Ponca City 2015 turnout

tzmike
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tzmike
Edited Date/Time 7/23/2015 6:59pm
Usually, all the heavy hitters in Am hit Ponca the week before the big one at the ranch. Just perused some of the results and it looks like an average of 6-8 riders in each class. Wow thats a big change from years past.. Either that title doesn't hold the prestige anymore, the economy still sucks, or just saving rider/bike/$$ for Lorettas.
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Gringoe
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Gringoe 7/23/2015 9:03am
7/23/2015 9:03am
Thats how it has been last few years since new promoter took over

It does not mean as much as it did even 5 years ago
Jeff alessi
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Jeff alessi 7/23/2015 9:48am
7/23/2015 9:48am
Insane. When I went there my last year it was full gates. I remember full gates and seperate heat races from so many riders being in the 85 class. I would assume no one has the money to take off over two weeks for Ponca and lorettas. that would cost some big bucks to go do.
Team Ideal
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Team Ideal 7/23/2015 9:49am
7/23/2015 9:49am
I'm thinking 2010 was the last big year for ponca, it may have been 2011 but yeah, since then it's taken a pretty big beating on turnout.
lostboy819
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lostboy819 7/23/2015 12:16pm
7/23/2015 12:16pm
I figured this years turnout would be better because the race in Norman was canceled and NMA is all but dead but Ponca does not have the same appeal as it did in the past and LLs is hands down the number one amateur race. Now with the cost of racing being so high I am sure most people wont do two big races back to back like they did in the past.

The Shop

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RPM68
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RPM68 7/23/2015 12:21pm
7/23/2015 12:21pm
2011 was the last year. It was a joke. Water trucks quit working and we were watering the track from the side lines with water hoses. Bogle washed out in front of me after then bridge jump and took out myself, swanson and some other folks simply b/c when he went down it created a huge dust cloud... It was a sketchy week of racing, I think we lost the life of Isabel Cobb that week as well. Not worth it at all, especially for riders racing LL the following week.
moscrop940
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moscrop940 7/23/2015 12:26pm
7/23/2015 12:26pm
Kills me to think that it has gone down to this.

Sure a title at Ponca didn't have to clout as Lorettas, but it really meant something to all of us.

Some of my best memories are from Ponca, and to think it's probably gonna be gone after this years turn out is a hard pill to swallow.
mb60
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mb60 7/23/2015 1:35pm
7/23/2015 1:35pm
NMA lost it's vision just like the GNC series in Texas many years a go. Without somebody in charge that has a goal and can think outside the box this will happen everytime.
bdownen323
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bdownen323 7/23/2015 1:51pm
7/23/2015 1:51pm
Seems like it's a common theme with all the amateur "nationals" going on nowadays. Turnouts seem to be way down, especially for the lesser races. It's just simply not feasible to race 4 weeks in a row during the spring, Loretta's qualifiers and regionals, possibly Mammoth, then two weeks for Ponca and Loretta's, possibly Baja Brawl, and Mini O's. There's a lot of other "nationals" that simply are dying out, and I'd say there aren't many true amateur nationals left.
Mini Elsinore
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Mini Elsinore 7/23/2015 4:54pm
7/23/2015 4:54pm
mb60 wrote:
NMA lost it's vision just like the GNC series in Texas many years a go. Without somebody in charge that has a goal and can think...
NMA lost it's vision just like the GNC series in Texas many years a go. Without somebody in charge that has a goal and can think outside the box this will happen everytime.
GNC was Jerry's middle finger follow-up salute to Ron after Rio Bravo's one and only NMA championship.
lostboy819
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lostboy819 7/23/2015 5:30pm
7/23/2015 5:30pm
NMA sued the AMBUCS over the Ponca race and In the court battle, the NMA not only lost its case, vindicating the Ponca City officials, but also had to pay all court costs, attorney fees, and was even fined for bringing the suit to court. Ron Hendrickson got bitch slapped in court big time and I doubt the NMA will be around in the future.
WhipMeister
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WhipMeister 7/23/2015 6:59pm
7/23/2015 6:59pm
Mini Elsinore wrote:
GNC was Jerry's middle finger follow-up salute to Ron after Rio Bravo's one and only NMA championship.
I LOL'ed on that one.
kzizok
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kzizok 6/26/2016 4:20pm
6/26/2016 4:20pm Edited Date/Time 6/26/2016 4:23pm
I know this is an old thread. However, it is a sad day as it seems that the Ponca City race is no longer. I know a lot of us have priceless memories for the annual national race. RIP.

