Rider Files

By Larry Lawrence

Is newly-crowned AMA Superbike champ Josh Hayes as good as Mat Mladin or Ben Spies? How does he compare to past AMA Superbike champs such as Wes Cooley, Eddie Lawson, Fred Merkel, Doug Chandler, Doug Polen, Miguel Duhamel, Scott Russell or Wayne Rainey? Just where does Hayes, the rider who just turned in the most dominant season of any rider in AMA Superbike history, fall in the pecking order?

Comparing riders of different eras always brings out spirited debate as well as criticism. I once wrote a piece in Cycle News simply pointing out that in motocross those who considered Ricky Carmichael versus Bob Hannah the best rider in AMA Motocross history was largely based on one’s age.  Those over 40 generally say Hurricane and while the younger generation has no doubt its RC. You would have thought I sparked World War III. The letters to the editor came fast and furious for weeks.

In terms of ranking AMA Superbike riders, specifically where Hayes fits in, on paper it should be a no brainer. The stats he threw up this season are simply staggering, not to mention record setting. It was a dream season for the likable rider from Mississippi. Hayes scored an amazing 16 wins this season. Think about that for a second. His wins just for 2012 alone would rank Hayes in the top 10 on the all-time AMA Superbike wins list; in fact it would put him tied for seventh with Rainey. Granted, we’re talking the doubleheader era here, but still that record alone should put Hayes in consideration for all-time best.

Along with posting the record for most wins in a season, Hayes also established the new mark for most consecutive wins (ten), tied the record for most consecutive poles (eleven) and most poles in a season (ten). He also moved into a tie for second with most Superbike titles (three), and moved past Duhamel for sole possession of second-place on the all-time Superbike wins list (33).

We’re talking the most epic of epic seasons here.

Yet it doesn’t feel like it.

As I see it, the problem Hayes faces in terms of his place in history is not one of his own making. It’s simply this – Hayes’ competition is weaker than Minnesota-made hot sauce.

Sorry, but a fact’s a fact.

Maybe I shouldn’t be so frank in my assessment of the rest of the Superbike field, but I’ve followed the series since its inception in 1976 and I can say that this is truly one of the low-water marks of overall talent of the series. With the exception of the first couple of seasons of the series and perhaps a short period in the mid-1980s, AMA Superbike has never seen such a dearth.

Of the entire field this season the only other rider I get excited about watching race other than Hayes is Danny Eslick. For sure Eslick is a little rough around the edges, but holy shit is he fun to watch or what?

What about Blake Young you say? Yes… Young ranks on one of my all-time AMA Superbike lists – all-time most overrated. What he did after crashing at Road Atlanta and coming back to win gave a lot of people hope that he was the real deal, but by Mid-Ohio and beyond Young showed that he didn’t quite have the right stuff to run with Hayes.

As far of the rest of the field? Excuse me I feel a yawn coming on.

I mean seriously… let’s look at the rest of the top 10.

You never know which Roger Lee Hayden is going to show up from week to week. Usually it’s the leisurely one. Josh Herrin on a Superbike? His racing lines resemble something drawn up by a spasmodic three-year-old on an Etch A Sketch.

Geoff May is an earnest rider who’s hit a talent ceiling. Ben Bostrom brings it strong… once or twice a season, whether he needs to or not. Larry Pegram is a great team owner and TV reality star. Steve Rapp, a scrapper but a little long in the tooth and Chris Ulrich’s body is an orthopedic surgeon’s retirement fund.

So in spite of his gaudy numbers Hayes is a victim of his competition. The fans and journalists I’ve talked to all respect Hayes, but no one I know puts him on the same level as a Ben Spies or Mat Mladin.

If pressed I’d say Hayes is most like Fred Merkel, at least in terms of his AMA career. Like Hayes, Merkel put up some astounding numbers in AMA Superbike, but for most of those years he was the lone factory rider racing against a field of privateers.

