The 2020 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season will be the most fluid in the history of the AMA National Championship. As of June 2, there are two confirmed dates and six confirmed venues. However, the Race Leadership Team (RLT), which has members representing the AMA, MX Sports and MX Sports Pro Racing, are working toward a 2020 series with as many as 11 rounds.
The two set dates are the bookends to the Pro Motocross season. It will open on July 18 at Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The finale will be at Fox Raceway in Pala, Calif., on October 10. What will happen in-between has yet to be determined.
Four more venues are confirmed, but without dates. Three are familiar–Washougal MX Park in Washington, WW Ranch Motocross Park in Florida, and High Point Raceway in Pennsylvania. Although the fourth location is familiar to amateur motocross racers and fans around the world, it has never hosted a professional AMA National–Loretta Lynn MX in Hurricane Mill, Tennessee. The Loretta Lynn round is expected to be held in August, with no dates tendered for the other three Nationals.
The locations of the other AMA Nationals are likely to be in states with less restrictive regulations on gatherings of people. That means we probably won’t see any 2020 Nationals in Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and New York, while states such as Indiana, Texas, Tennessee, and South Carolina are likely to host one or more rounds of the 2020 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. The RLT puts it plainly: “Series managers are working hard to schedule nationals at venues in states that are open for business.”
The flexibility of the schedule is intended to give the borderline venues a chance to see if their states will allow them to hold a National Championship race. “We are hopeful that some historical venues may be able to return to the schedule, but recognize that others may not,” said an RLT spokesman. “Hence, the schedule will be rolled out on a month-to-month basis as racetracks and state officials continue to develop their plans.”
Partially fueling the desire to run the entire series is the boom in off-road motorcycle sales, parts, and accessories–both OEM and aftermarket–in May.
“All events, no matter their location, will be conducted with fans with elevated social distancing protocols in compliance with CDC guidelines and as recommended by the Safe-to-Race Task Force,” according to the RLT. “These protocols, currently under development, will be announced at a later date.”
Photography by Ryne Swanberg, et al