New EnduroX Championship Picks Up Where EnduroCross Left Off
A new promotion group took over the AMA EnduroCross Championship for 2019, but that group never got the series going, as a AMA press release in May told us the following:
The American Motorcyclist Association has been informed by the series promoter that there will be no national championship-level EnduroCross racing in 2019.
The promoter, WHR Motorsports informed the AMA that, due to unforeseen circumstances, the 2019 series has been canceled.
“The extreme off-road racing discipline is very important to the AMA as an organization and to many of our members,” AMA Director of Racing Kevin Crowther said. “We will continue to work toward securing a promotional partner that meets the requirements for operating an AMA extreme off-road national championship series.”
As soon as that news broke, we heard rumors that EnduroCross founder Eric Peronnard (who was not part of the WHR Motorsports team that took over the old series) and Kicker Arenacross promoter Tod Hammock were attempting to revive EnduroCross. They appear to have done it, throwing together a three-round 2019 Championship called EnduroX.
A press release below confirms the details.
Three Round AMA EnduroX Championship Confirmed for 2019
Tulsa, Okla.—June 27, 2019—Tod Hammock and Eric Peronnard announced earlier this month that they were working on a plan to create a new indoor extreme off-road racing series for 2019. Those plans have been met with a lot of enthusiasm from the riders, teams and potential sponsors. The AMA has confirmed sanctioning for the three-round series and the KTM, Husqvarna, Beta, Sherco and GasGas teams have committed to having their top riders compete.
“We have been very pleased with the progress we have been able to make in just a few weeks,” said Tod Hammock, the promoter of the successful Kicker Arenecross series. “We still have a lot of work ahead of us to be ready for round one in Prescott Valley on August 24 but we have enough of the critical pieces in place to move forward with the series for 2019 and look to build on that in the coming years.”
“After a great 2018 with most of the venues sold out or nearly sold out, I am excited about the potential growth Tod and I can bring to the sport,” said Eric Peronnard, the creator of the original EnduroCross event in 2004. “The interest in extreme racing events is growing both in the US and abroad and the indoor format of EnduroX makes it more accessible to fans so we believe there is room for growth.”
“Indoor Extreme Off-Road Racing is a staple of the discipline and it is great to get a fresh start on it,” said AMA Off-Road Racing Manager Erek Kudla. “Taking from all the ups and downs of the past 10 years of the sport, I believe the EnduroX series will build on the best of everything learned and put together an amazing series this season and into the future.”
The three races previously announced as tentative have now been confirmed for 2019:
- August 24, 2019 | Prescott Valley, Arizona | Findlay Toyota Center
- October 19, 2019 | Denver, Colorado | National Western Center
- October 26, 2019 | Boise, Idaho | Ford Idaho Center
The pro (Super EnduroX) class will use a three-moto format similar to the FIM SuperEnduro championship with a double row start and 16 riders. The first moto will be lined up based on afternoon hot-lap results. The riders will be inverted from the race one results for the second of the three motos. The final moto will be lined up based on the race two results so the top riders will race three times per event and at least one of those races will require a second-row starting position. Olympic style scoring will combine the results for all three motos to determine the overall event results.
The new championship has a new website with more information, which you can visit here.