I know all the back stories but sad, nonetheless.

reynardfan1
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reynardfan1 6/26/2016 7:37pm
6/26/2016 7:37pm
Does anyone know how to get a hold of the track owners/promoters? I have a serious inquiry I would like to make. I attempted to view the website but it's empty...

I too have incredible memories from Ponca watching Reynard, Windham, Rand, Carmichael, Lusk, Casey Johnson, Tommy Clowers and others...

thanks in advance, please PM me information if you have it.
B-EVANS
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B-EVANS 6/26/2016 7:42pm
6/26/2016 7:42pm
They have a website for track. Either ponca city mx or Jack Blevins mx. Should be able to get hold of them thru it. Rumor is that the Ponca race has moved to late September to get away from Norman race and LL's, and that the Motoplayground guys will be the promoter. I haven't seen anything official on that tho.
kzizok
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kzizok 6/26/2016 7:57pm
6/26/2016 7:57pm
tzmike wrote:
Usually, all the heavy hitters in Am hit Ponca the week before the big one at the ranch. Just perused some of the results and it...
Usually, all the heavy hitters in Am hit Ponca the week before the big one at the ranch. Just perused some of the results and it looks like an average of 6-8 riders in each class. Wow thats a big change from years past.. Either that title doesn't hold the prestige anymore, the economy still sucks, or just saving rider/bike/$$ for Lorettas.
Ben, no website anymore. poncacitymx.org.

However, they do have a facebook page. https://m.facebook.com/PoncaCityMx/

Looks a bit dated as they still have the poncacitymx.org on their homepage despite the fact that it no longer exists. There is a phone number. May help reynardfan1.
731chopper
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731chopper 6/26/2016 8:30pm
6/26/2016 8:30pm
Our sport is not healthy. Things looks great on the pro side but we're a far cry from where we were even 10 years ago on the amateur side. I just race vintage races now because I have no desire to kill myself jumping the big jumps. I'm 28 and the going pro dream has been long dead and I've got a family to support... none the less, I check race results from time to time just to see how things are going. I was just talking to my dad about this today actually as we were riding, what happened to the days of full gates?

I worry about what the health of our sport will be 5 years from now when I'm getting my boys into racing. Sad.

I never went to Ponca but I know how big of a deal it once was.
project racer 6/26/2016 8:45pm
6/26/2016 8:45pm
Ponca was the biggie amateur race way before LL's was even thought of. Sorry to hear of the down turn.

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Krallang
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Krallang 6/27/2016 8:52am
6/27/2016 8:52am
The NMA got this idea that their shit did not stink. After the lawsuit, and after MxSports seemed to pull its support of the race, it is no longer a popular destination for racing.
Jaybird67k
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Jaybird67k 6/27/2016 10:35am
6/27/2016 10:35am
I was there in 2012 and the track layout and prep was good and the place was pretty packed out and it seemed to run like a well oiled machine.
I have heard it's not what it once was though.

Jason
motokawi818
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motokawi818 6/27/2016 11:41am
6/27/2016 11:41am
Didn't in 11 or 12 the promotors split and tried to run separate races on the same date?
Panic_Rev
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Panic_Rev 8/28/2016 1:52pm
8/28/2016 1:52pm
It is my understanding this race moved to October 7-9th. Anyone going?
Mini Elsinore
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Mini Elsinore 8/28/2016 2:29pm
8/28/2016 2:29pm
NMA went to hell when Virginia Moorewood was no longer around to save Ron from himself. RIP Ted.
Racerx930
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Racerx930 8/28/2016 5:06pm
8/28/2016 5:06pm
What is all this talk? Moto Playground has taken over the efforts this year and has advertised it better than any race I've ever seen. Of course the fact that some people don't know about it means I'm wrong............ I expect a big turn around this year based off Playgrounds "Boom diggity" success. www.poncamx.com
Graybeard
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Graybeard 8/28/2016 5:08pm
8/28/2016 5:08pm
Racerx930 wrote:
What is all this talk? Moto Playground has taken over the efforts this year and has advertised it better than any race I've ever seen. Of...
What is all this talk? Moto Playground has taken over the efforts this year and has advertised it better than any race I've ever seen. Of course the fact that some people don't know about it means I'm wrong............ I expect a big turn around this year based off Playgrounds "Boom diggity" success. www.poncamx.com
What's the track like? I may head on up to have some fun!
Racerx930
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Racerx930 8/28/2016 5:08pm
8/28/2016 5:08pm
lostboy819 wrote:
NMA sued the AMBUCS over the Ponca race and In the court battle, the NMA not only lost its case, vindicating the Ponca City officials, but...
NMA sued the AMBUCS over the Ponca race and In the court battle, the NMA not only lost its case, vindicating the Ponca City officials, but also had to pay all court costs, attorney fees, and was even fined for bringing the suit to court. Ron Hendrickson got bitch slapped in court big time and I doubt the NMA will be around in the future.
I wish this was correct, but it isn't.


