Toyota Life Articles

What is Supercross?

The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, an FIM World Championship is an off-road motorcycle race produced inside stadiums across North America. While motocross is held in rural areas on natural terrain, supercross races are in major urban markets and raced on man-made tracks. Supercross is the second-most-attended motorsport in the United States, frequently selling out venues such as Edison International Field, the Georgia Dome, and the RCA Dome. Only NASCAR has greater live fan attendance. To build the track, hundreds of loads of dirt are brought in and sculpted using construction equipment. Widely regarded as the king of extreme sports, The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, an FIM World Championship is considered the world’s premier action sports venue. The 17-round 2008 season will kick off January 5, in Anaheim, CA, and conclude May 3, in Las Vegas, NV. The format has qualifying heats leading to a 20 lap main event. The action is tight and riders often make contact. There are two 65 foot gaps on each track called “triples” that the riders soar over, often only inches apart. All of the action is televised on the SPEED CHANNEL with 9 select events aired on CBS, and two events aired live.

What is Motocross?

Professional Motocross has never been more popular. Motocross is regarded as the original “action” sport, enjoying substantially increasing attendance and television ratings over the past decade. Live event attendance is up more than 100% and the motocross culture is now in malls across America, thanks to lifestyle retailers such as Pac Sun and No Fear. The AMA Toyota National Motocross Championship is a 12-race series starting in May and ending in September as it crosses the country. The events are held in rural areas throughout America. Each race is really a three-day affair, with many fans camping at the track starting Friday with the professional race ending Sunday evening. There are two races, or “motos,” with the overall best results of the two 30-minute-plus-2-lap motos determining the winner. Held in the summer heat, the natural terrain is rough, rutted and treacherous, making these athletes among the fittest in the world. The series is heavily covered by the industry’s vast print and web network, as well as having all 12 events with repeat airings on the SPEED CHANNEL.

Motocross Terminology Defined

AMA: The abbreviation for The American Motorcyclists Association. Founded in 1924, the AMA is a non-profit organization which exists to support motorcyclists in United States. AMA Pro Racing, a subsidiary of the AMA acts as the sanctioning body for nearly all professional motorcycle racing events, and a large number of amateur events as well. Winning an AMA Supercross or AMA National Motocross title is considered the highest achievement in off-road motorcycle racing in the world. Learn more: www.amaproracing.com.

Arenacross: A series similar to Supercross except it is run in arenas rather than stadiums. Arenacross has become a stepping stone to supercross for aspiring athletes. Learn more: www.arenacross.com.

Berm: Sometimes man made in supercross, or formed naturally when many riders go around a corner over and over causing a dirt pile to build up much like a banked turn, this is referred to as a berm.

Case: When a rider attempts to jump over an obstacle, such as a second or third jump, and instead lands on the last part of the obstacle it is termed as casing. This is due to the fact that the engine “cases” just above the frame rails are what slams into the last part of the obstacle upon landing.

Doubles: Riders commonly jump gaps between two jumps, which are called double jumps or doubles.

Endo: When a rider inadvertently gets thrown over the front of the motorcycle in a crash it’s called an endo.

FIM: The FIM is the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, which is the world wide sanctioning body for most major motorcycling events. The FIM and the AMA have aligned this year combining both the AMA sanctioned Supercross Series and the FIM sanctioned World Supercross GP programs into a single, consolidated championship and will crown one supercross champion (the Monster Energy AMA Supercross and FIM world championship).

Factory: Term used when referring to either a factory (original equipment manufacturer) backed rider or team.

Four Stroke/Two Stroke: Modern off-road motorcycle racing is done with either a two-stroke engine, or a four-stroke engine. The four-stroke delivers a smooth broad range of power, and the two-stroke delivers a snappy less controllable burst of power. The four stroke sounds more like a high performance car engine, and the two-stroke like a chainsaw (most chainsaws have two stroke engines). The sport is graduating to nearly all four-stroke motors, with two-strokes still found in the amateur ranks, especially on smaller machines raced by children.

Freestyle Motocross: Freestyle motocross is more of a contest than a race, with judges picking the winner. Made popular by the X Games and Gravity Games, riders execute difficult stunts such as back flips for the crowds and television cameras. Learn more: www.pacefmx.com.

Heat Race: Heat races are the qualifiers to narrow the field to a single gate of qualified racers for the main event. Heat races are typically 6 laps for the Lites and 8 lasps for the supercross class.

High-Side/Low-Side: If a rider is leaning into a turn, suddenly gets traction and is pitched up and over to the opposite side of which he or she was leaning, then it’s termed a high-side, conversely, if the machine slides out and falls over to the side it was already leaning, it’s called a low-side (low-side crashes are of course favored by racers over the dreaded high-side).

Holeshot: The start of both motocross and supercross races has all of the riders on a backward falling starting gate leading into a right or left hand turn. The rider to emerge from the first turn in the lead is said to have got the holeshot.

Knobby: The tires used in off-road competition are called knobbys. This is because they have rubber blocks, or knobs protruding upward away from the tire to create traction on loose surfaces. Major tire manufacturers such as Bridgestone provide custom engineered tires and technical support at the events to select teams, including the JGRMX/Toyota/Yamaha team.

Last Chance Qualifier: The last chance qualifier, or LCQ is the final opportunity for a racer to make the main event. After failing to qualify directly out of his or her heat race, the final opportunity to make the main event usually requires the rider finish in the top-two to qualify out of the LCQ.

