Record crowds for AMA championship.

The AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championship set a new attendance record in 2002, continuing a trend of four consecutive seasons of solid growth. A total of 45,015 fans came through the gates at the 12 events for an average attendance of 20,418.

This is the first season in AMA Motocross history that average event attendance exceeded the 20,000 mark. It was also a five percent increase over 2001 attendance. Another sign of strong growth in the series is that 10 of the 12 rounds enjoyed record attendance in 2002. The successful motocross season follows a record-breaking season in the AMA Supercross Series last winter.

"We are very pleased with the growth and development of our AMA Motocross Championship," said John C. Farris Jr., AMA Pro Racing's Vice President of Commercial Development. "We believe a lot of factors came together to make this a record-breaking season. We had excellent weather for most of the rounds; a stepped- up PR effort between AMA Pro Racing and the NPG; and an improved ESPN television package all which helped sustain this growth. The continued association with Chevy Trucks and so many of the other industry sponsors has greatly benefited the series."

The 2002 attendance figures show a 22-percent increase from 1997 attendance and a remarkable 140-percent increase from just 10 years ago. In real world terms, that means the AMA Motocross Championship is nearly two-and-a-half times bigger than it was in 1992. This growth also reflects the tremendous overall health the motorcycle industry in general is enjoying.