Ask Ping!

Ask Ping!

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I understand that announcing for live events is hard work and I usually defend Ralph and Fro from the haters, but I was embarrassed at how bad the grammar was during the MEC broadcast. I respect Ricky for being the GOAT and I don’t expect the Queen’s English, but a 5th grade B student at any public school could have nailed the language better than the SPEED team did last week. It seems like our sport would have more credibility if the paid announcers could finish sentences, not interrupt each other and execute subject/verb agreement. Should we bring in the Brits like other sports do? Maybe we need a Nun in the booth with a ruler to slap some knuckles when they mess up. Am I expecting too much?





Dear Jethro,


Yeah, I seen that show to. I know it ain’t easy up there in the booth but those guys are doing good. You gotta remember that them guys probably didn’t past the fifth grade before they hit the road to go racing and they probably wasn’t getting B’s at that point. There a good team and we just need to injoy the show and stop being so picky and just enjoy the show. c ya later.


Hey Ping,

You said 101 is your number in the last Ask Ping. Does that mean Ben Townley can’t use that number next season if he races in the U.S.?



  • Ti handles for this bad boy aren't going to pay for themselves. Donate today.
Dear Cheers,


Ben Townley can certainly use the number in the 2012 racing season if he so chooses. It would be ridiculous to think otherwise. After all, I don’t have legally protected rights over the number or anything crazy like that. No, that would be nuts. All Ben has to do is give me a ring, ask politely for permission to run the number and then make a mandatory donation to what I like call the “Pingree Fund.” That little non-profit helps me pay for necessities like titanium door handles on my Porsche GT3 and bottles of Evian water, which I fill up my middle finger-shaped pool with. And as long as Ben meets those criteria and signs a waiver releasing all rights to the number, long-term, he is more than welcome to run it. I’m not unreasonable.





First off, I want to take a second to tell you I listen to your “wrap up" podcast every week and it is gold. I know the day may come where Kenny Watson gets "over" the Pulp show and if that were to happen I think it would be awesome if you worked on that with Matthes. You and [Nick] Wey are my two favorite people to see him have on the show.

Now with my question: I wrote more of a story about the whole scenario the last time I hit you up, but I am going to edit to my main question this time.

I have known a guy mostly my whole life who has been involved with moto here and there but never put any serious time in, nor ever got any real results to speak of. He never went to Loretta’s, or any other big amateur events. Recently, after what I am guessing to be an eight-year hiatus, he went out and bought a new 450 and started racing again. Well, this time around I guess all his "time off" made him feel like he is talented enough to be a pro so he went out and bought his pro license and has been racing a good bit and still not getting any results and just wadding himself up on an every-weekend basis. With our sport getting bigger and better every year I would think the AMA would have strict guidelines to obtain a pro license. However, this fella has a "rich" family and seems like as long as someone is willing to pay the fee they will give out a license. He is just the "spoiled" type, that I am sure has the license/lanyard hanging from his Benz rear view to fool people who do not know any better.

The biggest reason this bothers me is the safety factor. Not only is he kicking the crap out of himself, but what if on one of his wild rides he comes together with another rider, a "real pro," and either gets them hurt real bad or possibly even killed? Then if someone were to look at his resume and see he does not even belong in there you would think whomever authorized it could be in a really crappy situation. Shouldn't the AMA have some more strict guidelines for someone to obtain a license? I have asked a lot of people this very question and can't seem to get anyone to give me a good answer back.

Thanks for your time, and keep up the good work with the podcasts. You really "make" those wrap-up podcasts.





  • Matt Foley didn't get it either
Dear Joshua,


Thanks for listening to those podcasts and for the nice words. And thanks for being so determined to get this question answered. It was too long-winded to answer the first couple times, but since you refuse to quit sending it over let’s go ahead and give you an answer. I’ll start by saying that I haven’t applied for an AMA pro license since 1992 so things may be different. Back then they would literally give anybody a license who had a hundred and fifty bucks and a pulse. There wasn’t really any regulation to speak of back then. If they saw that you were a danger to yourself or others during practice at a supercross they would pull you off and tell you to try again next year. I’ve heard that they made it much more difficult to get a license, but maybe I’m wrong. I was under the impression that you had to race arenacross or do well enough at amateur nationals to achieve enough points to get a pro license. Honestly, I’m too lazy to do the legwork and find out for you. Sorry. Call the AMA and give them an earful. They will be able to sort it all out for you. Just stay clear of your crash happy pal with the pro license and be glad you aren’t that much of an A-hole. And stop putting everything in quotes… it makes you “seem” like a sarcastic jerk. “Okay?”




(Editor's Note: Here's the legwork. To get an AMA Pro Racing license for SX/MX you have to meet these requirements:

______ Hold a Pro Motocross license in either 2009 or 2010 or a Supercross license in 2009, 2010 or 2011.

______ Earned at least 75 advancement points (at the time of application) in the AMA Pro/Am Motocross Series.

  1. ______ Finished in the top 20 overall positions in the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship in 2010 or 2011 in the 250A, 450A or Pro Sport classes.

______ Earned 50 Arenacross class points in the 2009-10 or 35 points in the 2010-11 AMA Arenacross Series.

______ Earned 75 Arenacross Lites class points in 2009-10 or 60 points in the 2010-11 AMA Arenacross Series.

Finally, AMA Pro Racing may issue a license to any rider who does not meet the above criteria if it determines, in its sole discretion, the rider has adequate competition experience.


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