Are the numbers down this year? I know times are tight for everyone, but I was watching during lunch, and the 250 Pro Sport had less than 20 on the gate for the first moto...... The drone shot of the pits looked ok, but is it economy, or has Tony's race shrunk in the last few years? Tony always used to have a good turnout for a Spring National...... Serious question.....Smartass comments are not needed.
Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but Premium users receive great benefits. Premium benefits include:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
Could be folks are instead headed to spring a ding?
Didn't know.... And I know Spring is busy in the AM Moto world, it was just kinda a shock. Folks only have so much funding to stretch, I get it.
It's a whole week of racing up here:
https://www.springadingding.com/schedule-of-events.html
Yeah RCSX, Freestone JS7 and Spring A Ding Ding three weeks in a row is a little much. I think Freestone is hurt being in the middle.
The Shop
Free shipping: VITALMX
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
Thanks for reminding me of freestone, tho. Here is the stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgeN4f6sqhg
No problem. Happy to help,,,,,stay safe!
I agree Ape, it is much..... And I hate it, Tony has a great facility down there, Yeah it is a tad of a drive for Hotels, daily life stuff, but it is a great event.
I wish Nationals were run in the spring and Texas could get one back. Last national I went to in Freestone was like 105°, riders were dunking themselves in 50 gallon water barrels
I think for those at Daytona it's almost impossible to get back to JS7 in time. Also kids are not out for school yet for spring break, whereas some schools are out next week I believe which falls on Spring A Ding. Our school doesn't get out until the week after. We are thinking about Spring a Ding, but it's so many days at the track, so idk. Cool to race the fastest kids but hard when you've got jobs, animals, and life at home. IDK how people do it.
Man I remember when the GNC at Lake Whitney was 4 days only.
God I miss those days.
It’s probably because the AMA demoted it from a Major championship to a featured championship this year. Pretty sure Ponca city got promoted to a major to replace it.
Hell yeah the GNC at Whitney was my favorite race, great memories
Yeah I don’t know how all the people do the 2 day weekend local races let alone the big am races. I can’t take care of all the crap around my house going to a one day race…
There's also currently a rift raging amongst Texas' moto promoter factions. And I just heard recently that Texas is home to 45 operating tracks. That's a heck of a lot, even for Texas. On the other hand, last weekend's opening vet-oriented MotoMasters series had 225 entries at Johnsonville MX. All-time high for them.
Great entries for the Opening Round of Moto Masters for sure. I saw 253 entries.
Looks like the rift in Texas between the track owners just got a little more united. The Statewide Series promoted by 3 Palms and the Best Of Texas Series promoted by Freestone and joining to have 1 big Fall Series, with most of the tracks jumping in. Its a step in the right direction.
It is. But my jungle drums say there still exists some pretty intense us v. them conflict. There's a bunch of new players. Swan's new ownership. New tracks such as BillaDilla and Athens. OGs like Freestone, 3 Palms, Oak Hill and Cycle Ranch. Tweeners like River Valley. Not to mention tracks like Underground that seem to run an occasional race rather than a set monthly schedule. Plus a bunch of local weekend warrior tracks.
Nocona, Buffalo Creek, etc. and we haven't even crossed the Red River into Oklahoma.
Infighting like this typically happens when supply overruns demand. Everybody knows the music will stop. Survival of the fittest to not be locked out of a seat then becomes normal.
IMO the fighting happened when an outside promoter came in and tried to cause division. Same thing happened with same promoter in Oklahoma a year before 🤔 Get that promoter out of the state and TX and OK will be just fine.
Hmmm Nacona is still open you say ? I'm just glad to have places like River Valley and hopefully the new Village Creek for us weekend warriors. Mosier , Lake Whitney and Burleson are gone for good.
Pit Row
I don’t think the am pro class is a good indicator of turnout. It might be down, however now the kids that want to go pro are racing the smx next races and Loretta’s qualifiers. They probably just don’t care about this race.
My kid did freestone last year then spring a ding. Both kinds sucked, not a lot of track time unless your in the B class or pro classes.
Freestone had half the turn out.
Was going to just spring a ding this year and not freestone. My kid got hurt in Daytona so not going at all now.
Watching now, 4-6 had 14 kids. Smaller than a local race and 5 times the cost. Don’t blame people for not wasting the time and money
So TX has 45 tracks and SoCal is still the epicenter with just 3? 🤔
Maybe people are finally waking up to the reality of these "Amateur Championships".
Did you like Spring A Ding? Thought about doing the Moto portion, kids on pw and cobra. He liked the track okay a few weeks ago, just to see the top amateur kids was appeal to me, but it's Wed-Sun and pretty pricey.
I liked the track, facility, and the competition. Probaly the 3rd biggest race after Loretta’s and mini o’s. Think they did division and gate pick by practice lap times that I liked a lot.
My kid raced 65 last year. Won the main in 65 7-11, but only got 3rd or 4th in his heat, so ended up with a 2nd I think.
I didn’t like the short races though. They cater to the B class and school boy class, and even the women “pro class”. Giving them 20 plus minutes, while the kids get like 10.
If I didn’t have a top kid, I wouldn’t be driving across the country to go to any Texas race though. Would be a waste of time and money
If you didn't have a top kid would you just be racing local? Or what would your schedule look like? Always curious peoples thoughts on improving. I don't have a top kid yet, but for his age he has amazing style, so I feel like his speed will come if he wants it too, no pushing him. But we race a lot of the Texas races and he is competitive on the pw, but haven't done any "nationals" yet because time and cost and we aren't there yet speed wise, but like to expose him to it eventually.
Ya, I’d be racing local. Then maybe close nationals.
My oldest was never that fast and we didn’t take it serious with him. We still raced mini o’s, even though I don’t think he ever even made the main event. Was still a fun time though. I wasn’t about to drive across the country with my oldest to finish in the back though.
What do people need to wake up to, what is the reality?
The infighting in Texas has been going on for 30+ years. This is not a new thing by an outside promoter. It’s a really good problem to have, but having so many good tracks doesn’t leave enough good dates for any of them. Lots of areas of the country would kill to have that many good areas to ride.
That they're spending thousands and thousands of dollars for no reason? Little Timmy going 10-12 in 250C isn't on Mitch's radar? That they could have just as much fun for 1/5th of the price racing locally?
That's a pretty sad outlook, but I'm not going to try to change your opinion.
Post a reply to: Freestone 25