Merkel’s legacy was saved by two things – he beat Wayne Rainey head to head in 1986 and then of course he went on to win two World Superbike Championships.

If a decent World Superbike ride is available maybe Hayes should consider making the jump, even it means a pay cut. It’s about the only way I see him getting the kind of respect he deserves.

By Larry Lawrence

Are you an AMA member?

If so you may want to read this.

Guess what the latest use of your 50 buck membership is going to.

Try a frivolous lawsuit.

The AMA is apparently suing Racer Productions over the use of the phrase “Grand National” as in the Grand National Cross Country Series (more popularly known as the GNCC Series).  This lawsuit is so ridiculous on so many levels I can hardly start to describe them – but I’ll try.

First of all, and correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t the AMA sell the AMA Grand National Championship to the Daytona Motorsports Group (DMG) four years ago?  So the Grand Nationals now reside under the DMG umbrella – the same umbrella incidentally under which Racer Productions runs the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Series. So if anything Racer Productions is now more closely associated with the “Grand National” brand than the AMA.

You sold it AMA! Get it?

Yet the AMA still claims ownership of the term “Grand National”. Oh really?

I seem to recall NASCAR using the term “Grand National” and I don’t think the AMA sued them.

The organizers of the original Grand National, a famous steeplechase horse race in England founded in the 1830s, would be interested to know that the AMA claims the phrase is theirs.

In fact the phrase has become almost ubiquitous. Grand National has been and is used in a wide variety of activities as diverse as archery, crocheting, rodeo, conventions, bridge, livestock shows and many more. Even a Buick automobile was named the Regal Grand National.

But the AMA is the sole user of the term “Grand National” in motorcycle racing right?

Nope.

Ever heard of a little race meet called the WERA Grand National Final? I talked to WERA and they said the AMA never had a problem with them using that name for its big season-ending race. Also the mini-bike promoter National Motosport Association (NMA) calls it championship “The Grand National Championship of Motocross”.

So you can see any claim that the AMA has an exclusive right to use the term “Grand National” is highly dubious to say the least.

Yet they go forward with this lawsuit against Racer Productions.

I might add here that Racer Productions has probably signed up more AMA members than any other single entity in the last 30 years or so. So yes, you’ve got it right; the AMA is suing a company that has brought them thousands of members. Brilliant!

My sources tell me the AMA claims it wants to have exclusive rights to the term “Grand National” because it’s going to start tagging its Hare Scrambles Series with the Grand National designation. Guess who invented the Hare Scrambles Series? That would be the late Dave Coombs Sr., yes Dave Coombs, Sr., who founded Racer Productions. (Read the bottom of the second column in this article).

I believe the real reason that the AMA is suing Racer Productions is because the two entities couldn’t come to terms on AMA sanction for the GNCC Series, so that series is no longer AMA sanctioned. The AMA never sued WERA, NMA or NASCAR over the use of the phrase “Grand National”, but suddenly it decides to sue Racer Productions?

I think we can all figure it out.

And so what happens if by some miracle the AMA should prevail in this suit? Big friggin’ deal! The GNCCs will still be the GNCCs. They can’t prevent them from using those letters. So under the best possible circumstance the AMA gains nothing, but possibly a little “In your face” satisfaction. And that’s if they win this lawsuit, which they won’t.

So there you have it. I just thought you’d like to know where your hard-earned dollars are going if you’re an AMA member.

By Larry Lawrence

Laguna Seca’s MotoGP weekend was an exciting and eventful race meet that left me with several subjects to talk about.

Ben Spies needs to make some changes if he is to fulfill his dream of becoming MotoGP world champ. (Brian J. Nelson photo)

First on my mind is Ben Spies. What a tough year he’s had. As many of you know I wrote a book on Spies, but am not a close member of his camp. In fact I haven’t spoken to Spies since last year’s Indy MotoGP, so I have no inside information on what his plans are for next year and beyond. The most popular rumor is that he’s going to World Superbike, perhaps with BMW. If true that’s great for that series, because it desperately needs a winning American, especially if they continue to have an American round.

