“Local” Pro strategy

observeroffacts
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6/28/2019 6:14pm Edited Date/Time 10/12/2021 2:06pm
If you’re a fast local pro, capable of running 35-40th at pro nationals and in turn make no money but spend a lot...

I’m curious if it’s possible to plan local/regional races every weekend for several months and make enough money to survive? Anyone heard of this? I know good sized races have purses of a couple thousand. If you’re able to sweep more often than not, could they potentially make 30-50k a year?

Is it just that people want to be in the ranks and decide not to strategize or is it simply not possible to profit from local races?
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Moto520
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Schaumburg, IL US
6/28/2019 10:34pm
Our local sat night race pays $300 to the winner of open A and 250A. Sunday races pay another $200 per class. That’s not much to live on even if you sweep the weekend.
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tcallahan707
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Morrison, CO US
6/29/2019 12:50am
There are better financial options than the big leagues. You could travel around parts of the country and clean up local and regional events. That isn't the dream and it doesn't have the same potential to pad the resume. The question becomes where is the line drawn for it to make sense one way or the other. I'd suspect you are right on the money. I also think most guys are sponsor focused instead of purse money focused. Saying you won a regional or local event doesn't move the needle as much as being a "national rider". Plus, let's be real. Would you be smart and choose the money making route instead of the dream? Especially when it's not a very lucrative route.

To be fair, many of the 35th place guys are just riding their local national. This only really applies to guys who travel a majority of the circuit.

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6/29/2019 6:41am
In 2006 as a local A rider I made a hair shy of 60k because of the following:
1. I went to every county fair/local arenacross race which always pay big
2. I was getting double contingency from American Suzuki
3. All my parts were free, bikes were “leased” from Suzuki
4. It was pre recession and average turnouts were 15-20 A riders so payback was healthy.

Could it be done today? Not in Missouri or Kansas. Perhaps east of the Mississippi yes. Justin Starling is probably top journeyman racer in 2019. He’s all over the world doing every race possible to not have a 9-5 and I respect him so much for it.

Pro racing is where the money is when you’re signed. International racing is where the money is when you aren’t.
Local racing is where the money is when you can’t travel.
goinrcn44h
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6/29/2019 6:56am
In the 80's and 90's, bikes were a ton cheaper, hell everything was way cheaper. My buddy and I did anything we could make money at. podunk chicken licks arena, no matter to us, we went, made what we could and then went looking for girls. It was a recurring cycle, and it was awesome.
I ended up in Elko nevada one weekend after driving all night and made like 900 bucks for 2 nights. That was a very good payout weekend, Did a few nationals and supercrosses and that was cool, but we were regional guys trying to make enough to keep going. Lasted about 9 or 10 years. got older, got jobs, got banged up, etc....

The Shop

FWYT
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6/29/2019 8:19am
goinrcn44h wrote:
In the 80's and 90's, bikes were a ton cheaper, hell everything was way cheaper. My buddy and I did anything we could make money at...
In the 80's and 90's, bikes were a ton cheaper, hell everything was way cheaper. My buddy and I did anything we could make money at. podunk chicken licks arena, no matter to us, we went, made what we could and then went looking for girls. It was a recurring cycle, and it was awesome.
I ended up in Elko nevada one weekend after driving all night and made like 900 bucks for 2 nights. That was a very good payout weekend, Did a few nationals and supercrosses and that was cool, but we were regional guys trying to make enough to keep going. Lasted about 9 or 10 years. got older, got jobs, got banged up, etc....
Man, except for the getting banged up part, that sounds like a dream way to spend some of one's younger years.
All you guys that did the journeyman motocross life probably have so many stories that several books
could be written. Effing awesome,
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bsharkey
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Marysville, WA US
6/29/2019 8:34am
No fricking way. There's not enough races and not enough earnings.most of these guys are still living at home or somewhere for next to free. If you actually had to pay taxes on that money😂😂. I luv mx but it's the worst career path
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Adam43
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6/29/2019 9:06am
Chasing the local money wouldn't cover costs without a pretty solid level of support.

