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/377698
VOL. 51 ISSUE 36 SEPTEMBER 9, 2014 P109 passionate with what he's about to take on than Rainey. And he's up front about his mo- tivation: He wants to get Ameri- can racers back into MotoGP. When the news broke about Rainey and his KRAVE Group's takeover of the commercial and marketing rights to the se- ries, the comments were over- whelmingly positive. In fact, it was damn near impossible to find anything negative that was said or written. Even in the hide- behind-it-all, say-what-you-want world of Facebook and social media. No surprise there. Rain- ey is well liked and now he's deemed by all as a savior. They say that you have to hit rock bottom before you can recov- er and that thing we've all felt brush against the side of our heads this year was the rock. Now it's time to recover. While the response to Rain- ey and Co. taking over was all positive, there remains a bit of confusion when it comes to AMA, AMA Pro Racing and their involvement with the series. So let me attempt to clarify the best I can: AMA Pro Racing has been owned and operated by the Daytona Motorsports Group (DMG) since the AMA sold it to them in 2008. AMA Pro Racing is lo- cated in Daytona Beach, Flori- da, and they provide sanctioning for MX Sports, the promoters of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Series. For the AMA Grand Na- tional Championship, AMA Pro Racing (DMG) does the whole enchilada – sanctioning, man- agement and promotion through individual promoters. Ditto for the National Hillclimb Series. The AMA (don't insert Pro Racing here) is in Ohio… it's the same AMA that fights for your rights as motorcyclists. The very same AMA who ran every form of professional motorcycle rac- ing in this country for seemingly forever – until they cut the deal with DMG in 2008. For MotoAmerica only, the AMA (the Ohio one) has reac- quired the sanctioning, com- mercial and marketing rights back from DMG. That means that DMG/AMA Pro Racing has absolutely nothing to do with the MotoAmerica series. The AMA, along with FIM North America, will sanction MotoAmerica. That means they will provide officials, help with rules, ad- minister licensing, etc. The rest will be handled by Rainey and KRAVE. It will be similar to the way that Supercross is handled – sanctioned by the AMA and the FIM, but managed and pro- moted by Feld Motor Sports. In other words, MotoAmerica is KRAVE's show. Whew. Still confused? I think I am. The confusion comes from AMA/AMA Pro Racing. In retro- spect, both entities would have been better off without sharing the name, though it's under- standable that at the time of the deal it seemed like a good idea. So did a lot of things when that deal was signed. Now all that happens is the AMA gets blamed for things they no lon- ger have control of, and AMA Pro Racing (DMG) gets pigeon- holed for things the AMA did 30 years ago. It normally ends up with whoever is doing the blam- ing just throwing their hands in the air and saying… it's the F-ing AMA, which isn't fair to either. I once told former AMA Pro Racing CEO (when it was owned by the AMA) Scott Hollingsworth that as a kid growing up in the AMA paddock, I always won- dered where the F was in the front of AMA. Shouldn't it have been FAMA? But I digress. What matters now is that a sickly U.S. road racing series is getting a fresh start, a shot of penicillin in the backside. And penicillin works quickly. Let's hope that we all wake up tomor- row feeling the better for it. I think we will. CN