VOL. 52 ISSUE 29 JULY 21, 2015 P69
form of motorcycle racing.
So when we talk about trying
to do something that's going to
set us apart, we're actually kind
of following what the others have
been doing in most instances.
Instead of having a junior class
and an expert class or a GNC2
class and GNC1 class, which
is based on the rider qualifica-
tions, we'll still have a rider
qualification, but our classes will
be named after the equipment
rules. We've yet to determine
that part of it, but what we want
to do is make the classes and
the structure easily recogniz-
able.
People in dirt track under-
stand what we do because
we've been involved in it so long
that we all understand it. But
somebody new to the sport, you
try to explain this to them and it's
almost impossible. The riders
jump around on different brands
of motorcycles, different size of
motorcycles, depending on the
size of the track and even that's
not consistent. GNC2 riders
may ride a single on a mile and
at other races they might ride a
twin on a mile. So it's so hard for
people to understand.
And it's also equally hard I
think for any OEM who might
want to get involved. Let's just
take Harley since they've been
the dominant brand in the sport
all these years. If Brad Baker
wins the championship, he rode
a Harley 10 races and rode a
Honda at four or five races, in
the end who gets to claim the
championship? The only person
who gets to claim the champion-
ship or the only entity is Brad
Baker. Honda can't really claim
it, neither can Harley. So what
do they have to market? What
draws them into the sport and
draws their investment into the
sport? They can spend all that
money and there's really nothing
that they get out of it. So we've
got to fix that if we intend to draw
the OEMs into the sport.
How important is the
consideration to make it less
confusing for the fans?
In the end if we don't have
fans, it doesn't matter what else
we do. If you go to a Supercross
and somebody goes for the first
time and they ask somebody
that took them who's been to a
lot of them, "explain the sport to
me?" And they say, "the heroes
ride 250s but the gods ride the
450s." Well, every race they
go to it's the same show. It's
cookie-cutter. Every time they
go Ryan Dungey's on an orange
bike. He's not showing up one
There are many venues that are a part
of the history of the sport, like the Indy
Mile. Can they find a way to bring modern
amenities to these classic tracks?