I have seen some guys make it work for awhile, but in every case there was a dealer who decided to take them on as a project.
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mwssquad827
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Twin Falls, ID US
6/29/2019 9:48am
Moto520 wrote:
Our local sat night race pays $300 to the winner of open A and 250A. Sunday races pay another $200 per class. That’s not much to...
Our local sat night race pays $300 to the winner of open A and 250A. Sunday races pay another $200 per class. That’s not much to live on even if you sweep the weekend.
So that’s $600 sat and $400 Sunday so $1000 in 1 weekend assuming you swept the weekend?? I don’t think that’s a bad weekend.. if you swept the season that’s $52000.. also I would think that there is fair/arenacross Es that payout more than that.. I would be pumped to make that racing my bike... for a young racer that is living the dream i think

Ps I know that that is sweeping every race you enter, not likely
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zookrider62!
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6/29/2019 10:00am
Moto520 wrote:
Our local sat night race pays $300 to the winner of open A and 250A. Sunday races pay another $200 per class. That’s not much to...
Our local sat night race pays $300 to the winner of open A and 250A. Sunday races pay another $200 per class. That’s not much to live on even if you sweep the weekend.
So that’s $600 sat and $400 Sunday so $1000 in 1 weekend assuming you swept the weekend?? I don’t think that’s a bad weekend.. if you...
So that’s $600 sat and $400 Sunday so $1000 in 1 weekend assuming you swept the weekend?? I don’t think that’s a bad weekend.. if you swept the season that’s $52000.. also I would think that there is fair/arenacross Es that payout more than that.. I would be pumped to make that racing my bike... for a young racer that is living the dream i think

Ps I know that that is sweeping every race you enter, not likely
52000 without expenses, racing every weekend would take quite a bit of cash
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mwssquad827
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6/29/2019 10:25am
Moto520 wrote:
Our local sat night race pays $300 to the winner of open A and 250A. Sunday races pay another $200 per class. That’s not much to...
Our local sat night race pays $300 to the winner of open A and 250A. Sunday races pay another $200 per class. That’s not much to live on even if you sweep the weekend.
So that’s $600 sat and $400 Sunday so $1000 in 1 weekend assuming you swept the weekend?? I don’t think that’s a bad weekend.. if you...
So that’s $600 sat and $400 Sunday so $1000 in 1 weekend assuming you swept the weekend?? I don’t think that’s a bad weekend.. if you swept the season that’s $52000.. also I would think that there is fair/arenacross Es that payout more than that.. I would be pumped to make that racing my bike... for a young racer that is living the dream i think

Ps I know that that is sweeping every race you enter, not likely
52000 without expenses, racing every weekend would take quite a bit of cash
I agree but your going to have bike/gas/maintenance expenses if your racing the National series too. So that is even ish.. and $52000 that’s way more than I or anyone that I raced made when we were 18-26 years of age... also a fast local guy could make a lot of money on a 250f of 250 smoker.. and they could keep bikes longer than the ama pros (rules for age of bike)..
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KHI Guy
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Cleveland, OH US
6/29/2019 10:39am Edited Date/Time 6/29/2019 10:40am
Moto520 wrote:
Our local sat night race pays $300 to the winner of open A and 250A. Sunday races pay another $200 per class. That’s not much to...
Our local sat night race pays $300 to the winner of open A and 250A. Sunday races pay another $200 per class. That’s not much to live on even if you sweep the weekend.
So that’s $600 sat and $400 Sunday so $1000 in 1 weekend assuming you swept the weekend?? I don’t think that’s a bad weekend.. if you...
So that’s $600 sat and $400 Sunday so $1000 in 1 weekend assuming you swept the weekend?? I don’t think that’s a bad weekend.. if you swept the season that’s $52000.. also I would think that there is fair/arenacross Es that payout more than that.. I would be pumped to make that racing my bike... for a young racer that is living the dream i think

Ps I know that that is sweeping every race you enter, not likely
52000 without expenses, racing every weekend would take quite a bit of cash
You're not living off of that. Face it, most "local pro's" are just making enough to get their hobby to pay for itself.

