REM GLEN HELEN RACE REPORT: BIG NEWS FOR REM RACERS THIS WEEK (UPDATED)

Sean Lipanovich (505) went 1-1 in the 450 Pro class. It’s good advertising for his  Sean Lipanovich Motocross School (SLMX). Photo: Jon Ortner

PHOTOS BY DEBBI TAMIETTI, DAN ALAMANGOS & JON ORTNER

It is no secret that REM Motocross has been for sale. Frank and Myra Thomason have been looking for someone to take over the racing series that they started 35 years ago for some time now. But they didn’t want just anyone—they wanted someone who would honor the race series that they built—and REM is known world-wide. So the “big news” at this week’s rider’s meeting was that the next REM race on March 19 would be the last one that Frank and Myra would run. But they promised that REM Motocross would continue on, hopefully with the same well-oiled machine that started practice at 8:30 a.m. and had all the races done by 2:00 p.m. Not to mention on a race track that harks back to the glory days, not just of American motocross, but of Glen Helen motocross—since the REM track is sitting on the exact same ground where the 1970’s Arroyo Cycle Park was located.

Glen Helen will become the new caretaker of REM and promises to continue to let REM racers pay a $20 gate fee instead of $30 on race days, upgrade the REM Tower’s PA system, give a $10 front gate credit for riders who don’t want their trophy and run Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter race series of four or five races each and keep points for the quarterly series and do total points for the yearly REM Number One rider.

Todd Sibell (829) is going so fast that his rear tire doesn’t even have to touch the ground. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

But perhaps it is best to let Frank tell the story of his retirement from race promoting. We do expect to see Frank out at the races, once he gets tired to sipping Pina Coladas and working on his tan.

Todd Sibell (829) and Sean Lipanovich (505) stayed close together for the whole 450 Pro race. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

Frank wrote on the REM’s Facebook page: “This is something I have thought about for a long time. After all of these years, 1986 to 2022, REM Motocross has been front and center in my life. My family and I have lived the many ups and downs of being motocross promoters. We’ve done big events, and small events. We’ve made a lot of friends, and a few enemies along the way.

“Several years ago, I began looking for an exit ramp and over the past year I have tried just about everything to find a suitable heir to REM. It has been a very difficult and tedious chore. It appears to me, after interviewing, discussing, and dissecting people, that the majority of people who expressed interest simply do not have the work ethic, or drive to do what we have done for the past three and a half decades. Don’t get me wrong, this is a very tough business. Someone is always trying to steal your racers, sponsors, ideas and staff. I knew all along that finding someone to take the program into the future would be difficult. It was never about money, it was about our racers. We wanted to find a person who wanted to take care of our crowd. To that end, we have reached a tentative agreement with Glen Helen to take over the REM Saturday program. They will be announcing their new schedule very soon, but it is pretty much the same schedule that has been on their website for a couple of months.

“Myra and I will be running our last race on Saturday, March 19th. After that there will be some change of staff, but most of our current staff will still be there every Saturday providing the best local motocross racing in SoCal. After all of these years this announcement is truly bittersweet. I will miss everyone of you. Even the problem children. From our first race at Carlsbad Raceway on November 1986, to our first race at Glen Helen on April 4, 1998, to our last race on March 19, 2022 we have given it our best effort. Long live local motocross racing, long live REM Saturday Motocross. Thank you to everyone who made our 1200 plus Motocross races possible.”

Robby Schott (523) won the 250 Pro class. The branches aren’t as close to the track as they look. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

And that is the big news from REM. There is no one who races at REM’s who doesn’t wish Frank and Myra a happy, casual, relaxed and less stressed life than the one they led while catering to a bunch of motocross racers, who universally forgot their transponders, missed the start of their races, cut the track, ignored the yellow flags, went out in the wrong practice, rode dangerously or, heaven forbid, got in a fight over eighth place in the Over-40 Novice class. That said, REM has the most loyal Glen Helen racers. They live and breathe Glen Helen—they show up when it rains, they park in the same spot with the same buddies every week and they love to race—just not on a flat-as-a-board race track littered with a lot of meaningless jumps. They want motocross to stay true to its past—as the world’s toughest sport—not the world’s most dangerous sport.

