Nice Try....
Pala looks like it has a great trampoline, a conveniant parking lot, and a nice grandstand, but there is no way it compares to a real shrine of motocross like Glen Helen, course wise...
They have bulldozered up some pretty good mounds for guys to ride over along with many more solid improvements and the track looks like the product of a lot of hard work, but there's just nothing about this track that really sets it apart... No signature feature. It lacks the singular quality of distinction.
The present face of pro motocross racing is graced by tracks with unique and storied features like Larocco's Leap, Henry Hill, Gravity Cavity, The Sky Coaster, The Sand Whoops, Carmichael Catapult, and so many more. It's not a hop skip and a jump from the population centers to many of the present rural tracks, but that is because most of their locations were chosen with the quality of the terrain as the #1 priority. There's just no way you can lay eyes on the likes of Steel City, High Point, Glen Helen, Broome Tioga, Millville, and even Unadilla and not recognize that fact immediately.
Unless I am mistaken, there seems to be a trend underway that points toward an increased focus on the quality and vastness of parking lots, routes of ingress and egress, and other kind of soul-less things that mean more to the business viability of the racing than the quality of the racing and fan experience itself.
"Change is good" is always on the lips of a salesman. What other choice does a salesman really have? But people have to be careful as they move and really understand where they are coming from, and where they are likely to end up. Think for yourself and don't rely on the salesmen for your opinions, whatever you do. That salesman has his own agenda and a list of motivations he'll never even hint at which have NOTHING TO DO with whats best for you, or "The Sport".
I'm sure there were many proud new owners of the Cadillac Cimmaron who swallowed the slick sales floor talk and glanced at their neighbor's Caddy from the year before with superior distain, maybe for a very short while...
As we trade Glen Helen for Pala, and also get set to possibly lose some other very important tracks of the outdoor series, I would sincerely suggest that we all take a careful look at what we're trading in and what we're driving home...
Thanks,
Jim