If Spies goes to World Superbike I certainly hopes he has a path back into MotoGP. I still feel he has the potential talent to be a world champion. In order to be world champ though I believe Spies needs to realistically look where his program is today and make some changes.

For one I feel he needs to get back to having the confidence at every track as he did in World Superbike in 2009. I’ve read Spies quotes at too many tracks since he’s been in MotoGP, that this track or the other is not his favorite. He has to have the confidence that he can master any track if he’s to have hopes of being MotoGP world champ. He has the ability; you need to look no further than the amazing things he did in WSBK to know that. He needs to get back to studying tracks, even if he’s raced them before, to shore up places where he’s not as fast as he’d like to be. He also needs to figure out a way to have confidence in his tires early in a race so he doesn’t constantly have to come from behind. Few are better when racing from the front than Spies, i.e. Assen last year.

The other thing is I feel he could to do is put a little more muscle on his frame. If you see Spies these days he looks almost gaunt. I know he’s racing against a bunch of jockey-sized riders and is concerned with weight, but with the 1000cc motor Spies could stand to have a little more upper body strength , not only to be able to flick the bike around, but also to help him be a less susceptible to injury. It seems that every little fall Spies has he injures something. Having a more muscle will help prevent that.

One other thing I think Spies needs to consider is asking his mom to step back and take a smaller roll in his racing program. He’s 28 years old now and should be able to function as a man independently. Mary Spies loves her son and I truly believe the actions she takes are in effort to help him, but at times she can have a strident personality and create too much drama within a team. If he truly needs assistance Ben has plenty of people in his camp who could serve to be a calming and confidence-inspiring influence.

In more silly season opinions, if Valentino Rossi decides to stay at Ducati I feel Yamaha should call up Josh Hayes. Put him on Tech 3 or the factory team, I don’t care, but Hayes showed in his GP wildcard last year he belongs and he’s so solid in his dedication to racing, I think he would do well in MotoGP. He’s at such a peak right now and no one would work harder in testing to help a team move forward. Give him two years and I bet you’d have a rider in Hayes who could win races.

Cameron Beaubier’s Daytona Sportbike race at Laguna should be a case study on how to make a pass on a stronger rider. (Brian J. Nelson photo)

Finally if anyone ever does a how-to racing DVD, Cameron Beaubier’s Daytona Sportbike race at Laguna should be a case study on how to make a pass on a stronger rider.

Beaubier’s last-lap, turn two pass was one for the textbooks. There is no better late braker than Martin Cardenas. Beaubier knew he couldn’t pass him on the brakes, so he figured out a way to make Cardenas think he was trying to outbrake him on the outside and then slowed , allowing Cardenas to go in a little hot and then squared off the turn to make the pass on the inside. It was one of the best thought out passes I’ve seen against a superior opponent in years – using an opponent’s strength against them. And Beaubier’s technique going over the hump before the corkscrew turn was amazing as well. It looked like he was a bit out of control, but I had a racer friend who watched Beaubier frame by frame and explained how he was using the rear break, ever so slightly to get weight on the front wheel as he went over the hump, just like motocross racers do to get the front end down on jumps. There was a lot going on there technique wise and things had to work perfectly in harmony for it to work, but it allowed Beaubier to get on the brakes that much later and harder in that turn, and he managed to pass Tommy Hayden because of it.

Hey, in a perfect world Hayes could go to MotoGP for a few years and then have Beaubier step in to take his seat.

We can dream can’t we?

By Larry Lawrence

Over the years you’ve probably found that one of the most popular pastimes for motorcyclists – especially those involved in racing – is AMA bashing. It’s good clean fun for everyone and I myself haven’t been above partaking in this honored tradition. In fact I could fairly be viewed as “Basher in Chief” at times. That being said, when the AMA gets something right, or at least tries to, it’s only fair that we give them a little bit of praise.

