What does it take?

Teej317
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Teej317
Edited Date/Time 1/25/2012 5:14am
As someone who likes to entertain the thought of operating a motocross facility one day, what does it take to make a track/venue stand out above the rest?? I mean regardless of how great a facility is you prob won't be able to compare it to famous circuits like RedBud and Unadilla that are so rich in history. Yet, in your local area what makes a rider keep coming back for more moto? Track layout? How renowned the facility is? Good prices and good services? I'm curious to know...thanks guys.
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mxtech1
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mxtech1 8/24/2011 7:01am
8/24/2011 7:01am
Good facilities like restrooms and conessions are nice, but the main thing that's going to draw riders is a great track. there's no other way around that. A fun layout that's challenging for all riders. Prep also is key with regular water, tilling, and keeping jump faces clean. It's also fun to see tracks that frequently add new obstacles and re-routes. Changes can alter the flow of the track and make it fun and refreshing to ride new lines. I am more willing to drive 2 hours to Sunset Ridge than 45 mins to some other local tracks because Sunset Ridge is prepped so much better and the track is nicer. Having good track personel is also important because it's nice from a rider's standpoint to know reliable flaggers are in place, track officials are monitoring whats going on during riding, and a well equipped emergency crew is in place. I've been to a few tracks where the facilities were extremely nice and all of the buildings were brand new, but the tracks themselves weren't good and not fun to ride. That sticks out more in a rider's mind the next time they think about going.

Another important thing is a track needs to have a hired crew to help run the races. Volunteers are unreliable and honestly don't care too much how an event is handled on a race day. A hired crew will put more effort into putting on a nice event. Practice and racing needs to start on the time advertised. Intermissions and down time between gate drops need to be minimized to run fluently. Riders really get rubbed the wrong way when an event is run poorly with lots of down time causing them to get out of the facilities at a late hour. Also, the track should be watered as needed during the race day and un-safe ruts or chopped out jump faces should at least be quickly groomed to keep everyone safe.

I've always believed if a track owner concentrates on the above first, rider turnout will consistantly be good and generate revenue which can then be used to start improving the ground aesthetics like fences, nice pits, rv hookups, etc. But in the end, it all revolves around how good the track itself is.
Teej317
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Teej317 8/24/2011 2:05pm
8/24/2011 2:05pm
mxtech1 wrote:
Good facilities like restrooms and conessions are nice, but the main thing that's going to draw riders is a great track. there's no other way around...
Good facilities like restrooms and conessions are nice, but the main thing that's going to draw riders is a great track. there's no other way around that. A fun layout that's challenging for all riders. Prep also is key with regular water, tilling, and keeping jump faces clean. It's also fun to see tracks that frequently add new obstacles and re-routes. Changes can alter the flow of the track and make it fun and refreshing to ride new lines. I am more willing to drive 2 hours to Sunset Ridge than 45 mins to some other local tracks because Sunset Ridge is prepped so much better and the track is nicer. Having good track personel is also important because it's nice from a rider's standpoint to know reliable flaggers are in place, track officials are monitoring whats going on during riding, and a well equipped emergency crew is in place. I've been to a few tracks where the facilities were extremely nice and all of the buildings were brand new, but the tracks themselves weren't good and not fun to ride. That sticks out more in a rider's mind the next time they think about going.

Another important thing is a track needs to have a hired crew to help run the races. Volunteers are unreliable and honestly don't care too much how an event is handled on a race day. A hired crew will put more effort into putting on a nice event. Practice and racing needs to start on the time advertised. Intermissions and down time between gate drops need to be minimized to run fluently. Riders really get rubbed the wrong way when an event is run poorly with lots of down time causing them to get out of the facilities at a late hour. Also, the track should be watered as needed during the race day and un-safe ruts or chopped out jump faces should at least be quickly groomed to keep everyone safe.

I've always believed if a track owner concentrates on the above first, rider turnout will consistantly be good and generate revenue which can then be used to start improving the ground aesthetics like fences, nice pits, rv hookups, etc. But in the end, it all revolves around how good the track itself is.
Yeah I definitely know what you mean...so many of the local tracks I go to have the same layout year after year (so boring lol). Then again, from the track owner's point of view, I'm sure changing the track layout and design has its costs and various other considerations. Also, besides track layout, isn't soil type crucial? I'm from North Texas and the dirt here seriously sucks...it's that hard, dry clay stuff. I would think that if you have a nice layout, people are going to enjoy it so much more year round if the soil is nice, loamy, and water retaining.
mxtech1
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mxtech1 8/25/2011 5:15am
8/25/2011 5:15am
Dirt is also a big aspect. Not everyone has the rich, black dirt that ruts so nicely we have here in the midwest. We have some hard clay tracks around the area and they really suck during the summer when it droughts. They also suck when it rains because it's such a thick sticky mud. Alot of places will cut sand, woodchips, and manure into a clay base. It takes a few years, but eventually a clay-based track can become very good soil wise.

My personal track is a mixture of clay base and black soil. It's fun to ride on the track and different sections because in some turns we will have nice deep ruts from the black dirt and then other corners will turn into big loamy clay berms that you can go into and blow up. keeps things interesting and provides a good variety.

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