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100%. It’s even worse cause what message is this sending to people that are thinking of getting in to the sport. They see this situation and say fuck it it’s not worth it if everyone is dishonest and cheating.
It's logistically impossible with the way the qualifying system is set up. There are multiple areas and regionals and yamaha cannot supply all the bikes to those. The rules in place worked, they got caught cheating and were disqualified.
AMA gets their cut, so...
With that said I think the punishment for the parents should be greater. They are LL champs themselves, own a facility, and have AMA races sounds like, so ya they need to be called out and stripped of some things to keep it happening again.
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Most mini classes are just dick measuring contests for dads who were never fast enough to do anything.
$150 dollar sanction fee, whoopeee
Ray came off as an unapologetic moron. It sucks for the kid who finished 4th and missed his podium interview but it sucks more for the kid who missed the event entirely by finishing on the bubble at the regional. Ray's lack of integrity cost some kid a lifetime memory.
He's not sorry it happened, he's embarrassed that he got caught.
I think everyone is saying Yamaha provide the bikes for The Ranch only.
And I'm on the side of Yamaha provides the bikes, but since the bikes NEVER change just continue to use the same ones year after year. Charge the parents a fee for Yamaha to provide the bikes, racers bring their plastic w/ graphics if they so choose otherwise run the OEM, and let the racers bring their wheels with their tire of choice. Everything gets swapped back after the week is done and bikes get put away until the next year.
There's a way to do it, it's just a matter of whether Yamaha/MXSports want to actually do it to give these 4-6 year olds a level playing field.
Or the other option, drop the class completely. Which I am not a fan of.
The system worked here. It caught the cheater, DQd him and the winner's bike was torn down and fully stock.
I'm not sure he was even embarrassed.
Well if weight is why we cheat, fuck it let’s get the ozempic and sweat suits out! We have a PW LLs title to chase!
The obvious answer is to send your 5 year old to Aldon Baker
Man, some of you want to ruin a family's livelihood because they made a bad decision in youth sports so lets all calm down a bit and relax. The guy ruined his name in the industry so that will take care of itself. I had no idea who he was and obviously have heard of Jessica but had no idea what she's been up to. Now that I've seen and heard him talk, I would want nothing to do with that family either but I also wouldn't throw gas on them and light a match as I walk away.
Its the PW class, no need for Yamaha to haul bikes around just so a few mini dads know their future SX champ can show his stuff on a level playing field. Heck, make a min. weight for bike and rider and small, light kids add weight to even it all out. They do that in karting because of the low hp, 15-20 lbs. can mean .5 seconds on a 30 second a lap track. I can also guarantee that if Yamaha showed up with the bikes, a few or more dads would claim they got slow bikes and bitch and complain anyway.
But like many have said, the cheater got DQ'd and the legal kid won, sounds like the system is working as planned. Are we really upset some kid didn't get thrown up on the podium with the deer in the headlights look as some stranger is asking who they want to thank? That's so cringe anyway.
Sometimes its better to keep quiet, his appearance at the pulp show was a good example.
Plus everyone who's racing fees. Referee fees, protest fees.
Look, I'm not bagging on the AMA, sorry if it came off that way, and like someone said earlier, it looks like the system worked this time.
“I can’t go to every kid on the line and go ‘hey man, I’m sorry, hey man, I’m sorry’”
You can’t, but what you could’ve done instead is not cheated.
The mental gymnastics are crazy here, you robbed second place of a win, third place of a second, and fourth place a spot on the podium in front of their families. Robbed children of these moments.
If you didn’t expect him to win, why bother cheating? What’s the difference between an honest 10th and a cheater 8th?
I’m sure a lot of these sentiments have been echoed through this thread, I’m just catching up after listening to Eddie on Pulp, but man. That was a very unapologetic apology.
You're right! Let's re-write the rulebook with a sliding scale of severity depending on who you are, that'll make everything more fair.
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Those in positions of power and or responsibility should be held to higher standards.
Definitely not condoning! But the double standard here is pretty crazy Deegan got caught for doing the same thing nobody even talks about it!
Sorry the AMA Rulebook doesn't align with your moral compass.
This would have been forgotten by now if Ray didn't go on PulpMX and give us 30 minutes of hem-hawing and self-contradictions.
It's like watching a car crash, then a week later the car catches on fire at the tow lot and burns the building down.
https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/Deegans-kid-DQd-at-Oakhill,1267563
You're answering your own question. The class self selects for people who want to rig the game. It's a feature of the class, not a bug.
I just listened to the Pulp segment and didn’t have much of an opinion on it before but man this guy is insufferable. Guess based on his logic it should be fair game for Marchbanks to be out there on a 300?
Just FYI,
We do not get any racing fees. There are no such thing as referee fees. The tracks hire independent contractors to officiate races. AMA gets nothing. We changed the rules last year to give nearly all of the protest money to the guy whose bike ends up in a box if he is legal. The AMA only gets a fee of $50. Protests are few and far between at the local race scene. We go weeks at a time not seeing any. The lions share of our revenue comes from membership fees ($49 per year) and sanction fees $150 per standard event.
Except for the kid that didn’t get to go to the ranch because he lost to a cheater
Except for the kid(s) that missed out on their podium interview
Except for the kid and his family that got handled a medal after the ceremony
Hahahahahahhaha. Well played sir!
I look forward to the shaft class controversy every year.
You doubt Keefer doesn’t know what goes on in that class? I can almost guarantee he knows. Keefer doesn’t bullshit about things. Right or wrong it’s been happening for years why do you think we had the whole Deegan bike saga? I think the AMA and MXsports should do something but what? Tear every bike down in the top 10?
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