The July 1^st release announcing that Derek “Nobby” Clark would in fact, not be inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2012 after all, was a clear case of the AMA trying to do the right thing.

This morning my email lit up like a Fourth of July fireworks show. People were asking me about the Clark release, or wanted me to join in a little AMA bashing. I must admit, at first I thought this was prime bashing territory, but after making a few calls and getting a more complete story I realized the AMA was simply trying to make the best of a bad situation.

In fact they took the high road in this case.

Famed tuner Nobby Clark was announced as a 2012 Motorcycle Hall of Fame inductee on June 11. I don’t know the exact procedure that gave Clark the nod into the Hall of Fame, but it sounds like he was not elected in by the normal voting process.

Then there was the unfortunate revelation that 14 years ago Clark pleaded guilty to stealing historic race bike parts when he was contracted by Team Obsolete. Friends of Clark say that it was a trumped up case and he was innocent, but the bottom line was he pleaded guilty in the 1998 case.

Upper management of the AMA apparently did not know, or was not made aware of this case until after the announcement of Clark’s induction was made public. Then when later presented with this evidence they faced a conundrum.

The AMA could have swept this under the carpet and quietly not inducted Clark into the Hall of Fame, but they knew ultimately there would be questions.

So they decided to face up to the problem and announce that a procedural problem was the cause of Clark not being inducted into the Hall of Fame. In other words they tried not to throw Clark under the bus by mentioning the theft charges.

I think it was an admirable thing  – to acknowledge that mistakes were made in the election process and leaving it at that certainly left a lot of questions in the Clark situation, but it was probably the best way to handle it given the circumstances.

As I said before, the AMA tried to do the right thing, even though they knew they would look bad in the process.

It’s a tough situation all the way around. Could it have been avoided? Perhaps, but I have to say I’m very encouraged by the fact that the AMA owned up to a mistake, stated that they are taking steps to correct those mistakes and made those pronouncements publically.

Bash if you will, but this is the kind of openness and honesty that AMA members and others in the industry have been calling for and I applaud them for doing the right thing.

Saturday’s Big Kahuna Superbike race at Road Atlanta will go down as one of the all-time great duels in AMA Superbike racing history.

The young daring charger Blake Young.

The confident veteran champion, Josh Hayes.

Blake Young crashing and then picking himself and his Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki up off the tarmac and then on the restart charging from the back row to earn a thrilling victory over Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha’s Josh Hayes will join races like Miguel Duhamel hobbling to his bike with the aid of a cane at Daytona in 1999 and taking a riveting win over Mat Mladin; Colin Edwards passing Troy Corser on the outside of turn one at Brainerd ‘94; Scott Russell picking up his crashed Muzzy Kawasaki to win Daytona ’95; and Doug Polen drafting at the last possible second to barely nudge out Pascal Picotte and Russell at Phoenix in ’93, in a race that looked to the naked eye like a three-way tie.

Furthermore, the first lap after the restart by Young may just be the finest single-lap ever in the 37-year-old championship. Think of the superlatives and it won’t even come close to how good this race was. It ticks me off that I wasn’t there in person to watch the epic. At least we had excellent TV coverage by SPEED to be able to see every move of the race multiple times and in slow motion replay.

What we might have on our hands is another tremendous one on one Superbike battle harking back to Lawson vs. Spencer, Rainey vs. Schwantz and of course Spies vs. Mladin.

The contrast between the protagonists couldn’t be sharper. Josh Hayes is the ultra-smooth, unflappable, 37-year-old veteran and defending champ, while Blake Young is the up-and-coming 24-year-old champion in waiting, who wears his emotions on his sleeve and carries his passion onto the racetrack.

I’ve talked to a number of longtime observers about the looming rivalry and there is somewhat of a consensus.

It’s obvious that in spite of closing in on 40, Hayes has lost no speed and has the precision of a longtime racing veteran. Hayes turns lap after lap with scary consistent times and picture perfect lines that vary no more than an inch or two from one lap to the next. He is very comfortable controlling a race from the front, or is just as happy sitting back and applying relentless pressure to his opponents.

