No AMA at Miller World Superbike

Henny Ray Abrams | March 20, 2009

AMA Pro Racing will not be included in the FIM HANNSpree Superbike World Championship weekend at Miller Motorsports Park.The only classes scheduled to take part in the May 29-31 weekend were Daytona SportBike and SuperSport, but those were canceled this afternoon when “track officials were unable to come to an agreement with AMA Pro Racing and the decision was made to cancel the AMA Pro portion of the event,” the track said in a press release.”AMA Pro Racing has been a part of Miller Motorsports Park since the track opened in 2006,” said MMP Director of Racing Mitch Wright in the release, “and we have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship and some great racing during that time. It is most unfortunate that we were unable to reach an agreement with AMA Pro for this year’s event, but it was a business decision that had to be made. We hope to be able to have the AMA Pro teams, riders and officials back at Miller Motorsports Park in the years to come.”Added AMA Pro Racing President Roger Edmondson, “We worked closely with our friends at Miller Motorsports Park in attempting to conclude a business relationship but in the end we were unsuccessful,” “Although we are disappointed about this turn of events, we hope to return to the Miller facility in the coming years and look forward to their 2009 FIM World Superbike race that marks the return of reigning AMA Pro Road Racing Champion Ben Spies to his home country.”Though it wasn’t stated in the release, part of the track’s decision was based on a lack of sponsorship. American Honda has sponsored the AMA races at MMP since their inception, but the current financial crisis precluded them from continuing.A source with knowledge of the negotiations said that AMA Pro Racing was asking for a sanction fee similar to what it was last year, when there were four classes and five races, rather than the two classes proposed this year.A separate release from AMA Pro Racing said that the “weekend’s AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL and AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei races will now be rescheduled for another venue in 2009.” The venue wasn’t specified.MMP officials will have an announcement regarding a replacement event for the AMA Pro classes in the very near future, the release stated.