Kind of beside the point, but this thread topic reminded me of that video a while back where Mike Alessi was hustling locals for holeshot money. Laughing
rucka356
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Knoxville, TN US
6/29/2019 11:22am
Something to think about- the local payout would definitely be enough to supplement your income and cover riding expenses. Nothing wrong with that.....
mwssquad827
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6/29/2019 11:52am Edited Date/Time 6/29/2019 12:07pm
Local pro to me is a regional racer... so for my local pros it would be a 3-5 hr drive to get to the races... so idaho,Utah,Montana,Oregon,Washington all have decent size races and payouts ( not every weekend tho)
and let’s all be honest if you could work at the local Motoshop make estimation 25-30000/yr and then make $26000 in racing (half the $52000 guess I made) I believe that most of us on the vital would take that lifestyle as a 18-26 year old🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

and I’m NOT a local pro or ever have been
lumpy790
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York, SC US
6/29/2019 3:05pm
Victory Sports Ultra Series & Mega Series paid extremely well here in the East Coast.

Kevin Walker had 3 bikes and raced 3 classes and received Yamaha contingency for each one and he won a lot of the races. Years ago lined up next to him at Camp Coker and asked him how he did at the Charlotte SX assuming he had raced it. He said why would pay several hundred dollars for a Pro license and travel a long ways to hit a Pro race just to make a couple hundred bucks when I can race out here in 3 classes and make a LOT MORE $$$$ ?
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Nighttrain
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Charleston, SC US
6/29/2019 3:35pm
This is a good thread and I like the stories from those who chased the dream. Kind of like the movie “Little Fauss and Big Halsy”.
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loftyair
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riverside, CA US
6/29/2019 3:43pm
Most winnings would get eaten by costs. At least $100 just for a tire, at least a couple a week if you practice, which you do. Fuel, chains, so much costs.
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6/29/2019 8:59pm
You could do it in the 70's & early 80's.

A LOT of the West Coast guys never chased the "National" dream because they could race at least 4 times a week in SoCal, bikes were cheap/free, and the hop up shops were flush with sponsorships.

For that matter, in the Southeast where I was, at least once a month we had someone that was offering $2500-5000 Pro purses at "local" races.

When you figure in inflation and what that 5 grand purse would be worth in today's dollars (a little over 22 grand), you get a great idea of how far the sport has fallen since then.

It wasn't uncommon for a good local pro to make over a grand a week back then if they swept the 250 & Open Class. That's the equivalent of $4500 today. Extrapolated over a year that's $234,000 of today's dollars. And that's before any contingency money.

You can thank lawyers & politicians for the decline in the sport.
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NITRODOG
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6/29/2019 9:40pm
You could do it in the 70's & early 80's. A LOT of the West Coast guys never chased the "National" dream because they could race...
You could do it in the 70's & early 80's.

A LOT of the West Coast guys never chased the "National" dream because they could race at least 4 times a week in SoCal, bikes were cheap/free, and the hop up shops were flush with sponsorships.

For that matter, in the Southeast where I was, at least once a month we had someone that was offering $2500-5000 Pro purses at "local" races.

When you figure in inflation and what that 5 grand purse would be worth in today's dollars (a little over 22 grand), you get a great idea of how far the sport has fallen since then.

It wasn't uncommon for a good local pro to make over a grand a week back then if they swept the 250 & Open Class. That's the equivalent of $4500 today. Extrapolated over a year that's $234,000 of today's dollars. And that's before any contingency money.

You can thank lawyers & politicians for the decline in the sport.
“Radical” Ron Turner did
4
Spudnut
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6/29/2019 10:12pm
There’s a pro around here that puts on classes at tracks and such I imagine he does decent. draws a good sized turnout too
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flymoto
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GB
6/30/2019 1:52pm
This is a interesting topic. It’s different here in the uk, I do see a few half decent names in local club races, but there’s only £200 to be swept and you’d be pushed to 15-20 rounds per year with the weather etc.

Would love to hear some stories from all the guys that did this back in the day, livin the dream!
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mxb2
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Bowie, MD US
6/30/2019 1:58pm
Local.pro riders can make way more $$ winning 4 motos at local cash races then finishing ,30th at a national.
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roninho
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IT
6/30/2019 2:06pm
If you’re a fast local pro, capable of running 35-40th at pro nationals and in turn make no money but spend a lot... I’m curious if...
If you’re a fast local pro, capable of running 35-40th at pro nationals and in turn make no money but spend a lot...

I’m curious if it’s possible to plan local/regional races every weekend for several months and make enough money to survive? Anyone heard of this? I know good sized races have purses of a couple thousand. If you’re able to sweep more often than not, could they potentially make 30-50k a year?

