The Best and Worst of 2006

Welcome to 2007 everyone. Sorry I have not been able to blog much, but I've been busy getting some new projects rolling. Hopefully more on that in the coming weeks. Not much is going on in the world of AMA Superbike racing right now. Everyone had a break and won't be back testing for another week or so. So I thought I would reflect back on 2006 and tell you what stands out in my mind as the best and worst of 2006 in motorcycle roadracing as I know it. We start with the best:


#1 - No question at all - Danny Pedrosa taking out himself and his teammate, who happened to be championship points leader Nicky Hayden. Most people would argue with me about this, but just listen (or read) to what I have to say. The MotoGP World Championship was coming down to the wire between Nicky and Valentino Rossi. Nicky, who wanted to win, was losing the battle with Rossi, and Rossi was putting the heat on. Then with two races to go in the season Pedrosa knocks Nicky down!! WOW, everyone was so mad. But in my opinion it put Nicky in the best situation he could be in. Nicky did not LOSE the championship, Pedrosa took it away from him. Nicky's mindset going in to the last race of the season was simply, "I got nothing to lose." He was relaxed and knew that he could only do what he could do. The Championship was out of his control. Nicky is a great guy, with a great attitude and good things happen to people like Nicky. Rossi had his problems, Nicky had him covered and won!

#2 - Nicky winning the World Championship! Nicky is a rising star in the US and around the world. If there is anyone who can elevate the sport of motorcycle roadracing in the US it is Nicky. The fact that Nicky is now world champion is all that much better. Nicky has a great deal of potential to reach a much larger audience than we have right now, and from what I understand Nicky has some very exciting projects off the race track that could make him a Super Star in the US. Being world champion is an amazing accomplishment on its own merits, but to have Nicky Hayden do it is so good for the sport in general only time will tell the full impact.

#3 - Jamie Hacking winning two Championships in the same season. Jamie Hacking had struggled to stay healthy in the 2004 & 2005 seasons. A great deal of people had written him off. The first time I saw Jamie race was at little Talladega Raceway in 1996. He was a yellow plated Novice and ripped the field to shreds. I knew this guy was something special. A bunch of crashes kept him out of a few championships (he won Supersport in 2003), but this season Jamie DOMINATED! In 22 races Hacking won 13 races! That is amazing. In my opinion Hacking did not get the credit he deserves for winning two in one season. Oh yeah, one more thing... Hacking finally winning Daytona, by .072 seconds over Jason DiSalvo. Jamie has sooooo many 2nds at Daytona it is scary. He finally won one. He had a huge smile that day!

#4 - Ben Spies winning the AMA Superbike Title. This is a close second to Hacking in my mind... almost a tie. Spies ripped the Superbike field apart this year. A strong rookie season followed up with the performance he has this year. Who knows how many wins he would have notched if it weren't for the injury late in the season. Ben has such a bright future ahead of him it is almost scary. His times on a Superstock bike at Daytona make me wonder if he will go undefeated in 2007. I want to see some racing for sure... but if Ben is on it... MAN! Oh yeah and there is no Mat Mladin to shake Spies up in Superstock. Ben Bostrom and Aaron Yates will have their hands full!

#5 - Josh Hayes winning the Formula Xtreme Championship. The best racing in the paddock without question. I am not going to say much except this... when a person is under the pressure that Hayes was under in the later parts of the season, and they don't crumble, choke, whatever... they are the Champ. After qualifying Josh needed a perfect race during the final round of the year, and he did just that. #1... Awesome.

#6 - Jake Zemke winning Miller Motorsports Park Race 2. Jake was the only non Suzuki to win an AMA Superbike race all season. The first race was great, the second was even better. I can only hope that Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki all get back to some winning ways in '07 so we have some great racing!

#7 - Ben Thompson on pole and leading an AMA Superbike race at Mid-Ohio number 2. Mid-Ohio is a special place for the underdog. Dale Quarterly won his only AMA Superbike race at Mid-O, #99 Brett Metzger finished on the podium in a Superbike race at Mid-Ohio one rainy day in the late 1990's and the list goes on. Just a great job by Ben to get a good start and lead the race across the line. Not being intimitated by millions of dollars worth of salaries and equipment behind him is a great thing... he just pinned it!

#8 - Troy Bayliss winning the World Superbike Championship. Ah... that is a good and bad thing with Ducati pulling out of AMA saying they can't compete. You dominate the world, but can't win a race at the AMA level? Traction control or not? But good on ya Troy for shizzle.

Now lets move to the downside of 2006, with a follow-up of some of the things to look forward to in 2007.

#1 - Yamaha's decision to not race in the AMA Superbike Series. At the time this was something that I thought was a real bummer for the series. Well, guess what, we made it without serious damage. Now Yamaha has taken its time to come back to AMA Superbike, and that is a good thing.

#1A - Jason Pridmore's exit from the paddock as a racer. He is no longer racing and I am very sad about that. Hell I almost cracked when he was tearing up in our last interview. JP will be around the paddock I hope for a long time. Jason is a mentor of mine and has helped me with my riding since I turned Pro in 1997. I am slow so he does not like to admit that, he thinks it hurts his STAR School business if I tell poeple I am a student! :-)

#2 - Rain, on tracks we can't run in the rain. I am so over this! Mid-Ohio #2 was a mess on many different levels. But I hope with new people on the upper end of the AMA Racing side we can make improvements.

#3 - Bad decisions by riders on track. I won't name names because I am a coward and want to stay friends with everyone, but when some riders make bone head moves that take people out or run them off track it kinda pisses me off. However with that said, I think some questionable moves made by some riders were a bit blown out of proportion. Until you are out on the track, going as fast as those guys are, with as much on the line as they have, in my opinion, you can't judge those riders. I raced and still race, but I am not as fast nor in the position they are in, so I keep my mouth shut. This goes for all series, the AMA, World Supers and MotoGP.

#4 - Ducati pulling out of the AMA Superbike Series. All I can say is WAAAAA racing is expensive. Please. Buying a Ducati is expensive as well. Having Ducati race in the AMA Superbike Series is a good thing. Saying that they can't because they have to make a motorcycle... you know what... whatever. When they decide to come back with a Factory effort I will make my points. I am glad they will be in the paddock with Larry Pegram though.

#5 - The lack of week in and week out Superbike RACING! It seemed like there were to many times this year that racing was boring in that class. But that might be me.

#6 - Traction Control Mid Season. People were complaining about traction control under their breath, until the media came out and started to harp on it. Then the AMA took action in the middle of the season. In my opinion you should not make a huge decision like that in the middle of the season. There was no time for teams to really test it and it just became a joke. I hate when the media forces rule changes.

NEXT TIME - Thing to look forward to. Preview, Morgan Broadhead as Race Director, Ferracci back in Superbike, Attack on Pirelli's, Yates at Jordan, Hacking on Kawasaki back in the Superbike class, Yamaha back in Superbike, Ben Bostrom on a Yamaha in Superstock, Spies in Superstock, what the hell is Superstock? All kinds of great stuff to talk about so don't miss it!

L8R - G