American Flat Track 2017 Schedule

American Flat Track (formerly AMA Pro Racing) has announced its official schedule for 2017.
What is interesting?

1. The first round is a TT at Daytona, within the enormous speedway on a Chris Carr designed track. Remember, the GNC1 (Pro, Experts, call them what you will depending on your age) will all be on TWINS!

2. The next round is a short track in Georgia, meaning there is no short track in Daytona.

3. Peoria is on. I'm most surprised about this. There must be some changes happening at the track because riders weren't happy about the safety there (Dominic Colindres was paralysed after a crash there this year). Brad Baker had a lucky escape. Now they're doing it on twins.

4. The Buffalo Chip TT. To appeal to the massive biker crowds at Sturgis, this race borders on exhibition. Again, it's going to be on twins. That makes three TT rounds in one season. The most there's been since I've been following GNC, I think (used to be Peoria and Castle Rock).

5. Perris is the final round. Not the tiny track, but the adjacent Auto Speedway. It's still regarded as a short track, so that's two short track races for the twins too.

6. There are 18 rounds. Santa Rosa dropped itself, after being on the preliminary list announced in September. California still gets three rounds, equal with Illinois.

March 16: DAYTONA TT – Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fla.
March 25: Georgia Short Track – Dixie Speedway, Woodstock, Ga.
April 1: Charlotte Half-Mile – Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C.
May 13: Arizona Mile – Turf Paradise, Phoenix, Ariz.
May 20: Sacramento Mile – Cal Expo Fairgrounds, Sacramento, Calif.
May 27-28: Springfield Mile I* – Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Ill.
June 3: Red Mile – The Red Mile, Lexington, Ky.
June 17: OKC Mile – Remington Park, Oklahoma City
June 24: Lima Half-Mile – Allen County Fairgrounds, Lima, Ohio
July 8: Rolling Wheels Half-Mile – Rolling Wheels Raceway Park, Elbridge, N.Y.
July 29: Calistoga Half-Mile – Calistoga Speedway, Calistoga, Calif.
Aug. 6: Buffalo Chip TT presented by Indian Motorcycle – Buffalo Chip Campgrounds, Sturgis, S.D. Aug. 8: Black Hills Half-Mile – Black Hills Speedway, Rapid City, S.D.
Aug. 13: Peoria TT – Peoria Motorcycle Club, Peoria, Ill.
Sept. 2-3: Springfield Mile II** – Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Ill.
Sept. 9: Williams Grove Half-Mile – Williams Gove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, Pa.
Sept. 23: Lone Star Half-Mile – Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas
Oct. 7: Perris Short Track – Perris Auto Speedway, Perris, Calif.

* AFT Singles will race a TT on May 27
** AFT Singles will race a Short Track on Sept. 2

Photo: Brian J Nelson

A New Dawn for American Flat Track...

At Sunday’s end of season awards banquet, just hours after Bryan Smith was confirmed 2016 champion in one of the most thrilling mile races of recent times, the company that runs professional flat track announced a new era for the sport. Sideburn was there to hear the announcement and below is our take, thoughts and questions about the changes.

THE NAME
Michael Lock, the British CEO of AMA Pro Flat Track, explained that they are changing their name. Why? Because AMA Pro Flat Track are nothing to do with the AMA. Confused, you should be. So was every potential sponsor, partner or new team Lock and his team approached. So the new name is American Flat Track. American Flat Track (AFT) writes the rules, sets the race schedule, runs the races that regional promoters host and organise to the AFT’s guidelines. AFT is to flat track what Dorna is to MotoGP.
The AMA will continue, we assume, as the licensing body.

THE RULES
Let’s be honest, the Bryan Smith wheel situation was a debacle and Lock admitted as much on stage, in an amusing way. He explained that there was too much ambiguity in the rulebook and that it was barely written in English, so, AFT say, it has been completely redrafted, simplified, clarified and will be released online in this week, six months before the season starts.

THE CLASS STRUCTURE
The twins rule, that was supposed to be implemented in 2016 but postponed after howls from teams and riders, will come into being for 2017.

