THE FINALS ARE ON !!

The La Quinta Inn & Suites Valdosta is back again this year offering a tremendous value for attendees of the Manufacturers Cup.

Located conveniently at exit 18, which by the way is the exit you will want to stay at - - or at least you'll be going to if you want a real meal in the evening.

They are next door to Outback Steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse, and Hooter's. Outback will even deliver your order to the hotel for you! Hooter's has upgraded their usual Beer & Wine fare to a full liquor bar since our last event as well.

The La Quinta Inn & Suites offers a beautifully landscaped courtyard pool with a gazebo and hot tub, free wireless high speed Internet access, fitness center with treadmill and stair stepper, business center, and a complimentary guest laundry. In addition, they provide (FREE) a FULL HOT breakfast bar which includes eggs, grits, sausage, biscuits, gravy, cereals, fresh fruit, pastries, bagels, juice, milk and coffee. As well, for those racers who will miss the Cabot Lodge as much (or more) than they'll miss Gainesville, they also provide (FREE) an "Evening Reception" serving complimentary beer, wine, and mixed drinks as well as Fresh baked cookies and sodas for the kids.

They have blocked off a group of rooms and amazingly are holding the same rate as last year of 74.95 per night for our group. Our group rate here is a real deal; it is a full 20% off their already reasonable AAA rate.

Although this will not be the cheapest hotel you can chose from in the greater Valdosta area, I can assure you it will well above average in terms of the property and rooms. Their telephone number is 229-247-7755 and you must request the "AMA" group rate when reserving to qualify for the discounted rate.

Jay Regan

When the abrupt announcement came down June 24th that AMA Dragbike had decided to cease operations effective immediately, it shook the collective motorcycle national event drag community to the core. National Event motorcycle dragracing as it has existed now faced the very real prospect that it too would become a casualty of the recession.

Shortly after the announcement, numerous rumors began to circulate about the prospect of something new to replace the AMA Dragbike operation. A lot of talk, but nothing solid materialized. An e-mail from Jackie Bryce, asking on behalf of South Georgia Motorsports Park, was distributed to test the waters seeking potential sponsors for an independent motorcycle dragracing event to be held at SGMP on the very weekend of the originally scheduled AMA Dragbike Finals.

One of the recipients of the e-mail was Jay Regan, owner of Murdoch Racing Enterprises, a long standing sponsor and midway vendor dating all the way back to the IDBA days. "When I got the e-mail from Jackie, my first thought was oh-no, he we go again, starting all over" Regan replied. "Then it just hit me, I need to contact the core people in the industry and tell them I will put the event on and all I need them to do is provide me the sponsorship monies to make it happen"

Thus began what Regan called "a surprisingly easy sell" to the group with his plan to put the Finals on in pretty much the exact same format as it was scheduled to run. In his words "each and every one" of the group responded immediately with a resounding "Yes, I’ll advertise with you, let’s make this happen" and the plan started to take shape. The track was contacted and once Track Manager Tim Fleming came back to Regan with a contract from track ownership, the finer details starting being discussed in earnest amongst the group.

"What more can you say about the group that so quickly came on board other than they truly do care deeply about the sport; And, I guess you will have to include me in that statement as well" said Regan. "How else do you describe people, who after signing full season advertising and promotion with an organization, only to see it close it’s doors halfway thru the season, turn right back around and put more of their hard earned money on the line"

The event is the weekend of Noverber 12-13-14 and it will start out on Friday with a track run tune-n-test just like last year. A full ten classes are slated including; Top Fuel , Pro Comp , Pro Street , SuperSport , Real Street , Top Gas , Super Comp , Street Fighter , Pro ET and Street ET .

"We are looking for everybody, and I do mean everybody, to show up and support this event. There will be no memberships to buy, no hidden fees, just a big ‘ol motorcycle dragrace to cap off an otherwise very tough year for the sport" Regan stated.

Obviously, there is very much more detail to come but the group felt it was the right time to make the announcement that the Finals "ARE ON" so everybody can start making plans to attend. Spread the word, you will not want to miss this event! Stay tuned as Regan "promises nearly weekly updates with the specific details, updates and announcements leading up to the event. When prodded for a tidbit of scoop Regan replied "How’s 2500.00 to win each day MPS Pro ET sound? Sound’s good, real good. We’ll surely be staying tuned…………

Regan ended with the following; "Everyone needs to know who the group consists of. In reality, you most likely know each and every one of them. These are the people, who via sponsorship are making this event happen. Without them I can assure you this event would not stand a chance in happening" Please take your hats off to and go out of your way to say a heartfelt Thank You to Jackie Bryce of Star Racing , Brock Davidson of Brock’s Performance , Skip Dowling of Orient Express , Paul Gast of Fast by Gast , Eric Hochstetler of MTC Engineering , Don Plesser of PR Factory Store , Jay Regan of Murdoch Racing Enterprises , Dan Rudd of MPS and Dave Schnitz of Schnitz Racing.