2016 World Vet Info

NUTS & BOLTS OF THE 2016 WORLD VET CHAMPIONSHIP

Tom White is the founder, sponsor and announcer for the World Vet Championship. He also won the Over-40 World Championship in 1990.

The World Vet Championship celebrates its 32th year at Glen Helen Raceway on November 5-6, 2016. Dubya Wheels is the title sponsor, but there is a bigger story behind Dubya and the World Vet Championship. Tom White, who owned White Brothers back in the day, sponsored the first World Vet in 1984, and actually founded the event and sponsored it for the first 26 years. After selling the White Brothers, the new owners gave up the sponsorship, but Tom wanted to keep the race moving forward, so he had his daughter and son-in-law’s company, Dubya Wheels, become the title sponsor in 2014. And they are back for 2016 bigger than ever. Here is the schedule of events for the most important Vet race in the world—start making plans now.

Thursday, November 3: Thursday will feature an open practice from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The 2015 Dubya World Vet Motocross Championship wants to give out-of-state and out-of-country riders as many chances as possible to adapt to the track — while riding with AMA National Pros and 16-year-old kids. It’s a wild day. Smart World Vet racers skip riding on Thursday and stand back and watch the mayhem.

 
Doug Dubach.                                                                   Gary Jones.

Friday, November 4: Friday offers a special practice, limited to riders who have pre-entered the 2016 Dubya World Vet Championship. This practice runs from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. On this day the vendors will be setting up shop and the Glen Helen/Troy Lee Museum will be open in the afternoon.

Saturday, November 5: Saturday brings racing to the World Vet Motocross event. Note: Practice is scheduled for 7:00 a.m.  The highlight of  Saturday is the Over-40 Pro Championship. But, there will be support classes for Novice, Intermediate and Expert racers in age groups 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65 and Over-70. It should be noted that the only Official World Championship class on Saturday is for the Over-40 Pros (with a purse) — for everyone else it is a chance to work out the kinks before the big day on Sunday, November 8.

 
Pete DeGraaf & Pete Murray.                                      Rex Staten.

Sunday, November 6: Sunday is the official World Veteran Motocross Championships day. All the same classes that ran on Saturday will race again on Sunday—only this time it is for all the marbles. The exception is the Over-40 Pro class (who named their Champion on Saturday). The big classes on Sunday are the Over-30 Pros, Over-50 Pros and the Over-30 Pro Women. Although former Women’s Wolrd Champion Steffi Lauer is the odds on favorite in the Women’s race, the Over-30 and Over-50 Championships are an unknown quantities. The level of talent is much higher in 2016 than in any year previous.

Sunday at noon: The Edison Dye Motocross Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented for the 19th time. Initiated to honor individuals who have made a positive contribution to our sport, the award has been received by Edison Dye, Roger DeCoster, Jeff Ward, Joel Robert, Torsten Hallman, Bruce Brown, Feets Minert and John DeSoto (among others). This year the 2016 Edison Dye Motocross Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Lars Larsson. Lars was the Swedish Grand Prix rider that Edison Dye brought over to demonstrate Husqvarna motorcycles, before anyone in America had ever heard of them, and showcase the sport of motocross, before anyone in America had heard of it. Lars stayed on after his Husqvarna gig ended and former Thor racing with buddy Torsten Hallman. Lars had a storied motorcycle racing career and is still racing. Lars is a former Over-60 World Champion and a two-time Over-70 Champion.

Over-50 Pro class added: In recognition of the growing number of riders over the age of 50, the 2016 World Vet Championship will be adding an Over-50 pro class to the schedule on Sunday.

Entries: Pre-entries, post-entries: Pre-entries will be accepted up until November 5. Pre-entries are $45 per class ($35 for second class). Post entry is $50 for first class and $40 for second class.