Local Racing... What really grinds my gears. (South Carolina)

Handy_andy_85
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Wheatfield, IN, USA
4/23/2021 12:55pm Edited Date/Time 4/23/2021 8:13pm
crusher773 wrote:
That's cause quads are lame and should all be thrown in a lake.
Great point, I never even considered that being the root cause. Thank you for sharing your perspective,
2
JustMX
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4/23/2021 1:45pm
crusher773 wrote:
That's cause quads are lame and should all be thrown in a lake.
Great point, I never even considered that being the root cause. Thank you for sharing your perspective,
A lot of strife in the world could be resolved by responses like yours.

I resolve to try harder to reply with the thought you put into yours
3
slowoldman
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Wendell, NC, USA
4/23/2021 2:22pm
user760a wrote:
Without reading the entire thread, I can say that I live in NC and have not raced motocross since my central NY days, back in the...
Without reading the entire thread, I can say that I live in NC and have not raced motocross since my central NY days, back in the 90's to early 2000's, when upstate NY motocross was going big! and what a riot it was.

I moved to NC 16 yrs ago and immediately found that the tracks in the western part of the state were like 2/3 scale tracks, narrow, short, not at all interesting, and turnout was pretty bad. I ended up gravitating toward GNCC and local hare scrambles for that reason.

For a while I would go to "practice " days...but I stopped that a few years ago, after watching two PW50's putt around the track for twenty min, then two quad riders for twenty min, a few 65cc for twenty min, 85cc for twenty min, B and C riders for twenty min. ...Getting to ride for twenty min myself every couple hours is a complete waste of a day in my opinion and I am done with it.

I miss motocross. I really enjoy it when I occasionally get some seat time on a private track here and there....but I am done with the local moto scene. Not interested in standing around all day
Are you referring to diamondback, ace, Walden playboys southwick etc? Lol. Memories creeping in if you are! Lol
Johnny Ringo
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Tombstone, AZ, USA
4/23/2021 2:54pm
The promoters add classes for that extra $$$$. If you cut the classes, you only pay for one class. It’s all a money thing, they don’t care how long you sit between motos. In their minds, if you don’t like sitting, fork over another $40 for another class.

Moto is getting damn expensive, a local race day could cost a dad and kid $250+
1

The Shop

cable
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Rockford, MI, USA
4/23/2021 4:57pm
michigan was mostly split program until the mid 2000s. sure was awesome rolling in at noon with no entry or sign up line.. and once your 30 your out of there at noon. promoters didnt like it supposedly.
bh
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Piedmont, SC, USA
4/23/2021 6:05pm
You guys think you have it bad? Try being a vet quad racer with the speed of a wounded sloth. It is hard to even find...
You guys think you have it bad? Try being a vet quad racer with the speed of a wounded sloth.

It is hard to even find tracks that allow us to line up and when they do they like to drop us all on the same gate Aged 16-50 of all skill levels.

Its still worth it though because I keep going back for more.
Sounds like you need to make it to a Gncc. 500-700 quad entries pretty much every round. Quad guy heaven. Not to mention morning quads get to break in the track so it’s still smooth.
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Hammer 663s
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4/23/2021 8:15pm Edited Date/Time 4/23/2021 8:16pm
Indy is right - there is no "one" solution. Everyone wants what they want but we are all fringe cases.

I got a kid that rides Supermini. It's only a class at LL. He can't ride with 85s (he smokes them) and while he's fast enough to ride with big bikes (and can beat many), the mass differential scares the $hit out of me. He gets one class at most race days (Schoolboy 1 & 2 add more classes right?) and often is stuck riding with slugs on 65s/85s that are just in his way at practice.

Me, I'm a 58 yo Vet Intermediate, not blazing fast by any means but very fit, and I'm fine doing 15-20 minute motos, 2x in a day. Most of the other old guys in my class are done in 8-10 minutes. But I don't want to line up with 40 year olds. Or worse, the 25+ Junior class they gated with 50+ Masters at a recent race I ran. Sheesh!

My other kid is slow as crap on an FC350. What class for him? Open Beginner I guess, which has no shortage of scrubbing sandbaggers feeding their egos.

It'd take a miracle to meet all my "needs", so we just go race, pick a class that seems to be safe, have a good time, and try not to bitch too much about the down time between motos or the $300 per day costs for gate, camping, and entries. We love to ride and race.

Hammer 663s
2
Handy_andy_85
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Wheatfield, IN, USA
4/23/2021 8:17pm
bh wrote:
Sounds like you need to make it to a Gncc. 500-700 quad entries pretty much every round. Quad guy heaven. Not to mention morning quads get...
Sounds like you need to make it to a Gncc. 500-700 quad entries pretty much every round. Quad guy heaven. Not to mention morning quads get to break in the track so it’s still smooth.
I would really like to get out to a GNCC and give it a try. They look like they have a great time. I have been racing at the ATV Nationals and a few D-14.
Indy mxer
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4/24/2021 9:24am
Indy is right - there is no "one" solution. Everyone wants what they want but we are all fringe cases. I got a kid that rides...
Indy is right - there is no "one" solution. Everyone wants what they want but we are all fringe cases.

