PICKERINGTON, Ohio (April 30, 2004) - AMA Pro Racing has announced that it will not accept appeals submitted by riders Tyson Hadsell, Chad Reed and David Vuillemin. All three riders were penalized for using illegal fuel at round 14 of the THQ AMA Supercross Series at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas on April 17.
In announcing the decision, Merrill Vanderslice, AMA Pro Racing Director of Competition stated that there was nothing in the appeals that would warrant convening an appeal board. "The appeals submitted by the riders never refute AMA Pro Racing’s finding that fuel tested after the Texas Supercross was found to be in non-compliance. Instead, the appeals attempt to cast doubt on the testing methodology, the validity of the AMA Supercross fuel requirements, whether or not their fuel impacted performance and the appropriateness of the penalty. Based on the language in the AMA Supercross Rulebook, none of this is appealable. According to the AMA Supercross Rulebook, appeals can be lodged under two circumstances: 1) a party which loses a protest can appeal for further review of the issue, and 2) an appeal may be lodged to challenge fines, suspensions and technical disqualifications levied by Race Managers and/or AMA Pro Racing. Obviously this is an unfortunate situation. However, after carefully reviewing all the facts surrounding this incident I’m confident that our initial findings are correct. The fuel in the bikes of Hadsell, Reed and Vuillemin from the Texas Supercross was not in compliance and the penalties applied are appropriate."