Is 2009 The Year that the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Nationals Make it Big?

March 16th, 2009 • Comments Breaking Into the Mainstream, My Thoughts
Tags: 2009, Brad Pitt, Chad Reed, motocross, MX Sports, Ryan Dungey, supercross, TV

2008 was big for the AMA Nationals, 2009 will be bigger. Photo by Paul Buckley

The Motocross Nationals have had a tough struggle in recent years. Between mismanaged promotion, loss and lack of title sponsors, the dominance of Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart, and being overshadowed by Supercross, It is incredible that the sport of professional outdoor motocross has survived at all.

Thankfully, it has survived, and for 2009, the landscape of Professional Motocross is looking extremely prosperous. New management, new television packages, great competition and celebrity involvement in the sport are all helping to boost the popularity and exposure of Professional Motocross, and because of this, I believe that 2009 will be the year that the Motocross Nationals make it big.

New Management

For years, the Motocross Nationals have been struggling under the joint leadership of the NPG and the AMA. This relationship has just not worked out for the sport. While they didn’t necessarily do a bad job, they didn’t do a great job either, and as a result, the Nationals floundered when compared to the rapid growth seen by Supercross.

Thankfully, for 2009, MX Sports, has taken the reigns of the nationals, and I am excited to see the same team who runs the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Nationals work their magic on the professional nationals.

Some have expressed criticism or doubt at MX Sports’ ability to run a Professional race, as up to this point they have only had experience running amateur nationals. However, I am faithful in the fact that they will be able to bring their skill and professionality into the Professional Motocross Nationals.

Update: In the writing of this post, it slipped my mind that the same people who run MX Sports, are also responsible for running the Steel City and High Point pro nationals for a number of years under the name Racer Productions. My mistake, hope you’ll forgive me.

In fact, their expertise has already helped the Nationals. They have secured a new title sponsor (Lucas Oils), and an incredible domestic and international TV package (more on that later). I am really looking forward to seeing MX Sports bring the Pro Nationals into the mainstream and showing the world how incredible of a sport motocross is. For years, our sport has been in dire need of a good leadership team to steer the sport in the right direction, and I believe we have finally found it in MX Sports.

Domestic Television Package

The 2009 Domestic TV Package for the Nationals is awesome. Photo by Lee Jordan.

For many years, one of the major aspects which set Supercross apart from Motocross has been the television packages. Supercross has almost always had better packages with more live races and more races aired on major networks. In the meantime, Motocross has been stuck on sub-prime stations stuck in terrible time slots and simply not reaching the audience it should be.

All that has changed for 2009.

Motocross will have an incredible Domestic TV package for 2009, and I believe that it may be just what the sport needs to make it big. We’ve yet to see exactly how well produced the individual races will be, however, one thing we know for sure is that they will have an incredible air time schedule.

Here’s how the 2009 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship TV schedule will look:

• 3 Live Coverage events on NBC
• 3 Live Coverage events on Speed
• Remaining races have same-day coverage on Speed (450s) and Tuesday coverage (250fs)
• First motos shown on the web

This package should help get the nationals out to more people, in a more timely fashion, and with a more professional presentation. As a heavy internet user, I am very excited for the first moto web coverage, and look for them to expand this avenue more in the future.

However, this setup is far from perfect. I believe that in order for Motocross to truly benefit from the change, there needs to be more live events, more events on NBC, same day coverage for both the 450s and the 250s.

In addition, there needs to be internet coverage of both motos. I understand that in the current format, the promoters are trying to leverage the first moto internet coverage to increase TV viewers, especially for the second moto. But, in order to truly take advantage of the many benefits internet content distribution can yield, the promoters need to fully embrace it by putting both motos on the internet.

International TV Package

Chad Reed is a foreign rider who has made it big in the USA. Photo by GuyB.

In addition to the surprisingly good domestic TV Package, MX Sports has also secured, for the first time in the history of AMA motocross, an international TV package.

There are an incredible number of reasons why this is good for the sport. It increases the visibility of the sport as a whole throughout the world, increases the potential market for sponsors of the series, and exposes more children to the sport, ultimately increasing the number of motocross riders working, training and practicing to make it as a professional Motocross racer in the United States.

According to Nick McCabe, head of Commercial Development for MX Sports:

Making our series accessible to our international fans was a priority for MX Sports. We want motocross enthusiasts all over the world to have access to our programming and racing action.

This will ultimately make the AMA Motocross Nationals a more recognizable brand throughout the world and will build its popularity both here and abroad.

The full details of all the international television packages are not known at this time, but here are the few details we do know.

• Broadcasted on the Motors TV, Nuvolari, Fox Australia, ESPN Brazil, and Greenlight TV networks
• 430 homes throughout the world will be reached via the various broadcast networks
• This deal will reach people in the European union, Russia, the Orient, Brazil, Australia, and more

Hopefully the international coverage of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championships continues to grow and bring the great competition to the rest of the world.