The current GNC1 class will be the Twins class. The GNC2 class will also be renamed as AFT Singles and will run exclusively on DTX-style 450cc singles, where GNC2 currently mixes singles and twins. The GNC2 riders rode twins at Santa Rosa.

Any GNC2 rider who has scored 50pts in a season on twin machinery can enter the Twins class. If they regret that decision, for whatever reason, the rider can transfer back to Singles for the rest of the season, but then cannot move back to wins later in the same season.

The Twins class will compete the 18-race season exclusively on twins. That means miles, half-miles, two (I think) short tracks and up to three TTs all on twins.

Sideburn has been a big supporter of the twins rule since it was first mentioned. Speaking to Indian’s top brass this week they explained they weren’t interested in joining a series where their riders swapped between manufacturers machinery from race-to-race. If the status quo had continued, who could claim the title, if, let’s say, Baker wins next season, Indian for the twin he rode or Honda/KTM for the singles race points? An insane situation. One obvious downside of this new structure is the lack of opportunities,for singles riders to get experience on pure race machines, the kind of framer chassis used on twins, before moving into the top class. They build racecraft, but not the set-up skills a framer requires and responds to.

In MotoGP, riders in the Moto2 feeder class are riding bikes with a variety of custom chassis all using the exact same Honda CBR600-derived engine. So they’re learning what adjustments to make in different situations before the cream of the class move into MotoGP and race prototypes with twice the power.

If AFT followed the same thinking it could mean a return to framers, using a ‘spec’ stock 450 engine, supplied at a reduced price, and built into a chassis of the rider’s choice. This would be a return to bike that look like proper flat tracker, not motocrossers. I'm not hung up on DTX bikes, but they're no longer the future of the sport, but still an important stepping stone. Let’s face it, the OEMs didn’t get behind the DTX format in any significant financial way and the riders aren’t learning to race framers, which they need to if they want to be GNC1 champs.

The leathers rule, banning the wearing of motocross jerseys and trousers wasn’t mentioned in the presentation, but it’s still going ahead as far as we’re aware.

RACE STRUCTURE
At the moment each racer has two timed qualifying sessions before a heat race. The top qualifiers in the heat race transfer straight to the Main, the event 18-rider final, so the very best riders only have two races in a day. This is changing. From 2017 riders will compete in four heat races with last three (depending on entry number, I guess) in the heat race being eliminated and not taking part in the rest of the day. The qualifiers of the heat races will ALL go into two semis, no one will transfer directly to the main. The top nine finishers from the semis will make the main. There will also be, as there is now, the Get Out Of Jail free card that allows national numbers who don’t qualify to gain entry to the main once in a season if they fail to qualify. It wasn’t entirely clear if they can only use that from the semis or if they can do it from the heats too.

In the current, now old, structure, Brad Baker, who won at Santa Rosa, broke down in his heat race, so missed the automatic transfer and was put in the semi (which is really a last chance qualifier) and finished in the top three. In the new structure he would have been eliminated and not given the opportunity to race in the semi.

There was no talk of the Dash for Cash, but the reason for the new structure is for fans to see the top racers compete more often during a race day, so it might remain.

COVERAGE
AFT has negotiated with NBC sports network to show coverage of the sport in their Thursday night off-road Overdrive programme, shown in Thursday night primetime and available to 90 millions US homes. The highlights package will be shown every Thursday from June to September and will include full coverage of both mains, plus highlights of the semis and interviews with riders and explanation of tech. Fanschoice.tv will continue to livestream full event coverage online for hardcore and foreign fans. It wasn’t made clear if this coverage will be hosted on their website to watch after the event, but there is no obvious benefit, that I can see, to not doing this so we hope they do.

SCHEDULE
18 races, with 17 already confirmed in September of the preceding year will really help people get organised. This is much earlier than in any previous year in our memories. AFT has worked with promoters to try cluster races to minimise travel, and to give a real national spread to the races. There are new events on the schedule. These are the biggest changes…

The traditional Daytona short track double-header has been dropped. The season will still start in Bike Week, in March, but within the huge Speedway, that is undergoing an $500 million refurb. The race will be a TT on a track designed by Chris Carr. This will be the first time new generation twins will compete on a TT track. It’s going to be interesting.

