What about a "Senior Tour"??

ga_pike wrote:

What do you guys think about a "Senior Tour"? I'm not sure I'd do them in SX (maybe?) but outdoors would be fine. Think about it... guys like Carmichael, McGrath, Stanton, Johnson, Villopoto, Dungey, Ward, Emig, Windham, Pastrana, etc. Run at select events, like Red Bud, Unadilla, High Point, Glen Helen...

Maybe require 2 strokes or have it be an Alta sponsored thing and they all run e-bikes? They could mock up the bikes to look like they did in each one's prime.

Guys like Carmichael and McGrath actually have a lot of commitments for sponsors currently. Jeremy with his off-road trucks, ambassador role for Kawi, stuff with Monster, etc...

Ricky is gone for the majority weekends of the year.

Travis Pastrana has a Nitro Circus show practically every weekend...

Ryan Dungey just retired...I don't think he'll be lining up for a bunch of events anytime soon....family time for that guy.

To put it bluntly, a well planned one-off event could work but a series wouldn't work with all these guy's schedules. Some wouldn't be near as keen to do it as others too. There were some standing issues after the last Vet race at Ironman two years ago.

Beyond that, it would turn out like other "master class" racing where a certain few will take it ridiculously serious and it will be super one sided.

I'm sorry. No. I know this sounds awesome in your head but not many people would pay to see retired riders who have been put out to the pasture long ago race a dirt bike.

Typically in sports you want to see the best compete against the best. I really can't recall a single "seniors league" or "past heroes" league that's had success maybe with the exception of the senior tour in golf and that is debatable even.

I know this idea sounds awesome when your baked but the reality is no one would pay for it.

Sorry for being a wet blanket.

Just remember that all those guys are accustomed to being paid a lot of money.

I'm not sure how the retired pro tour would work, but I would like to see a senior/vet series of about 4 races during the year. Have some old school tracks that are "vet friendly" and fun to ride. Promoted well I think it would draw a good turnout. Maybe combine it with the World Vet race as a finale. Not everyone could do the whole series, but they could do as many as they could.

TXDirt wrote:

I'm sorry. No. I know this sounds awesome in your head but not many people would pay to see retired riders who have been put out to the pasture long ago race a dirt bike.

Typically in sports you want to see the best compete against the best. I really can't recall a single "seniors league" or "past heroes" league that's had success maybe with the exception of the senior tour in golf and that is debatable even.

I know this idea sounds awesome when your baked but the reality is no one would pay for it.

Sorry for being a wet blanket.

You're not being a wet blanket... you make some very valid points.

And I'm not baked. LOL

I was actually thinking about the senior tour in golf and if it could work for something like MX. As ML stated, maybe for a 1 off event. I just know I'd like to see RJ, Wardy, and the heroes of my day line it up again... even if they aren't what they used to be.

I thought that's why they do the Vet MXDN?

If they wanted to race they could do it any weekend. They don't. Risk is too high, takes training and diet. They are not interested anymore.

Theres a "Where are they now?" article on Damon Huffman. He's an LAPD cop now. They ask him if he still rides. He's was like "I have not ridden an MX bike in years, it was fun back then, but I'm not interested anymore."

Mx 317, there is a MotoMasters series in TX. Vet a,b,c classes. Age groups seprated by 5 yrs apart. Good Suzuki contingency money, purse money (100% payback)in almost every class for experts, and the turnout is falling off more each and every year. Especially with the expert riders. Last few rounds this year had 2 to 3 expert riders. Everybody must be busy taking care of mama and the kids. Too bad because the format makes for a fun day of racing.

I am all for this. I think there is a real opportunity to trot these guys out at each Supercross and have a points battle that results in $250,000 donated to the charity of the winner's choice.

If you did just 10 laps, on modified portions of the supercross tracks (don't force em through the huge triples or anything too dangerous), it could actually be a real draw. I would rather see that than the Toyota truck making fans run around in inflatable suits.

My own personal bias - I would use this as an opportunity to push 125's. Its a harmless charitable race, so keep it fun and make it 125 mandatory. The unforeseen side effect would be promoting 125's (shhhh, don't tell anyone).

P.S. I know these guys have egos, but they all like raising some money. Any of them can say, "Yeah I wasn't nuts about it, but I'm gonna use the money for our local YMCA or something. Get a nice little press pop with the right folks, help the community, friendly competition, etc... you just gotta market it the right way.

Lorettas

Besides the obvious scheduling issues, I think the bigger issue is their egos. None of these guys would likely want to participate unless they knew they could win, even an exhibition race. I like the idea but it will never happen sadly

I thought the LL Vet classes were the Senior Tour.

Micahdogg wrote:

I am all for this. I think there is a real opportunity to trot these guys out at each Supercross and have a points battle that results in $250,000 donated to the charity of the winner's choice.

If you did just 10 laps, on modified portions of the supercross tracks (don't force em through the huge triples or anything too dangerous), it could actually be a real draw. I would rather see that than the Toyota truck making fans run around in inflatable suits.

