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AMA Supermoto

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It all started with the Superbikers. As a young man growing up in the late 70s, there were only three network TV stations for me to watch, and unlike today, motorsports programs were few and far between.

Other than the Indy 500 and the occasional airing of stock car racing, motorsports just weren’t on the air very often. During one serendipitous Saturday, I happened upon ABC’s Wide World of Sports.

And on that particular day, they were airing the Superbikers. Looking back, the influence that program had on the rest of my motorcycling life is immeasurable.

An unusual combination of road racing, dirt track, and motocross, the Superbikers showcased racers I had only read about in the motorcycle magazines.

Kenny Roberts Sr., Jeff Ward, and many others battled on the track to show who was the best all-around motorcycle racer on the planet. Of course, this multi-disciplined form of racing was the precursor to modern supermoto racing.

Supermoto racing in the United States continues to be in flux, with DRT Racing now taking over the mantle of AMA Supermoto. Releasing its 2017 schedule today, the 2017 AMA Supermoto National Championship Series will have five stops throughout the USA.

It always amazes me that Supermoto isn’t more popular in the United States, especially considering that the racing format was born here in the 1970s, and gained popularity with ABC’s Wide World of Sports “Superbikers” show.

As a training tool, supermoto has given way to flat track racing, though you will still find many of the top road racers cross training on the kart track with a modified dirt bike that has 17″ wheels and lower suspension.

If you haven’t tried your hand at riding a supermoto bike, we highly recommend it. If you don’t believe us though, you should at least try stopping by one of the AMA’s five rounds this year (California, Arizona, Quebec, Sturgis, and Florida).

For the first time in eight years, you can now watch AMA Supermoto racing action on TV, as the rebooted series has signed a television deal with the MAVTV Motorsports Networks.

The TV package is a bit limited, as it includes 12 airings of six episodes (two apiece), which will cover racing from three venues, as well as highlights from the other three races on the calendar, but it is still a step in the right direction for supermoto racing in the USA.

The three race venues that MAVTV will cover are the rounds in Sturgis, South Dakota (round three); Denver, Colorado (round five); Tuscon, Arizona (the season finale).

In addition to the MAVTV package, the main event at the Quebec City race (round four) will get national and international coverage, as its part of the World Rally X Series.

Now in its third year of racing, since its revival, the AMA has released the 2016 AMA Supermoto Championship calendar.

For this year’s racing, American supermoto racers will have six events to test their mettle, most of which take place in the Western half of the United States, though there is one round in Quebec City, to keep the Canucks at bay.

Perhaps most importantly though, the AMA Supermoto Championship will return to television, as the series has inked a TV package with MAVTV Motorsports Networks. The TV package includes six episodes, with 12 airings, which will be produced by Greg White.

Last month, our friend John Shofner (you may have seen some of his work on A&R already) sent us a link to a project he was working on, and we couldn’t wait for it to become a reality.

So finally, we can talk about the full-length documentary, , that Shofner Films hopes to produce, which will tell the story behind America’s two-wheeled petrol racing culture.

To help raise the $400,000 that the It’s Something Inside project will need to produce the film, John has turned to the crowd-sourcing platform of Kickstarter.

If funded (your contributions only get collected if John meets his fundraising goal), and once completed, Shofner Films will then pitch the film to various film festivals, with the hope of ultimately getting a theater or TV deal for the film.

As you can tell from the trailer above, and the stills after the jump, John has a great photographic eye; and his previous work, including a documentary of the karting scene, shows his immense talent in storytelling as well.

We are pretty pumped to see this project go forward, and if you are too, we hope you will contribute some money towards his Kickstarter fund. Count us in for a couple bucks John!