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2. Promoter, industry thugs, millionaire former pro mini dad, and trainer intimidate kid/threaten Canadian dealership to not buy bike(allegedly)
3. Kid gets scared and does not get bike.
I doubt any NDA he may have signed at employment addresses this. Nor does signing an NDA prevent someone from suing for wrongful termination.
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Do you guys think the pressuring/harassing the kid ,family and sponsors who claimed the bike within the rules to rescind their claim could be deemed as conduct detrimental to the sport of amateur motocross?
- Brought money to the track, and as a competitor submitted a rightful claim to the bike, regardless of motive or financial origins
- Powers that be leaned on him in multiple ways. What was said, when and by who are all up for debate
- multiple people in the know/industry took the opportunity enlighten this kid on “how there are unspoken rules” and “agreements” to never invoke this rule, and it looks bad on all involved with this kid because they’ll all be blackballed as punishment by affiliation.
- The kid withdrew the claim after the livelihood of someone else (his dealer) was threatened
- Apparently there was a pay off in consolation, which seems to have given the powers that be the impression they had successfully controlled the damage
- cooksey does a 2nd hand tell all that was pretty outlandish at the time, but moderately accurate
- after nearly a week, the kid does a tell all - likely realizing how corrupt, wrong, and borderline illegal everything was, and knowing people involved had already shared key details to cooksey.
- people are now (rightfully) seeking details about who put pressure on who when…..
Rule is great. Star got caught running factory equipment. People knew how big of a deal that is and got over involved. Kid protected sponsor after factory Yamaha threat. Time passed and story was too big to keep quiet. Kid does tell all.
Deegans bike had a factory spec engine.
That bike was legally claimed per AMA rules. The claimant had completed his racing day...the claimee had not and was allowed to use the bike to finish his entered races.
After the claim and before the next race...mechanics removed the spec engine and installed a different engine.
At the end of the racing day the claimant was asked to a meeting of concerned parties where he revoked his claim.
This is about all we know FOR fact. If a court case were to be filed and an investigation conducted...we might know more. We all know that is not going to happen.
We can speculate and second guess till the cows come home.
I suspect that during the "meeting"...the kid was told that the "spec" engine had been removed legally between races (because he filed his claim before the end of Deegans race day) and since the kid originally filed his claim to get his hands on that engine...he decided to hold on to his $17K.
I'm a big fan of the claiming rule. It almost worked for it's intended purpose. Too bad that there are folks that have no morals or integrity. A black eye for the sport.
Additionally, if he was an "at will" employee...he can be fired for no reason at all...no wrongful termination option.
Pit Row
While planned, the kid followed the rulebook and laid claim to the Star Racing bike within the rules. While speculation on my part, I don’t think “just wanting to ride a factory bike…..” was his full motivation. I could definitely see him YouTube’ing what makes the bike tick for views on his own channel - not saying he can't document his experience.......but most certainly, his (an) engine builder would have gotten their hands into it at some point - that bike is way too juicy for someone who is qualified to not be curious in uncovering it's secrets.
If he just wanted to ride the bike to see what it was about, what would have been his answer if Star invited him to an exclusive ride day at their facility? “Keep your money son, you’ll be our special guest for the week…….” If that was his only goal, then maybe would the situation between them been diffused right off the bat?
Whether it was his money or pooled from a few sources, there definitely was plan made to invest in obtaining a factory bike. He even said so himself. Best laid plans revolve around investment and planning. Whether it’s eyeballs on YT or obtaining technology for your shop, investments are made in the name of returns. That said, he operated within the rules and it makes no never mind what he does with the bike after claiming it. As other’s have said the rule(s) are in place for a reason - don’t invest in what you can’t afford to lose (in Star's case). And it certainly was a wise investment on his part given what was probably on that bike in suspension alone. Add a factory transmission and it’s even a bigger bonus (if Deegan was even running one). You can't hate the player, only the game.
Star ran the risk of bringing a warmed-over bike to the event. And for clarification, it’s not Deegan’s bike, it’s Star’s bike - they own it. Brian can be emotionally invested because it’s his kid and their reputation on the line, but it’s not their bike. No more that the Mercedes F1 car that Hamilton drives is his. So I’m not sure why he’s invited in to be a part of the process, but in the end, he's just being a dad. Not really sure either why the Walker dude had his nose in the the 'sitch. Kinda seems odd that he was railing against a client of his - probably would have been best to remain as a neutral bystander.
Although heard second hand through the Livesay interview, my personal curiosity in this whole situation revolves around the motor secrets that Star is trying to protect when passing comments like, “that bike has parts in it that you can’t buy….what are you going to do when it needs maintenance and who will maintain it?”
The Yami 250F motor has proven to be a strong powerplant, and 3rd party engine tuners seem to have a decent handle on it that puts them in the same general ballpark as Star. My guess is that the secret-sauce that Star is looking to vehemently protect is in the electronics, ECU programming and mapping.
When they wanted to “change the oil and check for shavings” my bet is that they were going to wipe any and all proprietary data from the ECU and any remove hidden telemetry only to be replaced by with stock mapping. Additionally, there’s probably some tech going on with the friction parts like the bearings, piston, etc. And while they can't get those out, my guess is there were parts un-tagged that Star was going to try and remove or conveniently forget on the workbench during the oil-change. They were in crisis mode for sure.
As a side note, what a HUGE bummer for the Canadian Yamaha dealer. Poor guy, or gal, is sitting at home relaxing on the couch when they get blindsided by the call threatening to cut off their dealership for an incident that they’re not even a part of by being 1000+ miles away. If that’s true, and they had no stake in the situation financial or otherwise, then what a poor way to do business by the parties making that call. Again, if true, there was no reason to play that card.
I’m more interested in the tech side of this whole situation and dying to know if the protected parts are mechanical or electronics related. It’s probably both. The rest of the quibbling is just par for the course and drama that has always been a part of amateur racing. It seems to happen all the time in one form or another and will continue into the future…..Where the situation sits today, is where it was before LL. Star still has the bike, Deegan is still going to be rocket fast, nobody knows Star's performance secrets and the kid still has $17 grand in his bank account. He’ll probably get just as many YT views through his story as he would if the bike was his. Wise investment.
Brian should have zero fight in this and protect his Son who knew nothing about this. Right?
It's funny, a guy asks for a synopsis, and he gets a few replies stating "just what we know as FACT" and they get some of the basic facts blatantly wrong. LOL.
But I'd be holding the AMA responsible. This was their job to police.
i honestly think deegan would have won if he was on a stock-ish bike
I’ll bet rule changes are coming as a result.
Post a reply to: Deegan bike claimed? Everyone, please stop now