DESPAIN: I Still Smell A Rat

Motorcycling Lifestyles

DESPAIN: I Still Smell A Rat

I resigned my Hall of Fame membership because I have lost faith in the integrity of the nomination and induction process and in the people who control it.

Dave Despain | Posted July 15, 2012 Charlotte, NC

Watch Dave Despain every Sunday on Wind Tunnel only on SPEED. (Photo: SPEED)

I’ll give Dean Adams credit for balls. Who else would characterize motorcycle racing legends Dick “Bugsy” Mann and “King Kenny” Roberts as “daft seniors who can't recognize a fact if you put a neon sign on it.” Dean Adams Article Here

At issue here is the nomination of legendary racing tuner Nobby Clark to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame and the Hall’s subsequent rescinding of that nomination for reasons I find very suspicious. Mann, Roberts and I resigned our Hall of Fame memberships as a vote of “No confidence” in Hall of Fame induction procedures and we’ve now been joined by Hall of Famers Dick Klamfoth and Ed Fisher, plus a growing number of Hall of Fame nominating committee members.

Still, I took to heart Adams’ assertion that we protesters are just addled geezers unable to see obvious truth. So I grabbed my bifocals, hitched up my Depends and read very carefully the defenses of the Clark action on Adam's website and in a Hall of Fame press release. Boil out the Hall of Fame’s doubletalk and Adams’ efforts to portray himself as a righteous whistle-blower and we’re left with this:
The Hall of Fame acknowledges “the enormity of the error and the negative impact on both the Hall of Fame and the AMA, not to mention the anguish to which Mr. Clark has been subjected” and as a result recommends that “the staff involved must be subject to disciplinary action.” That’s right, “the staff.” Much like the military when it screws up, privates pay while their commanders stay.

As for the induction process itself, by Adams’ own admission Hall of Fame committees (one of which he serves) have for years functioned as “some sort of old boys club.” He says, “People were voted into the Hall who many frankly feel should never have gotten close to it.” Adams says his reaction to this corruption of the induction process was to shrug his shoulders and shake his head.

Yet somehow in the case of Nobby Clark it suddenly became critically important that the Hall of Fame precisely follow a set of arcane rules that allow, for example, committee members to vote twice for the same person. Sadly, this newfound devotion to protocol and transparency occurred AFTER Nobby’s nomination had been announced to the world in the most glowing terms possible. The defenders say that was an honest if hugely regrettable mistake. Sorry, I don’t buy it.

Finally, there is that accusatory headline and resulting hyperlink that appeared July 2 on the RoadracingWorld website. It reads, “Criminal Case Played a Role in AMA Hall of Fame Decision to Rescind Nobby Clark’s Pending Induction.” The “First person/opinion” article leaves unanswered a great many questions about that “criminal case.” But significantly it quoted only one source who in any way connected that case to Clark’s Hall of Fame induction. That source was Dean Adams. Read that article here

Bottom line, I believe the Hall of Fame’s problem goes much deeper than corrupt committee members, miscounted ballots and staff ineptitude. I resigned my Hall of Fame membership because I have lost faith in the integrity of the nomination and induction process and in the people who control it. The defenses raised by Adams and the Hall of Fame do nothing to restore my faith. I still smell a rat.

- Dave Despain

More Details on the Resignation and Full Time Line of Events