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How do I find her videos? I've not seen any of them.
Split the class into Divisions and run multiple qualifiers to narrow down the field to the number that fits on the gate for the final moto. This is what causes the day to drag on with a crazy schedule.
Archview has hosted a ton of qualifiers in the past. The owner may have screwed up or may have been out of his control. But Coombs had nothing to do with the weather or the parking.
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I am so glad I had fun racing as a kid. What a mess. A handful of kids make enough to justify this, geez. Let’s do fun again.
The regional program runs just fine if it doesn’t rain!! I was at swan this year, and we ran 2 motos on Sunday and that was it!! Was a smaller regional with just 3 classes with qualifiers!! Track promoter’s can’t control the weather!!!!
His organization awarded a regional qualifier to a promoter with an inadequate facility they’ve obviously never visited. This was confirmed when Tim Cotter went on Facebook Live and filled us in on the situation taking place at Archview in Missouri (the track is in Illinois). A regional is a much larger event than the area qualifiers they’ve hosted in the past.
I'm sure we'll see a blip in racerhead hand waving it all away by explain that the venue promised upgrades and didn't follow through with them and that mx sports was totally caught off guard with the situation but that these things happen in our sport and the overwhelming popularity is a good problem to have and they're doing their best to grow with increase in demand.
-With of course no mention of the revenue-centric policies that exacerbate the issue and lead to a worse experience for the overwhelming majority of participants who are reliably inelastic when it comes to spending whatever it takes to make it there anyway.
In the case of someone getting more than one ticket in the same class, the people at the regional where the writer is not taken from do all move up. The power ranking doesn’t count in this instance.
Thanks for clarification, that was the way I understood it when my son started back in ‘21 and we had several top 65 riders show up after already qualifying at a previous regional. Surely I could have understood it wrong.
When I was a kid we hoped to make it through the closest regional and were happy to not have to drive to any others.
I flagged the race yesterday. Five lightning delays and two torrential downpours. We raced until about 7:30 pm, and the track really was in pretty good condition all day, especially before the first downpour after moto 3. Even after that, the owner worked the track and had his crew push the top layer of muck off the track, and the conditions were still surprisingly good. For sure, no dust!
The track owner obtained additional parking Thursday night or early Friday am at a plant next door, and there were plenty of parking spots for everyone, but it was crowded. I arrived Saturday morning at about 7, there were still plenty of spots, and no line to get in.
Despite racing since 1975, I know little about the current LL rules, but I talked to a number of kids/parents yesterday from all over the US (and Mexico and Canada) who had been to multiple regionals this year and were still trying to qualify or qualify for additional classes. Almost every class yesterday had 2 divisions, and Saturday's race was scheduled for 34 motos plus LCQs. I'm not sure how you get all that done in a day at any track, even in perfect weather conditions. It appeared there were about 20% more entries than if each of the 19 LL classes had had 42 entries.
It's still a shit show. They are still on the first set of motos.
Flagging is tough work and a long day. Good on you for going.
Our local series in Oklahoma had 850 entries for our Ponca City round at the beginning of May. This is handled by our local staff, not the national staff. From what I can see there were about 800 entries for this regional.
34 moto’s plus LCQ’s is about average for a day of racing and in reality is nothing spectacular. Without the delays, they should have gotten through all of those on Saturday and been done by 6:00. I understand the rain delays and a lot out of the owners control regarding track condition and delays, but I wanted to clarify that 40ish moto’s in a day is normal.
So it would go aomething like this:
14 classes have more than a full gate, so it would be 28 races in the first rotation of the tace order, plus 3 classes that are not full, then 14 lcq races, so 45 races total to get through the first moto, then 17 races for the second and third.
It takes a good part if the day to qualify it down, and that is without lightning delays or track work.
I have worked regionals where the track was long enough that they stagger started the two divisions, but the track better have their ducks in a row to do that. Transponders certainly help, but you better have a good group of scorers as a backup.
Some that they stagger started several small lcqs.
