I'm saddened by the state of the AMA Superbike Championship, circa 2009. I don't know where it's going from here, but I really don't have any confidence it'll be anywhere I want to follow. I've discussed the takeover of the series by the Daytona Motorsports Group in exhaustive detail in previous posts so I'm not going to go into much into detail talking about it more here. What I will say is that after the disaster was complete I decided that I was going to vote with my dollars and not attend any of the races in 2009. I violated that personal edict pretty early since I ended up going to Daytona in March and seeing both the Superbike race and the Daytona 200. In my own defense I will say that the only reason I went was that I was already down in Florida for business, and in fact had spent the previous several weeks living out of hotel only about 30 minutes from Daytona International Speedway.
Since Daytona I have been almost completely divorced from this year's series. I haven't watched a single race on television, have only been following results in the news in the most casual of ways, and haven't attended any more races. As I mentioned, I'm saddened by this state of affairs. I've been a dedicated follower of the series and I've really enjoyed it, even when the racing at the front was at it's most predictable. The race at Virginia International Raceway has been one of the high points of my year for several years now and this year I wasn't even planning on going. This affected my immediate family as much as it did me as it has become a family camping trip over the last few years, even to the point of us buying a 26' Toy Hauler almost solely for the purpose of our annual pilgrimage to VIR. Not this year though. The camper was sold a few weeks ago, my family made their peace with not going this year, and we've all moved on.
Then along came a couple of friends with an offer I couldn't refuse. Now the plan is to attend the race at VIR even though I won't be camping. We're hoping to have some really good access and a package that will be hard to beat, although I don't think it'll be as good as having my camper there, my own bed, A/C, beer, food, and a garage for my motorcycle. Still, it should be a lot of fun and I'm honestly looking forward to it.
I'm really curious now about how it will contrast to the previous years I've been to the event. I haven't missed a race at VIR since I attended my first one in 2004 but last year seemed very different from previous years. The deal with the DMG had already been done by that point in the season and there just didn't seem to me to be as much energy in the paddock. There were far fewer vendors than in previous years, the manufacturers weren't doing as much for their owners' clubs, etc. It just seemed much more downbeat than previous years. Combined with the fact that I keep hearing how attendance numbers have been drastically down at every round so far this year (although it didn't look that way to me at Daytona) I'm wondering what the vibe at the track will be this year.
I'd really love for the series to get back on track and become great again. I don't think it'll happen anytime soon though as I'm hearing rumors ever more frequently that all of the manufacturers will be abandoning the series starting in 2010. I hope that's not the case but I'd be surprised if it wasn't, given some of the things that have happened this year thus far. I guess we'll have to wait and see. For now, I'm going to look forward to attending the Big Kahuna Nationals at VIR on the weekend of August 14-16 and I'm going to do my best to have a good time while I'm there. Even if I can't help thinking that the whole thing feels kind of like a swan song.
Since Daytona I have been almost completely divorced from this year's series. I haven't watched a single race on television, have only been following results in the news in the most casual of ways, and haven't attended any more races. As I mentioned, I'm saddened by this state of affairs. I've been a dedicated follower of the series and I've really enjoyed it, even when the racing at the front was at it's most predictable. The race at Virginia International Raceway has been one of the high points of my year for several years now and this year I wasn't even planning on going. This affected my immediate family as much as it did me as it has become a family camping trip over the last few years, even to the point of us buying a 26' Toy Hauler almost solely for the purpose of our annual pilgrimage to VIR. Not this year though. The camper was sold a few weeks ago, my family made their peace with not going this year, and we've all moved on.
Then along came a couple of friends with an offer I couldn't refuse. Now the plan is to attend the race at VIR even though I won't be camping. We're hoping to have some really good access and a package that will be hard to beat, although I don't think it'll be as good as having my camper there, my own bed, A/C, beer, food, and a garage for my motorcycle. Still, it should be a lot of fun and I'm honestly looking forward to it.
I'm really curious now about how it will contrast to the previous years I've been to the event. I haven't missed a race at VIR since I attended my first one in 2004 but last year seemed very different from previous years. The deal with the DMG had already been done by that point in the season and there just didn't seem to me to be as much energy in the paddock. There were far fewer vendors than in previous years, the manufacturers weren't doing as much for their owners' clubs, etc. It just seemed much more downbeat than previous years. Combined with the fact that I keep hearing how attendance numbers have been drastically down at every round so far this year (although it didn't look that way to me at Daytona) I'm wondering what the vibe at the track will be this year.
I'd really love for the series to get back on track and become great again. I don't think it'll happen anytime soon though as I'm hearing rumors ever more frequently that all of the manufacturers will be abandoning the series starting in 2010. I hope that's not the case but I'd be surprised if it wasn't, given some of the things that have happened this year thus far. I guess we'll have to wait and see. For now, I'm going to look forward to attending the Big Kahuna Nationals at VIR on the weekend of August 14-16 and I'm going to do my best to have a good time while I'm there. Even if I can't help thinking that the whole thing feels kind of like a swan song.
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