I'm a die-hard ATV'er and racer, but I'm getting tired of our industry getting the shaft from manufactures, we spend more money on ATV's than all others combined, yet we get the least amount of Research and Development. All the money we spend gos toward new advances for dirt bikes, watercraft, and snowmobiles. The new Raptor is good, but its crap compared to the latest 4-stroke dirt bike. Its a joke comparing new dirt bike technology to "new" ATV tech, what a joke! Then they have the nerve to stick McGrath on a Banshee to try and promote more sales, more sales for what?,,,,to pay McGrath to ride a dirt bike, to figure out how to cut another pound off the latest 250, but nothing for the ATV'ers till I see the manufacturers put out quads with the latest tech (ie.power valves, throttle position sensors, aluminum frames, high/low speed adjustments, magnesium parts,etc, etc..) I'll stick with specially built bikes (Rebelstar, outlaws, etcc) I'm not putting any more money into an industry that could care less about the buyer, thats just my opinion, an ATV racing is gonna suffer because of it, ATV racing is a dyeing sport, hate to say it, but its true, ATV's are being taken out of the program all over where I live (Calif.)90% of the races here don't even have classes, its just one big open class, last race I attended I had a custom CR500 quad to my left and a female on a blaster to my right, and I ride a 420cc Banshee, what a joke,,things need to change especially the ATV National circuit if our sport is gonna make it,,, well thats enough ranting from me,,what do you all think?

I couldnt agree more. We have to spend craploads of money (bout 6000 for mr R total) to get our quads race ready. Thats bull****. The ATV manufacturers should try to produce a more race ready quad instead of bikes. I know they would sell great.

I agree that the manufacturers are letting down the largest percentage of their buyers. They seem to feel that it is acceptable to use us and our money, then divert the profits into a more publicized sport, i.e. watercraft and motorcycle racing. It is unfortunate that they don't realize that they could increase their sales of ATVs by providing the buyers a top quality race quad. If they would promote ATV racing (nationwide) and push the media coverage, it should provide enough additional profit to put more than 1/2 a person in the research and development department for ATVs! After all, how many of us know people that are hungry to race in an organized event... especially if it was to be shown on TV? It is too bad that the media fails to cover this sport...

What can we do?

I believe the aftermarket companies (Lone Star, Laeger, Roll) are killing our sport, also. They are charging us die-hard quad racers $thousands$ to build a quad, and aren't helping atv racing in any way. They could be using profit towards payback and purse money to help our sport grow. And, of course, media coverage is also needed to make our sport grow. Slowly we are getting more; an Old Spice comercial, Pike's Peak Hill Climb hi-lights, and a Raptor race on MTV's SMF: Ultimate Survivor. I believe it's up to the AMA and aftermarket companies to get our sport more media coverage.

I have been enolved in Sprint car racing for about 18 years and some on semi-pro level. The aftermarket parts for a 4-wheeler or MORE expensive in most cases. The aftermarket companies are hurting the sport.
A full size sprint car chassis is $2000 dollars and complete roller minus motor is $16000.
We win $1500 to $4000 for a feature event.
Entry fee $0-25. Competitors - 50

Compare that to a race 4-wheeler - chassis - $2400 plus
Rolling chassis complete minus motor - $14000.
How much for winnings? - $0 unless your pro
Entry fee - $20 + gate fee
Competitors paying entry fee - 300 +

But, I love to race four wheelers and will continue to support it.

I believe the promotors are making SERIOUS money, at least the ones that are pulling in 100+ quads and 100+ motor cycles. They sure don't help the sport all that they can.

I do believe aftermarket companies are reamin us too,,,,to an extent. At least they make products you can race with, 2500.00 for a frame is a butt load of money,,,but at least it can handle some racing abuse,,,I've gone through 4 stock frames in less than 2 years. And a lot of the aftermarket companies sponsor racers and events,,,more than I can say for most of the manufactuers, except Kawie and Yamaha, but even Kawie screws us, they race/sponsor a quad that they don't even make,,, what a slap in the face if you ask me. I;ve heard Yamaha sponsors the GNCC but doesnt have a team. And Yamaha gives contingency money to winning riders (riding Yamahas in certain events) but that only applies to dirt bikes, not quads. If you win the same event Yamaha would pay the winning dirt bike but not the winning quad, what crap! And as for the Nationals, what a joke, I'd call them Nationals if they were held nationally not just around Tenn., what about the west coast? Dirt bike nationals are held all over the country, and look at there popularity, I don't see Travis Spader gettin paid a million like old Jeremy McGwhatever. And what about this TT/MX crap I can barely afford to make my bike Mx ready let alone TT race ready, they should separate the events and expand the Nationals to just MX all over the U.S Nothing against TT racing ( i do it)but its just not that appealing to alot of people, how many TT videos have you seen? Majority of extreme videos are wicked jumps and freestyle, not tight cornering with quads bottoming out over ever little jump. Yawn, thats boring, if we want are sport to expand we gotta make some changes, and fast! thats enough preachin for me, what do yall think?

