Confused about modern Amateur Racing

[CRF221]

After returning to the sport after 10 years off, I am baffled by how current amateur racing works. 10 years ago you would go to a race and the C class was clearly beginners, with maybe the top 5 or so looking decent and on their way to the B class the following year. The C class was usually a full gate. The B class was full of some fast guys and was usually insanely competitive from front to back. It was usually maybe 10 guys shy of a full gate, but often a full gate. The A class was the crazy fast guys, usually 15-20 guys on a gate, stagger start ahead of the B class.

I go to a race now and I am looking at riders in the C class that I swear were A riders 10 years ago. There are 6 guys racing the B class and 3 in the A class. There were without a doubt guys in the B class who were A riders, hell guys in the C class who were A riders.

10 years ago the class you raced was important. I raced C class one year, asked the district to promote me to B, raced B for two years and got promoted to A. It was an extreme pride thing to run the white number plate with black numbers that signified you were an A rider. Now I see white plates in the C class, B class, wherever. I would rather have dozens of fifth, sixth and sevenths in the A class than a single first place trophy in the C class. I want to beat the guys who are competitive.

I guess my complaint is, what happened to racing? It seems district sanctioned racing has gone by the wayside for mini-series' run by local track owners, there seems to be no policing of who runs what class and cherry picking seems to have gotten way worse. A district promoter used to be able to promote a rider a class if the rider was riding in a class below their skill level.

I want to start seeing a solid March-September District sanctioned race series again. You remember? The ones where certain races were B&C points, certain races were A points and the was actually factory contingency money at more than one race all year long? The ones where if you wanted to race and you were winning and placing high, you eventually got promoted to the faster class?

I plan to start back racing before the end of summer once I get my conditioning back. It pisses me off knowing that because guys would rather win trophies than race against the fast guys, there will be riders competitive and faster than me in the class below me. Have some balls, promote yourself, race against the fast guys, be ashamed to be a C rider who wins every race, be ashamed to be a B rider who was clearly the fastest guy at the track.

I want to see racing become competitive again. The winner of the C class, B class and A class should not be even close to the same speed, they shouldn't even be on the same planet. The guy who wins the C class should be running the pace of the last few guys in the B class (supposing the B class actually has a 20 rider gate), the guys who win the B class should be running around the pace of the tail end of the A class. If the A class stagger starts with the B class, the winning B rider should not pass half the A class.

Just my rant, I am sure many of you feel the same way.

[fivepointnine]

this is exactly how I feel, I would rather have the pride of saying Im a "B" or "A" rider than bragging about dominating the "C" class!!!

[timothys]

I moved up to B last year at some races I trophy 4,5,6th place, at others like a nat enduros 2/3s of the C class are in front of me, it makes no sense sometimes.

[Tucraysz2]

I agree completely, If you look at the NCHSA times you will see alot of people in the c-class running times of the a class, sometimes faster..you also read about people racing in c class that have been racing for 4,5,6 years and c class is supposed to be 2 years or less.

[Greg Y]

you can go from the school yard bully to a 12 year old girl just by changing the group you ride with. don't let them get you down, you can still watch their mistakes and pick up some reminders.....then move up to the higher classes. trophies are nice, but pride is worth more then gold plated plastic.

[gwillie]

the simple answer is Lorette Lynn titles has change the sport of amateur mx racing

[jsnake000777]

I totally agree, I won a couple C class races so I moved up to B and I got allot faster just from riding with the faster guys. My best finish so far has been thirds but I'm so much more proud of that third than any of the C class wins. But I have buddies who are faster than me still in C class but they like plastic trophies way too much and won't move up. I don't get peoples thinking?

[pieplatesnductape]

the simple answer is Lorette Lynn titles has change the sport of amateur mx racing

It's been a while since I've raced too, don't they have the standard rider performance value for mandatory advancements?

[bikeride4fun]

For the promoter..it all about making money....Now there are all of these different classes like D class ,school boy, college boy, four stroke amt, unlimated c&d it just keeps going....When I was a teenager...it was A,B and C Classes.....And you got moved when you got faster....and just like the OP stated....you had pride in what class you raced..... I guess track promoters are afraid to move racers feeling they will get mad and not come back to there track.....And this really kills me.....I have watched a few races say like 250B.....some of the fast guys will be up front and maybe even leading....the white flag comes out.....they pull off the track....After seeing a guy do this....I just had to ask why.....he said he was going to Loretta Lynn's and didnt want to have to change classes there at the LL Nats..........please.......?

[dirtrulz]

I think it is the "everyone gets to play" attitude that people have nowdays. They want to spread out the winning so that more people get to feel good. God forbid you piss off some parent who thinks their kid should have won. There is no reason any more to want to get better. Just about any rider cna find a class that will make them feel good with their results.

[lumpy790]

The tracks and top level of each class has changed and gotten a lot faster in 10 years.

It the last couple years MX Sports has cracked down a points are now tracked nation wide and they move riders up.