By Race Chapman

You don't need to have your finger on the pulse of motocross to know that the famed Loretta Lynn Amateur Nationals are happening this week in Hurricane Mills, TN -- you just need to have a pulse.

They are the most important races to a young competitor's career and also serve the dual purpose of benefiting the industry guys who come out to scout talent, promote their products, and all that good stuff.

But are the Loretta races doing unintended damage to the sport throughout the rest of the country?

Before you ever line up on the gate at a local race, you'll have to sign up for a class. The majority of races will have "age" classes for the minibikes and skill classes for the big bikes. These typically include beginner (D), novice (C), intermediate (B), and expert (A).

Let's imagine that a new rider comes out to the track with his buddy and falls in love with the sport. Soon after, he gets a cheap, used bike of his own and starts coming out to the track. Then he gets comfortable on the bike, notices that he's a little faster than some other people during practice, and hears that a race is coming up. He shows up to the race, notices the list of skill classes, and naturally picks beginner.

Then, he gets smoked -- in fact, it's not even a competition. Sure, there are a few other guys his speed, all of whom are mid-pack at best. Naturally, he didn't expect to win, but he also didn't expect the top three racers to be clearing advanced obstacles and throwing whips over jumps. Upset, and a little confused, he asks a more experienced racer, "What's going on?"

The AMA rules state that you can stay in the beginner class for one calendar year. Then you can stay in the novice class for at least one calendar year (two max if you don't place well enough the first year). But that doesn't help our dear beginner friend, as he will never advance fast enough to be competitive in any of these classes. Eventually, he gets discouraged and gives up racing and maybe even riding altogether.



So why does Loretta's have anything to do with this situation? And why would a fast rider want to waste his time collecting shiny plastic in the beginner class? The answer lies within the gates of the Loretta Lynn Ranch.

When racers practice up as long possible and maximize their time in each class, they get the best possible chance to compete with people at the Nationals. You see, those same guys who are throwing whips over the jumps and lapping racers in a local event are getting dominated at Loretta's.

If not for the Amateur Nationals, these guys would have no reason to stay in the lower classes. They could be shamed out by their peers (which is what happened in the early days of motocross). Promoters and race officials could advance people without consequence, and the better competition in the intermediate and expert classes would make racing more fun for everyone.

In the past, there were only three classes. Beginners didn't exist. The literal definition of "novice" is "a person new to or inexperienced in a field." In essence, a beginner. But there were so many people racing novice, local promoters decided to add the beginner class to help separate the new guys from the more experienced guys in novice who refused to advance.

Of course, it didn't take long before people were abusing the beginner class as well and taking advantage of the extra year of experience. Nowadays if you show up to any random local event, the beginner class is typically the biggest one. Novice is the only class that can compare, and intermediate barely has anyone. Many racers spend all their time in beginner and novice and then either advance straight to expert or quit racing when they realize they won't become professionals.



There is a solution to this, and it's a very simple one: change the rules.

Everyone and their dog knows that the novices at Loretta's are fast intermediates. Everywhere else, the intermediates are competitive in their local expert class. The experts are guys just waiting for their pro ride to open up. So why are the same rules applied to the particularly unique Nationals as every other random AMA-sanctioned race with 200 racers?

You might be wondering, "why should we care... shouldn't the slower guys just get faster?" No, because it is not possible. Most of the competitors at Nationals are guys who have been racing since they were young children. Their first bike had training wheels, and their trophy room at the age of 10 was already over capacity.

Keeping those guys in the same company as a true beginner who started riding as a teenager or adult is ridiculous. It has only one effect: It discourages potential motocross enthusiasts.

Our sport already has an enormous barrier to entry. It takes a special type of person to race motocross. It takes an individual who is a bit of an adrenaline junkie, has good balance and instinct, good physical fitness and endurance, and sufficient disposable income. When people like that discover the sport, the last thing we need to do is discourage them and watch them trade their bike on Craigslist for a mountain bike.

One possible solution is to have classes at Loretta's that are different from normal AMA races but functionally the same. That way a guy who races intermediate at his local track in Norman, Oklahoma, can race the equivalent of a "C" class at Loretta's without adversely affecting his eligibility for local series and standalone races. Call novice the "Newbie" class, intermediate the "Journeyman" class, and expert can remain the same. (Nobody is sandbagging expert.)

Another solution is to allow racers to drop down a class when they go to Loretta's, which would allow them to still race locally at their "true" class. Abusing this system wouldn't really be advantageous to a rider, because a decent expert is always going to garner more interest than a dominant intermediate. And even if they did abuse it, it's certainly no worse than the abuse that is taking place today.

Those seem pretty simple, especially since Loretta's has qualifier events which effectively separate it from any normal race anyway. It really doesn't matter what someone races locally, because they're going to have to qualify for the Nationals regardless. But surely AMA officials can put their brilliant minds together and come up with a solution.

It seems pretty absurd to cause such irreparable damage to the entire sport of motocross, just to avoid changing the rules for an event that only lasts a week.

Weekly Articles from Race Chapman

Eli Tomac Extends Lead In Spite Of Challenges 
Motocross Is A War Of Attrition 
The Beginning of a Beautiful Rivalry 
Justin Cooper's Successful Amateur Swan Song 
The Mammoth MX Is Just Getting Started With The Minis Warming Up The Track

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