For years there has been a massive wait for the next race, usually Springfield 1 at the end of May. Things changed for 2016 and 2017 follows the new format with three races between Daytona and Springfield. These are Atlanta: Charlotte and Arizona. There is a new race in Kentucky, a return to New York, but no Austin.

The enormous Sturgis Bike Week event hosts two rounds in four days, first is the Buffalo Chip TT, on a new track with two jumps, then the Black Hills Half-Mile. A hooligan and singles race was trialled at Buffalo Chip this year. The track looked sub-optimal, so it will have to improve for the AFT racers. The season ends on the big track at Perris, So Cal.

The only race of the 18 that is not currently confirmed is Peoria. Insiders say the track itself is not up AFT standards in terms of track width. The famous TT is pencilled in, so there seems a desire to host the race. There is also talk of modifying the jump, taking the top off it, to make it safer for twins to compete on.

PRIZE MONEY
The majority of OEM manufacturers have signed up to support AFT (Suzuki being one notable who haven't), with Indian being the big new name. Lock said there is a potential $500,000 worth of contingency for the singles class alone. I’m dubious of contingency figures. Sure, the potential might be half-a-million, but Manufacturer 1 could commit to paying $5000 to any rider who wins a race on their machine. If no one wins on Manufacturer 1’s bike then no one gets anything. So the manufacturer is in a win-win. They look like they’re supporting the series, but might actually pay out very little. But it’s better than nothing and the actual structure of the potential payments was not made clear, so I might be overly cynical.

Harley-Davidson paid Jared Mees a bonus of £25,000 for being top H-D finisher in the 2016 season, so contingency certainly is being paid in some examples.

ALSO… 
Dunlop has signed a three-year deal to supply tyres and have committed to improving grip. Not sure how this will pan out and what it’ll do to the racing or the level of tuning bikes are then subjected to in order to exploit the new grip, but progress shouldn’t be avoided.

Michael Lock spoke of his desire/dream to put the whole of AFT on a plane, fly them to Europe and race in a soccer stadium. Spain seems an obvious host country thanks to links with Marquez, the RPM organisation and their successful Superprestigio race.

Or what about an Italian soccer stadium or horse hippodromo? Let’s not consider potential flies in the ointment like potential rain-offs. I said let’s not! The Speedway GP make temporary tracks in sports arenas and have a flyaway race to Australia most, if not all seasons, so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility, but still is only a dream. It would be a very brave Euro promoter who invested the money needed to help make it happen. Superprestigio has shown some kind of precedent, but on a much smaller scale. Get Marquez involved, or Rossi, and it could grab the public’s imagination. Would 30,000 Europeans pay €25 each to watch a flat track race?

This is a time for optimism and excitement. We’re excited. Pro flat track was crying out for this revolution. There will be bumps along the way, but everything sounds incredibly positive.

We’ll put more meat on the bones of these developments as things progress.
Gary Inman
Editor

GNC Twins Now 2017

The controversial AMA Pro Racing proposal to have the premier class (GNC 1, formerly known as the Expert) compete exclusively on twins for the AMA GNC crown (see jargon buster below) from 2016 onwards has now been officially postponed until 2017.

An official statement reads 'All motorcycle manufacturers polled by AMA Pro Racing have responded positively to moving to the proposed class structure. Based on their feedback, AMA Pro Racing anticipates a growing diversity of machines will be competing in future seasons. Likewise, the AMA Pro Flat Track paddock is gearing up for the future class structure and many teams have requested a period of time to prepare and to actively participate in the detail of the new rules package.'
We've debated these rules changes quite a lot on this blog (here, make sure you click to read the comments) and we've found out more rumours.

