Posts
264
Joined
12/3/2013
Location
Chandler, TX
US
Edited Date/Time
10/30/2014 7:39pm
I remember back in the day it seemed like a lot of "Pro" riders that where back markers at the nationals and Supercross would make money racing smaller races. There was a guy who was from close to me who would just hit races on the weekend. Like every weekend he was somewhere different. I know he didn't make a lot of money but he got by. Does that happen anymore? Do local pro's still do that? All I see are guys staying in the B class trying to get some kind of ride.
Other than purse money, I made $1,100 from the Pennsylvania State Championship (3rd 250 A - $300, 4th Open A - $200, 3rd 250 A triple crown - $300, 3rd Open A triple crown - $300).
We bought an RM-Z250 for the contingency money and I ended up getting $925 in 7 races (I raced it in 250 A and Collegeboy).
So did I make money? No, but I actually exceeded my expectations for the year. I wasn't going racing with the thought of making any money so it's nice to make some back.
As far as pros making money......Very, very, very few are making money.
The Shop
In 2000 and 01 husky was paying 450 bucks for 4str class and 350 for 30 plus in the megaseries.
I won both classes almkst ever weekend and some other series I hit. Amassed 22 or 24 K in those 2 years
They cut it in half in 02. If the factory had not been flooded in Italy things would been different in 02 i think.
start with a big one
I'm sure the money was better then, but still possible to do now. I think MX has gotten so polarized that it's either the weekend warrior who isn't serious (which is great by the way) or every decently fast kid thinking he will be the next Ricky Carmichael and having a big hauler, too many bikes, too much overhead and a small amount of talent and drive. Those guys I saw doing it showed up in a box van, van, truck with a bike for each class that usually wasn't the best looking thing but ran good and got them contingency money.
A lot of the younger faster crowd are more about the image of being a pro motocross racer. There's many levels of being a pro, and sometimes you have to find where your talent lies and maximize it. Not everyone will be a Ken Roczen but you can still make some money.
regarding moto-dads, Brad Lackey moved behind the Iron Curtain at 16 years old to race a CZ, by himself. These days, a 16 year old can't put his iPhone down long enough to even learn how to tighten his own chain so he can go out and sandbag the shit out of B-class. If that's any indicator of the quality of the modern moto-dad, they deserve the Tony Alessi Trophy.
Main Event Wins: (4)
Payout per main: ($700)
Number of rounds: (6)
Suzuki contingency: ($800 x 6)
Gross Income : ($21,600)
If they paid $750 each main event win then you could gross $22,800. Budget correctly and you can profit from $16,000 to 18,000. Not bad for racing a few times in the months of Nov-Feb.
A = kid who's parents think he's the next RC and have an RV to travel it, 5 bikes, yada yada yada. Let's assign them a value of $100
B = weekend warrior who's parents work "regular" jobs and race on the weekend for fun. Let's assign them a value of $50.
So say, (2)A + (1)B = $250, which is an arbitrary value, put whatever you want there. This represents a lack of weekend warriors.
Well now add more weekend warriors and take away an aspiring RC:
(1)A + (4)B = $300, or more money pumped into the sport.
Obviously, I chose rider numbers that support my argument. I'm not pretending like I didn't. But my point is that we are missing out on the weekend warriors, which could account for a large amount of money without having to rely on fewer families financing the dream.
Of course, there are tons of holes in this argument, which I'm sure will be pointed out.
Good lord I need to get back to work, haha
Pit Row
And you disagree that Stewart, Villopoto, Dungey, Roczen, they aren't sucking up the bulk of the MX dollars?
No need to get all spun up Bro.
O, and we are way off topic. lol I just help highjack my own thread.
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