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And that's when I paid a visit to find out more about the sport and the riders.

 

"Ever since I was five years old, I've been racing motorcycles. I'm 18 now. My cousin Levi got me interested when I was real young, I watched him race at a race at his track and I really wanted to.  They got me a little PW 50 and I started riding it and I'm a real competitive person and I guess it's that competitiveness and that drive to get better is what keeps me doing it and keeps it fun," says Chase Kilbarger, of Logan.

Kilbarger is running some practice laps to up his game.

Motorcycle racing is no longer a past-time, it's an occupation.

 

"I race 250 A and Open A class, a pro class. I started racing it a couple years ago when I turned 16, I turned pro. I'll be doing the arena cross championship this winter in the lights class so hopefully I can do well in it. But until then, I've just been training and riding and just trying to perfect my technique as much as I can," explains Kilbarger.

"Fast Traxx is great.  Norm does a really good job at prepping it. Today it's a little bit dusty, but it's nothing too bad. Any given Wednesday, there will be a couple top pro guys here like Levi or Willy Browning was here last weekend and the track always ruts up real great and it's a really great track," he says.

Mike Blair is from Marietta and also rides at Fast Traxx.

 

"I've been coming here since even the guy before Norm owned this track. You know, it's close to home, it's an hour away.  I actually work in Athens so it's only 10 minutes from work every day.  Norm does a good job, it's a good track, he's made some changes in the last couple of years," says Blair.

 

Blair has a few miles and years on Kilbarger and rides with a different perspective on racing.

 

"I've ridden motorcycles since I was five years old, I'm 40 plus, let's just say that.  It's just fun, the atmosphere is great, it's a family atmosphere, everybody is always out here with their families," says Blair. "It's an adreneline rush, it's a lot of fun, it's always different.  You can go to 15 different tracks and get 15 different atmospheres and different terrain, different dirt, different jumps.  It's never the same."

Blair sees racing as a way to unwind after a day at the office.

 

He does IT work for Sunpower of Athens.

 

"I guess there isn't a whole lot in common between racing motocross and being an IT geek, but I guess we all have to do something.  You know, when you sit behind a desk and push keys all day, you've got to do something that's a little bit exciting and that's what this is," he says.

Blair's wife and kids also ride.  He says he has a lot of friends with different backgrounds that ride.

Norm Bickley owns and operates Fast Traxx.

 

"In previous years, the economy, of course was affecting a lot of people.  Racing is expensive. In previous years, we've had as many as a thousand entries for the weekend for this.  We're hoping for 750, that's the number we're shooting for, 750 entries, for the weekend. And that's three events, so 250 for an event. Not really that far fetched.  We're hoping for a Saturday night crowd of 1500 people to watch the supercross and watch the fireworks," said Bickley.

 

Bickley says the track ownership business was sputtering badly but is picking up speed again.

 

Business was booming three years ago, with between 1,000 and 1,100 entries an event then. Last year was all time low, says Bickley, the worst he's ever seen it. 

 

Numbers this year are better, but not as good as three years ago.