Local Racer Earns a Spot at National Championship Motocross Race

Jake Gagne just made his dream come true. Jake of Ramona, CA went 1-2-4 to win the 65cc class at San Bernardino’s Glen Helen

Raceway. Over 700 racers competed for the 138 qualifying positions allotted the Southwest Region. The 11year-old dirt bike racer has qualified for the largest amateur motocross race in the world, the 23rd annual AMA/Air Nautiques Amateur National Motocross Championships at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Tennessee. Gagne took on over 17,000 hopefuls from across America to earn one of just 1400 qualifying positions.

“Every motocross racer in the country wants to compete in the Amateur Nationals,” says Event Director Tim Cotter. “A win there can serve as a springboard to a lucrative professional motocross career.”

Most of America’s top professional motocrossers, including Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael, Travis Pastrana and James Stewart, have won AMA Amateur National Championships. A victory at this race is so valuable that two teenagers, Georgia’s David Millsaps and Pennsylvania’s Broc Hepler, were rewarded with six-figure pro contracts after winning Amateur National Championships last year.

Jake Gagne, who attends Barnett Elementary School, has been riding since he was 6 years old. Sponsors such as All American KTM, Shift, Motorex, Spy Optic, SIDI boots, Precision Concepts, Ready Racing, and Ramona Cycle Supply help pay his way to the races. He has won over 200 races in the last 4 years, and competes every weekend at local and regional tracks in the western United States.

Jake Gagne

His parents, Marc and Maureen, will send there son and equipment to Tennessee for the race, which runs August 1– 6.

Jake is just one of the 17,000 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. Racers may enter a wide variety of classes, from minicycle classes for children as young as four, all the way up to a Senior division for riders over 40. There are also classes for women, and classes for both stock and modified vehicles.

The track is built on a section of Loretta Lynn’s Ranch and Campground in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. 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, and a fashion and talent show.

Photos Courtesy of Rodney Rutherford