Trail Rider Magazine

16 Trail Rider Full Tilt Sprint Series Introduction By Todd Albrecht and Jerry Bulman Like most things in the dirt bike world, it all began with a crazy idea. A conversa on well over a year ago about enduro formats, the direc on of off- road racing and the desire to evolve along with it. Looking at European examples and na onal ISDE qualifiers, along with break-through series like J Day Offroad and Full Gas Sprint Enduro, we clearly saw a trend. There is a desire for more open off-road events that are the exact opposite of extreme en- duros. No bark-harves ng ght sec ons, no obsta- cles or gnarly hill climbs to cause bo lenecks, just rider versus clock. We realized, the days of woods riders being unable to ride faster than 24 mph and motocross riders objec ng to riding in the woods are passing by. A "woods test" and "cross test" style event has something for everyone as the rider base becomes a 21st century hybrid that can do it all. So it was decided, a sprint-only enduro series was the product we would offer to the rider base. Our conversa ons con nued as this idea started to gain momentum. With our years of experience as Arcadia Bark Busters members promo ng the Kenda Northeast 24 HR Challenge, we know how important it is to evolve and adapt. We also know that promo ng a new series would stretch many Arcadia Bark Busters members too thin; it was too big of a risk. We would start a new and separate organiza on while staying onboard with ABB. This is when Full Tilt Sprint Series was truly born. Going forward, there were things we needed that were cri cal for success — knowledgeable mem- bers, good promoters, youth classes, and at mini- mum, a tle sponsor. The first part was fairly easy. Everyone we ap- proached was incredibly excited when we pitched the idea. We gained officers and board members with years of experience in enduro, hare scramble, MX and GNCC. We knew the promoter aspect might prove a bit harder, as we were asking them to take a chance on us in our first season. We reached out to the largest and most well run series in New York, NYOA. Explaining our vision to them, they were gracious enough to approve affilia on. This simply allowed us to work with any of their promoters that wished to work with us. We also worked around their schedule since our goal was never to compete with them. We'd like to thank Chip Mann and the rest of NYOA for hearing us out. We also pursued other promoters outside of NYOA. We definitely have a good mix that should keep the riders interested. For our series (and the sport) to succeed, we were firm on youth classes. It's absolutely cri cal that we offer a family-friendly atmosphere and a youth por- on of our event. As with any class, safety and fun are the goal. You want riders to be smiling at the end of the day. In this case, you also want smiling parents. We are fortunate that Evans Coolant saw our vision and signed on as our Title Sponsor. We appreci- ate Chris Sebas and Evans for jumping on board with us. Currently we also have D&T Graphics and Budget Racing suppor ng us and we are thrilled to have them. Going forward, we envision our series being all about rider experience. We are excited about the interest thus far from a diverse rider base. Our long-term goal is to con nue to evolve with the sport and eventually host a Na onal. For now though, we look forward to pu ng out a great product for the 2021 Full Tilt Sprint Series.

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