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Mid October Southwestern US local amateur MX racing.. Does it really get any better? This past weekend was round 2 of the Frontier Racing USA Fall 2020 race series.
The weather was exceptional as it always is this time of year. High of 90 and lows in the upper 50’s overnight. We chose to camp at the racetrack for round two, as we did for round one as well. Western Raceway upgraded the onsite camping area for this round by freshly grading and watering their 4 acre plot for overnighters. As with last round in September the campers rolled in Friday evening and was a fun mix of families. The kids rode bikes and played with their new neighbors for the weekend until long after the sun had set. As a dad seeing this was uncommonly satisfying given the current continued virtual schooling the kids are experiencing. Seeing them get to be social again put a smile on my face and theirs both.
Saturday morning the tracks were well prepped and watered. Western raceway made significant investment in a new rented water truck and operator to ensure there were no watering challenges from equipment all weekend. They as well this race introduced transponders to remedy the shortcomings with hand scoring round one. This made possible in part to local sponsorship from Ride Now Powersports. At the riders meeting announcer Lance Gilman long time Boulder City local MX rider/racer and moto dad kicked things off for the weekend. The PA system challenges that played out during round one had obviously been remedied and the announcing system was easily audible from just about anywhere on the premises. Throughout the weekend Lance did a great job keeping the moto status and lineup announcing current and consistent.. The “what moto is it?” challenges of round one solved themselves quickly. Vendors in attendance were Ride Now Powersports with excellent free swag, Dirt Rider Designs and Dave Knows Deals with a plethora of parts and gear for sale.
Racing commenced after morning practice and riders saw the addition of an on deck moto lane, where in their race number would be checked against the sign up sheet before they were cleared to head to the gate. Apparently there were a handful of riders during round one with less than admirable integrity who couldn’t keep themselves honest in the honest system of only race the race you signed up and paid for... so, this extra step helped prevent that. Although unfortunate that its necessary as its just one more added labor cost for this new local track to shoulder in bringing the SW a local moto venue. It was however seamless for the riders and worked well.
The kids gates this round looked to be slightly less full compared to round one, talk was that some other prior and future weekend races on the schedule with other local’ish race series had likely cannibalized some riders. None the less there was plenty competition to go around. Saturday races clicked by without a hitch and racing was done by early afternoon.
Pit bike racing immediately followed the commencing of the day’s motos of MX. The pitbike crowd seemed quite happy that the pitbike racing was moved up to this time slot, as opposed to the evening/night racing idea originally seen during round one the month earlier. I think Western
Raceway’s under the lights pitbike racing plans were valiant and a good idea. However in reality the pitbike racers got impatient waiting on dusk following an early finish to the day’s motos. The pitbike track is uber sick by the way and a riot to watch the top local MX dudes shred.
Saturday evening saw a sizeable exodus of racers and campers alike, I would estimate about half of the campers stayed Saturday night, and a few new arrived to stay for Sunday’s GP racing. Sunday brought the return of the near perfect weather and Western Raceway had a fantasitic GP track layed out. The track was changed from round one to include more desert sections, including some deep sand. The GP track consisted of a near 5 mile loop with lap times ranging from 5-10min. on avg. It included the Intermediate track, back desert routes and the Vet Track. Attendance for the GP races were also a bit lighter than the previous round, for the same reasons I assume.
In all I think Western Raceway and Frontier Racing USA is doing an absolutely fantastic job creating a place for grass roots local MX and GP racing. The location is terrific for anyone from Las Vegas, Havasu, Kingman or any of the surrounding areas. Each event they continue to refine their processes, equipment, staff and tracks.
The boys and I feel very fortunate to have a facility like Western Raceway to attend and race at. They continue to evolve and be run by a team that truly cares about the rider experiences each event. They have proven so in their ability to listen to rider feedback and take action to up their game the following event.
We look forward to Round three of this Fall series November 7/8. We will be in the pits camping for the weekend as well as the boys continue their chase of the Ironman trophies, for competing and completing all MX and GP races in the series.
See you at the racetrack.
-Justin Mackie
