Posted in the Mansfield newspaper on Mid-Ohio

[Jester851]

This was in the Mansfield paper yesterday regarding the lack of fans at Mid-Ohio.....He calls it like it is....

I purposely didn't write anything about the new AMA Pro Racing because I didn't want what I've read and what others have told me to sway my opinion.

I wanted to see it with my own eyes and give it a proper chance to wow me.

Oh, I was wowed.

Folks can say what they want about the dumbed-down bikes, but that was the best action during a Honda Super Cycle Weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in four or five years.

If that goofball Johnny Rock Page, one of the all-time great attention seekers, doesn't get in the way of leaders Josh Hayes and Aaron Yates in the closing laps on Saturday in a desperate move to get TV time, longtime observers of the sport felt it could have been one of the best Superbike races in the last 15 years. As it was, it was outstanding.

The next day, Hayes and teammate Ben Bostrom gave the fans a couple of memorable moments in the Esses with a pair of passes and repasses, while Jamie Hacking and Danny Eslick had a last lap for the ages in the Daytona SportBike race.

Are the bikes the best in the world? Nope. But does that matter to the product? Not a bit.

I defy anyone to tell me the difference between the 1:24 Ben Spies ran at Mid-Ohio in 2007 on the greatest Superbike ever built for an American rider and the 1:25s seen this weekend with bikes the fraction of the cost of that factory Suzuki model.

I'll gladly trade the pimped-out forks and the super-performance do-dads that make it a million dollar piece of machinery for the more stock-looking model, if they're going to give us action like we saw this weekend over the lack of action we saw in 2007 and '08.

But I was wowed in other ways.

I was wowed by the complete lack of enthusiasm from everybody associated with the event. I got the vibe nobody was all-in and everybody was holding back: the track, the riders, the sanctioning body and even the fans.

The track got burned in 2006 by the riders and the AMA during the ill-fated fall Shootout and it appears those wounds haven't healed. For all the talk of "edu-cation, education, education," by track owner Michelle Trueman Gajoch, I didn't see a whole lot of reaching out nor nearly the amount of promotion as there was in the past.

The teams and riders are nickle-and-dimed by the new owners of the series, chiseled for passes here and licenses there, hammered for any violations and forced to race for prize money weekly racers at a local dirt track might scoff at. So when asked, many aren't too fired up to help out and do the extras like a media luncheon and golf outing. And on a sidebar, what exactly is the incentive for the privateers to compete?

AMA Pro Racing appears to want to do business on its terms, which is OK if the company is NASCAR and has 60 years of history to lean on and has evolved into a top four sports empire behind the NFL, MLB and NBA . These guys running AMA Pro might have NASCAR lineage and NASCAR ideas, but they ain't Big Bill France. The days of take-it-or-leave-it management are over.

Since taking over, they've alienated their paddock, ticked everyone off with the new rulebook and appear to be in the midst of running off most of the manufacturers. The sport's pooh-bah, Roger Edmondson, has a long history with motorcycle road racing, but is he ruling with a vision or vindictiveness?

I was wowed by more this weekend.

I was wowed by the rinky-dink manufacturers midway at Mid-Ohio. No displays from Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki and most telling by its absence was Honda, with no display at the Honda Super Cycle Weekend. Now tell me this isn't a series in trouble.

I was wowed by how two-bit everything looked. I didn't realize just how much the bike makers propped up the sport with their money. With the fancy façade gone, it had an amateurish vibe to it.

I was wowed by the incredible dearth of promotion. I always thought the old AMA had set the bar as low as it could go. I was wrong and I apologize to the good folks in Pickerington.

The one area new owners yipped most about was their ability to promote the sport. They had that ol' NASCAR magic in their background, which they vowed to bring to the bike game.

If their idea of promotion is having fans essentially miss the first half of the season due to the lamest TV package ever created, they are champs. If their idea of promotion is not reaching out to mainstream media outlets, they are the best. If their idea of promotion is having a bare-bones PR staff with next to no supplement from the makers, they've achieved the mark.

So is it any surprise the bike crowd at Mid-Ohio was the smallest in memory?

The fans spoke by not showing up.

Congratulations new AMA Pro Racing. The product was better than expected and everything else was worse.

