MX Racers Liven Up Saturdays With Public Autograph Session – News – Dirt Rider Magazine

National Promoters Group Announces Saturday “FanFest!”In an effort to make the great athletes of the AMA Motocross Championship even more approachable to fans, the National Promoters Group (NPG), in cooperation with the motorcycle OEMs, has come up with a racer meet & greet program that will afford Outdoor National motocross fans that arrive to the track on Saturday the opportunity to meet with some of their favorite pro racers—before the massive race day crowd rolls in on Sunday.

Dubbed “FanFest,” the event debuted at High Point and was extremely popular with the fans.”With our historically liberal pro pit admittance policies and openness of our athletes in general, the Nationals are recognized—pretty much more than any other form of motorsport—by the amazing access allotted to our fans,” explained NPG member Amy Ritchie of RedBud. “Name another form of racing, with as reasonably-priced a ticket, where you can enter the front gate and choose the area you want—not, say, being limited to Seat 5, Row 11, Section 245. Stand along side the amazing whoops section at Millville. Sit in the grandstands at LaRocco’s Leap. Climb Mt. St. Helen.”Ritchie continued: “With little time for amateur racing programs on Saturday, the NPG has been working on fan-friendly additions to the Saturday program, like the Parts Unlimited Minibike Championships presented by Great Lakes Powersports that began in 2003. Many of our fans come to the races to camp out and race amateur days, which puts them at the track one to two days prior to the National. We want to provide an entire weekend of motocross activities for these families. When the NPG suggested a Saturday meet & greet session after pro practice, the OEMs were glad to help out and give their riders an opportunity to interact with the folks at the track.”Open to everybody, the “FanFest” kicked off at High Point with Team Kawasaki, featuring James “Bubba” Stewart and Michael Byrne, along with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki racers Matt Walker, Ivan Tedesco, Grant Langston, Paul Carpenter and Stephane Roncada.Here’s a look at which teams will be appearing at the NPG’s FanFest the rest of the summer, 4 to 5 p.m. on the Saturday before Sunday’s National:Southwick: Suzuki
Budds Creek: Yamaha and Yamaha of Troy
RedBud: Kawasaki and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki
Unadilla: KTM
Thunder Valley: Honda
Washougal: Yamaha and Yamaha of Troy
Spring Creek: Suzuki
Broome-Tioga: Honda
Steel City: Kawasaki and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki
Glen Helen: Yamaha and Yamaha of TroyThe goal of the NPG is to raise the awareness of motocross through the production of professional championship racing events. For more information on the NPG and motocross results, please visit our web site at mxnationals.com.