Posted on 10 June 2013 by admin
TRI-COUNTY – With the resurgence of a local racetrack, several middle-school boys have seized the opportunity to improve their motocross skills and race.
In the area for nearly fifty years, the Territorial Motocross Park came out of a short hiatus in January with new owners and a new name: Eugene MX. The track is located on Territorial Road near the elementary school and is open to the public.
“It’s back alive with Mike Miller running it,” said Ken Jamieson of Junction City Muffler who appreciates driving his son, Mitchell, a short five miles to the track. “It’s been a good time—the kids and parents are into it.”
This family-oriented park provides an additional source of local entertainment with several tracks available for riders of all ages and all levels of difficulty on all sizes of dirt bikes from 50cc to 450cc. The track is also challenging with doubles, triples, whoops, staircases and big uphills and downhills.
Since the track opened in January, Ken’s son and three other boys have been practicing several nights a week and then racing on weekends, reaching faster speeds each week.
Track owner Mike Miller from Springfield is a racer himself and father to motocross champion ‘Mad Max’ Miller, a fourth grader who recently won four AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) national motocross titles. Mad Max has been racing in competitions across the U.S. for several years now at places like the world class Loretta Lynn motocross track in Tennessee.
“He’s the fastest kid on a 65cc in the nation,” Ken said. “It’s been fortunate for us and our kids to hang out and race with him—the kids look up to him.” The Miller family enjoys interacting with other racers on the track, as does local racing legend Skeet Hise, who’s seen racing and prepping the track.
Once the track opened, “we all went out and got bikes, got the kids suited up with the best neck braces, knee braces, pants and boots—they look like they are ready to go Gladiator jousting,” Ken said.
Amazed by the progress the boys have made in a short time, Ken said, “We finished out our season at Eugene MX—we did about four races, and now we’re going to Albany MX and racing with those guys.” The team is also drawing in local sponsors like JC Muffler Shop, Dari Mart, OrCal, Langdon Farms and MotoGear.
“These kids try so hard. Last week at Albany we were running third and fourth. Both our boys went down in the whoop section,” Ken said. “It’s a pretty tough competition with about 10 to 15 riders on the track at the same time.”
Ken believes motocross is a great form of family fun. “It’s been awesome for me to get to know each and every kid and their parents,” Ken said. Ken also comes from a racing family, with Mitchell a third generation motorcycle racer. “When my dad sees his grandson racing, it just fires him up!”
The racing team is made up of the following fifth and sixth graders between the ages of 11 and 13 who attend Oaklea and Harrisburg middle schools: Skyler Guth, Cameron Horn, Mitchell Jamieson and Wyatt Perry. The boys also play football together at school, “but right now they are all into motocross and they’re all really fast,” Ken said.
Safety and fun are important, as is competition, Ken said. “We’ve been on the podium about three times,” he said, but he expects the kids to be winning more often after a little more practice.
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