1. The most likely reason, it seems, for the postponement is a hold-up in building work at Daytona Speedway. We've been told the idea is for the Daytona short track to move from it's current stadium to the enormous NASCAR Speedway where the Daytona 200 motorcycle race is held. A dirt track oval will be built in the infield, and viewed from some of the 200,000 seats (probably about 3% of them), just like the Daytona Supercross race is during the same time. The track will suit twins, and as Daytona is one of the only short track races left in the GNC calendar, until the late addition of Las Vegas this season, that all suits the move to twins. To reiterate, this is just what Sideburn has been told while digging around, not an official announcement.

2. But, you wonder, what about Peoria? Right from the second the AMA announced the proposed plans there was a echo of 'I wouldn't like to race a twin around Peoria.' I've always said I'd love to see that spectacle (but they don't pay me enough to ride that thing). The simple answer is, Don't race Peoria, drop it from the GNC schedule and let it become a one-off race like the Isle of Man TT, a race riders from other series attend away from their regular schedule. The AMA would agree to never clash with it and another promoter puts their all into promoting Peoria as a winner takes all one-off.
It could even be better for the Peoria Club than the current set up, and they can still run it on 450s. The cream of the dirt track community will need 450s to compete at outlaw races and other series throughout the year (like the well-supported Steve Nace All Star Series; Willow Springs; SCFTA;  CFTA etc), so it's not going to affect their budgets and all the GNC 2 guys are going to run on 450s so you have a full support class too.

3. We're told, by a well-informed insider, the final piece of this long-term planning jigsaw is a move from tracks like the current Daytona and Peoria to only tracks that can house corporate guests and those people willing to pay for VIP treatment. Again, I don't know how much of this is an official direction or brainstorming that is not yet fully-formed, but we'll contact the AMA in the near future and try find out.
This direction seems risky. How many corporate guests are there out there? Perhaps the idea is Ducati, Yamaha, Kawasaki, H-D, Indian, etc all have corporate looking teams and then the local dealer network each pay for a suite to wine and dine their best customers, but I'm guessing.
It seems like a proposal that would work well in a presentation meeting, but getting people to part with their money to view a sport that has seemed so grassroots for so long might be difficult.

* JARGON BUSTER
If you're new to the sport you might not know what this all means, so I'll put it in more general motorcycle racing terms.
AMA - the American Motorcycle Association, whose Pro Racing division governs the National championship. They make the rules, run the racing on the day, give out the licenses and decide who hosts the races. AMA are to flat track what Dorna is to MotoGP.

GNC - the Grand National Championship. There are lots of dirt track races and regional series, but this is the big one. The GNC is to flat track what MotoGP is to road racing.

Outlaw race - nothing to do with Hells Angels, generally a race that isn't part of the AMA series.

More GNC Rules Thoughts

There are some great comments giving lots of different views to the 2016 GNC rules - see them here. DTRA Rookie racer Damian McCann sent these thoughts in...
UPDATE: I've replied to some points. Damian's words are in italics, mine are bold with my initial after.

Tried to post on the blog but too many character and its too late and i cant be arsed to try and edit it as I have to fly in a few hours time, i may have gotten carried away a little: 

 Having only got into all this 2 years ago I'm not sure I know enough to comment but I have fallen in love with the sport so even though i don't have a solution here's my thoughts: I think you all have really good points and I think you should all join the AMA board! 

Gary I agree that it needs its own identity and twins and leathers etc. gives it that identity. When I was first investigating flattrack the thing that captured me was the images of the awesome framers, that look like nothing else in motorcycling leant over sliding round a mile track. The thing that really captured me and this gets into marketing, social media etc. was go-pro footage of Sammy Halbert at a night race (above) and it was a rear facing camera, he was absolutely hammering it and then you had Mees etc.. Drafting and getting inches within the camera and then anchors on or going flying by with the bike snaking about, only to be overtaken again, it gave me goosebumps! It was new to me and was the first time in years that Motorsport had me excited, I wanted to see more. 

