Albertson youth qualifies for motocross championship
By From staff reports
Published in News on July 22, 2015 1:46 PM
Albertson's Mason Raynor just made his dream come true. The 6-year-old dirt bike racer has qualified for the largest amateur motocross race in the world, the 34th Annual Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship presented by AMSOIL at Loretta Lynn's Ranch.
Raynor took on over 20,000 hopefuls from across America to earn one of just 1,483 qualifying positions.
"The Amateur Nationals at Loretta Lynn's is the event every motocross racer in the country wants to compete in," said event Director Tim Cotter. "A win at the Amateur Nationals gives a rider instant national notoriety and can serve as a springboard to a lucrative professional motocross career."
Most of America's top professional motocrossers, including James Stewart, Ricky Carmichael, Travis Pastrana and Jeremy McGrath, have won AMA Amateur National Championships at Loretta Lynn's.
The race is so prestigious that in 2013 race coverage was aired on NBC for the first time ever. This year, the coverage only gets better as the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC National Championship will air live streaming from Loretta Lynn's on RacerTV.com throughout the week and be broadcast later in the fall on NBC Sports Network.
Raynor, who attends B.F. Grady School, has been riding since he was 3 years old. With the help of sponsors such as Doug Henry Chevrolet Buick GMC and First Choice Homes, who help pay his way to the races, Raynor has had the opportunity to pursue his dreams. He has won 24 races in the last two years and competes nearly every weekend.
Raynor will make the long journey to Tennessee along with his parents, Jimmy Lee and Kimberly Raynor, and his trainer,Lane Hussey. The race runs July 27 through Aug. 1.
Raynor is just one of the over 20,000 who spent the last four months qualifying for the event. The top finishers in area and regional qualifiers earn a birth into the National Championship race at Loretta Lynn's. Racers may enter a wide variety of classes, from minicycle classes for children as young as 4, all the way up to a senior division for riders over 50. There are also classes for women and classes for both stock and modified bikes.
The track is built on a section of Loretta Lynn's Ranch and Campground in Hurricane Mills, Tenn. The course contains a variety of jumps, corners and other obstacles designed to test the skills and stamina of the racers.
Most riders attend the event with the help of their families. In fact, many groups consider the event their family's summer vacation. Besides races, the ranch provides family-friendly facilities including a game room, swimming pools, arts and crafts activities as well as a fashion and talent show.