Are we alienating proven racers?

[John250]

I was talking to Jason today at Malvern. Disappointing turn out of riders for an opportunity to race Saturday night and Sunday at Malvern. Could not have asked for better weather in July. Track prep was great as always. But the rider count was small.

Last week at Dirt Country they had more on Saturday for practice than for the race on Sunday.

I've always been one that likes racing over practicing. My son is the same way. But obviously others don't feel the same. I guarantee you, watching Matthews 2nd moto today of the 125 class, practice is not the same situation. There was a 4 way battle for 4 laps for 3rd through 6th. Those four kids dogged on each other for 4 straight laps, and I can not imagine any of them riding that hard and that fast in practice. Those kids were inside, outside, inside.......trying to pass each other. I didn't care where Matthew finished, it was awesome watching that battle for sure.

Question is........How do we get the riders from South West Ohio to race Chilitown, Rt. 62, Briar Cliff, Etc. Matthew and I really seem to be the only ones that rode the SW series on a regular basis riding the OMA races. Crazy.

 

[honda907]

On my phone here again so bear with me.

People don't want to race because there is no class for the true beginner. C classis pretty fast. We can agree on that

Nobody wants to race 4 guys and sit all day to do that. We can agree on that.

Nobody wants to sit all day till 6 or 7 unless you have an RV of some type.

Nobody wants to race a 4 lap moto if you have to sit 4 hours till your next race.


I don't want to race 3 classes to get some time, sit all day without an announcer to bring excitement to the show and sit in the sun or rain all day. Sorry

That local riding park I talked about is Breezwood Proving Grounds. One moto. They get about 350 average. 4 wheelers are run yes, but they break up all 4 wheelers and 65 and 50s from bikes. 50 65 and quads run pretty much a smooth track. Then they till it and run bikes. Or vice versa.

Classes are usually 25 or more. C class is 3 times top 3 and your booted OUT. Just 2 old guy classes. Gates are stacked. Race is done quickly. Like in 5 hours.

They get grass roots riders too. None of the National LL crowd. The people who get an award are genuinely stocked. Probably because they race more than 3 or 4 guys..........

 

[owndjoo]

I really like SVR's program, it's the only place that runs like it was back in 2000. 2 morning practices, 10 minutes for the first one and about 5 for the second.(Very nice!) Not a crap town of dumb classes and they have no problem combining classes and doing double drop gates if needed. The program is pretty quick too, I actually entered 2 classes because I was used to everywhere else and just wanted more seat time. Turned out to be way more time than the usual race weekends. Great track prep, great people, and an all around good time. I will be going there to race as much as I can now.

 

[ck1racerx]

Ck1. Every 6-8 sentences, press enter. (Might be the "return" key on your dinosaur company presario Windows 98 PC)

Press enter again.


Stay with me here. That's 6-8 sentences, enter twice. Continue ranting for another 6-8 sentences. Enter twice. Repeat Atleast 5 times before post completion.

Lick
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My
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Balls.

Run on sentences and combining paragraphs is my way of showing you can compress a program to take up less time and space and still get the job done. Lesson learned?

 

[GeorgiePorgie]

Sure, but if your posts were CHILITOWN then it would be well punctuated, packed, easy flowing, and would really drive the point in concretely. It would More than get the job done.

 

[Woody]

We would have been there but since this was added to the schedule late, we already had family vacation scheduled. Oh well, on to Chillitown.

Sent from my SM-G900V using PitRacer mobile app

 

[premix]

I agree with what has been said in this topic so far. The opportunity is also there for folks to race damn near every weekend. We used to be at the races every weekend and the local races would be STACKED. And I'm not just talking for the pro purses. Gibson, Tom Kelly, Browning, Grabiel, Metz, Katin, Sellards, Burkhart, Skaggs, Ames, Bowers, Whitcraft. And the majority of these guys were sticking it in the Nationals in the late 90's to early 00's.

My opinion on why you've seen a decline in quality of racing in Ohio leads to a few points:

1. The risk/reward combo is no longer there. The days of making a living of being a motorcycle racer are becoming slim.
2. No national in Ohio. I remember going to Kenworthys as a kid and it being PACKED. Fence to fence. Much like Red Bud less all the drunks.
3. Southern Training Facilities. Used to be you would go down south to train during the winter, now it's a full time thing.
4. Cost to go race. If I'm just going by myself, I'm looking at 150-200 per race weekend vs the 30-40 to go practice. You have to make it affordable to draw folks in. Quit charging 10 freaking bucks for racers to get into a race. Make your 3rd class free.

Now let me ask you this. Jeremy Hand is arguably the fastest rider currently living in Ohio and because I don't get to the races except for 3-4 times a year now, how many Ohio races has he done this year?

 

[Matt Mangano]

When I first got my 250 I went from racing every other weekend to racing 3-4 times a year. C class has just gotten out of hand. I took my buddy to a race last year and he thought C class was B class (this was before the C class jump restrictions took place). At this point I'm contemplating jumping up to B class because hell, I'm gonna be racing at the same pace that I'm racing at now in C! I agree with what everyone is saying here, I have more fun practicing than racing. More seat time, less money.

 

[ck1racerx]

More facts to ponder...
I don't know much about the C classes but the excuses I hear most of why people don't move up is because they want to make it to LL.
OK, first that is a crazy weak excuse. Second, only 2 people from Ohio made it to LL this year in all the damn C classes.... Yeah, 2. So we are pissing other off and discouraging several other to not come back because of 2 sandbaggers?
I don't think the C class should even be run at a "national level" but that is beside the point.

