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AN INTERVIEW WITH BILL WERNER In Werner''s Words - The Series Split Q. Last year we experienced the series split. What are some of the things we’ve learned and what do you find confuses most fans regarding the series split? A. A lot of things have changed due to the split. This year they split the series into two separate series based upon displacement of motorcycles. The 450, or singles, is what they call the GNC lights class and these would predominantly be racing on the short tracks or the tt’s. The bigger tracks such as the miles and half miles, would be with the twins class. The series sponsor (Ford) wanted a combined champion and they paid out their money according to the combined championship. Kenny Coolbeth was the twins champion and was also the combined champion. So, in theory, you could say he was the former GNC overall champion, but he won’t go down in the record books as such because they split it up. There might be some confusion this year. For example, Jake Johnson in the singles class will be wearing the #1 plate and Kenny Coolbeth will have #31. When they switch to the twins class in Springfield, they have back to back races and one day Jake Johnson will be #1 in the race and the next day he’s #14. The reverse will be true in the twins class. Kenny Coolbeth will be #31 in the singles bikes class and #1 in the twins class. I’m not sure how the fans will respond to that. I can see that it might cause some confusion. Publications that follow flat track racing and individual programs, especially at the race tracks, have a great opportunity to communicate this information because of all of the potential confusion. People left the stands last year because they thought they were going to see Kenny Coolbeth at #1 and then they showed up at Daytona and Kenny was #31, which realistically, Kenny was #1 in the twins class last year. If sponsors publish the right information in individual programs it will make for some interesting reading at the races because there will be a little bit of confusion that fans will be seeking clarification on. Q. What are some of the advantages of the splits? Do you tend to see more brand diversity coming into the sport? A. There were some manufacturers that felt they could be more competitive in a single-faceted series and had a better chance of winning a championship rather than the combined championship. They felt they didn’t have a bike that would be competitive in both of the series. Some manufacturers would have a great singles bike, but not as good of a twin and vice versa. The decision was made to split the series to hopefully enhance participation by different manufacturers that might have a brand or type of vehicle that would lend itself to one of these series, rather than just a combined effort. The reality of it is that it really hasn’t changed much, other than there are two separate champions. The people that participated in the singles series were the people that participated before. The people that participated in the twins class were the same people that participated before. There’s more brand diversity in the singles class than in the twins class. The twins class has been a pretty hard nut to crack so to speak for other brands to be competitive with the XR750. The people that have campaigned the XR750 for a long period of time have a wealth of knowledge on tracks and set-ups. Right now, that’s the differential between winning and losing consistently. There are a couple of other twins out there that might come to the front and prove to be competitive too, but that remains to be seen. The nature of dirt track racing is that it’s a game of subtleties and little things make a difference. Q. What are some disadvantages of the split? A. The “purists” are disappointed in the split because they like the history, tradition and comparison of riders over the years. I guess it’s too early to tell if this has been a successful thing to do or not. I’m not quite sure how the fans will respond to it long term. My perspective and ideal scenario would be to have three. You could maintain the integrity of the combined championship and offer the availability for singles bike manufacturers and twins bike manufacturers to compete for individual championships. It could be a win, win scenario and right now, I’m not sure that’s the case. Time will tell and we’ll see how the fans respond. Q. Who are some of the prominent guys in the different series? Is there anyone in particular that we should keep an eye out for? A. I’ve often said “Individuals win races and programs win championships.” We have a lot of up and coming riders. Bryan Smith and Jared Mees are relatively new to the GNC series and have had a tremendous impact on the series at a relatively young age. Sam Halbert, rookie of the year, had a very good year and is a relatively young man. He would be somebody to keep an eye on. Kenny Coolbeth isn’t a youngster anymore, but he’s not an aged veteran. You can’t discount any individual. Mike Hacker re-lived his glory days by winning the nationals at Parkersburg and he’s going to be a top competitor. I would look for him to win a national or two this year. The reality of it is, individuals on any given day can win a race. There are a dozen of them. To ask, “Who will win a championship?”, that gets down to a handful of people. It gets down to programming, logistics and having good equipment every week. There are only a handful of people that can realistically win a championship like Chris Carr with a good program supported by Ford. Harley-Davidson has a good program supported by themselves. Suzuki and Yamaha have been very prevalent in the singles class as well as KTM. Q. Do you care to make any predictions regarding the upcoming race season? A. You’d like to say “let’s go with the champion” and for the singles class, that would be Jake Johnson. He is going to certainly want to defend his title. Kenny Coolbeth is going to do everything he can to defend his title. Chris Carr, you can’t count him out. Jared Mees and Bryan Smith, they’re on the support Harley-Davidson team. They’d be in contention to win a championship. Mike Hacker, under the right circumstances such as having the right program aligned with the right people should not be counted out either. He can be a player on any given day.Deep pockets generally win championships and individuals win races. The people that have the best programs are the most likely to come out at the end of the year because they can deal with the anomalies of the sport such as engine failures and transportation issues. They can overcome those things much more easily than some others could. Overall, I think it’s going to be an exciting year!
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