You've wowed me in ways I never expected to be wowed.

rmccurdy@nncogannett.com

419-521-7241

[shadyone]

yup seems about right..

[Pedro]

I'll drink to that. I still had a decent time but it definitely was not the same as years before.

[madcat6183]

Funny, I grew up in Mansfield, went to pretty much every open wheel and bike race out there for years, havent been since 03ish due to $$ being spent on my car instead of owning a bike. Instead I would go out to Park Ave and cruise with everyone and watch the stunters etc, this being before it was downtown and really publicized. Now it seems that the bike stuff downtown gets twice the notarity that the track gets.

I ve met the owners a few times and even worked for Pepsi when it was a major sponsor out there(still is), and spent many days of the week out there for publicity etc. Actually bike week was crazy in 02, all over the paper, TV, etc. But ever since all that stuff went down a few years ago, the track has truly started to cater more to the mid ohio driving schools, riding schools, and private track rental weekends for like miatas, porches, etc. Thats where they are making their money.

The reason for that is because in general people aren't going to races, no matter what they are. Nascar is even down, Indy and F1 is basically a dieing sport which sucks, but it's true. Dirt is down, hell even horse racing is.

Publicity costs $$ and when your $$ is down, you cut what you have to...

Either way, good article and sad to see. I hope the AMA sticks around and next year is better.

[Jester851]

I normally don't offer my opinions on here.....they are like assholes, everyone's got one...and it stinks to someone. Here is my 2 pennies. I agree racing is down as a whole. I have seen it at other tracks around the country. (For those of you who don't know me I run the trackside division of Iron Pony, handling direct consumer marketing, and trackside sales.) The one I thing i will say is that there are other tracks out there doing it better. If any of you have ever been to Barber outside of Birmingham, AL you know what I mean. Nicer facilities, nicer staff, more events than just racing going on at the facility during big race weekends. VIR for example last year had a big concert and stunt show after the racing action was over on Saturday evening. Not only did they attract a more diverse crowd, they also kept money rolling their way by offering the fans a reason to extend their visit to the facility. I have been vending/attending at Mid-Ohio since 2002. Each year I see the facility grow more battered and abused. Each year I have seen fewer vendors and attractions at the Supercycle weekend. This year was ugly. I have never seen so few vendors. I was amazed that not even Honda showed up to represent at the "Honda Supercycle Weekend" I mean really? I understand the economy isn't the best right now, but ok so bring a smaller set-up. I think the AMA/DMG had a lot to do with the fan attendance this past weekend, but i also think the folks at Mid-O have dug their own hole with fans as well. I have seen attendance down at other tracks as well....normally on Friday of the race weekend, they then show up in force on Saturday and Sunday. Still sad to see....i hope it all turns for the better soon.

[Whitey1]

Sad to hear. I always remembered how packed it was in the 90's with every square inch of grass near Clear Fork reservoir covered with tents and campfires. Is it possible that with the INTERNET popularity in the last decade allowing like minded folks meet up and take more small group rides and events that it isn't as big of a deal to get together at the races as it used to be?

[SchmuckGirl]

The last thing we need is less AMA action in central Ohio. I hope they get their act together soon, because, from my very amateur opinion, MidOhio seems to be a decent track and worth keeping in the forefront.

[madcat6183]

Im with Whitey, I remember those days very well. The infield would be packed with cars, and all around the track on the outside, crews setup everywhere to get a glimps of the race.

Sad.

[banzai]

tthis is my 2cents worth---I don't see it as a track problem, its an AMA problem. As a long time member and always at vintage days ( only missesd one, daughters wedding) this one was a disaster. no auction no event pins the vintage bike their giving away next year is a 2008 harley rocker Wtf is so vintage about that? I believe that Dingman is the problem, he fired the enthusiast and we the association are now run by money people. If we--the associaton don't get off our collective asses and do some complanin we can kiss this association goodby-----Banzai:eek:

[Fonzie]

.....But ever since all that stuff went down a few years ago...

Enlighten me with the cliff notes version please, as he alluded to this "falling out" in his article too

[Kosmo]

can't agree less......lack of the quality bewbs in the tity alley was the dire proof.......