RedBud Grass Race Weekend

BUCHANAN, Mich.– Hauntingly curious, mischievously fun and, well, pretty much the last time you’re going to get to race on the hallowed ground of RedBud this year – Oct. 15-16 marks the 22nd annual Throttle Jockey RedBud Grass Race Weekend.

RedBud’s Grass Race is the final statement race at the region’s premier motocross facility, with celebrated pro MX champions, colorful regional icons and every kind of racer in between battling for class supremacy in their given divisions. So one more time the bikes come out and guys go elbow-to-elbow off the starts before southwest Michigan motocross transitions into hunting season and snowmobiles. The Grass Race is also the penultimate round of the Great Lakes MX Mideast Championship Series, with valuable series points up for grabs.

“The Throttle Jockey Grass Race is open to everyone and has a homegrown flare – as much a big party as it is a race,” said RedBud’s Tim Ritchie. “We’re on a track we custom build once a year, a combination of features from the orchard, which is now the TORC off-road track, to a portion of the laps being on the actual RedBud MX National track. It’s been a big hit since we started the Grass Race in 1989 and RedBud staff looks forward to this weekend in October as much as the racers.”

Ritchie added, “The track will end going up the ski jump again this year, which is always a racer favorite. Good thing we’re getting a little rain this week, too. Wetter is better for this track.”

Also, what’s pretty much recognized as one of the original ‘Pit Bike’ races is the Grass Race’s annual XR Championship. This (supposedly) just-for-fun event on the cusp of Halloween combines XR75 and XR80 mini bike racing with Trick-or-Treat costumes. Names like Stanton, LaRocco, Wagner, Akin-Wagner, Rose, Borcherding, Flickinger, Weatherholt and Sodetz have all contested the XR Championship in the past. In fact, one year LaRocco was awarded a custom pumpkin light for his XR Championship podium finish – the weekend after winning $100,000 at the Las Vegas U.S. Open of Supercross! Add to that names like Burleson, Bowen, DeHoop, Feist, Grewe, Smith, Wey and Witmer and you never know what Michigan Mafia names might show up in the starting gate next to you!

Ritchie explained that there’s something new for the youngest racers – and the XR Championships – this weekend, too. “We brought in track builder Randy Poulter late this season and turned him loose on the KTM Kids Track, where the 50cc and beginner classes race. After a couple of races it’s clear that the kids love the changes. We’re moving the 50cc classes back to that track this weekend. It’s better racing for them, plus we were pretty cramped for time on the grass track last year and this will help a bunch.”

RedBud’s Grass Race brings competitors back to the roots of the sport, re-creating how tracks used to look – natural terrain churned black for a weekend by hundreds of knobby tires.

Racing memories laid to rest over the winter months, promising to return as new grass in the spring. The final weekend of competition for long-standing rivalries in the region that culminates in a party of sorts, celebrating the great sport of motocross and another successful year of competition in the Midwest.

Grass Race Information
What: 22nd annual Throttle Jockey RedBud Grass Race
When: Saturday & Sunday, Oct. 15-16
Time: Saturday practice on the pro track (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) for bikes and ATVs. Racing on the Grass Track Sunday, along with the XR Championships. Practice starts at 8:30 a.m.
Where: RedBud, Buchanan, Mich.
Format: Open Riding on the pro track & KTM Kids Track Saturday. Racing on the Grass Track & KTM Kids Track Sunday.
For the Kids: Trick-or-Treating and pumpkin carving in the pits Saturday night.
For the Adults: Live broadcast of the Monster Energy Cup in Vegas by KB Grill.
Prizes by: Throttle Jockey, Skull Candy, Factory Connection, Renthal, Mechanix Wear, Alpinestars and Dunlop.
XR Championship: Sunday at intermission. XR 75 or 80 frame, engine and wheels. All mods are legal! Twin and Single shock classes. Qualifiers, if needed, will run on Sunday morning.
Further information: http://www.redbudmx.com


RedBud supports the sport of motocross and has since 1972!  The region's most prestigious amateur events and Round Six of the AMA Lucas Oil Motocross Championship are held in the beautiful rolling hills of southwestern Michigan. A state with an affinity for off-road recreational vehicle use, RedBud owns the bragging rights to the highest attended U.S. motocross race year after year. Just the right soil mix, lots of passing and the BIGGEST jump on the circuit (LaRocco’s Leap), the track provides for some terribly exciting motocross racing. Definitely a top motocross destination in a region that loves its motorsports.

Great Lakes MX supports the sport of motocross. With seven of the Midwest's 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 and Midwest motocross racing for both bikes and ATVs. On the web at www.greatlakesmx.com.

High Profile Public Relations, LLC is a multi-faceted communications agency specializing in strategic media relations – both industry and mainstream – for the powersports and action sports communities. Dialed in with all forms of power and action sports, its participants, manufacturers and live event promoters, HPPR’s Pat Schutte can be reached at (734) 369-2170 and pat@highprofilepr.com. For more information, please visitwww.highprofilepr.com.