his September, the prestigious Motocross des Nations will return to U.S. soil, at the legendary Budd’s Creek, Maryland track. The last time the U.S. hosted the MXdN was at Unadilla in 1987. Steve Bruhn recently spoke with both Youthsteam President Giuseppe Luongo and Budd’s Creek owner Jonathan Beasley to discuss the plans for the upcoming race:
     “It’s been one of our priorities to bring back the Motocross of Nations on American ground.” says FIM World Motocross and Motocross of Nations’ promoter Giuseppe Luongo, president of Youthstream. “The American team along with all the other countries makes this event the most important motocross race in the entire world and being that the United States is the winningest country in the event and one of the biggest motocross nations in the world, it was our desire to bring the race to the American fans.”
     “Europe is known for the huge passion of its fans but I know that the American fans are not less avid enthusiasts either and they deserve to attend the race where their team will face the rest of the world in the race we often call the Olympics of Motocross. I see only reasons for the event to successful, it is simply amazing the expectation that there is for this race.”
     “From our side we are already dealing with a massive list of information request, credential requests and so on. The riders of the FIM World MXGP series can’t wait to show up in the U.S. and challenge Team USA in its own environment.”
     “There are so many reasons to make sure this race won’t be missed, one among others is that the 2007 MXoN will be the last race of Ricky Carmichael, a rider who is a champion also out of the track and is one of the biggest supporters of this race. The motocross universe is going crazy for this event, we will make sure we’ll put together an unforgettable race properly set according to our high standards.”
     The biggest motocross race of the year is coming to Budd’s Creek, Maryland in September, for the Motocross of Nations, a race that hasn’t been held in America since the Unadilla MXdN in 1987.
     The race is the ultimate challenge for Budd’s Creeks’ owner Jonathan Beasley. Beasley was at that MXdN in 1987, and it’s been his passion ever since. He’s been to every Motocross des Nations since, and in recent years is often spotted at regular season GPs, hanging out and sometimes even working just to help out. Beasley may be the greatest GP fan in America.
     After years of searching for the right time, things came together for Beasley to put the race on himself as an organizer for Youthstream. He’s betting that he can double the attendance of his national there.
     The race is a lot of work of course, but Beasley took a couple days off to meet with the National Promoter’s Group at Anaheim 3, and while there he sat down for an interview in the Parts Unlimited tent to explain what he’s doing in more detail:

Q: How are preparations for the Motocross of Nations going?
A: “The Motocross of Nations is sort-of an untested product in the United States. It’s the biggest challenge that my staff and I have ever faced. Everybody that is associated with Budds Creek is stepping up to make this as good an event as it can be. This has been a passion. I have always enjoyed European racing. I guess when I started doing it, the Europeans were so dominant, I was always more fascinated with the GPs than the American nationals. To have this, this will be the pinnacle of my career as a promoter. It’s something we have been looking forward to for a long time.”

Q: What are people going to see at Budds in 2007 because of this event?
A: “The track changes the FIM is making us do, the track has been totally re-done. The track has a smaller footprint, to get the racing up close and personal. The biggest thing the FIM made us do was move the starting line, so now, everyone that is at the race can see the entire start. Before only a few, the lucky ones that staked out a spot early in the day, could see the start the way it was laid out up until now.
It’s an interesting challenge. We are completely re-fencing the entire track. I am taking what the FIM has and blending it with the American way of doing things. We are clearly building the best racetrack in the United States. Before I never thought we were even in the top five. We have always tried to improve things.”

Q: Are there any unforeseen challenges running this event in the U.S., or any format changes?
A: “We got permission to run amateurs, which is unheard of in the FIM’s world. The way we were able to do that, we have a supercross track also that we planned to run all along. Also the FIM is going to let us run amateurs on it Friday to get into shape as a real racetrack.”

Q: Is this race going to be good business for Budds Creek?
A: “This race was here once, in 1987. About 10 years ago it went from being the biggest cash cow that a promoter (note–organizer) could ever hope for to the involvement with TV conglomerates so that now it is such an expensive race to put on, we are literally gambling our future on if it rains that weekend. The weather in late September in Maryland is beautiful. I think we will get through it and we are going to do the best we can. The AMA has really stepped up their participation. It was amazing. Every motorcycle magazine in America called me and asked me what they could do to help.
There is a lot of national pride at stake. We have a good racetrack on a permanent facility. A lot of European tracks are just built for that one weekend and turned back to cow pastures in the next month.”

