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/728976
P108 CN III TRACKSIDE BY ANDREA WILSON I t's amazing to think it was a little more than two years ago that professional road racing nearly died on the vine in the U.S. Thankfully, the KRAVE Group—made up of partners Terry Kargas, Wayne Rainey, Chuck Aksland and Richard Var- ner—took control of the property with AMA/FIM North America sanctioning. Although often confused, the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) based in Ohio has nothing to do with the series' previous caretaker: Daytona Motorsports Group in Florida, who acquired the AMA Pro Racing Series in 2008. Now this is not going to be a trip down memory lane of grievances past. The parting of ways with AMA Pro Racing and the AMA was the best thing to happen to all parties involved, including road racing's cousin— AMA Pro Flat Track. Both series are in a much better place now that they have the right people paying full attention to each series' individual needs. The reality is that years of animosity stored up against the Ohio AMA, compounded by some very early mistakes made by leadership at the fledgling AMA Pro Racing in Florida, set the road race series down the path of extinction. So when it was announced on September 3, 2014 that Rainey and Co. had taken stewardship of the U.S. road racing championship, those in the paddock rejoiced. Back before DMG purchased AMA Pro Racing's (Ohio) prop- erties, rumors circulated that they were for sale and every- one in road racing was hoping that whoever bought the series would adopt FIM rules. After all, standardization in superbike rules would make more sense to manufacturers. Building special bikes for a national series was just not going to happen without motivation and some ingenuity from regional OEMs; ultimately illustrated when the bubble burst in a spending economy. It was the exact opposite plan of DMG. But while their direction was hated by manufacturers and purist enthusiasts that hated a dumbing down of the machines, it turned out they were a little bit ahead of the curve when the economic climate would ultimately dictate cutting costs. British Superbikes followed suit, albeit on a different path, and reaped the benefits of a series that grew leaps and bounds in a tough economy. The British championship's crowds were far surpassing their home World Superbike round (even when Brits were dominating the World Championship), which had many people scratching their heads. Needless to say, superbike racing—at the world or national level—had, and continues to have, a big challenge ahead of them. Now imagine taking on that battle when the series is nearly DOA. Rumor has it there was no schedule when the prop- erty was sold to MotoAmerica in early September 2014. That left very few months to put that together a TV deal, as well as the infrastructure of the series, perhaps the least glamorous part. The first year wasn't perfect for the newly dubbed MotoAmer- ica AMA/FIM North America Road Race Championship. Timing and scoring started out as a nightmare; the TV pack- age was mediocre with tape- delayed highlights focused on the 1000 class. But the folks at MotoAmerica fixed timing and scoring by year's end and had TWO YEARS IN