My motocross racing, how this season (didn't) went, and more...

**Tony Bandiera Jr** · 12-08-2025, 12:06 PM

First update:

In October our track had the Series End Banquet, which as the announcer I do the MC duties for. A big part of that is giving out the Series Champions awards in each of the several racing classes. We did an 8 race series, where you had to race at least 5 of the 8 races to qualify for a Championship award. I raced the last two seasons in the "Open 2-stroke" class (which means any size bike with a 2 stroke engine is eligible, regardless of your skill class (Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, Expert, Pro) all race against each other.) This year we only had a dozen riders total in that class, with only 5-8 of them at any given race. (Previous years it was over 24 riders with a dozen or more per race).

The boss had printed out the list of all classes and the Champs (easier than in previous years where he gave me the scoring laptop where he highlighted the champs in each class in the jumble of results.) I did note that no one in the open 2 stroke class qualified. The next day I went to the scoring site (RaceReady) and looked up the Series points. Sure enough, no one ran enough races in the class to qualify...of the 12 riders, 7 only did one race, one guy did two, two riders did three and the other two did four.

So what did that mean? Remember in the last post I said I could race for free, right? Well, all I had to do was show up, run enough laps (no matter how badly I finished) for at least five of the seven rounds I announced. (I missed the opener due to illness) ...and I would have been the 2025 Series Champion in that class. DOH! (And the ONLY rider to qualify.) It would have been legit, because the Series Championship award is based on number of races ran, regardless of finish points earned. Now, my overall standing in that case based on total points earned would have been 8th or 7th based on my usual results.

Oh well.

And in other news, my brat bike is getting the engine rebuilt in preparation for next year's racing. The bike is a 2006 YZ 125 with a 2008 YZF250 front end. I got it from a millennial friend who used to ride freestyle, so the bike likes being upside down and lots of jumps. It suffered a rare blowup that had it sitting in his garage for about a year before I bought it from him. I rebuilt the "top end" and got it running, but had concerns that the crank might have been damaged from the previous blowup. (It measured ok but since it was subjected to a lot of stress I was leery of it.) It and I have fought a lot since I am an old slow guy and had to get used to the riding style of a 125 again after too many years on it's bigger brother.

Since I can't ride (finally got snow out here) I figured this is a good time to rebuild the "Bottom end". :

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This is just the beginning of the teardown, I have some special tools I need to order and it has been too cold in the shop this last week to work on it. More coming soon!

**Tony Bandiera Jr** · 12-26-2025, 02:59 PM

Rebuild update:

The new crank (which I paid extra for two day delivery) has been delayed until Monday (for a total of a full week shipping time.) Thanks for nothing, Fed Ex. Rat bastards. (Ironically, as I was typing this, I got an update it will get here today, still two days late... but hopefully undamaged.)

In the meantime, since I'm at a stop, here's the story, of a lovely lady (my late mom, who in the 70's looked a LOT like Florence Henderson, aka "Carol Brady") who finally decided to show up to one of my mx races.

As I'd mentioned in my OP, mom really was less than thrilled about my racing. But midway through my second season, I get a call out of the blue from my dad an Weds. night. He asked if I had a race that coming weekend. I said yeah, on Saturday. He said mom wants to come and see what all the fuss is about. I said, "Great, I'll send you the directions to the track." We chatted some more and hung up. I wondered what inspired the sudden change of heart?

Within 20 mins of that call, I realized there was a huge problem: the track I was going to (LA County Raceway, LACR for short) was the absolute WORST track I rode. It was built in a former quarry (still there, but currently closed due to insurance hassles) The track was all sand and extremely difficult to ride in, even for the more seasoned riders. If you've ever struggled to walk on the beach sand, it's a lot worse with a 200+ pound bike with skinny tires and 150+ pound rider. I called dad back and asked if we could change it to the following weekend where I'd be at my home track, Perris Raceway (still open). Dad said nope, you know your mother, it's gonna be now or never. I sighed and said ok.

