Well everybody has something to say about the NSAB vs AMA debate. Here is my thoughts.
There are practically no extrinsic reasons to be involved in road racing. You will not become rich. You will not become famous. You will not earn the respect of people outside of the racing family. In fact there are many extrinsic reasons not to be involved in road racing. You could get hurt. You will spend a lot of time devoted to The Almighty Next Weekend. You will spend a lot of money.
The only logical reason to be involved in racing is the obvious intrinsic reason; you either love it or you don't.
Because of our intrinsic love of the sport, we get involved. We become the racers. We become the cornerworkers. We become the officials. We become the team owners. Sometimes, we help bring new racers into the sport. Our efforts, because of our intrinsic love of the sport, are what really make racing happen. Sometimes we go to club races and do our thing, sometimes we go to a national level races and do our thing. Two things remain constant. We are hardworking volunteers who are doing this because we love it and not a single race would happen anywhere in this country were it not for the hard work and dedication of us. We make the races happen.
In recent decades there has been new forces at play in the racing community. There is a faction that shares our intrinsic love of the sport, but wants to spread the sport to a broad based mainstream entertainment package. These people believe, quite honestly, that all levels of road racing will be a better thing if the national level portion of it becomes a marketable entertainment media like Nascar, Cart, Imsa or other high profile moto-sport. So fervently do they believe this that they are willing to go to great efforts to see this happen. What we, the heart and sole of motorcycle road racing in this country, have to wonder if the goals of these factions in the best interest of our little family. What will become of racing in this country should some part of road racing become a mainstream entertainment package?
Well, frankly I don't know for sure. I look at other motor-sports that have this duality, car racing for example, and try to imagine what would happen to our sport should we be organized the same way. I think the special aspect of racing that the silent majority of racers in this country want will be lost in the shuffle. Imagine if it was no longer possible for a couple of guys to get together to race club events AND some national events. That's just what has happened in car racing. A car club racer can't even enter a national level Nascar, Cart, or Imsa level race.
I know the aspect of this sport I most cherish is the accessibility of all of us to the national level races.
There are some in our community that believe that backyard "hack" teams have no place in a national event. These "hack" teams impede the presentation of a national as a slick, high powered, high profile, big money sport that somebody like Sears what's to advertise in. Perhaps. However, it is the support of these grassroots individuals that make this sport happen in the first place. Making a "show" for television might make the sport more attractive to big business concerns, but it will make the sport as a whole less accessible for us, the real backbone of the sport. We are this sport, and we need to decide if where it is going is in our best interests.