The inevitable has happened!

I think this may be the best thing to happen to American two wheeled road racing. On one side you have the cash rich DMG and on the other side you have the USSB which are really the manufacturers in very poor disguises.

If any of you believe DMG puts on a good show I challenge you to force yourself to watch an entire NASCAR event, the only excitement is the finish if it is not under a caution flag. They have a template for business success from a financial point of view, however thre NASCAR crowd is generally brand/driver loyal. Jeff ZGordon fans only drink Pepsi and so on. The bulk of the sponsors are huge national or multinational corporations with monstrous advertising budgets. Will this formula translate to motorcycle racing? It is very unlikely. The bulk of the motorcycle industry consists of the manufacturers from there the financial commitment the other corporations can make drops off very sharply, outside of a couple of energy drink makers(most of whom are subsidiaries of Coke or Pepsi) the pickings are slim. I purchased my bike based on price (2006 GSXR750) not because it "won on Sunday" so I bought on Monday.

Maybe this will force the manufacturers, I mean the USSB, to take the steps necessary to fix the things that are wrong with American road racing. I think competition will be better for the fans and the factories. i do not see DMG as the savior of motorcycle racing in North America.

More news from the AMA/DMG versus The USSB. First the promoters signed with DMG/AMA, and now Honda is having summit meetings. Maybe USSB is merely a bargaining chip after all.

AMA/DMG’s Edmondson And American Honda’s Blank Held Summit Meeting Sunday In Indy

Sep 15, 2008, By David Swarts, ©Copyright 2008, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
Meeting held Sunday may lead to resolution of 2009 road racing series disputes...

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AMA Pro Racing/Daytona Motorsports Group (DMG) boss Roger Edmondson and American Honda Senior Vice President Ray Blank held what both men described as an encouraging meeting Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in hopes of reaching a compromise and prevent what could be a damaging split in professional motorcycle road racing in America.

“I had sent Ray an e-mail about three weeks ago suggesting to him that we were headed towards a disaster here if we couldn’t find a way to sit down together and see if we could come to a resolution to all this,” Edmondson told Roadracingworld.com Monday morning. “And I told him then that I felt should there be a split, which I felt would be damaging to the sport, that he and I would likely be the two most responsible for it. And at the same token if we could resolve the issues than I think we could establish ourselves as being leaders that were responsible.

“So we agreed to meet at Indianapolis. We agreed to try to put our egos and hurt feelings, at least on my part. I think I had ego issues and hurt feeling issues. I’m not sure that Ray did, and I wouldn’t accuse him of it. But we agreed to put all those things in the past behind us and sit down and try to find a resolution.

“We met for an hour and 10 minutes yesterday. I thought it was very productive and instructive. Those were the words that I used. I learned that some of the things I thought he was saying were different than what he was saying. I think he found the same to be true, that the interpretation of some of my viewpoints and vision were different than the reality. And so we clarified some misunderstandings, we identified areas where we are in accord, and of course in the same process we identified areas of disagreement.

“It was a very civil, very proper, very businesslike discussion. We left just in time to see the MotoGP race. And we’ve agreed to get together by phone on Tuesday [September 16] and try to resume the process. Our target is to be able to make an announcement at Laguna Seca [September 27-28, the AMA Superbike Championship finale] of the final bottom line and where the AMA Pro road racing program is going.

“Now obviously I have other manufacturers I’m in business with also. So whatever Ray and I discuss is going to have to be satisfactory to not only one company but to as many as possible, but it was a very good meeting. I don’t want to go into too much detail, because frankly, I don’t want the press manipulating what happens. I want the press to report what happens. And I don’t want any pressure placed on me or Ray of the type that is easy to get going and things like this. Neither one of us is trying to be the winner here. We’re trying to resolve an issue. So a little compromise here, a little compromise there and I think we’re going to make a lot of progress.

“I’ve been asked to take a look at some alternatives, and I think I have an obligation to give those alternatives every consideration. And I’ve also indicated there’s some likelihood that I’ll be coming back with some alternatives for Ray to consider. That’s just part of how business negotiations are done. But we both agreed the ship is leaving the dock and we need to make sure we’re not heading for a mess.”

Blank issued a statement via e-mail to several media outlets Sunday evening. That statement read:

"In the spirit of cooperation, Roger Edmondson of DMG and I met today to discuss Honda's position regarding the proposed AMA Pro Racing road race series. A constructive dialogue was struck and while there is much to do in a short time to prepare ourselves for the impending 2009 season, we believe we can strike an accord that will prove satisfactory to our most important partners, from our race fans to our facility owners and operators as well as our sponsors. We are encouraged at the opportunity ahead."