Dawn Of A New Era In Michigan Motocross

BUCHANAN, Mich. - Great Lakes Motocross (GLMX) officials are pleased to announce the opening 2009 races at GLMX's Log Road (Bronson) this weekend, April 4th and 5th.  And as the GLMX Michigan Mafia Championship series and ATV Challenge series kick off, so begins a new era in Michigan motocross.

Great Lakes Motocross team is comprised of seven state-of-the-art competition motocross facilities in Michigan, including: RedBud (Buchanan), Baja MX (Millington), Dutch Sport Park (Bloomingdale), Log Road (Bronson), Freelin MX (Marlette), Grattan Raceway Park (Belding) and Big Air Motocross (Newaygo).

GLMX was founded by the Ritchie family, the producers and promoters of the nation's largest professional motocross event - the Monster Energy RedBud MX National - who saw a need to revitalize the region's amateur motocross racing for dirt bikes and ATVs alike.

"The promoters are bringing new technology and ideas to the events this year.  Some examples are self-registration, paying series points per moto (instead of overall finish) and adding a ‘D’ class for true racing beginners,” said Amy Ritchie.  "But the real beauty of the GLMX structure is that all the membership money collected goes directly to motocross.  That gives us an opportunity to get creative.  For starters, we've doubled the number of bike and ATV championships.  We'll have four complete sets of series awards and prizes at the Great Lakes MX banquet in December."

Another big part of the new structure is the dealer program. Participating GLMX dealers will pitch in a huge portion of the series prizes this year.  In return, GLMX tracks will offer ‘dealer checks’ in place of trophies in eligible classes.  "Our goal for the dealer program is to further the concept of supporting the motocross community from within. We want to let the riders know which dealers are contributing to their series, and help them support those dealers every time they win an award," explained Ritchie.  “We have several dealers signed up already, and we’re set to launch the program in May.  At that point, the list of participating dealers will be updated on the series website weekly.”

The Great Lakes Michigan Mafia Championship series begins this weekend at Log Road, and wraps up this July, with a six-weekend, manufacturer contingency filled series finale.  Then the Great Lakes Mideast Championship series begins in August and runs through the end of the season.

The Great Lakes ATV Challenge series also kicks off this weekend at Log Road, and the Great Lakes ATV Championship series will begin April 26 at Freelin.

OEM contingency for the Great Lakes series approaches a quarter million dollars ($238,425 from Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Honda) as GLMX works to keep prizes and technology up and costs down for racers during these tough economic times.

The full schedule for all the 2009 Great Lakes Motocross championship series can be found at www.greatlakesmx.com.

For more information on the series and events offered, and GLMX, visit our website (www.greatlakesmx.com). Those with questions are encouraged to email info@greatlakesmx.com.

Great Lakes MX supports the sport of motocross. With seven of the premier motocross facilities on the GLMX team, amateur racers from all over the Great Lakes region stand to benefit now more than ever.  Featuring everything from track safety concerns, streamlined organization and registration, more lucrative contingency programs and prizes and a grand scale awards banquet - along with membership fees that are invested back into the events and series - the GLMX team is stepping up to further the great heritage of Michigan motocross racing for both bikes and ATVs.  On the web at www.greatlakesmx.com.