Noob questions about number plates/districts/points, etc.

[sixstringsteve]

Thanks to the great Utah BMX community for answering my noob questions about the sport.

So, I understand we have ROC, RL Cup, NAG, State plates, and our regular ABA-issued plate.

The way I read the rulebook, it sounds like it's possible (however unlikely) for there to be a moto with 4 people with a #2 plate. For example, a nag #2, a roc #2, a state #2, and a RL cup #2? Does this happen much? Are there certain races where you can only run a certain type of plate, or all of these plates viable to race at any race? I'd expect most people in the mains at the grands to have some sort of #1 plate (state, roc, etc).

I'm also trying to understand points, districts, etc. Do everyone's points start over at 0 at the beginning of each year? Are ABA plate #s awarded based on points? Are districts arranged by the geographical area in which you live? Let's say I land a #400 plate next year. I'm in district UT -02. Will there be a #400 plate in district UT-01 as well? Or is there only one #400 in utah? Are numbers specific to each state? What happens at a national when there are two guys with #400 on their bikes?

Do Elite men get to choose their plate #s? I know Mike Day is always #365. How does that work? It'd be interesting to hear the story behind some of those numbers.

I understand how points are accumulated. How long does it typically take for the ABA website to update points after races?

Just curious how this whole thing works out.

[billyschuler]

The earned plates, ie state , district, NAG, ROC , etc can be run at any time. at any race for the following year they are awarded.

districts are determied geographically and yes, there can be 3 number 400 plates, well not # 400 cause i dont think there are 400 riders in UTO1 or UT03 but lets say you were in uto1 and i was imn ut02 and we both finished with anumber 53 plate in district, then yes we would both end up in the gate with the same plate but one of us would be sporting a black X over our number that registration will provide to you, i had this all last year with jacob perry same class , same plate, diff districts.

district points are determined in just YOUR district.and they roll back to 0 dec 31st and start all over. ABA usually updates points on fridays, unless there is a national that weekend , but sometimes it takes a few weeks to update.

[sixstringsteve]

awesome, thanks for that explanation Billy, that makes sense now.

[JAlvey]

It's pretty common at nationals for there to be multiple #1's in the same moto. My daughter's cruiser moto at grands had Redline 1, ROC1, National #1, and District #1, and a NAG 4. If people have the same #s, they will get a letter to run instead. If you look at photos of nationals, you will note a lot of people with "A"s, "K"s, "T"s etc stuck on their plate, that's what that is all about. At the local races, if two riders have the same #, then the one riding out of district has to run an X. This happens pretty commonly as well. For example, Dallas Edwards and Brent Barton both ended up #3 last year on cruiser, so Barton ends up running an X at all the races, he even made himself an X plate instead of his three.

If you end up Nationally #1-99, you can run a National plate (black plate, white number)
If you end up National Age Group (NAG) #1-10, you can run a NAG plate (grey plate, Black number). If you have a NAG ranking, you are taken out of district standings and can not run a district number.
If you end up Redline #1-3 you can run a RLC plate (yellow plate, black number)
Your district number is just for your district, not the state, so as Billy said, if you are #20, there are probably 3 utahn's who are #20.
Your state plate isn't really a plate, If you took #3 in the state championship series for example, you can run a white plate, with your district number on it and a small State #3 in the corner.
If you win the Race of Champions (ROC), then you can run a ROC #1 plate ( red plate, white number). That's only for #1.
You may see some Blue plates with white numbers this year. Those are NBL national rankings plates. They will go extinct this year.
Pros can petition to get a permanent number. Mike day is 365. I think TP was 454.
The last one, that some don't know about is your permanent number. That's the last 3 of your serial number. So if your serial number is UT-01-1654, you could run 654 in black on a white plate.

It can all get a bit confusing. On her cruiser, my daughter can run National 59, NAG 10, State 1 with permanent 614, or Redline 2-one of the reason's why Mr Melton always tells people to make sure they check to see if their number is correct on the moto sheet!

[sixstringsteve]

Great explanation JAlvey!

If you have a NAG ranking, you are taken out of district standings and can not run a district number.

Your state plate isn't really a plate, If you took #3 in the state championship series for example, you can run a white plate, with your district number on it and a small State #3 in the corner.

Very interesting. I did not know any of this. Not that I'll ever have to worry about running a NAG or RLC plate, but now I understand how that works.

[mackdaddy]

The hardest part to all this is announcing NAG number's during the girls classes, and girls/ladies cruiser classes......... I was always afraid some nice girl or lady would come slug me for calling them a NAG# ? !!!!