Stuck in a rut

[John250]

Good luck with that. I think moto is in pretty good shape when in one weekend (2 weeks ago) 1 race had 371, one had 123, a practice track had 200 and other race up north had 100 plus. This was all in the same day. I hope OMA goes out of their way to promote the Battle races. I think this is the year that if promoted the hell out of, those three races could be really big.

 

[ck1racerx]

Problem is when people limit classes and little Timmy, or grown Timmy for that matter, can't get a trophy in the "look at me I spend $10.000 on my bike and graphics" class they bitch about that too!! Show up, race and enjoy hanging out with people who have a love for the sport! But that is just one fat old guys opinion and I am sure CK wont agree with me!!

As long as the cooler is full of ice cold coors light, I am all for hanging out at the track all day, Not sure the wife will be happy with the Honey do list not getting done... Wait, Run longer days, It will piss he off, she leaves and I have more time to spend working on motorcycles... then again, I will have no money since she will take all that also... Darn, its a catch 22.
Just keep everything the same.
Disc it deep and water it deeper.

Scoob, if your riding 25+ and 40+ on the same day. Skip both and ride the A class. They only have 2...right

 

[JMOORE330]

What about a small purse for each class? Dirt track racing pays out to the Mini stocks (C class IMO) I understand that may not be in the budget but its just an idea. I know alot of guys who used to race mx stopped because they say at least car racing i can possibly win a little money and pay for the day or a new part or another case of Busch. Just a thought. Some see MX as a money pit. I do it because i love it but it really is a money pit and no chance of getting anything in return. O and i second do away with track packers..... just sayin

 

[SCHAFFERNOCKER]

O and i second do away with track packers..... just sayin

third vote.

 

[ck1racerx]

The Great and Powerful OZ of moto took care of the $ thing long ago...
In all standard meets (other than the A level classes), prizes are limited to trophies and contingency merchandise only. The B, C and Youth class riders may receive only trophies, merchandise or dealer checks/certificates.
The grey area is, it within the rules for the track to "buy the award back" from the rider. I say yes. It is yours to do with how you wish. BUT, I don't get to vote...nor do ANY of us.
From a promoter standpoint. Dirt tracks have just a few classes (don't get me started) and usually pull anywhere from a couple hundred to several thousand fans per night. This makes it possible to pay the drivers without losing money. If our sport was more "show format" friendly (less then 3 hours in length) I do believe we would get more spectators. But seeing how most of the track owners / promoters can not sell their product to willing participants, it is unlikely they have the skills to sell to the general public.
From where I set right now, there are no less then 8 speedways within a 90 min drive that each have races on a weekly bases. Most, if not all of them draw very well and are making money. Sure its a little apples to oranges, being cars verses motorcycles, but the market you are drawing from has A LOT of cross over.
Here's a plan to get way out of the rut.
Cut it back to 50's, 65, 85's, C, B and A. Run the program like a supercross or dirt track Saturday night and promote it to the general public for the entertainment dollar. If a track is located within 20 to 30 miles of a large metropolitan area and "looks" like a dirt track or football field. I think people would come.
Moto at the top level is trying very hard to be more mainstream. The mainstream is where the people and their money is. It has worked. The amateur level needs to follow suit.

 

[JMOORE330]

Very well said and understandable to most. Still sucks tho

 

[BriarcliffMx]

I gotta stop coercing you guys to post in circles.....it was funny the first three times, but now this is getting lame.

 

[Scoob]

I love the GP format. I just don't want to spend all day in the woods. I don't understand why every GP race is 99% woods and 1/4 of a mx track which includes that tiny little double so johnny woods rider doesn't hurt himself. What about moto Hershey's health concerns in the woods? 80% mx, 20% woods? Leave the triples. Show up at 9pm. Race at 10pm. Home by 11. I'd race that every weekend.

