The Pala Casino Fox Raceway National Presented by Fox Racing, kicks off the Outdoor Nationals, drawing the moto world’s attention to the iconic track on Saturday, May 24, during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. According to MX Sports Pro Racing, “Fox Raceway is unlike any other venue in American motocross… The desert setting provides some of the most challenging race conditions racers will face all summer, not to mention, Fox Raceway is one of the most popular destinations for testing and training amongst the SoCal contingent of athletes, manufacturers and factory teams, making it a proverbial home race for a large swath of the industry.”
“Without the Pala Band of Mission Indians and their unwavering commitment to Fox Raceway this incredible event simply wouldn’t be possible,” explains Myron Short, Event Organizer, Fox Raceway National. “They are the unsung heroes in making this track and this event the home for Pro Motocross in Southern California. I am grateful for their increased support in bringing the Pala Casino Fox Raceway National to our amazing fanbase and the industry, and we look forward to working alongside them to kick off the new season on a high note.”
Dealernews had an opportunity to sit down with Fox Racing CEO Jeff McGuane for a far ranging interview on what is happening with the iconic brand. The full interview will be featured in a future issue after some embargoed info can be released, but we had to get his take on the track and what it means to the iconic brand, our industry and the entire sport on the eve of the “Fox Raceway National.”
Fox is involved in racing globally, but locally, the sponsorship of Pala Raceway is still “Fox Raceway” in the eyes of the industry. Industry locals get a national round courtesy of Fox. Thank you very much!
We’re so thankful to have that partnership with Mission Band of Pala Indians,” starts McGuane who took over as CEO back in 2019. “What that’s done for us to really create a joint commitment to ensuring the race community is supported with a premier track in Southern California.”
The addition of tribal support for the National signifies a strengthening of the longstanding partnership between the Pala Band of Mission Indians, 2X Promotions, and the Pro Motocross Championship in making Fox Raceway the official Southern California home of American motocross. The track’s history now spans 15 years and the growing importance of Fox Raceway to the championship has been evidenced through its hosting of the first and/or last round of the championship every year since the 2020 season.
The track is something that we really focused on during COVID because we needed to ensure that we have places for young aspiring athletes and professionals to train and to race. That has been really unique, including the joint vision for how we continue to enhance the track, the ability to attract sponsorships and participation in the Nationals. Beyond the big picture, just the small things we’re able to do to make Fox Raceway the best track experience for the riders in Southern California. So it’s evolved a lot in the past five, six years. And we want to continue to ensure that it’s evolving to be the premier track for consumers in California and in the US.
The vision is definitely working. Annual events like the Caselli Ride Day have been hosted here the past couple of years, and it’s an off-season reaching the desert racing community, sharing Fox Raceway’s vision beyond the opening round of the MX Nationals.
The track is always innovating. With the addition of a pit bike track and the different race series adopting. Fox Raceway into their scheduled location of events, there is always something good going on at Pala. The team is really agile to ensure that we provide the best possible experience for everyone. Our event leader, Aimie Cappa — (her official title is “Event Marketing Magician”), — has been phenomenal working together with the team at Pala to ensure that we’re adapting and understanding how racing is evolving. And then when we change track configurations, adapt where we can to ensure we’re serving the community. For example they added the E bike track last year to give that a shot to see if that was also a new segment of racing that could attract new and up and coming off-road riders to our sport. So yeah, it’s really cool to have that opportunity to work closely with MX Sports, the tribe and the fans to adapt to those types of opportunities…
Stay tuned!
