Chip's Corner D23

New Century, New Thinking, New Premier Season

Well, I see your computer made it with lots of hype and little grief. Or at least I hope so! We've got some new dates for competition and trail riding events for you to check out. Scour our web site and you'll find them. They're up there, you just have to look! It's easy, just click on any hyperlink and sooner or later you'll find it. Along with tons of other Dist.23 information you didn't know.

You 125A and 250A mx riders will find that this is a new battle for the year 2000. You now have a

Premier Class! This change requires you to do battle with the entire fast crowd. There will be no more staying north or staying south just for comfort. For ten dates these tracks will be the only track that will have Dist.23 State Championship points awarded on that day. This only applies to the Premier class. You 125A and 250A riders will have to face each other to still be in the running at the end of the season. That's Racing! That's the Premier Class! Any 125&250A riders that choose to go to the other track will still get to race, you just won't get Dist.23 points. I repeat, this new Premier Class only affects those two classes. The rest of the classes will still get points at either track. The Premier dates are as follows: 4-16 Grantsburg; 6-4 Mazeppa; 6-11 Mankato; 6-25 Deer River; 7-2 Staples; 7-9 Millville; 7-16 Mora; 7-30 Brookston; 8-20 Elko; 8-27 Kellogg. This will go down in Minnesota history as the first Premier Championship of the new century.

For the 65cc crowd there is also a new name listing on the entry forms. The peewee class, as it was called in the past, will now be called the 65cc Class. This was mainly done to keep our rules in line with the classes at AMA nationals.

The mini 7-11 riders lost a class to ride in. There will no longer be a Mini Open class for them to get a second class to race in. The reason being insurance companies won't allow that wide of an age spread. So you guys with both a 65cc bike and an 80cc bike can ride two classes. As long as you are in that 7-11 age bracket. But you can not ride with the 12-15 year old riders! Both the AMA and insurance companies just won't allow a 7-15 age spread.

As a result you now have a 12-15 Super Mini Class. So riders with a Big Wheel motocross bike can ride both the Super Mini class and the Youth class as long as you meet the proper age requirements. But the 7-11 year olds lost that extra class as a result. Sorry guys, there's nothing we can do about it at this time. I certainly would like to hear any comments from you riders on this subject. I'm sure it will make for many interesting bench racing debates.

Also for year 2000 are many new committees. These committees are a good balance of volunteers that look into both rider and track issues. Issues that were brought up at the annual meeting on your behalf. These people will be available throughout the season for discussion on your favorite racing and track rules issues. They are as follows:

Advisory Committee- Dana Koenig, Chip Donaho, Bill Medek, Mike Christy, Bob Wiehr, Jeff Craft.

Promotions Committee - Tim Henrichs, Johnny DeOtis, Gary Groth, Barb Rutschow George Hodkinson, Johnny DeOtis, Chip Donaho, Don Youngdahl, Jim Fearall, Craig Rutschow.

Representation Committee - George Hodkinson, Roger Grill, and Shannon Rumpca.

These committee meetings will meet one hour early before the District 23 board meetings each month. When you see those people, share with them your thoughts. Well, maybe not all of them! We don't need any more sports hero's in jail!

As long as you're talking to your Dist.23 representatives, don't forget to ask for a "New Idea Form." I don't know if that's the official name, but these forms are for rule changes and additions to be brought up at the meetings. This will give your Board of Directors a chance to weed out and implement new ideas for the year end annual meeting. Which I'm sure you all made? These forms will be available through your class reps or the District 23 office during the season. Or e-mail chip@visi.com and I will see to it you get the form in your mechanic's greasy hands. I guess when it comes to racing greasy fingerprints are the "official" seal?

See that "hyperlink", that's the new computer word for this month. Go ahead, click on it, it may be lead to interesting places and people. Just remember, if it's not an Icon, it must be a "hyperlink."

Well, I'll let you get back to your bench racing. If you're really board, click on this "hyperlink" and download Motocross Madness to cure boredom. It's a Free Trial Version!

It's at www.eu.microsoft.com/games/motocross/downloads.htm

There's a new version coming out soon that also has a section just for you enduro riders. It even has motorhomes and campers in the pits. Which you can hit without breaking any Dist.23 pit riding rules!

Keep in touch, download the game, and race with me on line. But I'll warn you, I have my computer "ported" with extra fans on the case! Cooling is important to both motorcycles and computers. Dust and dirt are your enemy!

Chip Donaho