Young on the other hand is blazingly fast, but still rough around the edges. He seems more comfortable letting others set the pace and then striking when the time is right. His racecraft, in terms of passing cleanly and being consistent race to race, still needs work. He’s not a precise rider, rather a daring, seat of the pants, banzai pilot willing to take risks that make riders around him sweat bullets.

Other than their difference in age, the battle between Hayes and Young rather reminds me of Rainey/Schwantz. Rainey was the classical metronome, clicking in tidy lap after tidy lap. Schwantz meanwhile was jazz improvisation, trying new lines and brake markers (if he even observed those) each and every turn, which made for a thrill a minute.

The questions on everyone’s mind for 2012 is can Young make it through a 20-race schedule without busting his ass. If he does then this year’s series could really be one to watch.

If you’ve been on the sidelines not paying much attention to AMA Superbike for the last couple of years it might be a good time to come back and watch again.

A letter to competitors was sent out by the AMA yesterday stating that “Racer Productions decided that the woods-racing events formerly known as the AMA-sanctioned Grand National Cross Country Series (GNCC) would not be sanctioned with the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) for 2012.”

It was surprising and disappointing to find that the AMA and Racer Productions could not come to some compromise. My understanding is that the GNCC felt the new $49 AMA membership was going to have an adverse effect on the number of riders who might enter a GNCC race. If anyone has their finger on the pulse of off-road racers it’s the Coombs family, who runs the GNCC Series. When the late Dave Coombs Sr. (a Motorcycle Hall of Famer) founded the legendary Blackwater 100, the outgrowth of that seminal event was the GNCC Series. Over the years the GNCC has become the most successful, most visible and best supported off-road series in motorcycling. Factories and aftermarket companies participate against one another in this championship. Some of these events attract thousands of spectators and are nationally televised.

It’s safe to say Racer Productions has done more for the world of off-road racing than any other entity in the last 30 years. The record speaks for itself. I also know the Coombs family has been an ardent supporter of the AMA for years and their companies have very likely been responsible for bringing as many or more members than any other group in the country. Dave Coombs Sr. was a big believer in the AMA and stuck by them through thick and then. Dave and Rita Coombs shared the AMA Dud Perkins Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994. The award was given to acknowledge the highest level of service to the AMA in any activity.

I’m certain Racer Productions did not take dropping the AMA sanction lightly at all and I’m equally certain they were eager to find a solution. But they are a company that, like all companies, needs to be profitable and my guess is they felt in order to remain viable, and to keep riders coming to their events, they had to do something to make it more affordable. I don’t know all the details but my understanding is that Racer Productions wasn’t getting many of the benefits available to other off-road promoters, such as insurance, because of the broad type of equipment (specifically side by side ATVs) that run in their events. Without being able to take advantage of major parts of the benefits AMA sanctions provide, and with membership fees going up in tough economic times, they probably looked at the numbers and made a difficult business decision.

On the other hand, having AMA sanction is important in that, as the AMA rightly points out, being part of the association means riders are racing for AMA national titles, not to mention supporting the rights of all motorcyclists. The manufacturers, in the short term may support a non-AMA GNCC series, but I feel it’s possible the tradition-loving factories could ultimately look elsewhere should the GNCC not be recognized by the AMA as a national championship.

I’ve seen other non-AMA “national series” have their moments in the sun, but ultimately fail (can you say Formula USA road racing and flat track?). The AMA umbrella is no doubt an important one,  to competitors (who deep down want to say they are racing an AMA event) and to the manufacturers and aftermarket companies.

Ultimately I would like to see the two parties come to some compromise. To me there is an easy solution – single-day AMA memberships.

I used to race a regional mountain bike series that was sanctioned by the national body (then IMBA) and we had the choice – a single-day membership or a full membership. The math was usually pretty easy. If you were going to race more than one event it only made sense to pay the full membership, but you had that option. If you were a little short on cash you could simply pay the single-day fee and still race.