You forget you spend about 15...maybe 20 minutes on a good day of practice on the MX track...some of it just putzing around... There has to be a balance of MX and Woods to counter the physical demands of the MX track. Not taking anything away from speedy woods guys, but it is obvious the woods aren't so physically demanding.

I though the BC GP was great. Sure, potentially a little more MX, but not much. I'd say 50/50 maybe. I suppose from a BC standpoint, the entire MX (both Big and C track) plus all the trails would work...

I'm with just trying a few tweaks here and there, quit saying NO quads and CUT ALL THESE CLASSES. Just enjoy hanging at the track talking, watching, and riding a little moto. Those days are limited...

 

[Woods&Water]

I know its already been said, but im for BC using the C track they built. 50's, quads, beginner 60's or whatever. Beef the track up a little so the kids and quad guys will want to run it. I mean, you all said it, At least the OMA gave the quad guys a place to ride. Throw em on the C track. But me personally, i'm all for nuking the quads.

 

[Eleven18 Powersports]

This is kind of a radical idea and a little (a lot ) out of the box but this is what we are trying in our area.

My wife and I are hitting the schools, friends, neighbors and general public with tons of information on this great sport. The good, the bad and the ugly. We are married to it with 3 kids racing and 2 more coming up. What we figured out with our 8 year old was that he is an awesome athlete and rocks at most "normal sports". However, his passion (so far he is 8) is throwing dirt and chasing wins!

We offer free ride days to the public at our track, our new shop welcomes passer-bys to just stop in and see what we are about or even race one of my kids in ATV Off Road Furry in the lounge area!

The hope is if I get 1 person to give this crazy sport a try, they will be hooked.

Like I said, its out of the box but its a different approach. Our idea may help with bringing new racers into the sport but I know more needs to be done to improve everything for the current racers!

Thanks for reading......

Eleven18
#100
#200
#99

 

[nitrofish]

I know its already been said, but im for BC using the C track they built. 50's, quads, beginner 60's or whatever. Beef the track up a little so the kids and quad guys will want to run it. I mean, you all said it, At least the OMA gave the quad guys a place to ride. Throw em on the C track. But me personally, i'm all for nuking the quads.

That's right! JO should only be allowed to ride his track packer on the C track! At least you gave yourself a place to ride! Lol.

 

[John250]

How about the Mini classes (bikes or quads, and the C Classes) all run the C track. How many 250 or 450 C riders want to run the C track? My guess is the B classes would get bigger.

 

[Original44]

There's a lot of reasons that the track attendance are down and most of them have nothing to do with the track promoters.

The biggest problem is that there are not enough new riders. The days of riding at the local gravel pits, vacant lots, block of woods or farmer fields are over. My father worked out of state, so the only way I could ride was to be able to ride my bike there. I had 4 old gravel pits to ride at. My high school had over 30 kids that raced, all because they had a place to ride close to home. As we got better we wanted to start racing. Had a lot of great riders come out of my high school, Steve Johnson, Dale Spangler, Keith Perry and Karl Scott all had there pro license. The bikes were cheap and easy to work on.

Now if you want to practice you have to have one of your parents take you to a practice track. Most are a good half hour drive or more. When you get there if you are new, the tracks can be intimidating. Let's face it, if you are new to riding and are trying to learn, what track is there that a new rider can learn at? One of the reasons that OIR has always had a large turn out is because it is rider friendly. There's nothing there that is too challenging for a C riders, but still fun for pro riders.

Now don't get me started on the cost of a new bike and how much harder they are to work on. The cost of riding is expensive today.

Also all the tracks that practice on Sundays are hurting the race attendance. Back in the day no one ran practice on Sunday, if you wanted to ride you went racing.

These are just some of the reason that motocross is dying.

 

[Scoob]

I don't think the practice on Sunday nor having the quads run on the same track has anything to with it. If peeps want to practice, they practice. You said it, they cannot ride just anywhere so much anymore. Like I said, there were half a dozen guys I was "practicing" with on Saturday that did not come back Sunday to race. The Quads got the short end of the stick Sunday at BC if you ask me trying to ride around all the bike ruts, etc. Don't seem to hear them complaining and saying let's get rid of the bikes!

