The ABA released the 2012 USA BMX National Schedule to Track Operators on Friday, ahead of an expected public announcement today. Not surprisingly, the schedule found its way on to Vintage just after 12 Noon, and the thread had 11,000 views and 181 replies by Monday morning.
This is the first opportunity the combined ABA/NBL organization has had to bring the long-time ABA and the newly-integrated NBL tracks into the same series.
The Track Operator memo, posted on Vintage, stated that while it was the initial expectation of the organization to run an ABA-branded leg and an NBL-branded leg of the series (utilizing the unique transfer system of each), those plans had been abandoned after it was clear track operators on both sides of the former aisle preferred the series run under one format and one flag. The ABA transfer system will be that format.
That said, the initial intent to have an “Eastern Division FInals” and a “Western Division Finals” has survived. Easterners will be in their familiar environs in Louisville for the “Bluegrass Nationals,” while Westerners will put all their chips on the Blackjack Nationals in Reno, per usual.
The Vintage thread is 13 pages long, and there is the expected dosage of complaining and protest over what areas of the country got shorted (Nor-Cal and the Northwest, being particularly vocal).
Classic NBL races that survived in the merger include Morristown, TN (the Volunteer Nationals, on March 2-4), and Pittsburgh/South Park’s “Stars & Stripes National” on July 6-8).
The Midwest Nationals will be shifted to July, from Father’s Day Weekend in June, due to a conflict with the US Olympic Trials in Chula Vista. That weekend, the Trials will be joined by the ABA US Open Nationals (traditionally run in September). No immediate confirmation on whether the National BMX Hall Of Fame dinner and ceremony will also be adjusted to fit the June schedule, but it seems likely.
March 30-April 1 will probably be the biggest weekend on the calendar, excluding the Grands. Four events, happening all in one weekend. If there was one “flyaway” weekend, where a trans-continental plane trip made sense, this would be it, so start saving.
The weekend features the So Cal Nationals on Friday and Sunday, the USAC Amateur National Championships on Saturday (World Championship qualifying for all in the semis), and the USAC Elite National Championships on Sunday (run on the SX track). Friday and Saturday will also feature the first UCI BMX Supercross World Cup of calendar 2012, on the newly-built London-replica track. WOW!
As the above graphic represents, the pins are well distributed on the map, and most people have at least three races in range, as well as the big “flyaway” races such as the Chula Vista race in March, and Louisville or Reno in September.
Our sister site, BMX News, plans on covering at least 15 of the 2012 events, possibly more, via contributors (so if you have writing and photography skills and there is a race without a bullet point that you plan to attend, be sure to reach out to us). We have prepared a second PDF (linked below) that has our “scheduled to appear” coverage plan. Naturally, these plans are subject to change without notice.
Download a PDF of the 2012 USA BMX National Schedule