5 Minutes With ... Tim Clark
It was 2004 when Eric Peronnard and Tim Clark produced the first Maxxis EnduroCross. It was held inside the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, and truth be told, it wasn't a complete sell out. But the racing turned out to be fantastic, and word-of-mouth soon spread that EnduroCross was the "Must See" event in motorsports. Ryan Hughes won that year and even made the cover of Cycle News. In 2005, the arena was packed with spectators who were treated to another night of tremendous race action starring World Off-Road Champion David Knight, motocross legend John Dowd and new comer Ricky Dietrich, 1-2-3. The EnduroCross buzz was on for 2006 as tickets were sold out a month in advance. Dowd and Knight returned with the Junk Yard Dog taking the overall win - that included an amazing last turn collision with Monster Kawasaki's Nathan Woods. Woods remounted for second and Knight took third. Here we are in 2007 and the Maxxis EnduroCross has now become a three race series.
We caught up with Clark to find out the details about the series and what the future plans are for the EnduroCross. Here's what he had to say.
Racer X: We've noticed a lot of press releases about EnduroCross lately. How's this new series shaping up?
Tim Clark: So far, I would say things are going very well. We have locked in three great venues and will have the top off-road racers in the world in attendance. It should make for great racing for the fans.
The three races are in Colorado, Oklahoma and Las Vegas, correct?
That's right. We start out in Denver, Colorado on September 29, then to Guthrie, Oklahoma on October 6, with the final round in Las Vegas on November 16 and 17, the same weekend as the AMA Sports and Pro Banquets.
We've seen a couple announcements saying that both John Dowd and David Knight will be racing the series. That's good to have the past champions returning.
No question about that. Dowd, as you know, is just an amazing rider and can easily win the series. And what can you say about Knight that hasn't already been said? The guy is an animal on a motorcycle... he can literally smell checkerd flag fabric. Plus there are several other talented riders we will be announcing soon who I certainly would not count out of the running.
Explain how the format works for entering the races. Amateurs can race the series also, right?
That's correct. There are four different amateur classes and one expert class. Since we are AMA sanctioned, we will be awarding an AMA #1 plate in each amateur class and an AMA National #1 Championship plate to the overall series winner. When it comes to the final race, Saturday night in Las Vegas, we will be including the top ten racers from this year's series, plus the top ten racers from last year's Maxxis EnduroCross. These guys will race against our ten invited pros which we already know will include several top riders out of Europe. By the way, all race entries are available on line at EnduroCross.com.
Is there a purse for the Expert Class?
Absolutely. $40,000 in all spread out over the three races including a $10,000 series points fund.
What about in 2008? Will there be more than three races?
It looks like there will be at least six rounds in '08. We're finalizing agreements with the buildings right now, so we should be able to announce the schedule the first of next month. We are working on placing a couple events back east, it just takes a little time to work out the schedule with the buildings.
Ticket sales, are they going as planned for this year? Where do you buy them?
So far ticket sales are great. Both Denver and Oklahoma are doing really well and Las Vegas is actually way ahead of last year at this time so those going to the AMA Banquets and want to see the Maxxis EnduroCross need to order their tickets now. The best way to order them is online. There are links to all three venues on our website www.endurocross.com.