96 Banshee-every mod u can think of, actually just to lazy to list them

The sport of quad racing is still very new comapred to bike and car racing. There are very few makers of after market parts for quads compared to bikes. This is one of the reasons that cost's are high. Quad racing is not known to very many people, only the few of us that race. Some of the people that ride quads donot know that they are raced. We have a AMA GNC series with only about 300 riders. Until we can get some exposur on TV (Speedvision, Motoworld, ESPN, etc) we will grow but not by very much. Untill we are given time with them nothing major is going to change.
We all need to hit up the media to broadcast the highlights and the show the events like they do with Supercross for bikes. Write or call them.

I don't think I'd consider quad racing 'new'. It has actually been around quite along time. And I also disagree with you on, and I quote, "There are very few makers of after market parts for quads compared to bikes." There are TONS of aftermarket companies and parts for quads. There are probably MORE aftermarket companies and parts for quads than bikes because quads need more modifying to become race ready. And the reason people aren't aware of our sport is because of the lack of media our sport gets.
Once again, I say the aftermarket companies, AMA, and media are the 3 most important ways to get our sport growing. The aftermarket companies need to sponsor national events by helping with purse money, and the AMA needs to make sure our sport gets more media.
I also agree with joey1 about how the 'nationals' need to expand out west, but that's only going to happen if there is a $purse$ big enough to get the pro's to drive out here. I myself (and many others I know) would love to (and are good enough) compete in the AMA nationals, but they aren't going to drive from here (Las Vegas) to Tennesee for one fun race with some real pro's and a $1,000 purse to the winner. We want to but can't aford the drive and lodging. OK, I'm done.

$14000 for a rolling chassis???

Let me get on my soap box. I raced the Nationals from 1991-1994. I rode in the 200 air cooled class, 250 b, 250 a. We bought our quad from Duncan Racing, the bike Don Turk rode on the Micky's. It would cost anywhere from 5000 to 8000 to have a competitive atv during those times. Now to even be competitive in the 250 B class you have to spend 12000 to 15000 for a quad. Now I know that some of you may be thinking, where is he coming up with this figure! 1 quad 2 set ups! It is an expensive game. Then you take into account the money that you spend on going to the races, spending the night at the races, eating, broken parts, entry, and missed work. The average joe can not afford it. We all know that ATV companies are not coming to the rescue and I will not even touch on the subject. But, lets talk about the aftermarkect. I am sick and tired of hearing that they are the people keeping the sport alive. Let me tell you something, if Duncan Racing was not making 1500 off of their engine packages and making a profit, Loren Duncan would would not be in the ATV market. Yes, him and others are just business men and are doing a great job at making a buck. But what happens when they kill the sport. Do you think for a minute that they will stick aroung just because they proclaim to love the sport. Nope! They will take their escrow account and head to some tropical island. I love this sport and always will. It kills me to see where the sport is heading. We are finally getting new quads in the market and the pro's are still using 1989 tech. The non pro's are the people that keep the sport alive and aftermarket compaines just take their money and run. They may give them 10% or 20% off but, they are making a 80% profit from the engine work. In other words, Sparks is still making a buck off his sposered amatures. I read all this crap about NAC's and the other aftermarket compaines trying to improve the sport. What they are trying to do is stay in business. Let me tell you a story. Back when I was racing the AMA came up with a new rule that you had to have a plastic number plate on your front bumper. So now you had 2 number plates on the front of your quad. The national before this new rule came into effect, NAC's was selling these number plates in a package of 3 for five bucks. At the national that the AMA came up with this new rule NAC's unpackaged the plates and sold them for five bucks a piece. They were out to make a quick buck and hurt the die hard ATV supporter's that keep their company alive. I could go on for hours talking about this. I am sorry to say that the future of our sport does not look bright due to these people. I hope that I am wrong and that the sport will become larger than ever but there are not many people who have a spare 12000 to 15000 sitting around to race a quad.