The final round of competition of amateur racing for the 2016 ProX ATV Motocross National Championship presented by CST Tires will kick off the 34^th running of the “World’s Greatest ATV Racing Vacation” at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch this weekend. Known as ATV Dirt Days it is the longest and most prestigious race on the schedule. It has served for many of the past 33 years as the final round of the championship and for many it is the “unofficial” ATV national championship. The history here is like no other in our sport and the feeling at the event is one of something special.

This year Dirt Days will serve as the final round for the amateurs and the penultimate round for the AMA Pro ATV class. So many championships will be decided throughout the classes and the excitement level will be at its peak. The great thing about this year’s event is that if you cannot go, you will be able to watch both days live on RacerTV.com. This will be the first time the amateur racing will be featured on Sunday and all motos and podium interviews on will be the feature for Sunday. It will also be the first time the Pro Am races will be live and hopefully we get to see the type of racing this class has given us all season. Be watching social media and ATVMotocross.com for more details to come. As well make sure you share the information so folks can tune in. It could be the start of something cool for the future.

Many folks are already at the Ranch and I am headed back today. I had to come home to Ohio for a few days but when I left on Sunday the place was already beginning to fill up with ATV racers coming to take advantage of the nostalgia and down time before all the hoopla begins. The creek is especially popular once again this year but is reminded to be cautious and not do anything too crazy to wreck your race. So if you are swimming make sure of the depth before you dive right in. The creek changes every year so what was deep last year may not be this. Plus the water levels are a little lower this year but still flowing and as relaxing as ever.

Don’t forget the many things going on this weekend. Friday night is the 88 Live to Ride Auction and Spaghetti Dinner. It will feature many great items and services up for bid and is also a lot of fun to attend. Make sure you check it out and you may even find the deal of a lifetime. Thanks to everyone who participates in this and I actually got this message from Debbie Bartosek last week:

Hi, Rodney:

Hope you’re staying cool at Loretta’s! Thought I’d let you know how things are shaping up for the 88 Live to Ride auction. We are blessed with all the support we receive!

Companies who have stepped up to date are: Fierce Powersports; Bortnick Tractor; Salon 11; Amped; Baldwin Motorsports; Rath Racing; Becky’s Flower Basket; PEP; JB Racing; All 4 Racing; Maxxis; Fly Racing; Kame’s Sport Center; The Program; ATVMX; SSi Decals and 7S Cycle.

Teams who are participating are: Nine6Nine; SSR; Koster Racing; Maxxis/Liquid Wrench/Elka/Honda; and Root River Racing.

Individuals who are helping our cause: Brandy Cottage; Tammy King; Cindy Hull; Linda McFarland; Amanda Kimmy; Nanci Beer; Tim Farr; Bethany Cox; Kathy Orr; Troy Tremellen; Harlen Foley; Jeremiah Jones; Rodney Tomblin; Denise and Carli Moser; Ken Hill; Megan Shepherd and Bailey Shea. And I have donations from these Pros: Rastrelli; Brown; Hetrick; Haagsma and Moser.

Remember, you don’t have to fix dinner that evening! Get the bikes washed up then join us for our benefit spaghetti dinner being hosted by Brian and Connie O’Neill. Sponsors for the dinner are Root River Racing; Corrosion Specialties and Sandridge Food. Root River Racing and JB Racing team members will be in charge of making sure the food is hot and ready!!

All in all it’s shaping up to be an awesome evening of good food, fellowship and entertainment!!

See ya Friday,

Debi

The Youth Contingency Program will be held on Saturday night as well and this is another great night at the ranch. Every youth entry is invited to the arena on Saturday evening as the YCP committee will be giving prizes to every rider registered. There are many sponsors who have stepped up with product and services literally totally in the tens of thousands of dollars worth of things handed out. It was started several years ago by a group of folks led by Freida Rozelle and her husband Gary. They have worked tirelessly to pull it off every year since. In recent years though Freida has been under the weather do to any injury received in an automobile accident but she has trudged on. Many know her as “Quad Nana” and this year she has been a rough one for her so once again some kind and gracious folks have stepped up to help. In years past and even now there are many working behind the scenes to make this successful but I would like to thank Tim and Stephanie Furches for their extra efforts this year too. There are more and as soon as I know who they are exactly I will extend a thanks to them as well. I hope you as racers will do the same and help support this great program.

That’s about all I have this week. Let’s check into Gloop’s Loop and with Ken “what are you looking at” Hill. Till next time, God Bless Your Hearts and All Your Vital Organs.

In The Loop with Gloop:

Love seeing some throwback Thursday pictures that the riders post.

It takes a lot of work to run a race team and these guys are doing it right.  

Keeping up with Ken Hill:

It appears I managed to survive another year at the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National and boy was it ever hot! Now it was on the warm side when I left Redbud and on full meltdown when I rolled into the ranch with temperatures in the triple digits with heat indexes exceeding the surface of the sun! Rain impacted the event the first few days, but we all know that thunderstorms and the ranch go hand in hand so be prepared to deal with them this weekend as the ATV Dirt Days rolls through its paces! I think this is one weekend where no one really cares about anything besides getting their motos run and hitting the creek! 

Taking a step backwards, Redbud always get the short end of the stick from me as I roll in, shoot the place up and roll out and right into one of the craziest weeks of the year. There is almost no Internet around Loretta Lynn’s and with a brutal daylight to dark schedule it is almost impossible to keep track of the stories that come out of one of the best races of the year. The track seemed good, rough, but hey that is what Redbud is known for! Hetrick and Wienen once again swapped moto wins and now we head into the next to last pro round. If one of these guys has a massive problem at Dirt Days this weekend, we can see the championship head to the final race at Soaring Eagle. That may be a good thing, I reckon it depends on which rider you are pulling for but you can’t argue that the competition this year has been intense! Who will come out on top this weekend is still up in the air as the top two have their setup on point and I expect another battle! Keep your eye on Jeffrey Rastrelli however as he may be ready to put the smack down on the podium as he did again at Redbud. It is so awesome to see him find success!

The amateur classes at Redbud were exciting to watch as well, and so many class champions will be crowned this weekend so if you are not attending, be sure to check out the live coverage from both days on RacerTV. The crew plans on bringing the action to you so please share the info all over your social media accounts and lets wrap up the final amateur round with a huge push.

That is all from me this week, short and sweet even though I am home, I am still short on time. I would have loved to have just stayed at the ranch and enjoyed several days of doing absolutely nothing but our gardens are prime and the wife needed help. You can expect some goodies at the 88 Live to Ride fundraiser that come straight from my gardens to you and boy are they good so please attend and help all you can as the night is entertaining if you’ve never taken the time to see what the fuss is all about! I hope everyone on their way or who are already at the ranch to have safe travels, safe racing and a great time and may God bless you all! 

ATVMX LIVE on RacerTV.com

This weekend's ATV Dirt Days ATVMX National at the Loretta Lynn Ranch will be broadcasted LIVE online on RacerTV.com Saturday, August 13 and Sunday, August 14, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. CST / 12 p.m. until 6 p.m. EST.