 Having said all that I joined the DTRA and I bought a DTX bike because it seemed more accessible and cheaper. I love it and because I race a DTX bike I look at Wiles or Baker or Brindley, Neaves etc and think "damn i want to ride like that". On the smaller tracks we ride on they are far more spectacular than the framers. I do feel there is a slight bit of snobery (not sure thats the right word) between the two types of bikes and this can't help the sport. Peoria was intense racing! 

I think DTX bikes have their place and logic would tell me that they should give the sport a wider target market ie. from wise old Harley Riders to young motocross whippersnappers. The trick is to get the kids into it and they'll get into competing through DTX. 

I've never been anti-DTX, I don't want one, but I've said from the off that the racing is exciting, but my belief is the overall spectacle isn't bringing people through the gate. This isn't about grassroots, or support classes, purely selling the big race to punters and sponsors. G

I went to the Xgames and there was a good turn out of over 30's but very few kids spectating. As Brad says Speedway or certainly british speedway is in crisis, it desperately needs new blood, more riders. I go to see Newcastle speedway, again, very few kids but then the average speedway fan probably can't afford to take the kids and perhaps this is the same with AMA events, I don't know I've never been to one I'm just assuming it's an older possibly blue collar fan, whereas motogp just like premier league football is becoming a sport for the wealthy corporate world. Fans choice is good and bad, now you don't need to go to a race and who wants to sponsor something where even on tv you can't get your message across because most people will watch it Mon a laptop or device, the screens so small etc. They could do a lot with fanschoice and it should be a major boost to the sport. 

To finish on a positive note as Brad says, in comparison with speedway, grass track etc. from what I can see flattrack is moving in the right direction: 

Fanschoice is hugely important, despite my comment above and gets better, with improved camera angles, commentary with Chris Carr. 

The AMA seem to be trying to do something: rule changes good or bad they are changing which means they are trying at least. Bringing someone like Bayliss in from another sport is the right idea even though it's been a disaster due to injury and probably not the right personality and could be seen as making a mockery of the sport so they need to tread with care on this one. Stuff like thundermedia footage. Xgames. Hooligan scene. I agree with Anthony that it probably needs to be a lot more international. And the gap after rnd1 Daytona doesn't help much I don't think. 

I think Bayliss was great for the GNC. The accident was unfortunate, but it shows how difficult the sport is. He's making his comeback at Springfield. He's a trooper. G

DTRA successful through good organisation, non-motorsport sponsors, a cool image, great dedicated participants. 

- Superprestigio is helping with awareness, although I agree it's only because of the Marquez factor. 

- Marquezfactor; it seems like every other superbike/motogp rider is using dirt track to improve their skills, that can only be a good thing for awareness. 

- Sideburn/Dirt Quake etc. 

- Articles in the independent, MCN, it would seem in the Uk it is getting more coverage than ever but this doesn't help the top level, or certainly not the scale of new fans it needs to pull the money in. 

Like I said I don't have a solution but I'll certainly be doing my bit to get the uneducated educated. Damian

There are so many things that could be improved, but things are moving the right way and no one has all the right answers. The twins thing is very controversial and does seem rushed for 2016, but is that just the actions of a governing body trying to grasp the nettle and move things along, while there is interest an momentum? That can be viewed as good or bad, but change is sometimes painful. As a fan, I'm excited about the idea.  G

UPDATE 2
Damian got back in touch to say this was the video that inspired him to start racing.

Peoria Reflection

There are a few strands to this post.

1. The proposed AMA rule changes for 2016 and my personal thoughts on them.

2. Yesterday's thrilling race in Peoria. 

3. A comment Sideburn reader Randon left overnight. 

First the rule changes. You can read more here and here, but in the briefest terms, AMA Pro Racing (the governing body of dirt track's Grand National Championship) is stopping the GNC1 class (the Experts as they were called) from racing 450 singles, instead making them race their twin-cylinder bikes at all tracks including short tracks and TTs. There are lots of differing opinions on this, but read the comments in the links above and leave more here if you want to debate. I am loving reading the comments and opposing thoughts on this. 

Yesterday's race was the last Peoria TT contested by 450 GNC1 bikes for, as Wiles very cleverly put it, at least one year. It was a great race to end an era with. 