LACR (back then) would have normally been open on Thursday and Friday so I could have gone and got some extra track time, but since the race was on Saturday they closed it to regular practices so they could get ready for the race. I only had one option left....

Race day, 7am: I show up at the track, dreading the day. I signed in, paid my race fees and the spectator fees for my parents who would arrive a bit later. I then talked to the promoter and track official and explained my dilemma. Mom, who was very skeptical about my racing, was showing up and I always struggled in the sand. Was there any way I could ride every possible "big bike" practice so I could hopefully find some speed? I even said I'd pay extra. They knew me well so they let me ride every extra practice for free, but I did have to ask the pro riders (I was a beginner) if it was ok to join them in their practice. They were cool and let me do it. (Oh, and to point out the speed difference between me as a beginner and them, all pros, they did two or three laps for my every single lap.)

Mom and dad had shown up sometime just before that pro practice, and since I would just exit the track and go back to the starting gate to go again, I didn't know until after the jr. class (young teen riders) practice, which was my last practice I could do. I finished that last practice and rode back to the truck, frustrated. The track was worse than usual.. and so was I. I get back to the truck to find my dad waiting there. I slam the bike on the stand and throw my helmet in the bed of the truck in frustration, cussing up a storm. (This startled my racing buddies as they'd never seen me lose my cool at the track before.) Dad, who as I mentioned, was a racer, understood. "Bike's not set up right for this, is it?" I told him no, and how I'd been fighting it for the last year to get it set up right. Just them mom shows up with three coffees for us. She hands dad and me our coffee and the first thing she said? "You were really slow out there, those little kids were faster than you."

Dad saw the look of impending matricide in my eyes and led my mom away for a quick discussion of what NOT to say to a racer at the track.

They return and mom apologized.

I did terrible during my race and yet, I still managed to get a great pic of me and mom by my bike and I somehow forced a sincere smile. Honestly. I was just glad she decide to show up to a race and relieved that I managed to not crash when she was there.

Next time:

Hopefully I can find that pic of me and mom, I thought I already had it scanned. And: Mom comes to a race at Perris Raceway six months later. Whackiness ensues.

**Tony Bandiera Jr** · 01-11-2026, 03:00 PM

Haven't found my photo album yet with the picture, so I'll have to add it later to this thread.

So gather 'round kids, here's the sequel to "Mom Who Hates Motocross Goes To The Races":

PROLOGUE:

The place, Perris Raceway, located in Perris, California. It was the summer of 1991 and the track was hosting its annual "GFI At Night" Racing series. This was a 16(!) race series with a pretty impressive goal: the top five riders in each class were eligible to enter a drawing on the last race to win big prizes. For the big bikes, it was a brand new truck. (For the little guys 85cc, 65cc and 50cc it was a new bike) You had to race a minimum of 14 of the 16 races to qualify. The competition in all classes was tough, you had to be on your game to win the races and show up every race to have a shot at the Series Championship and to be in the prize drawings.

I was 28 years old, and this was my first full season of motocross racing. I had made a lot of good friends and "riding buddies", one of whom is important to this story. He was 18 and often rode with my main race class (25-29 Beginners) where he did not get scored but was out there for the extra track time. He also rode in the 250(cc) Beginner class, which had no age restrictions, so when he raced with me the positions and points counted.

(Sadly I have forgotten his name after so many years, and my race log didn't mention his name just his racing number.) He and I had a ritual every race to entertain the crowd. During the race, we would battle side by each, banging bars, elbowing and kicking at each other. (It was all for fun, no malice intended.) Then, at the track exit, we'd stop, and jawbone helmet to helmet about the race, and as our parting shot, smack each other on the back of the head (while wearing our helmets) as hard as we could. Keep this in mind.