Guess what happened, not only to me, but to some of my buddies? We bought the single day memberships… and, you guessed it – then we raced again later and turned around and bought another single-day membership. The minute we signed up for that second race we’d paid more than we would have for a full membership. But we were racers. We don’t think ahead. We’re more worried about a new set of tires. We pay the minimal amount to get us in the race and then move on.

OK, I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but I think I bought three or four single-day IMBA memberships that year, so the IMBA ended up getting twice the money from me had I joined with a full membership in the first place.

I would venture to say a single-day racing membership could actually prove to be a boon to AMA membership income, especially in GNCC racing where racing venues are close enough that riders frequently run more than one event.

Let’s hope cooler heads prevail and something can be worked out. Give riders options and I bet it will work out well for both parties.

An aerial view of Homestead-Miami Speedway.

In 2012 Homestead-Miami Speedway returns to the AMA Superbike schedule for the first time since 1996 and that’s a good thing. I haven’t been to the track since that ’96 Superbike event, but from what I remember about the facility is that it was state-of-the-art for the time and I’m sure holds up well even by today’s standards. The track itself was an excellent design for being inside an oval speedway. I know there were a few issue areas at that time, which I hope have been, or will be addressed.

Homestead was not a successful event in 1996. There was one big reason for that in my estimation and that was the tragic ValuJet Flight 592 crash that happened just a few days before the Superbike race.  I was working at communications manager for AMA Pro Racing at the time and all the advance media we had lined up understandably went away. So the event went on under the backdrop of the tragedy and with virtually no media buildup.

This year I believe the track has a much better opportunity to attract a big crowd. There should be good interest by the media in having the series back and the track itself is better known now (it was brand new in ’96). The other element is the Hispanic fan base in South Florida. The series now has a genuine star and championship contender in Martin Cardenas, who is from Columbia. Having a racer of Cardenas’ stature will almost certainly draw more fans to Homestead this year.

Does Homestead have the potential to be a long-term success? I believe with proper promotion and care to make the fan experience a memorable one; the event has solid long-term potential.

I haven’t been to the track in nearly 16 years, but one of the biggest issues for the fans then was visibility. There were fairly tall walls surrounding the road course and I went up in the stands to check it out and you couldn’t see most of the road course unless you were near the top of the grandstands. If those walls are still there they need to be addressed, either by removing them or at the least placing several mega-screens in places where fans can watch the action as it takes place.

In addition, for pro events promoters should work closely with riders to correct any safety issues they feel need to be addressed. Those walls were a little too close even 15 years ago and the bikes have gotten nothing but faster. Air barriers will help, but aren’t the ultimate answer.

If these steps are taken I think Homestead will be a welcomed addition to the series. It would be nice to get to visit South Beach once a year, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the race does well.

Mat Mladin is the best AMA Superbike racer of all-time. His career numbers are nothing short of stunning.

One thing that sets AMA Superbike apart from many racing series over the years is the fact that the class was not a marketing idea or a championship that was artificially forced upon the fans and manufacturers. Superbike racing sprang up naturally from the grassroots level and had such momentum by the early 1980s that it became the de facto premier class of American professional road racing, although it wasn’t officially recognized as so until 1986.

Just about every leading road racer in America since the late 1970s came through the AMA Superbike ranks. Kenny Roberts (both Senior and Junior), Randy Mamola and John Hopkins are the only notable exceptions. Even riders like Rich Oliver, John Kocinski and Jimmy Filice, all more closely associated with 250GP racing in this country, all raced AMA Superbike during their careers.

Arguments as to the greatest AMA Superbike rider of all time are numerous. Some say Eddie Lawson, who had the highest winning percentage of any rider in the history of the series (he won nearly half the races he entered) and went on to four Grand Prix World Championships. Those who point to Lawson often point not only to prime years of his remarkable AMA Superbike career in the early 1980s, but his triumphant one-off returns to the series in the 1986 and 1993 in the Daytona 200. Lawson’s last-lap duel with Scott Russell in the 1993 Daytona 200 was one of the most riveting AMA Superbike races of all-time.

