Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/295587
IN THE WIND P30 W Y M A N D Q ' E D F RO M DAYTO NA V I C TO RY K yle Wyman's victory in the Vance & Hines Harley-David- son final at Daytona International Speedway on March 14 has been stripped away – a month after the team owner/racer won his third Harley race in the past four years at the Speedway. AMA Pro Racing disqualified Wyman via a short press release that stated only that his #33 Millennium Technologies-spon- sored Harley-Davidson XR1200 "contained non-compliant and improperly modified engine com- ponents." On Monday, April 14, Wyman issued a press release regarding the disqualification. "I'm really bummed out about all of this, and quite frankly I'm more than a little confused," Wyman said. "I've dedicated my life to road racing and would never do anything to gain an unfair advantage over other rid- ers. I respect the spirit of com- petition far too much. Anyone that knows me, including [series sponsor] Terry Vance himself, will tell you it's just not in my DNA to do something illegal. With no recourse available with AMA Pro Racing, I have to accept the rul- ing. It's very troublesome to me the way this all went down, and while I plan to move forward and do everything I can to race for the championship, I do feel the need to explain the events as they transpired. "After finishing first in Daytona, my team was instructed to dis- assemble the engines in order for the cylinder heads to be in- spected by AMA Pro Racing. We immediately complied, and the parts were taken for further eval- uation with results to be released on an undetermined timeline. It should be noted that no parts were confiscated from any of the other 23 riders in the field. Elev- en days later, on March 25, AMA Pro Racing informed us the cyl- inder heads were within the con- fines of the rules, the provisional results would now be declared official, and our parts would be shipped back to Kyle Wyman Racing. A press release was then issued by AMA Pro Rac- ing (http://amaproracing.com/ rr/news/index.cfm?cid=59408) recapping my win. At the same time, a winner's check in the amount of $3750 was issued to me. "At this point, several of my sponsors purchased congratu- latory advertisements in a vari- ety of motorcycle magazines. One week later, on March 31, I submitted a first-person blog entry titled "My Best Week- end, Ever," (http://amapro- r a c i n g . c o m / r r / b l o g s / p o s t . c f m ? c i d = 5 9 6 6 5 & d i d = 3 2 9 1 ) which was published on the AMA Pro Racing website as well as many notable news outlets within the industry. I also appeared as a guest on Pit Pass Radio to dis- cuss the win. "Two days later, AMA Pro Rac- ing contacted me again, this time to say the cylinder heads original- ly deemed in compliance were now considered to be illegal. I PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON AMA Pro Racing has disqualified Kyle Wyman from the Harley- Davidson final at Daytona, stripping him of his victory. continued on page 32