Motocross Racer Drayke Sizemore Qualifies for Nationals July 29
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Drayke Sizemore of Du Quoin just made his dream come true. The 17-year-old dirt bike racer has qualified for the largest amateur motocross race in the world, the 31st Annual Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn's Ranch. Sizemore took on over 20,000 hopefuls from across America to earn one of just 1,386 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 2009, teenage stars Dean Wilson, from California, and Eli Tomac, from Colorado, were awarded premier professional contracts for the 2010 season.
With the help of his mom and dad who help pay his way to the races and his newest sponsor FULL TILT of Belleville, Ill., Sizemore has had the opportunity to pursue this life long dream. Sizemore will make the long journey to Tennessee along with his parents and younger sister. The race runs July 29 - August 4, 2012.
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.
The Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship is the world's largest and most prestigious amateur motocross racing program. The national qualifying program consists of 50 Area Qualifiers (February through May) and 12 Regional Championships (June), hosted at select motocross facilities across the country. The qualifying system culminates in the National Final (first week of August) hosted annually since 1982 at the home of country music star Loretta Lynn in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.