Surprise, Surprise?

[MOKE1K]

DMG Superbike Death Watch?
by dean adams
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
If you're of the opinion that Superbike racing in America is dying under the management of the Daytona Motorsport Group, last weekend's release of the 2010 purse information for the Superbike class probably did little to convince you that the class is not strapped to a bed with a pillow over its face.

Purse payouts for the Superbike class are dramatically reduced for 2010. According to DMG documents, in the Superbike class The riders earning the three (3) highest point totals on an event weekend will be paid podium bonuses as follows: 1st - $3,500.00, 2nd - $2,000.00, and 3rd - $1,000.00.

Astoundingly, DMG documents suggest that there will be no purse paid for riders or teams finishing past third place in Superbike points on each race weekend.

Daytona Sport Bike, mind you, will also have a reduced purse but still pays a purse to twentieth place. DMG document: The riders earning the twenty (20) highest point totals on an event weekend will be paid purse awards as follows: 1st - $5,000.00, 2nd - $3,000.00, 3rd - $2,000.00, 4th through 10th - $1,500.00 each, and 11th through 20th $1,000.00 each.

Amazingly, finishing third in Superbike points on any given DMG weekend pays as well as twentieth place in DMG's namesake class, Daytona Sport Bike.

At the risk of being obvious, in the past, a Superbike purse paying well down the finishing order was a way for a privateer or support team to help defray expenses, to pay their tire, fuel or hotel bills for the race weekend.

How exactly will smaller teams be able to race the Superbike class? Some of them say that they won't.

DMG came into this fray in a swashbuckling manner. Roger Edmondson said in the March 2008 press conference announcing that DMG was buying AMA Pro Racing "I know this sounds ****y, but forgive me - we know it will be successful. Once the France family decides to move forward on a project, it does not fail." (Link to full transcript)

Their December 2008 press release stated that for the two premier classes, Superbike and Daytona Sport Bike, Each of the premier divisions will offer $125,000 purses at each event with $15,000 going to the top points winner in each class. Second through 20th place finishing positions will earn $5,000 while the remaining finishers through 25th position will be paid $3,000.

Given the resources of the Daytona International Speedway organization and the France family, sponsorship to support those numbers was at that time almost an after-thought.

Simply put, DMG could not deliver on their grandiose purse statements and had to issue a humbling press release before the 2009 Daytona event spelling out that previously released purse amounts were no longer possible.

Sadly, the reality is that Superbike purse payments in 2010 will be at their lowest point in modern AMA Superbike racing history. Not only are they lower than purses offered a just a few years ago, they are less than levels the series paid out in 1997.

Also a reality is that these relatively minuscule purse levels, the Superbike grid is in real danger of ending at the second row. Making its eventual demise easier to justify?

[Kenneth_Moore]

Race Week has had it's ups and downs over the years, for me the peak years were the late 90's when Duhamel and Mladin were racing. Crossfield was still on the HD ride, giving us something to root for (the first few laps till the engine blew up anyway).

It would a real shame if the Daytona 200 were to go down the tubes. Even last year's fiasco was still great fun to watch.

[12er]

I'll still probably go to infinion next year, if there is a next year. But its MotoGP and WSB for me now. With WSS back again this year at Miller its a good show. Been DVR'n the WSS races lately, the difference between the Miller rounds Speed coverage and the usual commentators for the rest of the series is just too funny. The first lap of Miller the Speed fools didnt mention a riders name, just "oh theres a pass, good action, etc" with a lot of silence in the middle. Been catching speedway gp on discovery theater, forgot how much fun speedway is to watch.

[longride]

With that idiot Mladin gone, I'll now consider going to a race and supporting the series. He strangled it to near death. Now maybe somebody will actually be interested.

[MOKE1K]

Too late,...


He took all the money with him.

[longride]

Originally Posted by MOKE1K

Too late,...


He took all the money with him.

Pretty much.

[seruzawa]

Regardless of any arrogance and mismanagement on the part of DMG, AMA road racing has been on the wane for a long time. The AMA had been doing a terrible job and this DMG move was probably more desperation. The fact is that no amount of hype and marketing could make up for the crashing boredom that was AMA SBK. The last AMA SBK race I went to, at Millers, had maybe a thousand people there, The supporting races... 125GP and AMA SS... were magnitudes more entertaining than the Shriners parade that was the Stuperbike Race. And the special rule that stopped the entire race when Mladin fell down and gave him time to fix his bike. Well..... ridiculous.

I swore I'd never go again. Local flattrack races are 100 times more exciting. Heck, mowing the lawn is more exciting.

In the USA we have to come to grips with the fact that motorcycle racing, especially road racing, is just not very popular. No matter how much we few enthusiasts might like it you need large numbers of people attending. Those numbers simply aren't there.

[longride]

"And the special rule that stopped the entire race when Mladin fell down and gave him time to fix his bike. Well..... ridiculous."

Pretty much sums up the AMA road racing fiasco. They let one guy ruin the series, and now they cry about DMG trying to clean up the mess. Mladin needed to be forced out 8 or 9 years ago, but when they let one guy lap the field year after year, and then stop the whole race when he falls down, and they did that more than once, then the whole thing became a bad joke. It would be like watching Peyton Manning playing Pop Warner football. After the 20 touchdown in the first quarter, things just get boring. Now imagine 8 or 9 years of the same nonsense, and I think everyone gets why AMA road racing sucked.

[MOKE1K]

Originally Posted by seruzawa

In the USA we have to come to grips with the fact that motorcycle racing, especially road racing, is just not very popular. No matter how much we few enthusiasts might like it you need large numbers of people attending. Those numbers simply aren't there.

Agreeable maybe, Iv Roadraced on and off since 1998 and if the local club racing grids are any indication I believe "that" has grown quite a bit. Although the AMA attendance and even the local club racing attendance as far as spectators may be down the interest in the sport continues to grow.

With the addition of Trackdays in the United States and abroad its bringing alot more popularity to the sport now then when I started.
That part of perpetuating the sport has grown, the spectator segment
in the AMA may have had the bottom knocked out of it, but people continue to gain intrest into Motogp, WSBK, BSB. I think.

[seruzawa]

Originally Posted by MOKE1K

Agreeable maybe, Iv Roadraced on and off since 1998 and if the local club racing grids are any indication I believe "that" has grown quite a bit. Although the AMA attendance and even the local club racing attendance as far as spectators may be down the interest in the sport continues to grow.

With the addition of Trackdays in the United States and abroad its bringing alot more popularity to the sport now then when I started.
That part of perpetuating the sport has grown, the spectator segment
in the AMA may have had the bottom knocked out of it, but people continue to gain intrest into Motogp, WSBK, BSB. I think.

True, but to get attendance numbers we need to attract the general public as well as us fanatics. NASCAR's attendance has a large component of people who don't care much about who wins. It's just a fun event for them to attend, meet chicks, etc.