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Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
Add on $3K for fuel to tow your 5th wheel/travel trailer from California to Hurricane Mills.
Its all about making memories.
I was a single dad from the start. Took both my son and daughter to mx and bmx races, camped, kayaked, boated and stayed busy.
Just today I got a random text from my daughter about certain things we did and how she missed it.
Both her and my son thank me frequently for all the fun we had.
Daughter once said recently about how much I sacrificed for her and her brother.
I told her there was no sacrifice, I enjoyed every minute of it. Some days we just didnt eat 3 meals. 😂😂😂
Enjoy your time with your children. They DO remember and I believe the good times you have with them molds them into great, hard working adults.
Im bored off my butt now days. 🤷🏻♂️
Yikes!
You got there on 10 gals of gas at Cali prices? 😮 Wow, that's some impressive mileage!
😁
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
I had one of the most simple and economical LL I've ever had this year. And ironically it's the only time I've ever actually gotten in the program and raced!
Showed up on Sunday evening and pulled into a little spot off the road up on stagecoach hill and setup a canopy.
Had a bunch of Best Western hotel points saved up, so staying the week in a hotel cost us $260 total.
Tossed the bike in the Metris van and drove from Ohio getting 25mpg. Since the weather was great, never even washed the bike the whole week, just brushed/wiped it off a few times.
Awesome!
Would you mind providing a breakdown of costs?
I don't know how big your rig is, but I got there sunday morning and there was still plenty of room up on stage coach. It never filled up to be honest. It's way closer than lot 5 and there's shade trees everywhere.
I wonder why DC doesn't post here anymore?
The facility is not top notch. Millions pour in every year and zero goes back into the place. Every yr the pits are a muddy mess. At this point they could’ve put in 100’s of rv hooks but if my memory is correct they only installed 15-20 in the last 10yrs or so. At bare minimum they could have 1000s of gravel parking spots but don’t.
If the track wasn’t LL no one would race it. The track sucks !
But you’re right about everything else. Definitely a cool vibe every time I go!
Oh the beer tent sucked this year!
The cost is the same as a normal family vacation.
I didn't really track detailed costs.
Facility fee was $878
Class entry $250
Processing fees like 53 bucks
No pit vehicle pass -- we used our feet
Hotel was actually $272 total after using points for 3 free nights
Gas about $350 -- van gets great mpg but takes premium fuel
Food another $150 or so -- we packed snacks/water and basically lived off that Amish store and their awesome sandwiches.
Wife bought one lemonade onsite for $6 and I had a $6 waffle cone after my third moto haha.
Couple loads of laundry at hotel -- $8
We spent some money supporting onsite vendors like FMF and others, maybe $100 total.
I spent about $2,200 I'm guessing.
Thank you!
MUCH different perspective than many others have shared.
Do you know how much more it would cost to stay in a camper? Or no additional cost for the area you were in?
A camper doesnt cost anymore, its part of your facility fee. If you want to add an extra car or pit vehicle thats extra.
No additional cost. His spot was sweet but up on stage coach its hard to get a big vehicle up there and level unless you have one of the actual sites. My $200 or whatever pit vehicle pass got him and his wife up the hill in the rain on Sunday a little quicker than their feet tho. Lol. I camped part time and paid for a airbnb in Centerville for my mom dad and grandma to stay in and be a little more comfortable. Im 40, so they're not young. Grandma is 88 and wanted to come because she came in 2000 the only other time i went. I slept in camper on the nights before my early rides which made it nice. I paid about the same as 261 aside from pit vehicle pass and my parents extra car, but my wife and kid are suckers for expensive event t's and all the things. Im not going to total up this trip. Lol
So what im seeing is the actual cost is around $1,500. for 1 class.
Pretty cheap week really.
Yes, fuel to get there.
Make your own food in the same manner you eat every other day = not a cost incurred.
Then the qualifiers. If your planning to try and qualify, you should be racing often anyways. So a regional is what, another$ 50 ? You cant count every penny on a regional if you're racing anyways... Its just another race with a small extra fee.
Regional... most need to travel a bit more. I bet MXVet261 didn' t spend $2K on his regional... Again, figure your spending to race anyways (kinda like eating, lol) Spend an extra $800. to attend a regional...?
Shows it can be done for under $3k.
It’s a 10k trip after area, regional, bike , etc
Ha - yeah thanks for the ride in the rain I forgot about that. There was one other time we were hoofing up the hill and someone stopped in a golf cart and we jumped on.
I've camped there in a camper like 3 times. Like others have stated the facility fee of 878 is fixed no matter how you are staying or if you are staying in a hotel. EVERY racer has to pay the fee, even if you are a family and have 3 kids racing all in one camper -- you pay that fee FOR EACH RACER.
