The 2021 Mad Skills MX Vurb Classic Special Awards

Yewww! It’s GO time for the 2021 Mad Skills Vurb Classic at NxtLvl101; it’s been since 2015 that I’ve written those words (although The Classic ran until 2016), and while I could take you down an emotional essay about how meaningful and awesome it is to have this race back, I’ll spare you the Thanksgiving story on the Betty Crocker Recipe. I know what you want, and it’s the goods. What the heck can you win this weekend outside of bragging rights, tons of free photos, super dope trophies, and enough coverage to fill up the New York Times? Well, allow me to shed some light on my little area of expertise here.

The King of the Classic (Or Queen shall we have our first women’s winner!)

This is our most coveted award. For 2021, Clayton Miller of TrickEng and Freestone MX handled the machining of this 6 foot tall staff that will most certainly weigh more than most 50 and 60 kids on the line. You’ll have no choice but to mount this into the studs above your mantel; she’s a beast! This award will go to the rider with THE BEST finishing average on the entire weekend. That means add up all your moto scores, and divide it by the total number of motos raced.

Let’s say you go 3-2-2 in supermini, 1-1-1 in 85cc (12-15), and 1-2-1 in 85cc (11-14). That’s 14 total points divided by 9 motos. That’s a 1.55 finishing average – and honestly a damn good one. The only rule here is you must race at minimum 2 classes. 

What happens if you tie with someone? The first tie breaker will be total number of moto wins. So someone that sweeps three classes will win over someone that sweeps two classes.

Two people sweep three classes? The third tiebreaker will be the total number of entries of all classes raced. Ultimately, whoever races against the most people breaks the tie.

The FMF Awards – For Outstanding Performances

We have one of each of these for each era of racing. The small guys (Youth), the medium guys (Amateur), and the older generation (The Old Guys). While that sounds confusing, just know there are six of these in total.

FMF Power Awards

The FMF Power Awards will be reserved for the most outstanding Hired Guns that really show us they wore the bib with honor and didn’t let us down. They’re “hired” for a reason; to set the bar and not be beat. They’re the cream of the crop and they were hand-selected to hold it down in all of their motos, exemplifying strength, consistency, and speed. It’s subjective to our interpretation, as many racers are in the hunt for this, but by the end of the weekend the standouts usually, well, standout. As Captain Planet would say, “The power is yours!” So let’s see who’s got it.

FMF Performance Award

The FMF Performance Awards are for non-hired guns who do exactly what we hope they don’t do, and that’s make us look silly by beating the heck out of our Hired Guns. And you know what comes along with that? Coverage and exposure. The Vurb Classic is all about finding the next crop of riders and from 2008-2016 this race was a place for a newcomer to breakthrough and get noticed. That’s what this award is about… finding the racer & family that is ready for the next step and maybe just needs the ever-so-slightest push with coverage to land the sponsors they need. Trust me, there are quite a few kids that have gotten noticed this way. Do the names Justin Cooper and Seth Hammaker ring a bell?

The Race Tech Most Shocking Performance Award

Our long-time friends at Race Tech continue to set the bar with their support of amateur motocross and events around the country, including this one and literally every single one of our vurbmoto Dirtbikes are Dope Shred Tours. This year alone they’ve given away well into the $20,000 range worth of prizes, parts, and service, and now they’re adding to it with a $1,400 prize to the Most Shocking Performance at the Mad Skills MX Vurb Classic. On top of that, they’re also including a year’s worth of support, meaning if you fall madly in love with Checkerz and his entire Race Tech Team (which I’m telling you will happen), this is the gift that will just keep on giving. Chris Reisenberg still works with MULTIPLE athletes that won this award over a decade ago. That speaks volumes to how awesome and supportive they are, not only to vurbmoto and amateur motocross, but their athletes as well. 

Ok, the nuts and bolts… I’m sorry. How do you win this? It might boil down to a single moto performance. It might be a multi-moto performance. Or hell, it could be someone in fifth place that is running right behind the lead group that just needs that little bit of extra push, or suspension in this case. We keep our peepers peeled all weekend and try to find the most shocking and deserving racer to take this one home.

The Conductor’s Cup

This one is reserved for the training facilities, and the award is a $35,000 video package and A-Class ad run on vurbmoto. Take the rules for the King of the Classic above, but add in a rider from each of the following categories: Small Bikes (50cc/65cc), Medium Bikes (85cc/Supermini/Girls), and Big Bikes (125cc, C, B, A, Vet, Women, etc). The BEST finisher of each category will count towards each training facility’s score. For more information on the rules and prize, click here.

See you boys and girls this weekend!

Vurbwes