractious relationship between the AMA and the riders that reached it s nad ir in 1999. Hollingsworth isn ' t go ing to be at the track answering questions , but that doesn't mean he'll be idle . "I' m involved in developing a pla n to a d dress some of th e o pe ra tional iss u es .. .and cha lle nges, " he sa id . " I th in k a lot of those challenges are the resu lt of our not bein g in a commercial pos ition, if yo u wi ll, aga in, h a v in g access to the rig ht kin ds of resources, be it equ ipmen t, techn ol ogy , p ersonnel, the like, to pro vid e the level of service th at we wan t to p ro vid e. So I'm invol ved pre tt y d eepl y in a llocati ng w as re so u rce s to address some of those operational issues. I' m involved very heavily in that. And I think that we are developing specific plans right now that we'll be able to a nnounce in 30-60 days, somewhere in that time frame - we don't have a deadline on it, we want to get it right - that will address some of those issues. We've got command and control issues, situational awareness issues that we want to improve our perfor mance in those areas, and so we 're addressing tho se in specific details and will have a plan to do so some time around the New Year, give or take." Se ll ing a product m ea n s ha ving a product to sell. Ho llingsworth understa nds what draws people to race tracks, and one important element, among others, is personalities . "Everybody wa nts to get behind the ropes, out of the bleachers, and behind the ropes, and the Internet gives you some ability to do that," he said. "And we'll begin to exercise that ability going forward lin addition to the traditional forms of rider interaction such as autograph sessions and media tours]." The number one commercial concern, he beli eves, is the number and quality of venues for racing. The Superbike Series lost Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the season and Phoenix after the season , in addition to the recent loss of Willow Springs . New tracks ma y be added, but, for the time being, three tracks will be hosting doubleh ead ers, Su perbike races on both Saturday and Sunday. "I think in an ideal world we'd have more venues, more appropriate venues for, in particular, road racing," he said . The issu e of safety is what drove Phoenix from the schedule, and safety is an even more visib le issue in dirt track racing. "We obviously have track standards and di rt track is one where it's very difficult," he said. "A min u te cha nge in the wea ther dramatically affec ts the racing condition of the track. So it's a difficult environment to deal in at best. We have fa cilities on th e sche dule -w it h a grea t history that have wo nderful racing su rfaces, bu t not the best of ame nities. Of late we've tried going in to bigger metropolitan areas in g rander facilities that can accommodate mo re people in mo re comfort. We've found some of those don't have very good racing surfaces, despite our best efforts to improve the race surfaces and create different kinds of race surfaces . We have, quoteunquote, standards and inspection procedures. We wil l probably amend some of those for 2000. We' re constantly trying to find the right co mbinatio n of facilities with amenities to get dirt track racing in front of more people, but do so in a manner where we've got a proper racing surface, too." Track conditions have a d irec t affect on safety, and safety is an area where imp rovements need to be made , Hollingsworth believes. "Safety is a difficult issue, because this is an inherently da ngerous activity and sport," he sa id , "and it's frankly impossible to make .it safe. We can only make i t better. We can only make improvements in safety." And there will always be compromise . As an e xa m p le, Hollingsworth brought up the contentious issu e of rain tires for Supersport racing. "So m e t im e s when you push the edge, you go over the edge, and sometimes that has fairly drastic consequences," he said . "So we have riders that desire wet racing tires and we have riders that tell us that the use of wet racing tires won't change the dynamics at all. They're still going to push the edge. Thi s time when they fall down, they'll be going faster . There are very few , if an y, clear cu t answers when it comes to safety, but we always do the best we can in managing that environment." Among the other issues in the raintire debate are cos t and sui tability. Dunlop, by far the most dominant supplier of race tires at an AMA Su perb ike race, across all classes, mak es a street tire that has excellent we t-weather u sab ility an d trac tion . Mich elin, w hich is fa r less prevalent. di d n't have a su itable street tire for wet racing use this past season. "Most of th e tim es, w he n th ere's a safety issu e, ther e are a number of per spectives, and there is u su ally not a sin- gle answer that will address all the perspectives, and so, again, you're put in a difficult place of trying to balance those diverse views," Hollingsworth concedes. The AMA has made a decision on the rain -t ire issue, but it won 't be announced until next year. There are also diverse views of the future of dirt track racing. Some believe the future is the SuperTracker series. Hollingsworth isn ' t so sure. He relates SuperTrackers to the origina l Class C production movement of the 1930s and 40s. "SuperT rackers is the same mod el applied to the 90's - broa d-based ma nufacturer sup port, a move toward p roduction-based motorcycles and a lower cost of racing . Over time we' ll get there. " As for whethe r they'll rep la ce the cu rr e n t p remier dirt track class , Hollingsworth said, "At the moment the two are entirely separate. We're going to let them grow on their own." It was pointed out to Hollingsworth that the communications department at the AMA hasn't necessarily been communicating as effectively as they might, that the AMA's successes go la rge ly unnoticed. "There are a lot of things that we do that we don't get as much credit as we probably deserve," he said. "Purses are incr eas ing. We establish minimum purses for promoters, but we certainly don't es ta bli s h maximums . Th e fact is we keep advancing those numbers and rider s race for more money. You just laid ou t our road-racing situation. Motocross is a lmos t parallel to it. Ag ain, it falls back to our relationship with the NPG (National Promoters Group). If you look to what the AMA and N PG have done for cha mp ions h ip b onu s awar ds in motocross over the past two or three yea rs, it's a sig nifica nt advancement for riders. It is kind of a frus tra ting position to be in; perhaps we don' t ge t as much credit fo r so me of those th in gs as we sho uld." If everything goes acco rdi ng to plan, that w ill change, an d not a minute too eN soo n. .8 E u '" '" C 19

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