WERA will not run VMD in 2026. It will be ASRA.

dave3593

dave3593

What I know about opera I learned from Bugs Bunny
WERA will not be putting on racing at VMD in 2026 at Mid Ohio. VMD road racing will be handled by ASRA. It is on the ASRA schedule and no longer on the WERA schedule.

I also started a thread like this in the vintage section but I want everyone to see it so I'm starting this here.

VMD looks like a difficult to run event. I don't think it's a good idea to switch racing organizations. It was not WERA who made this decision.

What do you folks think about this change?
 
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If WERA was fine with the decision, then so be it. If not, then pardon my language, but it’s fucking retarded. ASRA always cringed at vintage, even though they ended up having a few V classes for CCS. As a non-innocent bystander and part time grid filler, all I have is my own opinion, and know nothing of the ins and outs of decision making like this…….but seems ironic to have a snooty group like the new Asra clowns running a vintage anything.
 
britx303 said:
ASRA always cringed at vintage, even though they ended up having a few V classes for CCS.
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they killed the vintage classes. it was inherited when it was introduced around 2020 with CCS and they crippled it, till it was completely removed for this year.
 
DBConz said:
they killed the vintage classes. it was inherited when it was introduced around 2020 with CCS and they crippled it, till it was completely removed for this year.
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2016 is when we did the V trial at Daytona ROC, as the vintage introduction to CCS broadly. It was already a CCS/Florida regional based thing….sorry, can’t recall the exact initials. I remember the Florida guys not being happy, as established race classes and rules got a bit jostled around to cater to new-to-vintage regions elsewhere.
 
I race WERA and ASRA equally. FWIW, I see a lot of improvement on how the race day runs with Alex Spellman at the helm. Tech is faster, registering is a breeze, all grids are based on practice/qualy times, and grids are posted relatively quickly.

Every org has hiccups and growing pains now and then, and I think they're figuring it out. As for them taking over VMD, this is kind of wierd.. I'm not sure what they'll do about the vintage stuff considering I don't think, they don't have much of a vintage rulebook anymore.

What really sucks is that the WERA North Central region is all but torched... just two tracks. Grattan and Nelsons. Grattan in May is always a shit show with weather, and I don't really race Nelsons anymore. The risk just isn't worth the reward for me there. So it looks like I'll just be racing Grattan in July, and the rest of the racing will have to be with ASRA.

I wish WERA or ASRA would pick up Gingerman. When ASRA went there in 2024 there was initially a really good turnout. but people got scared of the weather coming on Sunday and half the paddock cleared out Saturday night... Which was silly because the track was good to go by 9am. Gingerman is a really fun track with lots of passing opportunities and its pretty safe overall.

Anyway.. been thinking about going back to car racing, and stuff like this is really pushing me closer.
 
Trainwreck said:
I race WERA and ASRA equally.
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ASRA have been saying they're going to cut their regions, do less race weekends, and make it all a national series. Alex has been actively trying to torch their customer base, if talking trash to AMA, WERA, and their customers wasn't effective enough
 
The only reason I'd go up there again is if I was considering competing for a nationals trophy with WERA. In hindsight, I should have done it last year, but I wasn't planning on attending VMD when I started the season.

It's a total pain in the ass to have a transponder for each bike, but I will concede that they way they did ROC this year made tech and registration just unbelievably easy and fast. I could have bought another transponder, but I would have started dead last because the qualifying session was shared between the 3 classes I would have liked to participate in. On top of that, I was pretty disappointed this year to see there were no vintage classes, not even the classic classes.
 
Discussion began on the '2026 Schedule' page last week by @rcarson15

https://forums.13x.com/index.php?threads/2026-schedule.391378/#post-6327231

index.php
 
DBConz said:
ASRA have been saying they're going to cut their regions, do less race weekends, and make it all a national series. Alex has been actively trying to torch their customer base, if talking trash to AMA, WERA, and their customers wasn't effective enough
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Asra races tracks that WERA doesn’t. And visa versa. I just go where the racing is. I like racing both.

that and they allow after market M/C in supersport :beer:
 
Trainwreck said:
What really sucks is that the WERA North Central region is all but torched... just two tracks. Grattan and Nelsons. Grattan in May is always a shit show with weather, and I don't really race Nelsons anymore. The risk just isn't worth the reward for me there. So it looks like I'll just be racing Grattan in July, and the rest of the racing will have to be with ASRA.