Now Randon's comment, cut and pasted... 

A while back you said the Peoria TT was a "shit motocross race." 
I can't disagree more. You have it absolutely backwards. Motocross is a shit Peoria TT. 
Today was evidence of that. Watching Mees chase Wiles for 25 laps was an absolute pleasure. I will always cherish knowing I was there. I love you. I have each issue on my shelf, except Sideburn #1. You have done a lot to promote flat track world wide, but I have been pissed about this since you said it.

Yesterday, I (Gary, Sideburn editor) watched six hours of Peoria coverage on a window smaller than a postcard on a computer screen. You can believe me when I say I'm a big fan of all the modern racing and I'm not looking at it through rose-coloured glasses because I wasn't watching the racing when Aldana et al were involved. However, I like to think I know a bit about the sport and the characters involved. I didn't need telling it was a big deal Coolbeth didn't make the main. I knew it was poignant that one racer who normally runs 7 chose 69 instead. I knew that when the cameras were concentrating on race at the front that it was almost equally important to the season-long battle that Bryan Smith finished 11th. I know all that, because I try and watch every race if I can. But flat track needs more than people like me. It needs people who don't know a single thing about flat track to turn up or tune in to their local race. 

I wasn't at the race yesterday but a few things stuck out. Chris Carr (who knows a bit about Peoria and the sport in general) repeatedly commented that this was the closest race Wiles had ever had in 11 straight wins at Peoria. So, it was a good one. 

Secondly, the crowd looked a bit thin and, just from the glimpses I got, mainly of an older generation. I have no problem with an older generation and their money is as good for the sport as anyone's but it's indicative a withering, ageing fanbase.

The entry for the expert class was very small. In 2010, 47 riders posted times in Expert (GNC1 qualifying). In 2015, 26 GNC riders posted a qualifying time. Are 450 DTX bikes bringing more money or riders into the sport? From that scrap of evidence, you'd have to say no. So, if that's the case perhaps you try something else. Right? If the entries aren't healthy, concentrate on something that brings more money and interest to the cream of riders (like MotoGP does), rather than trying to make it a democratic sport lots of people can enter. The grassroots will do that and the cream will rise to the top. 

Now, my comment about Peoria being a crappy MX race. This is not my take on the race, but my clumsy attempt at describing what the person on the street, the non-expert sees. It was headline-grabbing to stir thought and emotion. It worked in Randon's case.

Look back at my posts and I've never doubted the quality of DTX racing, but this ISN'T about racing. This is about marketing the sport to secure its future. This is about USPs (unique selling points) and, of course, there are are forgettable twin races sometimes. 

There are too many sports and pastimes all looking for spectator and sponsor dollars. Show a photo or clip of Henry Wiles going over the Peoria jump to anyone and it looks like MX. No one can argue that. It has NO USP. Randon, you are an expert, you can see the nuance and detail. But to survive, AMA Pro Racing has decided to stop worrying about the fans it has now and chase the fans and sponsors it doesn't currently have. Running twins at Peoria is not going to lose any current fans or spectators, but it has the chance to attract a lot more simply because it will be unique. Of course, this will only happen if it can get the message out and market itself well.

Also, I want to add that the Peoria club and the racers do a great job to put on a race and even though there were some crashes, the hold-ups and injuries were minimal, thanks to air fences etc. People who love the sport respond with emotion when they read their favourite race called a crappy MX race, but I still believe AMA Pro Racing are looking at (or at least for) the bigger picture and revolutions always put someone's nose out of joint. 

Please feel free to leave a comment on this. If, for whatever reason, you can't leave a comment and really want to, you can email us dirt @ sideburnmagazine.com and I'll cut and paste your email into the comments section. G

AMA New Rules: The Debate starts

Reader Pat Riot left a comment to the post below  (Sideburn Talks AMA GNC Listens?) that brought up some good points that I've already been discussing with friends. I'm going to give me view on them below. Pat's comment are bold, my replies are italicised... G

Pat wrote, Well I have to say that I agree with and am excited about the rules changes except for two notes: 1) I don't like the bit about 'production motorcycles' for GNC2 - I'd love to see single cylinder framers make a comeback as well. Perhaps 'production engines' would be better. Chris Carr has commented (in your mag if I recall) that jumping from dirt-bikes to framers is a big gap for up-and-coming riders starting out in GNC1.

