For those of us who don’t race, It’s part fantasy camp, part training, part “taking it to the track” and get it out of your system, and it’s a whole lot of fun… especially when a group of friends go together.

I’ve often wondered if Trackdays are a training ground for hardcore fans. I mean, if you’re willing to spend that kind of cash… you have to be in love with racing right? Well… the answer is not really. People attend trackdays for a lot of reasons, but for the same reason hardcore fans of NASCAR aren’t doing trackdays in their commuter rides… I’m not sure you’ll find the hardcore racing fan who is signing up for the next trackday. I do think trackdays could do more to provide a more high profile experience and maybe the trackday sponsors are the key to creating a new format for race day.

What I do know is trackdays are fun, exciting and I learn more in one trackday than I do riding hundreds of miles out on the open road. I would love to hear other people’s thoughts about Trackdays and how you think they contribute to the overall experience and culture of motorcycle racing.

OK… so you’re thinking “Wait, I saw people in the stands… what are you talking about?”. I mean, OK… your significant other is there and she brought some friends… maybe your parents stopped by to watch you race, but it’s more likely it was just your dad because mom doesn’t want to see you hurt yourself. And maybe you have a couple friends from work or from school stop by… but let’s face it, that’s it.

The fact is that superbike racing draws a smaller crowd of fans than your local Youth Soccer League. On our local forum we started to have this discussion and there are some interesting theories (including my own of course).

The fact of the matter is it’s the fault of superbike racing in general.

From club racing to the AMAs, there is just no love for the fans. If you go to watch a race, there is no inviting feel and if anything, it’s a feeling of “leave me alone I’m busy”. There’s no place to go for fans to meet the racers… hear them talk about the day… there’s some private label merchandise… but where’s the “OFFICIAL AMA” schwag? How about some kind of fan based interactive participation? There’s nothing.

Maybe superbike racing doesn’t want the fans or they just have a casual interest. Regardless, fans bring a lot to racing. NASCAR would still be a bunch of moonshiners racing in the woods if it wasn’t for the fans that came to watch. I plan on doing some research into this and hopefully discover some of the causes and issues and will report back what I find. If you have any insights into this… please share your comments

The fact that it’s considered by most people in this country as an “extreme sport” almost pisses me off because to the rest of the world, it’s one of the most popular spectator sports on the planet.

So why is it treated like a red headed stepchild? I have my theories… most of you have heard them… but the short story is that motorcycle racing is to blame. I have a somewhat unique perspective on this because I’m really not on the “inside” of racing. I don’t know enough about it to be biased by it… what I can tell you is that from the outside there is a major feeling of exclusivity and what I mean by that, is motorcycle racing doesn’t feel open and inviting. In this country, I would be big money that most of the current fans are friends and family and friends and family of friends and family. I seriously doubt you are going to find any serious superbike racing fans that aren’t connected by some close degree of separation to someone in the superbike racing industry.

The bottom line is if you got the fans, the industry gets the money and you get more racing… there’s more excitement and the whole thing becomes much more entertaining. Of course there are trade-offs… maybe it becomes a little more kitsch like NASCAR… but that’s the price you pay for success and fame. Of course it also takes an approach with a vision that is based on class and honor.

Maybe motorcycle racing doesn’t want that kind of attention. I ask myself that question all the time. At one point I seriously considered trying to pitch some aggressive marketing ideas I had to the AFM… but I started to get the feeling… and it was more indirectly than anything anyone said… that US superbike racing likes being exclusive… likes being on the outside… I mean, lets face it… the motorcycle culture in this country has a very dominant anti-social aspect to it… maybe this is the symptom of that.

I’m not going to turn this into an “I have a dream…” speech, but I personally think it would be amazing to see the stands filled with motorcycle racing fans wearing their favorite rider’s t-shirt, hat, penant, whatever cheering them on. The racers deserve it as much, if not more than anyone racing around in a cage on 4 wheels.