Great Competition

The 2009 Nationals will be more competitive than in 2008. Photo by Paul Buckley

The big talk throughout the Supercross season has been James Stewart and Chad Reed’s decisions to not race the Motocross Nationals this year. While Chad’s choice is nothing new, James’ was slightly surprisingly.

Regardless, the fact of the matter is that the two fastest motocross riders in the world will not be riding the 2009 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championships.

And yet I still believe that this year will hold some of the best competition we have seen in many years. With the dominating riders taking the summer off, they are leaving the series wide open to the other riders to battle it out for the win. In recent years, we have seen Stewart and Carmichael take off for the win while the remaining riders battle for 2nd and 3rd. While these battles have been great, they have been under publicized due to the fact that they were for the runner up, and not for the winning position.

However, for 2009 these same riders will be battling for the win each weekend making the season one of the most exciting in years. Ryan Villopoto, MIke Alessi, Davi Millsaps, Andrew Short, Broc Hepler, Josh Grant, and many more riders will be duking it out all summer long for the National Championship. There is no clear leader in this pack, and I can’t wait to see who will come out as a winner.

While there is no obvious favorite heading into the series, I believe that Ryan Villopoto will transfer his speed and success from the MX Lites class into the Motocross class and once again have a phenomenal National season.

Celebrity Involvement

Brad Pitt’s Pink Project is getting involved in Motocross in 2009. Photo from VitalMX.

For years, celebrity interest and involvement in motocross has risen steadily. This trend has continued for 2009. The most recent development in this trend was Brad Pitt’s partnership with Carey Hart’s Hart & Huntington/Rockstar Energy team for the 2009 New Orleans Supercross. In an attempt to raise money and awareness of the devastation still present in New Orleans,

Pitt’s Pink Project helped support Hart’s team. The Pink Project is a subset of the Make it Right Foundation and the goal is to help rebuild New Orleans Lower 9th Ward. I find it incredibly inspiring that Brad Pitt chose the motocross community as an avenue to raise awareness of this project, and I believe that it is a sign of things to come and a representation of the power within the motocross community.

2009 is Going to Be Big

2009 is going to be big. Photo by FaeryBoots.

2009 is going to be a very big year for the Motocross Nationals. There are a number of growing factors which are all going to help boost the popularity of the Nationals to a whole new level. The competition will be fierce, the television packages superb and the promotion incredible. I am very excited to see how it will all play out, and I cannot wait for the upward spiral of our sport to continue.

MX Sports Delays Rule Change to Allow 250 Two-Strokes in the Pro Lites Class for 2009

March 6th, 2009 • Comments Motocross News
Tags: four-stroke, motocross, MX Sports, two-stroke

MX Sports

For months there have been rumors that MX Sports would allow 250 two-strokes in the Motocross Lites class for 2009. This effectively put both “strokes” on a level playing field, with no CC advantage.

However, it looks as though this is not going to happen. Due to the CPSC Ban on Youth Motocross, Davey Coombs and the MX Sports grew have decided that it is probably not in the sports best interest to concentrate their efforts on this issue.

However, I feel that this major rule change could have had a very large positive impact on the motocross community and delaying it will ultimately cause a negative effect on the development of the sport. While the far reaching affects of this act are impossible to summarize in one article, here are some of the major areas where I believe a 250 two stoke in the Lites class could have significantly benefitted the sport.

More Defined Class Names

Class names may seem like a trivial aspect of the motocross community, but to a newcomer to the motocross community, the current class names are extremely confusing.

While the AMA tried to change the class names from “250” and “125” to “Motocross” and “Lites,” this effort has all but failed. The new names are arguably worse than the old and tell newcomers to the sport absolutely nothing about each class.

As a result, many people have stuck with the traditional numerical denominations. But, that has led to further confusion. For newcomers it can be an extremely hard concept to grasp why a “250” four stroke would race in the “125” class. Unless you truly understand the stark difference between the two engine configurations, the placement of four strokes makes almost no sense.

The confusion continues with the experienced members of the motosphere. While most motocross riders know that “250” four strokes ride in the “125” class, when discussing events in the class, conversations can get very confusing.

Imagine if your friend said “Hey man, did you see the crash at the start of the 250 moto?” Because so many riders are now on four strokes, some people have begun calling the “125” class the “250” class and the “250” class the “450” class, so when people actually use the common number, “250,” it is unclear which class they mean.

On the other hand, if the AMA went ahead and allowed 250 two-strokes in the “Lites” class, this issue would be all but cleared up. The “Lites” class, whether officially or unofficially, could be talked about as the “250” class and the “Motocross” class could be reffered to as the “450” class. This would clear up confusion both for newcomers and seasoned vets of the sport and would ultimately help the sport in its current branding crisis.