By production motorcycles, they mean 450 MX bikes modified for dirt track - DTX bikes as the sport refers to them.
The move to DTX bikes, and away from framers (450 or older Rotax motors in custom dirt track chassis), made some kind of sense. We at Sideburn never hidden our love of framers or ambivalence to the appearance of DTX bikes, but saw the sense or trying to attract manufacturer support by running production bikes they could market. But the support never came. If you're trying to sell MX bikes, it's easier to put all your marketing into MX or supercross. It's big budget, spectacular, the riders are more famous, the races are better attended. Really, why the hell would Honda support flat track 450s in any significant way when they had the huge US MX industry as a battleground?
And if there's a transition from DTX bikes to framer twins of the Expert class, then so be it. For years, Grand Prix road riders had to jump from 250 two-strokes to 1000cc four-stoke MotoGP bikes and just got on with it. The talented thrived, the others fell by the wayside. That is racing.  
Also, framers making a come back doesn't make sense. The GNC2 guys are on a real budget, and DTX makes sense for them. Also, they make sense for amateur club racers too. Be clear, we are NOT anti-DTX, they're good for the grassroots, but, I think, not for the elite. 

 2) 2016 is really soon. Especially for privateers, but even for well supported teams, that is a major reshuffling of the required bikes to solve by Daytona next year. All of that said, it will be awesome to see how short track and TT races evolve the formula for pro-twins bikes. I just can't see launching an XR750 as the best way to go at Peoria.

The bigger budget teams are always going to cope with transition better than privateers. That's life, but perhaps this opens a door for a privateer to put all their effort into building a great Peoria twin, and making a name for themselves, at the expense of another area of their programme. It's no different to now. Shaun Baer (featured in Sideburn 20) is concentrating on the twins races this season and has been a regular top six qualifier, but isn't racing any single races this year. So what's changed? If anything, it'll be easier for him and other twins teams (Ducati Scrambler, Bonneville Performance, Latus Triumph, Rogers KTM) to tweak their bikes for short track and twins than buy a whole new machine and tune it to compete with the top singles. 

I know the top teams have a half-mile bike and a mile bike, with the different engine tunes, but privateers don't. They change the gearing. They'll do the same for short tracks. 

Peoria. Everyone is mentioning twins at Peoria. That makes me think a few things. First, people are DESPERATE to see how the twins go at Peoria. When was the last time this many people were desperate to see a CRF450 at Peoria? Never. Secondly, let's be blunt Peoria is just a shit motocross race. If I wanted to watch motocross I'd watch motocross. But I don't I want to want dirt track. TT is part of the championship, but it's mutated so much it has virtually no link left. People get excited about Peoria because of its history. If it launched as a new race now it wouldn't get a lot of interest. I'm not saying the racing isn't exciting, to those really in the know, and who have favourite racers, but the GNC has to offer more to grow. 
Also, the 450s are flying so far they're missing the transition off the jump and landing on the flat. Won't the riders just back off, and land their jumps on the transition? Fans won't think, 'They're not jumping as far as a full alloy, lightweight 450, this sucks!' They'll think, 'They're jumping 'Harley XR750s? Those things must weigh a ton. Holy cow!'

The riders will suck it up and put on a spectacle. Perhaps Dirt Quake USA hero, The Rusty Butcher can give them a lesson on how to launch a really heavy Harley. who is telling me they'd rather watch a field of experts/GNC1 riders on DTX bikes or a field or riders on twins? 

Sometimes you have to take a step back to go forward. F1 has done it throughout history, and they're doing ok for sponsorship, last time I looked. 

If you want to read more on this subject read the Ronnie Jones interview in Cycle News p58-70