Lites Class: This class was formerly called the 125 class as the bikes were 125cc two-stroke models. Up until just a few years ago, all Lites class motorcycles had 125cc two-stroke motors. In the past few years, four-stroke motors were allowed, and due to the differing power characteristics displacements of up to 250cc were permitted to race in the Lites class. In 2008, there are no two-stroke motorcycles in the Lites class at professional races. All of the motorcycles in the Lites class are 250cc four-stroke models. The Lites class is far from a beginner or junior class. While the Supercross and Motocross classes are the premier classes (mostly on 450cc equipment), the Lites class has former world and national champions competing for the coveted Toyota AMA National Motocross Lites and/or Monster Energy AMA Supercross and FIM World Lites Championship title. The class name was changed from the 125 class to the Lites class in 2005.

Live Nation: Live Nation is the promoter of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, an FIM World Championship. Live Nation`s motorsports events include supercross, Monster Jam(R), Nitro Jam drag racing series, arenacross and freestyle motocross. Live Nation owns, operates and/or has booking rights for 153 venues worldwide and produces tens of thousands of events each year. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol "LYV." For more information regarding Live Nation and its businesses, please visit the company`s website at www.livenation.com.

Loop-Out: The opposite of an endo, the loop-out occurs when the motorcycle flips over backwards in a crash. Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Championship: One of the largest amateur national races held each year is at Loretta Lynn’s dude ranch in Tennessee. The event attracts families with young children and older racers (over 40, etc.). Winning “Loretta’s” is a great start to a pro career. Learn more: www.mxsports.com.

Main: The "main" refers to the main event in supercross. After qualifying through a heat race, or perhaps the last chance qualifier, the main event is raced. The main events are 15 laps for the Lites, and 20 laps for the supercross class.

Mini Olympics: Along with Loretta Lynn’s, the Mini Olympics is another one of the major amateur national events. Held in Florida each year, children as young as 4 years-old can compete for national attention, learn more: www.unlimitedsportsmx.com/htm/national.htm.

Motocross: Racing off-road motorcycles on natural terrain. There are hundreds, if not thousands of locally based “grass roots” motocross tracks across the U.S. that hold organized amateur racing each weekend. The premier series in the world is the AMA Toyota National Motocross Championship. Riders from around the globe travel to the U.S. to test themselves in this series. The format is two races (motos) lasting 30 minutes plus two laps with the best combined results determining the winner. There is a premier class (Motocross) and a Lites division. Learn more: www.amamotocross.com.

Privateer: Term describing a rider racing without factory backing. Privateers pay most of their own expenses and generally aim to impress a factory in hopes of a factory contract.

Quadruples: Sometimes, especially in supercross, very gifted riders can clear four jumps at once, which is called clearing the “quad.”

Rut: Whereas as berm is a dirt pile above ground level, a rut is created by spinning rear wheels below ground level. Ruts can form anywhere on race tracks, typically in turns, but sometimes in whoops, and even on jump faces. Negotiating ruts through whoops or on the face of a triple jump can be very difficult.

Supercross: Racing off-road motorcycles in stadiums with all man made obstacles. The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, an FIM World Championship is the premier supercross series in the world. At a typical supercross, 500 truck loads of dirt are brought in to build the track which takes about 3 days. The format is qualifying heats with 20 riders for the supercross main event lasting 20 laps, and the Lites division main event has 22 riders lasting 15 laps. Learn more: www.Supercross.cc.com.

Supermoto: A form of racing thatcombines motocross skills with road racing. The track is part pavement, part dirt, and has both man made “urban” jumps as well as natural jumps. The machines start out as motocross bikes but are turned into hybrid motocross-road-race motorcycles with large brakes and slick tires, but still retain a fair amount of suspension travel for the dirt sections. Learn more: www.amasupermoto.com.

Supercross/Motocross Class: Formerly called the 250 class, again the term came from the cubic centimeter displacement of the engine. As with the Lites class, up until a few years ago, the bikes were all two-stroke motorcycles (with 250cc engines). Over the past several years, four-stroke 450cc machines have become the favorite of premier class riders. The Supercross (indoor) and Motocross (outdoor) classes are the premier classes where the best riders test themselves for the most prestigious championships in the world, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross and FIM World Supercross Championship and the Toyota AMA National Motocross title.

Table Top: A jump found in both motocross and supercross that is in effect, a double jump with the gap filled in so that there is a flat surface between the take off and landing.

Triples: Triples are very common in Supercross. Basically, triples are three jumps, each about 33 feet apart. Jumping from the first jump, over the middle jump, and landing on the far jump is called “tripling.” Typically, a set of triples in supercross is 66 feet from the take off ramp to the landing ramp.

Whip: When a rider flies off a jump and swings the rear end of the bike sideways. Sometimes whips are for fun, or to add style, and sometimes the force of a whip can help keep the bike low so the rider can get back to the ground sooner so power can be returned to the ground as quickly as possible.

Whoops: Arguably the most treacherous part of the race course. Always found in supercross, and sometimes in motocross, these stutter bumps are much like moguls in skiing. They are usually about three feet tall and each bump is about four to six feet apart. The best riders attempt to carry enough speed to “skim” the tops so that their wheels only hit the tips of the bumps, never dropping into the valleys. Less skilled riders will often try to double and triple through the whoop sections.

WMA: The Women’s Motocross Association. Women’s racing is growing rapidly at the local and national level. They now have their own national championship. Learn more: www.womensmotocrossassociation.com.

Works:The special parts provided only to the factory teams are called “works” parts, which are custom designed and fabricated to maximize performance. These parts are often made of exotic light weight metals are very expensive.

Works Bike: The bike of a full factory rider. These machines can cost up to $100,000 to produce, as compared to the stock version found in dealer showrooms that costs less than $8,000.

Yard Sale: Motocross slang for a spectacular crash (as things end up all over the place).