FEATURE I STATE OF AMERICAN FLAT TRACK: PART 3
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facturers come in," Gray said,
"Ultimately for that to happen,
the sport has got to grow. We've
got to make this sport so inter-
esting that the other manufactur-
ers can't stay away—they have to
get engaged. To me, that's the
way to go about it. I'm optimistic
that it can be done.
"If there's some perceived
advantage to our crankshaft,
we're fully open … let's make the
crankshaft diameter a constant
across the field. I think Harley
probably has the largest crank-
shaft of our competitors, so
make the crankshaft diameter
the same for everybody. We'd be
fine with that.
"I think this is solvable. I think
we've just got to go about it a
little differently. The future of
American Flat Track is there. It's
exciting. We've just got to get
that in front of the fans."
Progressive AFT COO Crouch
said, "When we get this right,
it will mean more OEM involve-
ment across the board. With
more brands promoting their
achievements and bringing their
customers to the racetrack, we'll
firmly establish an enthusiast
fanbase that will be critical to our
strategy for growing the sport.
"At the end of the day, it's on
us to lay the groundwork for this
by finding the right balance. And
ultimately, that balance is what's
best for the sport, the manufac-
turers, the teams, the riders and
the fans."
CN
"The problem is, you can talk about it for six
months but until you get to the racetrack you don't
know. All I'm doing is waiting to see what happens,
and then if the rules are favorable to get something
out there besides an Indian, then we might have a
real reason to get excited."
-Terry Vance