Two Strokes are More Economical for Privateers

Photo by Karel Kramer.

While Factory riders may not care about the economic difference between two strokes and four strokes, for privateers it can make a huge difference. In the current economic trouble our country is in, struggling privateers need all the help they can get. Riding a two strokes, especially a 250cc two stroke in the “Lites” class, can be just this economic relief.

To begin with, Two Strokes are cheaper to purchase. However, the savings do not stop there. Two Strokes are easier to maintain and easier to workout, saving privateers money on mechanic fees. These small savings could have a huge effect on the lives of privateer motocross racers in the current times of economic turmoil.

Furthermore, a 250cc two stroke is competitive out of the box with 250 four strokes. In the Lites class where power is everything, not having to pay for expensive modifications can save a privateer thousands of dollars a year.

By lowering the costs to privateers, allowing 250cc two strokes to race in the Lites class will once again put privateers on a relatively level playing field which is a bonus for the sport as a whole as it will allow more riders to make the tough transition from local pro to national pro.

More Variety In the Pro Pack

This may be a matter of personal taste, but I love seeing some personality and some variety in the pro pack. The same cookie cutter personalities and standard bike setups may be easy to market for the factories backing the major teams, but for me it makes motocross something it should never be, boring.

I love seeing variety and personality on the pro motocross track. Whether this is in the riders or their bikes, it makes the nationals more exciting as a spectator. In the same sense that Jason Lawrence lights up the entire motocross community each time he opens his mouth, two strokes help to make races more exciting.

Maybe its just the sound of a freshly tuned premix bike, or maybe it is because two strokes are advantageous in certain sections of the track and four strokes in others, but something about having a heterogeneous field greatly increases the excitement of any pro moto and helps to shake up the results a bit. This is ultimately a bonus for the sport as it shakes up the results and prevents the same two or three riders from winning every week.

Inspires Competition

Two Strokes in the Lites class would inspire privateers to compete for readily. Photo by Matt Wellumson (MX Matt).

As the two strokes will help to enhance the variety within the pro pack, it will also help to further inspire privateers and local pros to go up against the factory riders. If they know that they are automatically on a more level playing field with the 250 four strokes of the factory riders, then they will be much more inspired to go out to the national week in and week out to compete against the factory riders.

This will benefit the sport by adding variety to the field, helping to diversify the pack between factory and privateer riders. This will allow more riders to make it big time in the pro ranks and deepen the depth of talent within the pro ranks.

Promotes the Popularity of Two Strokes Among General Public

Photo by Cori Chesnutt

Alright, there may be some convoluted reasoning in this point, but it makes sense, believe me. If Mx Sports had gone through with their original plan of allowing 250cc two strokes in the “Lites” class, they would instantly make these bikes more popular among the pro riders. Penny pinching privateers as well as vets looking to have a good time would almost undoubtedly choose 250cc two strokes over the easier to ride, yet less fun and more expensive 250cc four strokes.

Because the two strokes would once again regain popularity among some of the pros, they would also begin to gain popularity among the general public. There is no denying that as a sport we follow the pros, and if some pros switched back tot two strokes, I believe that certain local riders would also make this switch. Once otherpeople began to see the fun which can be had on a two stroke, the transition would spread throughout the motocross community.

I’m not saying that two strokes would ever return to the dominance they had a few years ago, however, they will gain a strong cult following and be able to sustain themselves as a viable alternative to the four stroke motocross bike.

Who Doesn’t Love the Two Strokes?

Everyone loves the classic sound of a two stroke. Photo by Paul Buckley.

Let’s face it, anyway who has ridden motocross for any number of years loves the sound of a two-stroke. Nothing beats hearing a 250cc two stroke rip through a deep loam berm. For this same reason, any motocross enthusiast wants to see two-strokes brought back to professional motocross just for the sake of it.

It may seem like a trivial concern, but something about an all four stroke pro moto just seems booring to me. I would love to be able to hear another pro moto with two strokes at the front of the pack. Something about it would just add some variety and originality back to the pro motocross community and return something to pro motos which has been missing since the demise of the two stroke.

Further Resources

Want to read more about the failed attempt by MX Sports to allow the 250cc two stroke to race in the “Lites” class? Check out the resources below.

• TwoStrokeMotocross.com - The AMA National Class that Could Have Been
• RacerXOnline.com - MX Sports Statement Regarding 250 Class
• TransworldMotocross.com - What Could Have Been: A “True” 250cc Class

What do you think of this news? Were you looking forward to seeing 250cc two strokes on the same level as 250cc four strokes? Or do you think concentrating our efforts on the Lead fiasco is more beneficial to the development of the sport?