Motocross A Family Tradition
Wagners qualify for event at Loretta Lynn's Ranch
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
A more accurate description would be that motocross racing is a way of life for the Wagners.
The Wagners, who live on the southwest side of Warsaw, have a track on their property.
On Wednesdays, Jay, who will turn 46 in August and who installs hardwood flooring as a day job, teaches youngsters to ride.
On the weekends, Jay, his wife Angie, and their children, 15-year-old Jacob and 13-year-old Sidney, pack their motorhome and load up their bikes.
They head to a motocross event somewhere, and yeah, they're good at what they do.
Jay, Jacob and Sidney ride, while Angie, who has riden before, plays the important roles of wife, mom and cheerleader.
“I've been racing for 36 years,” said Jay. “I started racing when I was about 10. I rode before that, but back then they really didn't have a lot of kids’ classes, back in the 1970s. But my brother, Bobby, he's eight years older than me and he raced. My dad raced prior to that in the 60s.
“When my brother started riding, Dad kinda quit, and we all started going to the races. That's kinda where it all started, way back when.
“It's been the same story for my kids and my wife and I, we've traveled from one end of the country and back, and every summer we keep doing that.”
Jay rides a KTM 450, while Jacob rides a KTM 125 and Sidney a KTM 85.
All three recently qualified for the 35th annual Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship.
The event will be held Aug. 1-6 at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., and Jay calls it the biggest amateur event in the world.
Jay raced the inaugural event in 1982, and this year marks his 16th overall appearance and first time he and both of his children have qualified.
“It's the biggest amateur race in the world,” said Jay. “I raced the first one in 1982 on a 65. Everyone that goes to the races has one goal in mind, and that's to make it to Loretta Lynn's Ranch. It's been at that same place for 35 years, and you have to go through an area qualifier, then a regional qualifier just to make it.
“Once you get down there, there's 42 riders on the gate in each class. It's pretty stacked – you've got the fastest riders from the east coast to the west coast and everywhere in between.”
Jay grew up around motorcycles. His dad, Bob Wagner, owns Maverick Motorcycle.
Angie also grew up around motorcycles. Her dad, Gene Ritchie, started Red Bud MX in Buchanan, Mich.
“In 1972, my dad packed up his family from Valparaiso and moved us to Buchanan,” said Angie. “He started Red Bud. It had been an apple orchard and farm land, and he built it into a motocross track in 1972. That’s when it all began.
“I got my first mini-bike when I was 4, but it was a family business, I had to work. I have a brother and a sister, and we all had to work. We had a lot of fun, but it was a family business. We had to pick up rocks on the track, pick up trash after the races, clean the bathrooms, paint, weed-eat, mow. We did it all.”
Red Bud MX is one of the Wagner’s sponsors, providing them with the bikes they ride.
Both Jacob and Sidney have been riding since they were very young.
According to Jay, both Jacob and Sidney were riding bikes when they were 2.
It wasn’t long before Jay took the training wheels off.
By the time Jacob and Sidney were 3, they were riding motorcycles.
By the age of 4, they were both racing, as Jay points out that Sidney rode her first race “four or five days after her 4th birthday.”
“It’s fun,” Sidney, who will be an 8th grader at Tippecanoe Valley Middle School, said of riding and racing. “You get to ride with your friends, and go to the races.
“It’s a natural thing. All my family races. I guess I just got into it. It’s what all my family does.”
Jacob will be a sophomore at Tippecanoe Valley High School in a couple months.
“Some of my friends think it’s cool,” said Jacob when asked about the response he gets from his peers. “Some of them want me to teach them to ride. It’s a do or die thing with them. Some think I’m crazy, others think it’s cool.”
One thing is for sure, it’s a family tradition.[[In-content Ad]]
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A more accurate description would be that motocross racing is a way of life for the Wagners.
The Wagners, who live on the southwest side of Warsaw, have a track on their property.
On Wednesdays, Jay, who will turn 46 in August and who installs hardwood flooring as a day job, teaches youngsters to ride.
On the weekends, Jay, his wife Angie, and their children, 15-year-old Jacob and 13-year-old Sidney, pack their motorhome and load up their bikes.
They head to a motocross event somewhere, and yeah, they're good at what they do.
Jay, Jacob and Sidney ride, while Angie, who has riden before, plays the important roles of wife, mom and cheerleader.
“I've been racing for 36 years,” said Jay. “I started racing when I was about 10. I rode before that, but back then they really didn't have a lot of kids’ classes, back in the 1970s. But my brother, Bobby, he's eight years older than me and he raced. My dad raced prior to that in the 60s.
“When my brother started riding, Dad kinda quit, and we all started going to the races. That's kinda where it all started, way back when.
“It's been the same story for my kids and my wife and I, we've traveled from one end of the country and back, and every summer we keep doing that.”
Jay rides a KTM 450, while Jacob rides a KTM 125 and Sidney a KTM 85.
All three recently qualified for the 35th annual Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship.
The event will be held Aug. 1-6 at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., and Jay calls it the biggest amateur event in the world.
Jay raced the inaugural event in 1982, and this year marks his 16th overall appearance and first time he and both of his children have qualified.
“It's the biggest amateur race in the world,” said Jay. “I raced the first one in 1982 on a 65. Everyone that goes to the races has one goal in mind, and that's to make it to Loretta Lynn's Ranch. It's been at that same place for 35 years, and you have to go through an area qualifier, then a regional qualifier just to make it.
“Once you get down there, there's 42 riders on the gate in each class. It's pretty stacked – you've got the fastest riders from the east coast to the west coast and everywhere in between.”
Jay grew up around motorcycles. His dad, Bob Wagner, owns Maverick Motorcycle.
Angie also grew up around motorcycles. Her dad, Gene Ritchie, started Red Bud MX in Buchanan, Mich.
“In 1972, my dad packed up his family from Valparaiso and moved us to Buchanan,” said Angie. “He started Red Bud. It had been an apple orchard and farm land, and he built it into a motocross track in 1972. That’s when it all began.
“I got my first mini-bike when I was 4, but it was a family business, I had to work. I have a brother and a sister, and we all had to work. We had a lot of fun, but it was a family business. We had to pick up rocks on the track, pick up trash after the races, clean the bathrooms, paint, weed-eat, mow. We did it all.”
Red Bud MX is one of the Wagner’s sponsors, providing them with the bikes they ride.
Both Jacob and Sidney have been riding since they were very young.
According to Jay, both Jacob and Sidney were riding bikes when they were 2.
It wasn’t long before Jay took the training wheels off.
By the time Jacob and Sidney were 3, they were riding motorcycles.
By the age of 4, they were both racing, as Jay points out that Sidney rode her first race “four or five days after her 4th birthday.”
“It’s fun,” Sidney, who will be an 8th grader at Tippecanoe Valley Middle School, said of riding and racing. “You get to ride with your friends, and go to the races.
“It’s a natural thing. All my family races. I guess I just got into it. It’s what all my family does.”
Jacob will be a sophomore at Tippecanoe Valley High School in a couple months.
“Some of my friends think it’s cool,” said Jacob when asked about the response he gets from his peers. “Some of them want me to teach them to ride. It’s a do or die thing with them. Some think I’m crazy, others think it’s cool.”
One thing is for sure, it’s a family tradition.[[In-content Ad]]
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