2007 Ponca City Recap

Hello Everyone,

During this years 32nd Ponca City Grand National Championship, the Brett Downey Safety Foundation was invited with open arms. Barb Paluzzi and Carrell Morton handled the booth, answering questions and selling raffle tickets to help support the costs of the foundation. People who purchased raffle tickets not only contributed to the betterment of motocross safety and awareness, but also could win a variety of prizes, including Dunlop tires from D&S Kawasaki, T Shirts, backpacks and goodies from FLY and the 2 grand prizes, a Prophet fully suspended mountain bike and a dirt jumping bike from Cannondale. These bikes were made possible by Bill Rudell from Cannondale, thank you Bill!
 My job was to meet with the flagging crew each morning and after the completion of the last moto each day, and speak to them about their jobs, their safety and rider safety. The Ponca track does not have flag stands, so this makes a flaggers awareness of his or her own safety very important. Getting out on that racetrack has its own set of safety issues, so special attention and constant reminders are in order. I also spent a lot of time observing and helping out with incidents around the first and second turn areas, these areas are the scariest parts of the races. We will be proposing some changes here. Also walking the track and helping with flaggers, making them aware of certain things and keeping up their moral.

Overall, I really liked the event, great racers, great racing, a good prepped track, lots of flaggers (45 at least), bigger pit and parking areas, nice weather (except practice day), and no pit riding. Ron and his staff seemed to run the event very well, and even though I feel some updates and changes are in order, I look forward to next years event.
 We had quite a few parents make their voices and opinions know to us, some thought the landings on the double jumps were to steep and too small. Most did not like the first turn, too fast and nothing to slow the riders down, and some of the drain culverts were exposed and needed to be covered with hay bales. I will propose a 180 left hand turn, and remove the option jump next to the start, and change to a table top for safety. Also, upgrade the layout, and slow the riders down at the finish for easier and more accurate scoring. Having a dozer could help out as well, so maybe next year we can see a new and improved Ponca race track, time will tell.

Again, you must all understand our role at the Brett Downey Safety Foundation, we are another set of eyes and ears, and we do not tell promoters how to run their races, only suggest some changes that make sense to all. We want to see safe conditions and fairness to the racing itself. We listen to the riders, parents, industry and the promoting side as well, and through this we can form a consensus to make proposals and suggestions, and so far the response has been quite good. The Foundation has goals, and there are many facets of each goal, and over time these things can be accomplished, so be patient, continue to support us and give us your thoughts, we appreciate your input!

Respectfully,
Larry Morton
National Safety Advisor
larry@mxsafety38.org