I wish WERA or ASRA would pick up Gingerman. When ASRA went there in 2024 there was initially a really good turnout. but people got scared of the weather coming on Sunday and half the paddock cleared out Saturday night... Which was silly because the track was good to go by 9am. Gingerman is a really fun track with lots of passing opportunities and its pretty safe overall.
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I started racing in the NC in 1998. In that time period, we had IRP, Putnam, Nelson, Grattan, Gingerman, Gateway, Nashville, PIRC and maybe Autobahn once or twice. The biggest issue (always) was people not showing up or going home at the slightest sign of bad weather. A few arounds, we didn't even have tire guys. I started racing down south simply because guys weren't afraid to race in the wet (or snow a couple of times). Frankly, I'll drive the aditional 2 hours in the ooposite direction to race Barber vs Nelson Ledges, or Road Atlanta vs Grattan. I'd rather see those events make money and SE region keep going because it runs 9 months out of the year vs 4.
 
Robin172 said:
What's the problem with Nelson Ledges?
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Nothing, I just dont feel like going 160mph+ there anymore. It's fun, but the grid count is low and it's 5 hours away from me. BlackHawk Farms, Mid-Ohio, and Road America are within that same drive time for me. I know there isn't club racing at Road America, and since MA torched STK1000 I prolly won't race Road America.

However, I'd rather drag my wife and kid to Road America for their superior facilities just for a track day. Over taking them to a track where it smells like you're IN the bathroom no matter how far away you park from it. Just so I can race 3-4 other bikes for a metal trophy I always forget to even grab.

Like I said, the Midwest is fucked for racing now.. gatta go south or east for anything worth it for club racing. Going back to cars is looking more and more appealing.
 
Wow it sucks there aren’t a lot of road racing opportunities in the Midwest. Granted it wasn’t me riding, but we always liked the opportunity for a rain race, gave my kid additional experience.

I’d like to think even I would man up and race in the rain, but I don’t already own a rain suit, and rain tires, like I did for my kid. So that would be additional $ signs flashing up in my head while making the decision. Let alone thoughts of cleaning everything and more probable crash opportunities. :D
 
Hyperdyne said:
I started racing in the NC in 1998. In that time period, we had IRP, Putnam, Nelson, Grattan, Gingerman, Gateway, Nashville, PIRC and maybe Autobahn once or twice. The biggest issue (always) was people not showing up or going home at the slightest sign of bad weather. A few arounds, we didn't even have tire guys. I started racing down south simply because guys weren't afraid to race in the wet (or snow a couple of times). Frankly, I'll drive the aditional 2 hours in the ooposite direction to race Barber vs Nelson Ledges, or Road Atlanta vs Grattan. I'd rather see those events make money and SE region keep going because it runs 9 months out of the year vs 4.
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I don't race in the rain, I used to like it, but no one does it, and crashing while there's only 2-3 people in the race is pretty damn lame, and replacing $200-500 worth of shit per clip on is really really lame. Especially when I could have just went inside my RV, stayed warm and ate Flamin' Hot Cheetos.. The rain was the only crash I had for 3 years up until MotoAmerica STK1000 at Mid Ohio of this year. (that wasn't even my fault)

FWIW Grattan has been REALLY good the last few years. Hell, in May it rained/was cold as hell on Saturday so I took my family to the John Ball Zoo. But on Sunday it was just cold (like maybe 40-45*) and the track had a decent amount of grip still. I am pretty sure i was running low 1:21's.. I put it on pole and won all 3 of the big bike races, against some pretty fast dudes like Risinger and Blackall (fast local)

In July we were running 19's on a "green" post rain track. I could have gone deeper into the 19's if I made better tire choices.
 
grasshopper said:
Who runs the offroad races at VMD? I'm interested in a woods race and racing that vintage moto track you see right off the road when you pull in.
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The guy that sponsors us also sponsors a couple of dirt bike guys, and they always have a blast. We've thought about doing the double there (off-road and track) but we never seem to get our dirt bikes ready. Plus I'm not that good off-road:D
 
Trainwreck said:
Nothing, I just dont feel like going 160mph+ there anymore. It's fun, but the grid count is low and it's 5 hours away from me. BlackHawk Farms, Mid-Ohio, and Road America are within that same drive time for me. I know there isn't club racing at Road America, and since MA torched STK1000 I prolly won't race Road America.

However, I'd rather drag my wife and kid to Road America for their superior facilities just for a track day. Over taking them to a track where it smells like you're IN the bathroom no matter how far away you park from it. Just so I can race 3-4 other bikes for a metal trophy I always forget to even grab.

Like I said, the Midwest is fucked for racing now.. gatta go south or east for anything worth it for club racing. Going back to cars is looking more and more appealing.
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Thats too bad, we're going to run a 1000 in as many club rounds as we can this year.
 
I just want to clarify something. I had started a similar thread in the VINTAGE section about who will run road racing at VMD in 2026. Some worth while comments there. Please go read it also.

I openened this thread so more people would see the topic and it is working.

In the vintage section thread Mongo said:
We were told by the AMA. Not sure who overall makes the decision. Obviously we are very disappointed, thought we'd done well over the last decade or so.

It appears WERA would have been happy to continue doing VMD.

WERA can of course speak for themselves. I started this thread out of regard for racers.
 
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