AMA Motocross Set to Make OLN Television Debut This Saturday - News - Dirt Rider Magazine

Hangtown Classic to Air This Saturday on OLNThe opening round of the 2005 AMA Motocross Championship Presented by FMF will be televised this Saturday at 3 p.m. (EST) on OLN. The Hangtown Classic, the first event of the 12-event championship, was held Sunday at Prairie City SVRA Park near Sacramento, Calif., and attended by a record-setting crowd.

According to John Farris, AMA Pro Racing's Vice President Commercial Development, the Dirt Diggers North Motorcycle Club, organizers of the event, did a terrific job with logistics as well as ensuring that the historic Hangtown track was race ready. Their efforts, along with those of the AMA Pro Racing staff will be evident in the telecast. "We couldn't be happier with the outcome of the first event of the motocross season," said Farris. "The 'perfect storm' continues and every motocross fan is in for a great summer of competition. This was just the beginning of what will surely be an amazing year."Farris was referring to the convergence of top riders Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed and James Stewart (making his 250 motocross debut) in the premier class of AMA Motocross competition. The perfect storm nickname was applied at the beginning of this year's THQ AMA Supercross Series but an early injury to Stewart prevented the three stars from facing each other for the entire season. With all three riders back on track, and joined by such other standouts as Kevin Windham and David Vuillemin, fan expectations are soaring again.In fact, fan interest was so high that traffic to @theWireLIVE!, AMA Pro Racing's real-time online timing and scoring site, was temporarily interrupted. "We had more fans log on to this event than what we had for the first round of the THQ AMA Supercross season. Our servers were simply overwhelmed," said Farris. "Fans accessing @theWireLIVE! to follow the Hangtown event as well as those monitoring the AMA Superbike race being held simultaneously in Pikes Peak, Colo., may have had gaps in their coverage due to the sheer number of people on line." Farris pointed out that added server capacity should prevent that situation from occurring in the future. To access @theWireLive! log on to www.amamotocross.com and follow the links.This is OLN's first year of broadcasting AMA Motocross. Currently in 63 million homes, OLN is one of the fastest growing cable networks. Specializing in the coverage of action sports, OLN is known for its coverage of the Tour de France, the Dakar Rally and the AMA Supermoto Championship. OLN also promotes and televises the Gravity Games. Saturday's OLN broadcast will feature the 250 class with the 125 class airing on Thursday, June 2 at 5 p.m. EST. Check local listings.