VIR Tells Its Side of AMA Pro Racing Event Cancellation

Virginia International Raceway has issued a statement explaining the cancellation of a scheduled AMA Superbike round, contradicting some of the statements made by David Atlas, AMA Pro Racing chief operating officer.

Explaining that there are two sides to every story, the VIR release claims AMA Pro Racing did not deliver a proposed contract for the 2011 event until early June 2011, leaving VIR without enough time to finalize the contract and begin promoting the event before the scheduled Aug. 12-14 date.

Atlas had told several media outlets including SpeedTV, the series’ broadcasting partner that terms were finalized in December 2010.

We’re not going to pick sides on this “he said, she said” issue, but VIR may be losing the public relations battle by not explaining its side of the story sooner. AMA Pro Racing has to tread carefully however, as the management at other race tracks is no doubt keeping a close eye on how things unfold.

Read the full press release from VIR following the jump.

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VIR Pulls Itself from 2011 AMA Pro Racing Schedule

VIR has received a number of inquiries and expressions of disappointment regarding the lack of a 2011 AMA Pro Racing event at VIR. As with any disagreement, there are two sides to every story. We want to make it clear that the decision was not one-sided, as David Atlas’ remarks have implied, and that VIR made numerous proposals to AMA Pro Racing to keep this event on schedule. Due to our 10 year history with this premiere event, we are as disappointed by this outcome as most of those we have heard from.

VIR has worked hard to bring the event to fruition for months. Despite requests by VIR beginning in December 2010, AMA Pro Racing did not deliver its proposed contract for the 2011 event to VIR until early June 2011. Resulting discussions made it apparent that insufficient time remained to negotiate the new terms in the proposed contract and, if agreement were reached, to plan, promote and conduct the event in a professional manner.

In an effort to preserve the date, VIR went to extraordinary lengths to reach an alternative agreement with AMA Pro Racing, which AMA Pro Racing chose to reject. Given these circumstances, we had no choice but to take the date off the calendar and notify the public promptly.