Jason Jeffrey (63) gets his GasGas into the sand berm that leads up into the back canyon. The Vet Intermediate winner has 250 Pro Preston Tilford breathing down his neck so he better step it up. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

The new mini-Talladega first turn was reworked for this week’s race to make its banking steeper and its shape more elliptical. Photo: Dan Alamangos

Chris Radzinski (104) and Alan Jullien (70) put up a spirited battle. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

But, Chris Radzinski hasn’t raced in awhile and got bad arm pump. Late in the moto, he was spotted shaking his hands out on more than one straight. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

Randel Fout loves the 2022 GasGas MC 450F, because he is rail thin and the GasGas’ softer spring rate suit him better than most other 450s. Photo : Debbi Tamietti

Joe Sutter (111) went 1-4 in what turned out to be a three-battle for the overall win in the Over-50 Expert class. Joe’s 1-4 got beat by Nick Waters’s 2-2 and Mike Davis’s 3-1. Photo: Jon Ortner

It must have been “International GasGas MX125 two-stroke day,” as a bevy of them showed up at REM this weekend in preparation for the April 16th World Two-Stroke Championship, in which Pasha is paying a $15,000 purse (with $5000 payouts in the 125 Pros, Over-30 125 Pros and Over-50 125 Pros). This is Pete Murray (24). Photo: Debbi Tamietti

Luc De Ley (97) was another GasGas MC 125 pilot, who decided to race a GasGas MC250F. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

South African Alan Jullien also showed up on a GasGas MC 125 and was looking good on it in the Over-50 Elite class, until this happened. In the first photo of this sequence Alan gets his front wheel on top of the berm. This is the second worst thing you can do in a fast downhill sweeper. Photo: Jon Ortner

The first worst thing you can do is get your front wheel over the berm, while your rear wheel is still in the berm. Photo: Jon Ortner

Photo three shows the inevitable outcome. Photo: Jon Ortner

Pasha Afshar made a between moto gearing change. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

Dan Alamangos was the MXA guinea sent out to test three things on the KTM 250SXF Factory Edition: (1) The new vented airbox cover (which is why half of the number is missing). (2) To see if he could engage and disengage Quick Shift on the fly. (3) Finally, to find out how close could he get to bottoming the forks. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

Jon Ortner (10), Ed Guajardo, Robert Reisinger and and Pete Murray dueled for the Over-60 Expert win. Pete Murray owns this class, and has won the Over-60 World Vet Championship for the last three years. But, he didn’t win at REM, largely because he brought a GasGas MC125 to go up against the big four-strokes of Jon Ortner (1-1), Ed Guajardo  (2-2) and Robert Reisinger (4-3). Pete Murray went 3-4 for fourth. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

Val Tamietti (31) floats his 2022 Yamaha YZ250 two-stroke over this right-hand turning uphill jump. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

John Caper (44) has worked in the motorcycle industry his whole life–including stints at O’Neal Racing, AXO, Sinisalo and Mechanixwear. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

Paul Fitz-Gibbon (38), Marc Crosby (62) and Tim Hoole (40) were 5th, 10th and 6th in the Over-60 Intermediate class. Photo: Dan Alamangos

The Over-60 class was jam-packed, leading to the occasional traffic jam. Here, Paul Fitz-Gibbon (38)  leads Dave Eropkin (811), Val Tamietti (31), Marc Crosby (far left) and Pasha Afshar (far right). Photo: Dan Alamangos

MXA’s Jody Weisel (192) chased by “Art of Moto” filmmaker Mark Homan (838). Photo: Debbi Tamietti

South African Deegan Bloomfield (X) came to the USA to race motocross and that is exactly what he did at REM. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

South African Deegan Bloomfield (right) won the 125 Intermediate class, while dad Grant (left) used a 2-1 to win the Over-50 Novices in front of a top five of Pat Veritch, Renan Bayer, Robby Mueller and Chuck Peterson. Photo: Dan Alamangos

Owen Wright (473) won the Over-60 Novice class. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

Australian Dan Alamangos hustled MXA’s 2022-1/2 KTM 250SXF Factory Edition to 3rd in one moto of the Over-50 Experts, but in the other moto his contact lens fell out. Photo: Jon Ortner

REM is will race this coming Saturday, March 19. It will be the last race that Frank and Myra are in charge of, but since REM will continue after they retire, there will be a races on March 26, April 2, April 30, May 7 and May 14. For more info go to www.glenhelen.com.