2016 Motocross Schedule Replaces Utah With Southwick

The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series released the 2016 schedule this week which features a switch that eliminates Utah and adds Southwick.

Southwick, known for its sandy track and a mainstay in the series for years, fell off the schedule after the 2013 season when promoters could not agree on a contract with the track owners. It's back now and Utah, which was the least "motocrossy" of all the tracks, is now off after a three year run.

The rest of the schedule keeps the same tracks from the last two years and begins the season by repeating the 2015 series opening at Hangtown outside Sacramento, CA then south to Glen Helen and east to Thunder Valley, a track Eli Tomac would probably have preferred dropped from the calendar. The Ironman again closes the series and Budds Creek gets the penultimate round instead of the mid-season appearance its received for so many years. The last time Budds Creek was scheduled so near to the end of the year was Round 10 in 2009.

The 2016 schedule again incorporates two two-week breaks the first after Round 3 between Thunder Valley in Colorado on June 4 and High Point in Pennsylvania on June 25. The second break occurs after Round 9 between Washougal in Washington on July 23 and Unadilla in New York on August 13. The schedule should alleviate some of the criticism in recent years when riders traveled from Washington to New York and then back to Utah, an expensive slog that deterred privateers. The round after Unadilla is Budds Creek in Maryland.

The full 2016 Motocross Schedule is below. Ticket sales should be announced shortly.