http://racerxonline.com/2013/02/22/nma-wins-breach-of-contract-lawsuit
Racerx930
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Racerx930 8/28/2016 5:11pm
8/28/2016 5:11pm
Racerx930 wrote:
What is all this talk? Moto Playground has taken over the efforts this year and has advertised it better than any race I've ever seen. Of...
What is all this talk? Moto Playground has taken over the efforts this year and has advertised it better than any race I've ever seen. Of course the fact that some people don't know about it means I'm wrong............ I expect a big turn around this year based off Playgrounds "Boom diggity" success. www.poncamx.com
Graybeard wrote:
What's the track like? I may head on up to have some fun!
It depends on who's prepping it!

With the MX343 crew doing the prep this year I expect it to be fantastic. At the OSCS race this year..... not so much.
kzizok
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kzizok 8/28/2016 9:01pm
8/28/2016 9:01pm
Racerx930 wrote:
What is all this talk? Moto Playground has taken over the efforts this year and has advertised it better than any race I've ever seen. Of...
What is all this talk? Moto Playground has taken over the efforts this year and has advertised it better than any race I've ever seen. Of course the fact that some people don't know about it means I'm wrong............ I expect a big turn around this year based off Playgrounds "Boom diggity" success. www.poncamx.com
I haven't seen any advertising but heard about the fall race on here in a thread. Man, I hope you are right about the turnout, I really do, but I would be surprised if there were more than 150 riders. The Branson race at that time used to get decent draws before the flooding debacle. Racing in the fall is awesome. But, people will be reinvigorating funds after LL's and planning for Mini O's so a race sandwiched between those two seems like a tall order in today's amateur climate.
crusher773
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crusher773 8/29/2016 9:29pm
8/29/2016 9:29pm
I think we are going to give it a shot. We live within a couple hours of there now. I haven't been since 2001 and it was still good back then. I hope it gets big again it would be something fun to go to every year with my boy.
Racerx930
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Racerx930 8/30/2016 5:18pm
8/30/2016 5:18pm
Racerx930 wrote:
What is all this talk? Moto Playground has taken over the efforts this year and has advertised it better than any race I've ever seen. Of...
What is all this talk? Moto Playground has taken over the efforts this year and has advertised it better than any race I've ever seen. Of course the fact that some people don't know about it means I'm wrong............ I expect a big turn around this year based off Playgrounds "Boom diggity" success. www.poncamx.com
kzizok wrote:
I haven't seen any advertising but heard about the fall race on here in a thread. Man, I hope you are right about the turnout, I...
I haven't seen any advertising but heard about the fall race on here in a thread. Man, I hope you are right about the turnout, I really do, but I would be surprised if there were more than 150 riders. The Branson race at that time used to get decent draws before the flooding debacle. Racing in the fall is awesome. But, people will be reinvigorating funds after LL's and planning for Mini O's so a race sandwiched between those two seems like a tall order in today's amateur climate.
I want to disagree with the 150 rider thing, but there's things they are doing that make me realize they just don't understand RUNNING a race. Those guys are moto to the core no doubt about it, but they keep posting things that just make me shake my head. First it was the over 25 and over 40 classes ONLY for the vet classes, yet 5 50 classes. They were however open to input and fixed this.

Today they posted that "They are limiting it to 42 entries per class". While the novice classes of the late 90's and early 2k's had 200'ish novice riders, I'd say that's their only class with a shot at hitting 42. If I didn't pre-register I'm not driving from California if there's even the slight chance that i might not get to race when I get there. I see what they are trying to do, but it doesn't work. The big Junior moto X deal at the Lazy E tried the same thing with the riders can only race so many classes, I think they had less than 200 entries (might have been slightly over 200 but can't remember). They are trying to make it sound exclusive but it's not going to help.

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