Another One Bites The Dust in AMA/DMG U.S. Road Racing As Kawasaki Pulls The Plug....

That sound you are hearing is pretty much like the one you hear after flushing your toilet,

as it was announced yesterday that Kawasaki would be pulling out all support, direct or otherwise, in AMA/DMG Road Racing in the U.S. Whether you attribute that to the

lackluster economy or the way the dominoes have been falling with the DMG-run AMA Pro Racing series is up to you. They did state in the official release that it was due to the poor economy, but one can't help but feel that the hot potatoe of AMA Road Racing as we have

seen it run by the Damaged Motorcycle Guys could or would have some major significance

to it as well. That is purely speculation and me just talking out loud.

The worst of it all is the fact that it leaves two more highly qualified riders without rides for

2010 season--Jamie Hacking and Roger Lee Hayden. And with the current situation here as

well as the global economy being major factors, and most teams having contracts and teams

in place for the upcoming season, that can't be good. For anyone, but especially now Jamie

Hacking and Roger Lee Hayden. You can read the official release here thanks to the super crew of people over at Dean Adams' http://www.superbikeplanet.com/. We appreciate their efforts!

http://superbikeplanet.com/2009/Dec/091218a.htm

If you take the time to list all of the great riders who have ridden for Kawasaki in the last 3

decades alone you would run out of ink. Well, almost. Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Scott

Russell, Fred Merkel, Doug Chandler, Eric Bostrom, Jamie Hacking, Tommy Hayden, Roger

Lee Hayden. And that's just for starters for the factory teams. The supported teams includeJamie Hacking and Roger Lee Hayden again, Josh Hayes, Jason Pridmore, Steve

Rapp, Chazz Davies, Ben Attard. And the championships and race wins with these very

informal let alone incomplete lists goes on even longer.

While you are bummin' like I am that the once strong U.S. road racing series is hitting some

very turbulent times--like you didn't think it could get any worse then the '09 season--at least

we can relish in the great memories that teams like the Muzzy Kawasaki effort, the official Team

Kawasaki and Kinko's Kawasaki and Attack Kawasaki have given us over the course of these

last three decades. And to help with those memories I grabbed a couple of shots from the dust

bins to throw in for today's story. Having been taking these pro road racing pictures now since the early '80s, I still have a boat load of scanning to do from the earlier years, so this is in no way indicative nor is it a slam against the rider pics I DIDN'T use on this post. These were handy and seemed good for today so please don't anyone get their panties in a bunch since I didn't have any actions shots of Scott 'The Screaming Chief' Russell or of Doug 'The Triple Threat' Chandler or of a lot of great riders who have thrown a leg over a factory or factory-supported Team Green bike. Again, these were handy and if you have been or will be in the future a follower of Stu's Shots you know I am likely to bring just about anything out at any given time--get your mind out of the gutter as I'm talking about my pics here! You pervs! So just so we are straight on that now, let's take a gander at today's offerings!

Top shot to start off this series is a shot of Doug Chandler's #10 ZXR750 Team Kawasaki Superbike in the paddock at Road America in 2000. Doug won Superbike Championships for

Rob Muzzy and Team Green in '90, '96 and '97.

Next up is Roger Lee Hayden on the #95 Team Kawasaki 600 Super Sport machine while qualifying for the Mid Ohio race in 2005. We then have a shot of Eric Bostrom on the Team Kawasaki #32 ZXR750 while qualifying for the superbike race at Mid Ohio in 2000. Fourth in our series today is Josh Hayes on the Attack Kawasaki ZX10 #41 during the second superbike race of the weekend at Mid Ohio in 2004. And our fifth and final shot today is of Jamie Hacking's

Team Monster Energy ZX-10R Superbike #2 in the Road America paddock in June of '08.

So as you are contemplating as I am that the World Superbike and MotoGP series are looking

even stronger for the 2010 season then they were in '09, let us all take the time to hope and

pray that not only the economy comes back around, but that sometime SOON so does the

AMA Road Racing series here in the good ole U.S. of A. And we can see all of the racers

deserving of a ride and fans deserving of a professionally run series that doesn't come off like

the dirty little red headed step child that it seems to have taken on the look of. But, that's just

me.

Thanks again for coming by and putting up with my rants and opinions and checking out Stu's

Shots. We appreciate you taking time out of your day to drop in and check us out. You rock!