DMG Out as Wayne Rainey Takes Over AMA Pro Road Racing

Dennis Chung
by Dennis Chung

The long and largely disappointing Daytona Motorsports Group era is over as the American Motorcyclist Association will sanction a new professional road racing series to be operated by the KRAVE Group LLC, an organization that includes three-time World Champion Wayne Rainey.

The AMA announced it will regain the sanctioning, promotional and commercial rights to top tier of U.S. professional Superbike from DMG, beginning immediately after the Sept. 13-14 season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

After that, the AMA will sanction a new series called MotoAmerica which will be run by the KRAVE Group. The Costa Mesa, Calif.,-based group is comprised of former motorsports marketing executive and team owner Terry Karges, AMA Hall of Famer Rainey, former racer and manager of Team Roberts Chuck Aksland and motorcycle manufacturer and businessman Richard Varner.

KRAVE will own the commercial rights to MotoAmerica and will award AMA and FIM North America No. 1 plates to class champions. KRAVE will also be responsible for developing commercial relationships, signing race tracks, scheduling, processing crew and media credentials and engaging fans, many of whom may have turned their backs on the DMG-run AMA Pro Racing. The AMA will be responsible for staffing officials at each event and professional racing licenses.

“If you are an amateur or professional motorcycle road racer in America, if you are a fan of road racing or if you are a company that does business in this industry, this is an exciting day,” says Rob Dingman, AMA President and chief executive officer. “Our goal has always been to entrust the promoting and commercial rights for professional racing to a talented, dedicated, well-capitalized professional entity, and the KRAVE Group certainly offers all that and more.”

KRAVE and the AMA will develop the classes, regulations and event procedures. While the rulebook still needs to be written, the AMA says classes and events will conform with prevailing international standards.

“The structure of our agreement with the AMA serves the goal of developing riders to be successful on the world stage,” says Rainey. “It allows a framework that supports advancement from youth competition to novice, from novice to Pro-Am, from Pro-Am to National Championship contention and, for the best of the best, an opportunity to race for a world title.”

DMG, which acquired the rights to AMA Pro Racing in 2008, will continue to sanction AMA Pro Flat Track, Motocross and Hillclimb.

[Source: AMA]

Dennis Chung
Dennis Chung

Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.

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