Raced an amateur regional at gatorback back in '94 that they raced 3 motos in one day. 4 lap motos and no divisions. Got done about 7 pm.
Legendary tracks like carlsbad and saddleback have nothing for gatorback's blue grove limestone hardpack in late june back then
All that bitching about the regional before they got there and they didnt get a ticket. Karmas a bitch
Huh? Who?
It was tough, and a long, almost 13-hour day. But a day at the track beats a day on the couch. And I really enjoyed talking to some of the young riders and seeing that unbridled, youthful exuberance. My sector included a blind jump, so there was a good amount of "action" there, especially when the track got gooped up by the rainstorms. Most of the flagging crew were vet riders, with a few younger folks too, so we all took it pretty seriously. I kept thinking, how would I want a flagger to react if it were my son who had gone down or was stuck under his bike on an active track.
I mostly do vet and vintage racing now, so the idea of 40+ motos in a day is completely foreign to me. But you're right -- without the rain and lightning delays, we would have completed the race day by 6 or 7.
Hey, that’s a good outlook on it! My son isn’t quite there yet so he only did one regional.
Pit Row
Really sounds like it went off pretty well for what Paul and the entries had to deal with.
Right the top 10 Americans in 250 and 450 combined is what less than 10 people???
Local racing and big regional races are where it’s at!
I've said it before and I still believe Loretta's has ruined local racing. No one cares about the local series and racing anymore because they are all chasing the Loretta's dream. They don't race, they practice and go to camps and only ride the qualifiers. Winning a local AMA or even an outlaw series used to mean something, but no longer. I have 10 bibs from Loretta's and only because I live 45 miles away did I want to qualify and go. The track itself is not very fun with it being in a flat field. It used to be prepped great when big Dave used to do it, but now it is a rut fest. I couldn't even qualify anymore (because age does that to you), but if I were young I still think I would say screw it!
Lost in all of this is the Regional is SUPPOSED to be 3 15 minute motos of riders that made it through the area qualifiers. Somehow (money) it has ended up with the Area qualifiers meaning basically nothing and turned into a free for all entry system for the Regionals that eliminates 15 minute motos for a bunch of qualifiers/LCQ/ and in this weekend's case a final 2nd moto. It's simply turned into a starting contest in this format. And THAT'S how we get a field for the National Championship?
That's also how we end up getting our teeth kicked in at the MXoN after years of dominating it...
This was a rain schedule so not counting this situation. When divisions are run, you’re saying they don’t do the longer motos until moto 2 and 3?
At one time this event had merits, to test your mettle against the best riders in the country for your class. Sadly I think social media has turned this into a huge Dbag/ poser event…..Sort of like the Burning Man festival of MX….
Perhaps it has turned into Coachella. Or as the tech bros like to do-enshittified.
Regardless, how is it acceptable for people that didn't make it through the area qualifier to pay money and line up for an event that is supposed to be qualified for? Rain has no effect on that. That's the point, there wouldn't be multiple divisions of a class that only 40 kids should be qualified for if some entity wasn't money hungry and trying to siphon every dollar they can out of these events. All amateur motocross is suffering because of these things. Too many classes, too many participation trophies, and too many sandbaggers. All in the name of the Almighty dollar.
I don’t care what you think is regardless or not. I was curious about something that’s on topic so you can fuck off. Also, if you take 9 from each areas as most regions do it would be over a 40 rider gate anyway. You would need to lower amount qualifying to regional from each area which I already mentioned I’d do.
We only raced 2 motos at swan this year!! Only rode one day!!! You can’t control Mother Nature!! Hell, at Unidilla last year they only ran one Moto and had to take people based off their qualifying finishes. The regional system works fine when it doesn’t rain. even when it does rain it works pretty good usually. and I’m not the biggest fan of the whole system either. but quit blaming it on too many people. Also 8 area qualifiers X 9 riders= 72 riders per class WITHOUT alternates!!!
sounds like they need more regions or fewer graduates from areas. maybe they should just run a sim race in MX Bikes and take people that way..
UH, Saddleback and Carlsbad DID
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