Others point to Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz, who brought the series its most intense rivalry during the memorable 1987 series before going on to world titles. Some say Fred Merkel, who dominated in the mid-1980s. Merkel was the first rider to 20 AMA Superbike wins and held the record for the most wins for 12 years. His 1984 record of 10 wins in a single season was not eclipsed for 21 years! Merkel then went on to win two World Superbike Championships for good measure.

Doug Polen, Doug Chandler, Scott Russell, Miguel Duhamel, Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies all have records that one could make a good argument for them being the best. Polen could have thrown up gaudy numbers, but in his prime chose to go after the money and went to Japan for a couple of seasons (winning that country’s championship) before returning and dominating on a Ferracci Ducati to the extent that rules were changed mid-season to try to slow him down. Chandler had two distinct AMA Superbike eras, pre and post-GP career, and won titles on either side, beating Miguel Duhamel in an epic battle that came down to the final event in 1996. Scott Russell was amazing during the 1991 and ’92 seasons and of course was nearly unbeatable at Daytona during the 1990s. Duhamel had a stunning 1995 campaign, winning six straight a record that would hold for 13 years. Hayden was the youngest ever to win the title and promptly left for MotoGP. Spies threw down outstanding numbers while battling Mat Mladin. Perhaps one of the most jaw-dropping stats in the history of AMA Superbike was the fact that Spies finished on the podium in 92 percent of the times he raced, this in addition to setting the record for the longest winning streak ever.

Regardless of how you slice it though, it is very hard to deny that Australian Mat Mladin is indeed the best AMA Superbike racer in history. Mladin’s numbers are simply awesome. The most championships (double that of any other rider), most wins, most poles, the first, second and third most wins in a single season. Mladin accomplished all this during a time when there was the highest amount of factory participation in series history.

Some argue Mladin ran up the score in the AMA by never making the jump to MotoGP, but keep in mind he tallied these amazing numbers against riders like Doug Chandler, countryman Anthony Gobert, John Kocinski, Neil Hodgson, Miguel Duhamel, Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies, not to mention a slew of other talented factory riders like the Bostrom brothers Eric and Ben, Jamie Hacking, Jake Zemke and Aaron Yates. He faced the best.

Mladin raced against and defeated much deeper Superbike fields than Lawson, Rainey or Schwantz dreamed of – considerably stronger than Merkel, Polen and the rest.

The history of AMA Superbike racing is rich with great races, teams and riders, but Mladin stands alone as the best AMA Superbike rider of all time.

Will Anyone Win the Million Bucks? That’s the big question for tomorrow night. 

At Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, the Monster Energy Cup race should be interesting at the very least and it has the potential to be an historic race in the history of motorcycle racing. How can a one-off supercross/motocross hybrid race hold such importance? Simply put, it’s the purse. If any rider wins all three races they will take home one million dollars. That would easily be the biggest prize for a single event every awarded in motorcycle racing.

Whoever wins is guaranteed  $100,000, which ain’t chump chance, but to have the chance to take home a cool million could not only make a rider’s bank account look a lot better, but could put him in the history books.

Motorcycle racing’s version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” has an impressive lineup including 2011 AMA Supercross and 450 Motocross champ Ryan Villopoto. Also Ryan Dungey will be debuting with KTM and there will be a slew of other top riders.

Notable for their absence in the potential Million Dollar race is James Stewart and Chad Reed. Missing two of the premier names in supercross reveals one of the problems with having a big race in October. It’s a no-man’s land for riders, many of whom are between contracts, or still negotiating for 2012. To see Dungey in the lineup after only a few weeks practicing aboard his new bike is impressive. No doubt KTM will get a lot of press for introducing Dungey as their new rider via the Monster Energy Cup.

