Mid-Ohio Amateur motorcycle pre-race notes

AMA ROAD RACING & MOTOCROSS ACTION ON TAP
Mid-Ohio Hosting Country's Premier Amateur Motorcycle Events This Weekend

DUBLIN, Ohio (September 19, 2006) -- Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course will host two of the country's premier amateur motorcycle racing championships at the Lexington, Ohio, racetrack this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 22-24. The event will feature both the AMA Road Race Grand Championships and the inaugural AMA Motocross Manufacturers Cup.

The AMA Road Race Grand Championships will host class championship races featuring the country's best amateur road racers. The event is the culmination of the amateur season and has previously served as a launching point for AMA Superbike Championship standouts like Ben Spies, Jason DiSalvo, and Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden.

A total of 34 national championships will be awarded during the AMA Road Race Grand Championships. The event also will include a 600cc Superstock Shootout for Expert class riders, where the top 20 riders will be featured the following weekend during the AMA Superbike Shootout, a 72cc Metrakit Youth Class for riders age 10 to 16, and special awards for the most outstanding up-and-coming amateur rider and the top novice racer.

This event represents a unique collaboration among all of the country's major motorcycling associations, including the AMA, WERA, CMRA, CCS, AHRMA, FASTTRAX, SMRI, USGPRU, CRA, LPRS, MRA, WSMC and others. Three-rider teams from each organization will take part in the fourth annual Road Race Club Challenge as part of the event.

The AMA Road Race Grand Championships is being held on as a spectator event for the first time at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and will initiate a new and unique week of fall motorcycle races at the track that will conclude with the AMA Superbike Shootout, the season finale for the AMA Superbike Championship, September 29 - October 1.

The inaugural AMA Motocross Manufacturers Cup is an invitational event featuring the sport's marquee manufacturers such as Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha and KTM pitting their top amateur motocrossers from across the nation. In addition to the Manufacturers Cup, individual titles will be at stake in multiple AMA District 12 amateur motocross classes.

Riders as young as four years old will have the opportunity to challenge Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course's brand-new motocross venue for championships and bragging rights during the AMA Motocross Manufacturers Cup event, which also will feature a full slate of AMA District 12 Motocross racing.

"We're excited to be hosting these two great AMA amateur championship events at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and introduce fans to the sport's next generation of riding stars," said TrueSports, Incorporated President Michelle Trueman Gajoch. "The weekend's activities are the perfect way to kick off a week's worth of motorcycle action to end our 2006 season."

Tickets for the AMA Road Race Grand Championships and AMA Motocross Manufacturers Cup are available now by calling 1-800-MID-OHIO or logging on to www.midohio.com.

A comprehensive motorsports facility, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course features a permanent road racing circuit with two primary configurations: a 2.4-mile, 15-turn, and a 2.25-mile, 13-turn circuit. The park-like, 330-acre complex in Lexington, Ohio also features an amateur motocross venue. Located 60 miles north of Columbus and 75 miles south of Cleveland near Mansfield, the track has been called the most competitive in the U.S. and annually hosts a diversity of locally, regionally and nationally sanctioned racing events for amateur, club and professional riders and drivers.

Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, TrueSports, Incorporated is a privately held motorsports entertainment enterprise. The company owns and operates Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and The Mid-Ohio School, and promotes a wide variety of motor racing, driver instruction, corporate, and family entertainment events throughout the year.

-credit: moscc