Mountain Bike Racing - short track?

i figured this would be the best place to get accurate answers for this.

what exactly is short track? i am guessing it is short, fast races. but how many miles is a typical short track race?

This is directly from the NORBA handbook on Short Track - MTB Basics:

"Short track racing is to cross-country what criteriums are to road races: short, hard and fast races that favor a shrewd and quick competitor. All categories race for 20-30 minutes, and course officials determine how many laps are necessary to achieve the time limit. Lapped riders are often pulled, since the course is no longer than 1 mile."

From what I've seen when I've been to Nationals, the course is such a short loop that you can see most portions of the race course from where you're standing. Hope this helps.

The short track is also usually a combination of dirt, gravel & pavement, usually has some hills, and might have some jumpable bumps - 1 to 1.5 miles is probably the norm. They'll race for 20 or so minutes, and then a 10 minute timer goes off, at which time they REALLY race! People who get lapped, get pulled from the track, so what might start out with 40 racers might finish with 10. The race time can be adjusted downward for sport or beginner groups. Lots of fun to watch, because the whole course is right in front of the spectators.

thanks guys.