Interview: Carrie Coombs Russell
Larry Lawrence | May 24, 2012
The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship stood up well to the economic downturn. Even though attendance was down slightly during 2009 and 2010, the outdoor Nationals recovered to score a booming 2011 with solid crowds all season, in some cases record breaking.
How did MX Sports, the manager and producer of the championship, find growth in spite of the economic challenges facing the industry? What did motocross have that say road racing, for example, lacked?
Most industry insiders point to the experience and leadership of the Coombs family of Morgantown, West Virginia, who have been involved in the sport for five decades. The family patriarch, Dave Coombs Sr., was a racer turned businessman who, along with his wife Rita, pioneered the organization and promotion of AMA motocross and off-road racing series. He developed High Point Raceway, Steel City Raceway, and the Loretta Lynn AMA Amateur Nationals, and is regarded as a founder of Arenacross and the National Promoters Group (NPG). “Big Dave” passed away in 1998 and was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000. What Dave Coombs recognized was that bringing together the knowledge of all the promoters into on cohesive group would allow the sport to grow more rapidly than if they were separate entities not sharing information.
For the complete interview with Coombs Russell, click here.