So kicking people up out of the C class will alienate a few (at least two) from racing in Ohio, but what about the other that don't come back because of them and the MANY more that clearly should be a B rider?
Here is an idea on advancement. If you run a regional in the C class ONCE, you are automatically advanced to the B class for the next year. No matter where you finish.

btw. We have hit an all time low for Ohio riders to make it to the ranch. Only 35 tickets for Buckeye's. That is made up of only 26 different people. Half of them are 50's or old dudes. That is SAD.
That is the same number as Minnesota is sending this year. Minne-freaking-sota. They are spending a week at the ranch so that means they will miss half there riding season at home.

Utah is sending 37. Utah? Before they ran a national there I did not know motocross was even legal there.

57 are going that don't even live in this country. Ohio has become a third world country in the moto world.

Those of you that made it. Thanks for controlling my blood pressure. Now win it and come back and teach everyone else how to ride. (You can start with my son)

 

[honda907]

Lots of Utah guys down south at the training facilities. They have to drive 4 to 5 hours to race back in Utah. So they pack up and become serios and go to one of 5 places on the east coast.

 

[hershey]

More facts to ponder...
I don't know much about the C classes but the excuses I hear most of why people don't move up is because they want to make it to LL.
OK, first that is a crazy weak excuse. Second, only 2 people from Ohio made it to LL this year in all the damn C classes.... Yeah, 2. So we are pissing other off and discouraging several other to not come back because of 2 sandbaggers?
I don't think the C class should even be run at a "national level" but that is beside the point.

So kicking people up out of the C class will alienate a few (at least two) from racing in Ohio, but what about the other that don't come back because of them and the MANY more that clearly should be a B rider?
Here is an idea on advancement. If you run a regional in the C class ONCE, you are automatically advanced to the B class for the next year. No matter where you finish.

btw. We have hit an all time low for Ohio riders to make it to the ranch. Only 35 tickets for Buckeye's. That is made up of only 26 different people. Half of them are 50's or old dudes. That is SAD.
That is the same number as Minnesota is sending this year. Minne-freaking-sota. They are spending a week at the ranch so that means they will miss half there riding season at home.

Utah is sending 37. Utah? Before they ran a national there I did not know motocross was even legal there.

57 are going that don't even live in this country. Ohio has become a third world country in the moto world.

Those of you that made it. Thanks for controlling my blood pressure. Now win it and come back and teach everyone else how to ride. (You can start with my son)

There has been a weekly training class right here in ohio all summer long, 2 - 50cc riders from the class are on the national riders roster. Your loss Knox for living so far away!

 

[ck1racerx]

There has been a weekly training class right here in ohio all summer long, 2 - 50cc riders from the class are on the national riders roster. Your loss Knox for living so far away!

And we have had weekly sessions with two 50 LL riders as well. Colton and Preston will be 1 - 2 in the special class.
Ohio only sends the young and the old. Must be the old guys rembeber how it was in the good old days where you had to have speed. And the young kids that have not been tainted by our shitty situation.

 

[owndjoo]

where's this weekly training stuff?

 

[John250]

I agree the C class is not the C class any more. My son is a perfect example. He dominated Mini Jr. last year in SW Ohio series. He's only 12 so I debated on what classes to ride him in this year. We've raced C, 125 and Schoolboy. He is on a 125, because with the new rules, next year, he wont even be able to race a 250F because of his age.

OMA rules, schoolboy, he's racing 250Fs. Make schoolboy all 125s to promote the kids coming off minis to big bikes, or run schoolboy 1 and 2. Either way, a schoolboy class in my opinion should be 125s, not 250Fs. 125 class is ok, but there could be a 25 year old great B rider racing a 12 year old on a 125. 250C, Matthew has done ok locally, but at the CTMX Qualifier he got like 28th. At Briarcliff a couple weeks ago, he rode to like 8th after starting 14th on the first lap. Not bad, but the first three were whipping it sideways over both big tables, and by NO means were C riders.

I really like Knoxs rule, that if you go to a regional, and don't make it to Loretttas you move up to B. If a rider gets that far, he is pretty good, and is no longer a Novice. This will keep the riders moving through the C class quicker.

I will admit though, with my son only being 12, I signed him up in C because in 2 years, when he's 14 and been in the class for 2 years, we might want to try to qualify.

The system is screwed.

 

[ktrop251]

I vote for anarchy.

I raced C class a lot in my day. I have to say, watching the recent C riders vs. The C riders in 06. No comparison. The guys in the 2000s were fast. More sandbagging then than now. Maybe it has to do with the amount of riders not attending or, maybe I'm just getting old.

I agree with the C regional rule Knox brought up. However, if you bump these riders, what happens to the B class? Over crowded? People get discouraged because they aren't placing as well as they thought they would (pussification at the highest level, go faster, quit crying). Either way, the system sucks. I had "sandbaggers" I had to deal with. Guys that were hucking the quad at beans when it was there riding in C. Damn, that was District 12 days. Yup I'm old.

The schoolboy 1 and 2 make sense. Not sure what's going to happen with the age restrictions but it'll be interesting to see. Maybe these kids moving up to 125s will revive the two stroke mania. I miss the sound of 40 125s ripping a holeshot.. just a thought.

 

[GeorgiePorgie]

250 b/c
250 b/c limited
250 b/c junior
250 b/c junior limited
250 b/c 14+ (qualify once, never allowed to run it again)


Eliminate C classes. That should still allow much money to be made and more people racing the ranch.