I got a kid that rides Supermini. It's only a class at LL. He can't ride with 85s (he smokes them) and while he's fast enough to ride with big bikes (and can beat many), the mass differential scares the $hit out of me. He gets one class at most race days (Schoolboy 1 & 2 add more classes right?) and often is stuck riding with slugs on 65s/85s that are just in his way at practice.

Me, I'm a 58 yo Vet Intermediate, not blazing fast by any means but very fit, and I'm fine doing 15-20 minute motos, 2x in a day. Most of the other old guys in my class are done in 8-10 minutes. But I don't want to line up with 40 year olds. Or worse, the 25+ Junior class they gated with 50+ Masters at a recent race I ran. Sheesh!

My other kid is slow as crap on an FC350. What class for him? Open Beginner I guess, which has no shortage of scrubbing sandbaggers feeding their egos.

It'd take a miracle to meet all my "needs", so we just go race, pick a class that seems to be safe, have a good time, and try not to bitch too much about the down time between motos or the $300 per day costs for gate, camping, and entries. We love to ride and race.

Hammer 663s
Well said.
olderandYZer
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Bellefonte, WV, USA
4/24/2021 10:34am
Motocross in NC and SC was good last November then it died down. Probably because of Covid during spring and summer and no racing.

There are a lot of problems in local MX as evidenced from the thread.

There is such poor announcing that only die hard people know what's going on. That's even if there is announcing. There is no announcing for a casual person let alone make the A class seem like something special to a local spectator.

I've been around since 1971. It has gotten way worse. There are no casual spectators. No body just shoes up to watch a show, like car racing, cause there is no show without a good announcer.

The sport has participants despite it having a very poor atmosphere for the participant. Today you need to get up at 4, leave by 5, drive, pull in at 730, sign up unload, practice ,sit around all day till 6 pm, then drive home.

You almost need a motorhome today where back in the day a pickup or van or God forbid, a 3 rail trailer would suffice. Try sitting from 930 till you load up all day in the sun in a pickup or van.

Wasn't like that in the 70's. Practice startedvatb11. Racing at 2 and done by 4. 6 classes. 125, 250 and open A and B. Usually had 300 to 400 races. And the sport grew fast.
1
piscokid
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USA
4/24/2021 11:19am Edited Date/Time 4/24/2021 3:17pm
I haven't thought this thru, but what about some sort of 'racing league' (think bowling league) that could race on Sat or Sun morning before a track opened up for practice? Pre-pre pay for series, (track owner gets cash up front) drop the worst race (if you can't make it etc) and only have 2-3 or 3-4 classes. The program would be short. If practice opens at 11, race from 9 to 11 and make the motos longer.

Just spit balling......
1
Indy mxer
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4/24/2021 1:07pm
Motocross in NC and SC was good last November then it died down. Probably because of Covid during spring and summer and no racing. There are...
Motocross in NC and SC was good last November then it died down. Probably because of Covid during spring and summer and no racing.

There are a lot of problems in local MX as evidenced from the thread.

There is such poor announcing that only die hard people know what's going on. That's even if there is announcing. There is no announcing for a casual person let alone make the A class seem like something special to a local spectator.

I've been around since 1971. It has gotten way worse. There are no casual spectators. No body just shoes up to watch a show, like car racing, cause there is no show without a good announcer.

The sport has participants despite it having a very poor atmosphere for the participant. Today you need to get up at 4, leave by 5, drive, pull in at 730, sign up unload, practice ,sit around all day till 6 pm, then drive home.

You almost need a motorhome today where back in the day a pickup or van or God forbid, a 3 rail trailer would suffice. Try sitting from 930 till you load up all day in the sun in a pickup or van.

Wasn't like that in the 70's. Practice startedvatb11. Racing at 2 and done by 4. 6 classes. 125, 250 and open A and B. Usually had 300 to 400 races. And the sport grew fast.
I remember those days. I started racing mx in 1972. Obviously a much different time and the sport was just starting out. But that was then, and this is now. The sport has evolved 1000% since then.

Pretty much everyone here agrees the race day is too long, My point thru all of this is there's really no easy answer.
If there was we wouldn't be here talking about it.

And I'm not sure there is a good answer. As soon as you solve one issue it creates another.
Like I said earlier, as a promoter and a rider I see both sides. I don't like stting around all day either. But I love the sport, so I do it.

Our group has been promoting races since the 90's. We've brain stormed this until our heads hurt, And like many promoters we've never found a good solution.

There's only so much time in a day and when you have so many classes, and riders riding 2 or 3 of those classes it makes almost impossible to shorten the day.

Just remember, a track needs all the entries they can get to make it finacially. So if you cut classes you have to make that up somewhere, And I'm not convinced you could raise the fees to do it and not lose riders.

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