THE NIGHT OF THE RACE:

It was a nice September evening, and this was the race mom and dad had shown up for. According to my race log, it was warm and breezy that night, ideal for racing. Knowing my parents were coming, I entered BOTH of the race classes I'd mentioned above, just to show off. My buddy decided to just ride the 250 Beginner to stay in the points, and it was on that race in the second moto that the wackiness ensued. (It would be my third time out on the track that night.) I will explain the "Moto" and race scoring in another future post.

Before the practices that night, I met with my buddy to tell him that we could not do our usual ritual, as my parents were coming and dad was a former dirt track car racer, and he'd think our act was you (my buddy) deliberately trying to wreck me on the track. I told him we could still ride close and do some contact, but the usual kicking and elbowing was a no-go. He agreed and I asked him to stop by my truck at some point to meet my parents.

My parents were watching from the grandstands placed at the finish line jump. That jump was a 60 foot "tabletop" near the end of a long straightaway, and right after was a tall left hand berm corner (behind that berm was the starting gate, so if you flew over that you WILL end up hitting the riders lined up for the next race.) As you exit that left hand corner, you had two choices: The inside line, with an "Anthill" about 8 feet tall built right on the track at the apex of the turn; or the outside line which just transitioned from that huge berm wall to the flat straight that followed. This comes into play in a bit.

According to the log book, the first two motos were pretty uneventful. I did a minor adjustment to my bike after the second moto (Moto 1 of the 25-29 Beginner race) to loosen up the rear shock. Mom and dad were having a good time, I was running a LOT better than that first time they were there, and my buddy and I kept our show to a minimum. Dad was curious about the bike setup so during intermission between the races we went over all of it, while mom did her crossword puzzle.

After the intermission we started the moto 2 rounds of our races, (we were Race 3 and 10). It was during Race 3, moto 2 that the wackiness ensued. Out on the track, my buddy and I were in battle and both pushing hard. As we'd go over the finish line jump, I'd take the outside line (closest to the fence and grandstands) so I could rail around the berm corner at high speed (but it is the longer way through the corner), while my buddy would take the inside and the anthill jump. (Which is a much shorter distance, but you have to slow down or "check up" to do the anthill without killing yourself.) Well, his way worked a bit faster than my way. So on the fourth lap of seven, dad was yelling at me "INSIDE LINE" . In other words, start taking the line away from my buddy and doing the anthill. Problem was, I'd never practiced doing it at race speeds and hadn't practiced it at all that night. But since dad knew racing, I decided to try it next lap.

As we come around for lap 5, I fake my buddy out until right before the finish line jump, where I abruptly cut to the inside (almost putting us both on the ground). He cusses at me midair as I flip him off, I can just hear my dad yelling "Fuck YEAH!!" (another surprise as my dad rarely dropped f-bombs). As I take the anthill (and having slowed a bit too much) I was horrified to find a deep mudhole right at the base of the anthill. In a split second, my rear wheel landed in the mud, my bike bogged down.... just as my buddy cut BACK to the inside line! His front wheel hit my rear wheel, which was free spinning at high speed in the mud hole. That sent my bike flying straight up about 15 feet in the air, without me on it. It lands, (somehow it kept running) so I just picked it up, got back on and resumed the race.

What my parents saw from the stands: My buddy and I approach the finish jump, I switch lines, almost putting us both on the ground. We get air over the jump, dad yells, mom gasps, we both enter the corner, me inside, my buddy outside. I go over the anthill as my buddy rails that berm. He cuts back to the inside (figuring I'd already be moving just ahead of him, but he tags my rear wheel instead.) Mom and dad both see my bike go flying, without me on it (the anthill fully blocked the view.) I show up shortly after, muddy and getting back up to speed. We finish the race, I was dead last (10th of 10).

At the exit, my buddy is waiting as usual. I pull up next to him, he's almost in tears apologizing for putting me on the dirt. We are helmet to helmet, talking loud as the next race is already on the track. As we talk, I see my dad heading towards us, and he was pissed. I tell my buddy to get going and come see me at the truck in 15 minutes. We both forget ourselves and do the helmet smack. Dad sees and veers off course to tackle my buddy off his bike. I race over to dad and yell at him to just get back to the truck.

