Wild ride: It's all about the speed, as dirt bikes come to Du Quoin to race this weekend
If you've never seen amateur motocross championship racing, says veteran driver and track owner Doug Cochran, you are in for an amazing time.
That time is this coming weekend at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds. Hundreds of racers on dirt bikes will fly over the Indian Hills MX course in the area qualifying races, competing to get to the next level in the AMA National Amateur Motocross 2018 championships.
The ultimate prize is qualifying for the Loretta Lynn Nationals, held July 30-Aug. 4 at the Loretta Lynn Dude Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.
And while the races Saturday and Sunday are classed as local qualifiers, racers can come from anywhere.
"They (spectators) will see some of the best amateur riders in the nation, from all over the U.S.," said Cochran, a co-promoter of this weekend's races at the fairgrounds, and owner of Paradise Moto-Park in Du Quoin.
If the weather is fine, racers will drive from just about anywhere to complete. Cochran's private track once hosted an event that drew more than 800.
"We've had people drive in from Washington State," he added. "That's how dedicated they are to racing."
The dirt bike tour has been coming to the Fairgrounds since 2012. The course consists of jumps - the biggest is 85 feet - and corners. It's all about speed.
Which means there is plenty of protective gear: racers wear helmets, gloves, chest protectors, goggles, safety boots, neck braces and more.
Cochran grew up in Carbondale and is a chiropractor by profession. But he has been enamored of bikes and motorcycles his whole life.
"It's extremely exciting to fly 100 feet through the air," he says. "I can't think of much that is more exciting than that."
The other big draw of racing is the satisfaction of working on the big bikes.
"Very few people can be in this sport and not have some mechanical ability," Cochran said.
Racers will come into Du Quoin on Thursday, and have practice runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday. For a $10 gate fee, spectators can watch. The races are Saturday and Sunday, starting at 9 a.m. Most of the youth racers are Saturday, with the adult classes on Sunday.
Racers are classed by their skill, their age, and the power of their engine (displacement). A "C" level racer is probably a beginner; an "A" racer is a veteran. Racers accumulate points at every event; their point totals determine if they are A, B or C racers on the amateur circuit.
And it's not just boys and men; girls and women race, too.
"This is the World Series of amateur motocross," Cochran said. "Whenever I've had someone come to a race, if they've never seen it before, they are just bowled over."