Dungey on a new motorcycle is music to the ears of Ryan Villopoto. With Stewart and Reed out and Dungey on a new machine, RV’s path to sweep all three races and take home the big prize is a lot clearer.

Big money motorcycle races have been few and far between.  In Supercross you had the U.S. Open that was held at the MGM Grand every October from 1998 to 2009. It had a $250,000 purse with $100,000 going to the winner, just like the Monster Energy Cup (sans the million dollar bonus). In road racing Willow Springs Raceway used to hold the Toyota 200 race that had a $100,000 purse with 50K going to the winner. In the early 1970s the Championship Spark Plug Motorcycle Classic at Ontario Motor Speedway, promoted by Gavin Trippe and Bruce Cox, offered a $53,000 total purse, the biggest of its day by far and the equivalent of $285,000 today. The winner took home about $30,000, or roughly 160,000 in today’s dollars.

Good for Feld Motor Sports for creating this unprecedented opportunity for a rider to become an instant millionaire. I hope promoters in the other genres of motorcycle racing will follow Feld’s lead and create special big-money races.

This type of wheel to wheel racing in the Pro Singles class is too close for comfort according to some riders. (Larry Lawrence photo)

You’ve no doubt heard about NASCAR’s restrictor plate racing controversy. Racing on the Super Speedways with motors restricted, which results in super close drafting, but also can, and usually does result in massive high-speed pileup crashes called “The Big One“. Motorcycle racing has it’s own version of restrictor plate racing – it’s called Pro Singles racing on Miles.

Pro Singles is a support class of the AMA Grand National Championships. Riders race 450cc motocross bikes, modified for flat track racing.

The main problem on the Miles with these machines is that they are so evenly matched that safe passing, even using the draft is nearly impossible. Now keep in mind Pro Singles riders are the youngest, most inexperienced riders in pro flat track. Racing on a Mile has always been considered best left to veteran racers. Now throw in the fact that 18 riders are racing bar to bar and can hardly pass one another by normal drafting methods, the only way to get to the front is to hold on the gas longer than the rider next to you going into the turns.

With these 450s there’s not a lot of rolling off the gas on a Mile in the first place, so you practically have young, inexperienced riders diving into the turns at full throttle with less than inches separating them. Literally. It scares the crap out of the riders, yet they go out and race. They really don’t have a choice.

We’ve had several major crashes on the Miles, sometimes resulting in serious injury and worse. Last year Jesse Phibbs died from injuries he sustained in such a crash at the Indy Mile. Today Corey Crawford lies in a Springfield hospital with a serious brain injury after a turn three, last-lap pileup at Springfield.

Some say its rider inexperience that leads to these accidents. That may be true, but see how close these riders are racing and you’ll understand that even one slip, a rear tire stepping out under acceleration for instance, can lead to an ugly chain reaction.

Pro Singles series leader Mikey Martin said after Springfield that he’s glad he’ll never race a Pro Singles at Springfield again. It’s not hard to read between the lines – Martin feels he’s dodged a bullet by escaping unscathed from these races. To me that speaks volumes. And Martin isn’t the only rider sending up warning flares.

It’s time for AMA Pro Racing to take a serious look at Pro Singles racing on Mile tracks. I’m not certain what the answer is, but it needs to be studied and proposals need to be forthcoming. Perhaps riders need to have so many Pro Singles Half-Miles under their belt before they can race a Mile. Maybe you have experienced pros like Chris Carr or Joe Kopp hold classes for these young riders before they can race a Mile. Spotters should be positioned throughout the track and video cameras in place to figure out the reason these crashes are happening. If a pattern emerges where a rider is being too aggressive, or not making good decisions, they should be sat down to go through training again. Perhaps all of these suggestions and more need to be implemented.

I would go so far as to say that perhaps 450 Pro Singles racing may not be appropriate for Mile tracks. Discontinuing Pro Singles races on Miles would be a drastic measure, but it’s high time we all take responsibility for protecting our up-and-coming young racers.