I get to the truck, put my bike on the stand and dad's still fired up: "Where's that little asshole at? I'm gonna kick his ass." I talked my dad down, explaining it was just a racing accident, he didn't do it on purpose. It took some more explaining about how my buddy and I race to really get him to settle down. A few minutes later, my buddy walks up, wary. My dad glared at him for a moment before finally winking and smiling at him. I introduce him to dad and as we are talking.....

Here comes mom. Turns out she took a restroom break right after the race. (I probably literally scared the piss out of her.) She walks up, literally in tears: "Oh my gods, are you ok? What happened? Did you break anything?" and so on. All three of us racers roll our eyes at the theatrics. I shake my head and tell dad that mom is not allowed to come to my races anymore, she can't handle it. (Luckily she wasn't there a few race days before, when I crashed hard off that finish jump, ejecting off my bike while 25 feet in the air.)

As time when on after that, mom would occasionally ask about my racing, but she never did go to anymore races (even though I relented and said she could come to the races if she wanted to.)

Next time: The pic and some others (if I ever find them) and the race the following season where I went from hero to zero in less than 2 seconds.

**Tony Bandiera Jr** · 01-17-2026, 08:02 PM

Last post I mentioned I would explain how motocross races are scored. Well, here it is. Thankfully I had this already typed up as part of a short story I am about to publish online (Once the cover art is done), I'll start a new thread about it when its released. For now, here's the scoop on mx race scoring and starting "Gate Picks":

Motocross race events consist of several classes of riders, divided by skill levels, age, bike engine sizes or a combination of all or some of those factors. A race event consists of two “Motos” (races) of each class, with the second moto carrying more weight in the overall results for each classes race.

How are the overall winner and runners-up determined? You add the actual track position at finish for each moto of each rider. The total is then ordered from lowest total to highest, with the lowest being first place overall, etc. So from the story, here’s how the two motos in race #12 scored: (Apologies for how the numbers aren't lining up in the post, something with the forum software keeps screwing it up despite my typing it with proper alignment. I've used bold to help out.)

Rider: Moto 1: Moto2: Total: Overall Finish:

Slick 2 2 4 1
Rider: 5 1 6 2
Rider: 3 4 7 3
“ “ 4 6 10 4
“ “ 8 3 11 5
“ “ 7 5 12 6
“ “ 6 7 13 TIE 7*
" " 1 12 13 TIE 8*

(And yes, sometimes the races are so full of ensued wackiness that the positions change this radically.)

NOTE: Race organizers usually do not allow tie scores, so the overall results marked with an * are the results if the tie is not allowed. The key takeaway is the two riders had totals of 13 each. The rider with the better finish in moto 2 gets the better overall finish number as shown.

As for gate picks, (another element mentioned at moto two), for moto one it is the order on the sign up sheet for that race, in moto 2 it is the order of the first moto finish, (1^st place picks first and so on.)

Side note: As an announcer, finishes like this are a pain, as I have to try to do all the math in my head (and quickly, within a few minutes after the finish of a race the next one is already starting) so I always repeat many times on the P.A. that any results I announce are unofficial, and to check the official scoring after the race. By the way, at most events I announce I also race at least one class (two motos), so it is even more challenging to keep score in my head.

The points awarded for final positions are even more difficult sometimes. It is a descending scale, and can vary by promoter/race track. The AMA (American Motocross Association) who runs the Supercross and National Motocross series, uses the following chart:

image.png

My local track uses the "25-34" Participants column most of the time, regardless of the number of total riders in the race. There have been a few times where they modify it by starting with first place at 25 points, then just subtracting one point the rest of the way down. It can vary from track to track even in the same region, but it generally stays consistent during a race series, even when multiple tracks are involved.

My motocross racing, how this season (didn't) went, and more...

My motocross racing, how this season (didn't) went, and more...

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