My own personal bias - I would use this as an opportunity to push 125's. Its a harmless charitable race, so keep it fun and make it 125 mandatory. The unforeseen side effect would be promoting 125's (shhhh, don't tell anyone).

P.S. I know these guys have egos, but they all like raising some money. Any of them can say, "Yeah I wasn't nuts about it, but I'm gonna use the money for our local YMCA or something. Get a nice little press pop with the right folks, help the community, friendly competition, etc... you just gotta market it the right way.

Believe it or not, they all don't like 2 strokes.

Flip109 wrote:

Lorettas

Been there, done that (9 times). The sad part for me is I don't think I could even qualify anymore LOL.

brightlights wrote:

Mx 317, there is a MotoMasters series in TX. Vet a,b,c classes. Age groups seprated by 5 yrs apart. Good Suzuki contingency money, purse money (100% payback)in almost every class for experts, and the turnout is falling off more each and every year. Especially with the expert riders. Last few rounds this year had 2 to 3 expert riders. Everybody must be busy taking care of mama and the kids. Too bad because the format makes for a fun day of racing.

Our local turnout is falling off also. I have been running the Victory Sports Southern All Stars tour and only races when the Mega series and BIG series are combined with it, we have a good turnout. I think the local series are becoming less and less important and people plan their year around Loretta qualifiers and Loretta's, but that is a whole other topic .

Micahdogg wrote:

I am all for this. I think there is a real opportunity to trot these guys out at each Supercross and have a points battle that results in $250,000 donated to the charity of the winner's choice.

If you did just 10 laps, on modified portions of the supercross tracks (don't force em through the huge triples or anything too dangerous), it could actually be a real draw. I would rather see that than the Toyota truck making fans run around in inflatable suits.

My own personal bias - I would use this as an opportunity to push 125's. Its a harmless charitable race, so keep it fun and make it 125 mandatory. The unforeseen side effect would be promoting 125's (shhhh, don't tell anyone).

P.S. I know these guys have egos, but they all like raising some money. Any of them can say, "Yeah I wasn't nuts about it, but I'm gonna use the money for our local YMCA or something. Get a nice little press pop with the right folks, help the community, friendly competition, etc... you just gotta market it the right way.

mxb2 wrote:

Believe it or not, they all don't like 2 strokes.

I'm sure they all don't like racing at this point either. 125's keep it a novelty and less serious. "Hey MC we noticed you really went for it and nailed that triple on the 125 to take the lead!"

When they did that race a couple years ago at ironman it was truly Awesome... However, most of those guys are so busted up physically, for their own good I wouldn't want to see them racing full tilt again...

Kenny is trying! http://m.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/Roczen-trying-to-break-the-internet-RBSR-2-Stroke-Race,1327226

No. And I think some people truly over estimate these guys' desire to even race one-off events. Retired millionaires, many of whom are busy... Why risk anything by racing?

You've got to get the right guys. I've lined up against The Dogger several times in WORCS and Chicken and Bradshaw still race. But yeah, your not going to get a bunch of the all stars out.

Love all the naysayers but every year there are more and more ex pro's showing up at Lorettas to race 3-20 min motos for a bib, a plastic trophy/plaque and a Amateur title...a little purse money might entice more for a 3 or 4 race series. Hell there are 2 races atleast just to get to the National. So, the idea is really not that far off. As it s said all to often after Lorettas "They enjoy racing and need somewhere to race"

We seem to have a lot of fun in the vintage world with our heroes who raced in the formative days of the sport. It's not unusual to go to an AHRMA National and not only get to see these guys in their 50's and 60's actually having fun racing anything from 100's to 1980's era Open Class bikes. BTW, most of them haven't lost speed. Fast is almost always fast, the only thing that changes is the level of conditioning.

ga_pike wrote:

What do you guys think about a "Senior Tour"? I'm not sure I'd do them in SX (maybe?) but outdoors would be fine. Think about it... guys like Carmichael, McGrath, Stanton, Johnson, Villopoto, Dungey, Ward, Emig, Windham, Pastrana, etc. Run at select events, like Red Bud, Unadilla, High Point, Glen Helen...

Maybe require 2 strokes or have it be an Alta sponsored thing and they all run e-bikes? They could mock up the bikes to look like they did in each one's prime.

ML512 wrote:

Guys like Carmichael and McGrath actually have a lot of commitments for sponsors currently. Jeremy with his off-road trucks, ambassador role for Kawi, stuff with Monster, etc...

Ricky is gone for the majority weekends of the year.

Travis Pastrana has a Nitro Circus show practically every weekend...

Ryan Dungey just retired...I don't think he'll be lining up for a bunch of events anytime soon....family time for that guy.

To put it bluntly, a well planned one-off event could work but a series wouldn't work with all these guy's schedules. Some wouldn't be near as keen to do it as others too. There were some standing issues after the last Vet race at Ironman two years ago.

Beyond that, it would turn out like other "master class" racing where a certain few will take it ridiculously serious and it will be super one sided.

Just like the nationals, only a few guys have a legit chance at winning the champion ship, just is what it is.