Sparkplug #10

First off, Happy Independence Day weekend to everyone! Have fun, stay safe and try not to blow up the kids with those bottle rockets, okay?

The outdoor nationals are back on again this Sunday, at the fantastic Red Bud facility, and the national championship is creeping up on the halfway point. Silly season, that time of year when riders begin to jockey for new contracts, is getting underway. But what I want to talk about in this edition of Sparkplug is the selection process for the Motocross des Nations. Because I think the current process stinks.

What is the process? Someone at the AMA makes a list of who they want to compete, and then they get on the phone and ask them to race. Of course, I’m guessing this is the process, because I don’t really know what it is, but that’s sort of what Rick Carmichael said the process was like, when he described it in his “Open Letter From Ricky Carmichael About Motocross des Nations” last year. He should know.

Here’s my question: why doesn’t the AMA make it MANDATORY for the top riders to participate. And by “top” I mean current points leaders in the 250F and Open classes at mid-season. And here’s the answer I anticipate: because they CAN’T.

If the AMA does not have the power to decide when and where the racers race, what power do they have? If you answered “none”, you are close. I believe the correct answer is “very little”.

It has been explained before by guys with much more experience than me: American motocross is controlled NOT by the AMA, but by the Japanese factories, represented in this country by their American race team managers. And if the factories don’t see any benefit in funding a competitive American effort in the MXdN, guess what happens?

It would be very easy for the factories to make MXdN participation mandatory for the racers that are on their teams; it’s just another line in their contracts. But Honda will be represented by teams from Belgium, Great Britain, The Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain and many more countries, so it’s not like they need to put more bikes on the starting line, right?

The Motocross des Nations is due for another major change in format, and I touched on this before in Sparkplug #6, so I’m trying to avoid rehashing that argument. But here we are in July, and not only do we not know who’s going to represent the U.S.A., we’re not entirely sure that we’re going to compete! That fact presents more than a little challenge to any fans who want to go see the race; they were talking about that over on MotoNews this week. So, the best we can do is guess? That is plainly unacceptable.

It’s way past due for the AMA to step up and assume accountability for this. I went to the AMA’s motocross website and searched their news database and they haven’t written an article about the Motocross des Nations all year. What does this mean? As a fan, should we no longer care about the event, or should we no longer trust the AMA to be the caretaker of American participation in it?