Motorcycle Hall of Fame to Conduct Supplemental Vote for Nobby Clark

Reader Contribution by Richard Backus
Published on July 27, 2012
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Following on the heels of the strong pushback from Hall of Famers and Hall of Fame supportors – and detractors – the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame has announced it will conduct a supplemental vote for the possible induction of Nobby Clark into the Hall of Fame. Click here to read the AMA’s full announcement.

Since it’s obvious there’s no plan to admit to the Hall’s initial error – allowing Nobby’s supposedly ineligible induction in the first place – we’d say this is the least the Hall should and must do. And yet, as much as we’d like to believe it’s a positive step forward, it feels like an empty gesture designed to satisfy the Hall’s critics, a group that appears to be enlarging daily.

In the wake of the Hall’s decision to “unduct” Nobby from the HoF, several Hall of Famer’s turned in their medals, including motor journalist Dave Despain. Despain’s response to the HoF’s decision was predictably – and understandably – critical. “Is this to be a Nobby-only ballot, an up-or-down vote on his HoF suitability? If so, how many votes does he need? And since the same people will be counting those votes, is there any more reason to believe in this election than the last one? Most important, what happens if Nobby does ‘win’ this election? Will the man who didn’t get his Hall of Fame medal and the seven who sent theirs back all agree to forgive and forget? Will Nobby happily bow to accept his award while his supporters cheer him on? I doubt it,” Despain wrote in a July 22 posting on speedtv.com

Unfortunately for the AMA, the continued arrogant handling of the Nobby Clark fiasco is only increasing critical discussion of the organization. The most recent online flaming of the AMA comes from AMA/Prostar founder and ex-AMA employee Keith Kizer, who refers to the current administration as a “dictatorship” — Kizer says he was sacked by current AMA CEO Robert Dingman because he failed to profess loyalty to Dingham above the AMA. Kizer also says Dingham was looking into selling off the Hall of Fame.

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