Q: Are the changes to the facility going to be visible at the outdoor national at Budds Creek?
A: “We are going to have everything in place and use that as a dry run for the Motocross of Nations. Normally we reverse the racetrack and run clockwise one year and counterclockwise the next, but we are keeping the track in the same direction for the national and the Motocross of Nations.
The big thing with the Matterley track was it had just run one race before and it was a GP that had bad weather with 12,000 people. They had 50,000 show up this time. Every national that’s on our circuit, we have grown to learn to accommodate those kinds of crowds. We are planning on twice as many people being there as at a national. We have leased all the farms that are within a couple hundred yards of the racetrack and cleared a massive new 20-acre parking lot for the motor homes. We have a good thing here. We will have 50 state troopers working to direct traffic to Budds Creek.
People will recognize it coming up the highway, but once they look inside the park it’s going to be vastly different. I have tried to incorporate the good things in every racetrack that I have seen in this new footprint.”

Q: Are you ready for such a huge crowd?
A: “The first time I saw a Motocross of Nations was 20 years ago at Unadilla. It started raining Saturday afternoon so by Sunday the crowd wasn’t there. The interesting thing now, they started making everyone ride on Saturday to qualify for Sunday. Now you have crowds on Saturday so 75-80% of the people that are going to be there are already there. We are expecting a big crowd and we can handle a big crowd.
The track is going to be vastly different. There are new fence lines and the start is going to be the ultimate.”

Q: What difference has Carmichael really made for this event in his time in motocross?
A: “I think Ricky Carmichael has saved America as far as this race goes. Ricky is planning on riding it this time. He has done so much for this race. You can remember a time when the factory guys just stuck their nose up at it. Ricky was the one that said, ‘I want to ride.’ He has elevated the thing back to the David Bailey, Ricky Johnson, Johnny O’Mara era when everyone was proud to ride for their country. Ricky has rekindled that patriotic feeling among the riders. Ricky has single handedly taken motocross to the same level Jeremy McGrath took supercross to in the 1990s.”

Q: How busy are things at Budds Creek?
A: “We run about 10 races per year, amateur races. I think that one of the things that is going to make this a success is the amateur track and a supercross track that will stay running Friday and Saturday night. When you sign up to do that, you get a practice ticket for 20 minutes on the Motocross of Nations track. That is our core audience, people who ride or race motocross. I think that is what will make or break that weekend.
It was a tough sell, but they know we can do it. We have done it previously at GPs where we had amateur days on Fridays. The FIM sees it as a uniquely American aspect and that the American promoters, all 12, will be at Budds Creek to help me get through that weekend.”

Q: Is it true the other promoters of the nationals will all be there?
A: “Our management consists of some very brilliant people. Andrew our head manager is an Air Force pilot that flies the Vice President of the United States. We have a top staff. But to answer your question, yes they will be there. It’s going to be nice to have 12 other sets of hands and eyes and it’s nice for the NPG to offer their assistance, and the AMA is bringing a full staff also.”

Q: How much will this be different than the GP you had in 1999?
A: “In 1999, with GP racing in the U.S., with no Americans, people did not have that patriotic feeling. Thank God Kevin Windham stepped up at the last minute, well Everts helped him. Stephan called those guys cowards, yeah, but Stephan rides 15 GPs a year, these guys have twice that many races in the U.S. schedule. Everyone is tired at the end of the year.
The difference with the Motocross of Nations is the top three American riders and all the best racers in the world will be here. Chad Reed has told me he is going to ride it. There is a lot of national pride for this every year. Even China came to Britain. You have to give them credit for trying. In 1971, we finished second to last.
It’s something that the world gets once in a lifetime. If you want to wait another 20 years…”

Q: You go to a lot of races in Europe don’t you?
A: “For years my brother and sister have been going to the Motocross of Nations every year since Unadilla, even before that we would go over. About 10 of us went to Matterley, we all ended up going to work that weekend. We are there basically every day. These meetings here at Anaheim 3 are the first few days I have had in 6 months.”

Q: What’s the deal with Parts Unlimited at this event?
A: We worked a trade-out with Parts. Parts Unlimited has always been very good to the outdoor nationals and the sport. The arrangement is not a cash arrangement, it’s just that we are going to let them do their hospitality with their dealers like they usually do, and in exchange for that they are going to help us advertising wise by tagging their television and print ads. Having Parts Unlimited backing is a tremendous asset to any race.”

Q: What will people see that they usually don’t see?
A: “Seeing the factory exotic works bikes is something American fans usually don’t get to see. It’s quite interesting.
Puerto Rico is sending a team for the first time and one of their riders happens to be a female. This is going to break new territory and she is welcome in our pit area anytime.”

Q: When it’s over, how will you know if it was a success?
A: When it’s all said and done, when everyone gets home safely, all of my staff will look back on this and know they have reached the pinnacle of working together for the last 20 years.”

We’re all looking forward to the 2007 Motocross des Nations. Hope to see you all out at Budds Creek in September!