By MYRNA FOSTER
Moapa Valley Progress
Last week, Maxx Perkins, sixteen-year-old son of local real estate agent Clea Whitney, competed in the AMA Amateur National MX Championship. Held yearly at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, this championship is the most prestigious event that an amateur motocross racer can qualify for, according to Motoplayground magazine.
To race at Loretta Lynn, Perkins had to place well in two separate races earlier this year. Nearly 20,000 racers compete for the spots available, and there are qualifying races all over the nation to determine which 42 amateurs will represent each class. Perkins took first place in his area qualifier. Then he came in fourth at a regional race.
Perkins and his uncle, Luke Perkins, left for Tennessee on Wednesday, July 16, to get acclimatized to Tennessee’s humidity. Working toward that goal, he rode on a track in Kentucky. They slept in the van, at a cousin’s home in Missouri for a few nights, and at a hotel before they picked up an RV on July 23. Once they had the RV, Perkins said they went straight to Loretta Lynn’s Ranch.
Perkins took a fairly new Suzuki to the event. He said he’d only raced the bike at the World Mini in April, so it had about 30 miles on it. Still, he replaced some parts in the motor and made sure everything was perfect before leaving.
His mom, Clea Whitney, joined them right before the week of racing started. “I left Saturday night,” she said, “and arrived in Nashville on Sunday morning.”
Whitney said that her son had only one practice run on Monday to get used to the track. “The ruts were knee deep,” she said. “It was a national track. They didn’t make it easy.”
Whitney said it was a bit overwhelming just because it was such a big race. There were acres and acres of RVs and racing every day, all day long. “As an amateur, you aren’t used to the fans and that kind of crowd,” she said.
Whitney and Perkins both mentioned that Trystan Guard, a friend, flew out to watch the races and take photographs.
Perkins said that the races, or motos, were 15 minutes plus two laps.
Perkins raced first on Wednesday, July 30. In that race, he got stuck in a big pile-up and finished 34th out of 42.
But on Thursday, he made a huge comeback, taking 5th place.
Whitney told him before the race that if he finished in the top ten, she’d swim the river at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. The river was big enough that Whitney said people were fishing in it.
Perkins had Friday off, so they all went down the river on tubes, floated to the museum, and then swam the last part. Whitney said the river was really cold. People from the area said they were having a cold front.
Perkins said the cold wasn’t too bad on Wednesday, and Thursday was perfect weather. “Saturday,” he said, “was really humid and hot. It was horrible.”
On the last day, Perkins raced in 95% humidity and took 7th place, finishing 12th overall in 450 C class. He really wanted to finish in the top ten but agreed that 12th wasn’t bad.
When asked about his plans for the future, Perkins said, “I’m going to bump up a class and try to go again next year.” He said it might take him a while to jump up. You can race two years in each class, as long as you qualify.
When asked about sponsors, Perkins said that he wasn’t approached by any new ones. The representative from Yoshimura Exhaust told him, “Good job.” Yoshimura Exhaust gives Perkins a discount, and he wears an ad for them on the bib that’s part of his gear. His bib also sports ads for Monster Energy and ODI Grips.
Whitney said, “Except for that pile up, we couldn’t have asked for a better time.”
Whitney flew back Saturday night. Maxx and Luke Perkins drove straight through, making it home late Sunday night/early Monday morning.
Whitney said that she really appreciates those that have donated and supported Maxx. She said there are so many that she’s afraid she’ll leave someone out if she starts naming names.
Perkins said, “I’d like to thank my mom, my grandparents, my Uncle Luke, Josh Frederick, all my friends and family who helped support me to get there, Mesquite Mx, and the 4 D’s Racing.”