The thing is there are many reasons. One being folks would rather complain on a website about how and why they can't (too much money, quads, minis, I'm not good enough, I need to loose 50 lbs, etc., etc.) instead of getting out there and ride which will take care of some of those problems.

Remind me again what I am still commenting on this thread??....

 

[JMOORE330]

How about the Mini classes (bikes or quads, and the C Classes) all run the C track. How many 250 or 450 C riders want to run the C track? My guess is the B classes would get bigger.

Ya i dont wanna run the C track.... Just my opinion as a C rider....

 

[Original44]

How about the Mini classes (bikes or quads, and the C Classes) all run the C track. How many 250 or 450 C riders want to run the C track? My guess is the B classes would get bigger.

Might work at BC, but not at other OMA tracks?

No C rider will move up to B just so they can race on the big track. It will force them to race B at the LL qualifiers (LOL!). If they want to run the big track they will just go to a open practice at BC.

 

[NQ1965]

There has to be a balance of MX and Woods to counter the physical demands of the MX track. Not taking anything away from speedy woods guys, but it is obvious the woods aren't so physically demanding.

Scoob, you couldn't be further from the truth bud !
In my earlier post, I mentioned that "We raced our ass's off". That was no exageration.

If you are in pursuit, or being pursued, the physical demands get extreme. And the GP woods racing gets very fast and intense. If you review the lap times you will see what I'm talking about.

I often completely empty a camel pak during a 1 hour race. After my second (afternoon race) I used to have difficulty getting my fingers to stretch open to remove my hand from the grips. If I'm not well hydrated coming into the race I would get charley horse leg cramps in my feet and legs so bad that I would have trouble driving my truck home, (and it's a manual transmission), and then they are cramping up all night long while trying to sleep.

You clearly don't understand the physical stamina, endurance, and skills required to make it into the top 5 of a 30+ or 40+ GP race.

Can I get a witness ????????????????????

 

[John250]

I disagree with the practice on Sunday comment. Last Sunday is a perfect example. JO only got 280 out to a great track, when he gets 200 out for practice and has less expenses. He had another track running a race within an hour, and another track within an hour running open practice. I also think the open practice at his own event might have kept people from showing up to race on Sunday. How many of those 6 vets would have come and raced on Sunday, if Saturday was not an option. In all reality, if some of these tracks and practice tracks went away, it might not be a bad thing for the good ones that are in it for the long run, and could help increase participation at races.

But.....could have the opposite affect to bringing in new riders. One of the biggest reasons new riders are not showing up at races anymore is probably the difficulty of the tracks (whoops, doubles, tribles, steep faces, etc.), and just how fast guys are moving. Look at the C class....it is no longer a C class (my opinion). I say 3/4 of those riders should be in the intermediate B class! If your a new rider you don't want to race some of those guys. Either start a beginner class (any bike size 85-up, and any age) or make the C class a one year and done true C class.

C class has been debated to death. But reality is todays C riders have run very well in minis and super mini....and move to C class. Or they get in C class, never go to LL, and race C class for 5, 6, 7 years....yeah I can name a few, that are NOT C riders. But don't want to go to B class, because they feel those guys are too fast. Used to be a rule......if you raced 85s you were ineligible for the C Class. Whatever happened to that rule?

These are some of the things hurting new riders from joining the ranks of motocross racer.

 

[JMOORE330]

No C rider will move up to B just so they can race on the big track. It will force them to race B at the LL qualifiers (LOL!). If they want to run the big track they will just go to a open practice at BC.

Lets not beat a dead horse here about c class lol. BUT i do like this idea, BC big track is soooo fun.

 

[John250]

Lets not beat a dead horse here about c class lol. BUT i do like this idea, BC big track is soooo fun.

JMoore, if your a C rider and airing out the triple or finish line jump at BC though, your NOT a C rider.