Like Meister said stagecoach hill is really challenging unless you have a dedicated spot, which you really can only get if you win the hookup lottery or are a worker. It's amazing seeing where some people will jam their rigs though and level them on the side of the hill.
The other thing nice up there on the hill is that it's like 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the ranch.
If you are FAST ENOUGH you can do your home region and race one area and one regional and qualify.
I'm not nearly fast enough, so I end up racing multiple to get the best chance. And I skipped my home Region which was Red Bud because I typically don't do well there. So I had more travel time.
Again with my Metris van it made things easier. I drove from Cleveland, Ohio to Elizabeth City MX in NC for area qualifier (Parked next to Nicoletti LOL) and then raced Muddy Creek, TN Regional.
I also raced Sunset Ridge MX, IL AQ and then Lincoln Trail, IL Regional.
Used van for area qualifiers but I took the big truck and 6x12 trailer to Regionals so I had spare wheels, generator, etc.
So that was more gas (RAM2500 6.4L)
Area qualifiers the MXsports fee was $25 per class, plus local track gate and entry fees.
Regional qualifiers the MXsports fee was $60 per class, plus local track gate and entry fees (which they jack up really high for regionals).
Racing two AQs, two Regionals, then LL I probably spent $5-6k.
I just don't get who decides to start racing motocross thinking it's going to be a cheap hobby, especially at a national level. There are a handful of legitimate criticisms of Loretta's but I've never been bent out of shape about the cost of going to the National, as if Davey and Tim Cotter were holding a gun to my head when registration opened. If I'm going to be mad at anybody I'll be mad at myself.
Pit Row
I had bad luck in one moto of my regional and didnt make the Ranch. I was easily over $10K getting to that point.
Congrats. You figured out the rational way to do LL and still have a level of comfort and an escape from the heat/noise, etc. every evening.
I'm hoping to use your model to attend the Vintage Fest at Barber in October.
No disrespect at all, but that's your choice.
MXVet261 just showed everyone that you can make as expensive as you want...
This $15k+ narrative is greatly exaggerated...
No different than anything else in life.
Ya know..... it doesn't take spending thousands, and putting them in harms way, to make your kids happy right?... in fact, the best times are FREE.... always have been, always will be... priorities man.... they ain't rocket surgery...
Me and my son cut up some trees and did trail riding over the weekend... we both had a blast simply spending some one on one time together...
Same here. The time spent in the van driving to races all over the East coast was the best. Our last trip to The Ranch was in 2021, right before he went to college. He has since graduated and started his career. He texted last week and told me how much he missed the road trips and racing that we did over the years. I never added up the costs for the week(s) (or racing for that matter), but I would gladly pay double to do it all again with him.
Great job dad, awesome to read. My daughter who is 27, and just got married Saturday, told me the same. She said she knows that we got her and her brother "gifts" but all the trips is what she remembers most from her childhood. She said she would be doing the same with her children. Of all the mistakes I have made over the years, hearing that our adventures meant the most made me feel like I did right by them.
Is there a way to buy/replenish fresh water and buy more generato gasoline for non hook up campers?
There's water fill up stations all over the property. Just bring a water tank, barrel, or water bladder and you can fill your camper back up like that.
Gas stations not too far down the road from the ranch.
This right here is why I’m willing to blow all my money traveling with my kid racing.
My dad took me around racing when I was a kid, and those were the best times I had growing up. I remember when my parents split when I was 12, all I cared was about racing and making sure I’d stay with my dad.
Hope when my kid is older he will look back on it like I did, and like your kid did!
Seems like a pretty good deal for 7-10 days of the most fun and best racing you can have. All major events - concerts, Disney, and the list goes on are far more expensive.
EVERY sport at the highest level is expensive as hell. Stick and ball, cheerleading, gymnastics, go carts, cycling, you name it. The guys complaining are 99% of the time not even trying to qualify or can't.
Dirt bikes can be affordable and arguably the lowest cost motorsport on the planet....but at the highest level the equipment goes up x10+, travel, and event expenses accelerate faster than a 450....but it's worth it.
I'm a 50+ intermediate and seeing Darkside and that dude on the Maico this year got me wondering if maybe, just maybe.....#bucketlist ??????
But I snapped out of it pretty quick when I started thinking about logistics and costs. Good on ya if you can make it happen but on principle alone I don't think I could pay $878 for the "privilege" of driving a small vehicle like a Metris onto a property and parking in the woods. The week at the ranch is one thing but getting there (qualifiers, fuel, etc) is a whole thing too. I'm priced out man. Local racing is gonna have to do. I'm just glad I'm still healthy enough to do it. 👍
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