Gender Inequality 18

With the much-reduced WMX schedule for this year’s AMA National MX Series, there is a lot of talk about what should be done about Women’s MX racing. The WMX series was reduced from 12 rounds for the past few years to only three rounds in 2013, and 2012 champ Ashley Fiolek even made it pretty clear that she was quitting racing because the series wasn’t what it used to be. I don’t believe that’s true – I believe she quit because she just didn’t want to do it anymore – but there are cries of sexism and lack of fairness from many of the WMX proponents who are making demands that women’s racing should be “treated equally” with men’s racing. And the reality is, it’s not treated equally, because women’s racing actually gets preferential treatment.

I’m going to throw some numbers at you here, but try and follow me:

At Hangtown, Courtney Duncan qualified with a 2:13.595 laptime on her YZ125 two-stroke. That would have landed her 66th in qualifying in the AMA Pro 250cc class, out of 78 (77, plus her). But here’s the thing: She was four seconds per lap faster than the next rider in her class in qualifying, and six seconds faster than eventual 2013 champ Jessica Patterson. That was just in qualifying.

In the races, the difference between the AMA and WMX was even more dramatic.

Why point this out?

Because I think the problem is simple: People always become fans of the top level of any given sport. People love the NBA because it’s the best basketball players in the world playing against each other. The WNBA simply isn’t, which is why the fan base is so sparse. I believe the same thing is at play with the WMX. It’s not because they’re female that the fans don’t really care, it’s because they’re not the fastest. They’re simply not the best in the world. Ultimately, the reason Danica Patrick is popular is because she’s a woman racing at the top level of her sport. If she were racing only against the best women in the world, leaving out Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and the rest of the top drivers in NASCAR, very few people would give a crap.

When I was racing, there were lots of really fast women. I ran into Kristy Shealy (literally) back when I was racing in the Intermediate class. She would race 250cc two-strokes against the rest of us, and she would finish in the top five at pretty big events. I don’t know what happened to her after I quit racing, but she was definitely really fast and had potential to race in the pros. Mercedes Gonzalez was another one who had that potential, and I believe by the small amount I’ve seen that Courtney Duncan also has this potential.

Proponents of the WMX often call the AMA classes the “Men’s classes”, but that’s not accurate at all because there are no gender rules in AMA Pro Racing. The AMA Pro classes are determined solely by motorcycle engine displacement, not gender. Knowing this, if female racers believe they “deserve” to be featured at every AMA National, and on TV at these events, what they need to do is race as an AMA Pro racer against all of the other AMA Pro racers, because I believe that the reason multi-time champ Jessica Patterson’s qualifying time at Hangtown was about 11 seconds per lap slower than the last racer who qualified in the 250cc class at Hangtown is because her goal was only ever to beat the other WMX racers. Basically, she races down to the level of the competition she had to race to make a living and win championships. Racers who race against the men, like Duncan does back home in New Zealand, get much, much faster.

The AMA Nationals are supposed to be reserved for the top racers in the sport. In the WMX, we have “pros” with qualifying times that vary from Duncan’s highly respectable 2:13.595 to last place’s 3:08.793; more than a minute slower than the last racer who qualified for the 250cc class at Hangtown. At that speed, Eli Tomac would lap that racer approximately five times every nine laps. To put it bluntly, I think a lot of people in the crowd look at the WMX and think, “I could do that.” That realization doesn’t create fans, it creates perplexity.

And before you talk about “strength” or any other sexist stuff about how men are just “better athletes” than women or whatever, understand this: Blake Baggett won the 250cc National Championship in 2012 at a racing weight of 129 pounds. I don’t see any reason why female racers like Duncan can’t eventually achieve his sort of fitness and strength and be competitive in the 250cc National MX Championship.

But one way to make sure that will never happen is to continue to give female racers their own classes at the sport’s premier events: the AMA Nationals.