Daytona Diary: AMA Racing Sold, Now With Video!

In a widely anticipated but still surprising announcement, the American Motorcyclist Association has entered an agreement "in principle" to sell all sanctioning, promotional and management rights for its AMA Pro Racing properties to the Daytona Motorsports Group, according to a press release from the AMA on March 7.

DMG, based in Daytona Beach, Florida, is a joint venture composed of Roger Edmondson—one-time AMA roadracing czar and founder of the CCS and Grand American series—and Jim France, VP of NASCAR. DMG will take over sanctioning, promotion and organizing of the AMA Superbike Series—which includes Superbike, Supersport and Formula Xtreme—the AMA Motocross Series, the AMA Flat Track Series, the AMA Supermoto Series, the AMA Hillclimb Series and ATV Pro Racing.

I spoke with Andy Leisner of Hardcard Holdings about the news. His company—which he owns with other former AMA Pro Racing executives John Farris and Scott Hollingsworth—also put in a bid that he said "took into account all the people in the racing world; the teams, the fans, the pressure on the industry. We addressed all those things, but we didn’t get the bid...we got beat." Does Leisner see the DMG deal as good for racing? "Near-term I don’t think we’ll see much change; long-term I think it could be very good. It’s going to have to be approached strategically, but if they do so it’ll grow the sport," he said. Will Superbike ever be as big as NASCAR? "I'd love to see that happen, but I don't think it will ever have the same mass appeal...but DMG has the ability to do well and I wish them the best of luck with it."

In a statement, AMA CEO Rob Dingman said "by placing AMA Pro Racing in the hands of people with a proven record of excellence in motorsports organization and promotion in a fashion similar to our successful partnership with (Supercross promoter) Live Nation, the AMA will be able to focus its resources on its core mission to be a member-advocacy organization."

We don’t have much more information right now, but we will set up a CW RealTime forum, where I will post more info as it comes in. There’s a press conference at 6 p.m. EST with Dingman. We’ll keep you informed.