Is it just that people want to be in the ranks and decide not to strategize or is it simply not possible to profit from local races?
My advice for a guy with 35-40th place speed looking to make a living from mx is stop trying to make a living from it because you wont. At least not in Europe.
Get a part time job (work in the morning, train in the afternoon, or fulltime in the offseason etc), live with your parents or somewhere else for free, and somehow get a dealer to really like you and borrow the bikes and a bunch of stuff from him. Land some sponsors and you should be able to have a nice time and race for a bunch of years
sandtrack315
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Philadelphia, PA US
6/30/2019 2:23pm Edited Date/Time 6/30/2019 2:23pm
1. Get good at portraying your lifestyle and local races on social media
2. Gain an audience (at least 50k)
3. Get sponsors that want to sell to that audience

I’m sure this model will be more common going forward. For example, would Hill and Hansen be making as much money now if it wasn’t for Instagram? I don’t think so.

If it works for random “models” selling fit tea, it can work for local racers selling sprockets and air filters.
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TbonesPop
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Gilbert, AZ US
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6/30/2019 2:49pm
I'm not a even a local vet B rider, so I have nothing to add as far as doing races. I got nuthin.

But I like the idea above about the post where you get some followers on social media and a couple of good sponsors that pay a sponsorship base pay plus "commission" off of products that they are repping. Get a discount code or some form of a code that tracks how much the rider is contributing to sales/profits. In the right scenario, I could see that earning some cash. The best thing about it is, its 100% passive income. It's not like the rider is out there doing a 9-5 job to earn that money. The key is reaching the audience in volume (Dean Wilson with CBD oil as an example) and it being 100% passive income. Not a bad gig in the right conditions.

Life has evolved from the 70s and 80s - in some ways for the worse, in others for the better. Have to change with the times.
6/30/2019 2:56pm
Tiger Lacey was the Goat at this. He'd be at the Local 4 stroke national cleaning up, then next week in another country, then you'd see him at a random national or making sx mains. He raced anything that paid and I imagine he maid as much as a lot of guys with "real" rides. RIP Tig.

Gared Steinke is good at this too, he's always cashing in at small town races
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6/30/2019 4:42pm Edited Date/Time 6/30/2019 4:43pm
1. Get good at portraying your lifestyle and local races on social media 2. Gain an audience (at least 50k) 3. Get sponsors that want to...
1. Get good at portraying your lifestyle and local races on social media
2. Gain an audience (at least 50k)
3. Get sponsors that want to sell to that audience

I’m sure this model will be more common going forward. For example, would Hill and Hansen be making as much money now if it wasn’t for Instagram? I don’t think so.

If it works for random “models” selling fit tea, it can work for local racers selling sprockets and air filters.
If you know the recipe for getting 50,000 followers please enlighten me, sensei.

Also I don’t have a nice set of tits or an ass anyone wants to see- and that’s why fit tea works for ig models.
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7eleven
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Aliso Viejo, CA US
6/30/2019 4:56pm
Mandatory support: You ride whichever manufacturer has the strongest contingency support in your region. A dealer that supplies motorcycles for you at minimal to no cost deal. This can happen if you’re fast AF. A strong list of product support sponsors.
Your cost of living need to be efficient and relatively low.
At the end of 2003 i needed to make a decision, it was either stop chasing the dream or return to region racing, I chose the latter. At 30 something, i landed a legit team green support ride. This opened up the door to making money again. I made $27k in Kawi contingency in 2007. I chased every race i could if it would make me $5. My expenses were fuel, food and entries. I would sleep in the van or stay with friends on the road.
There was a 10 day span of racing in TX and because of Kawi contingency , i made $9,800 including track money. I worked my ass off and hustled for every dollar.
I loved SX and Pro moto, but the money wasn’t consistent enough to get ahead, with my skill set.
I had 3 National numbers, made big bike mains in SX, but i was broke! Going back to regional racing was the best decision i could have made.





6/30/2019 7:17pm
Squires coming in with CLASSIC info. I love it.
We had some good battles at those contingency races around the south.

There are still dealers out there willing to help out A riders, but it takes a while to develop the relationship and the ability to sell oneself. And you have to be fully committed to racing locally/regionally, as dealers see zero return on national participation.
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