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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1522278
ity of junior road racing, pushed largely by Dorna and the incred- ibly competitive Spanish national junior championships. Now, MotoAmerica is properly getting behind its own national series with the help of affiliated clubs across the country to strengthen its base and ensure the next gen - eration of American road racers is as good as it can be. After running several events alongside select MotoAmerica creating a series that links up rac- ing clubs from across the country into a funnel that concludes with the one-round national champion- ship final at Road America. "The goal is to develop the road racing Loretta Lynn's, if you will," Aksland explains, nodding to the world-famous event that has become the premier talent shop for future motocross stars. Win Loretta's, and you're on your way. "We have six regional clubs on board for our first go (at a state/ regional series that culminates in the national final). There are 20 qualifiers across 10 different states that are going on simulta - neously, kind of like the moto- cross programs. "The incentive is that if you are a participant and go to your club with the intention of going to the national final, if you go do one local club race, you'll get 10 points towards your tally for the national championship. "At the national champion - ship final, we're going to run four races over two days. We'll have a practice day and four races. You'll have a points accumulation; the guy with the most points is the national champion. So, if you do a qualifier in a local region, just one, you'll get 10 points to start the national with. That means you'll have some impetus to par- ticipate in your local area. "It's been interesting and good for the sport. These participat- ing clubs are now connected to MotoAmerica, and then we've got this agenda with this na- tional championship going on. There seems to be quite a lot of enthusiasm for it, a lot of posi- tive. Hopefully, over time, that rounds in 2022 and 2023 follow- ing the takeover of American junior road racing from Brandon Cretu, the MotoAmerica Mini Cup has split from a sideshow to its own show, complete with a Loretta Lynn's-style national final to be held at Road America on August 9-11. "Over several years, we've tried to run the Mini Cup a few differ - ent ways," says MotoAmerica COO Chuck Aksland. "We've tried to make a Mini Cup National Championship where you came out of the West Coast and East Coast, some involved with our racing and some that weren't, some that were standalone. "Then, last year, we made the MotoAmerica-sanctioned series an East Coast deal. We had our Mini Cup rounds, and we also ran the FIM Mini Cup events, which are two different things. We would run the FIM side on a Friday and then our races on Saturday, but that got logisti - cally very complicated." The answer was to split the FIM Mini Cup rounds off the Mo- toAmerica program, handing the duties to the ASRA (American Su- perbike Racing Association) orga- nization, run out of Pennsylvania. The 2024 FIM Mini Cup Cham- pionship runs for five rounds up and down the East Coast, with three of the five rounds running in conjunction with ASRA Champi- onship rounds. The top two finish- ers from both the Ohvale 160 and 190 categories will then have the chance to race at the FIM MiniGP World Series Final at the season- ending 2024 Valencia MotoGP. With the FIM championship taken care of, attention moved to VOLUME ISSUE JUNE , P93