Kit Palmer | August 13, 2023
Cycle News Archives
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The First Loretta Lynn’s Motocross
The first time a starting gate ever dropped at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch happened 41 years ago, on August 4, 1982, to be exact. It was the first time a motocross of any kind had occurred at the Ranch, owned and lived on by country singer Loretta Lynn, who needs no further introduction.
Paul Denis leads Bobby Moore (22) and Danny Storbeck (33) at the very first Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Nationals in 1982.
Photos by Werner Straube
According to Cycle News’ coverage of the race, written by Tim O’Haver and photographed by Werner Straube, 983 entries were filed and 25 class champions were crowned.
Back then, the race was called the AMA/Kawasaki Amateur and Youth National Championship Motocross. Kawasaki was a big supporter of that first race. So much so that all their contracted amateur racers were required to race it. At that time, Kawasaki was just getting going with its Team Green racing program. Kawasaki has been a major part of the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Nationals ever since.
The Loretta Lynn’s Dude Ranch race site, discovered by promoters Dave Coombs Sr. and Paul Schlegel, was chosen for several reasons. The main ones were that it was somewhat centrally located in the U.S. and, most importantly, offered a neutral battleground. No one would have the home-field advantage here since no one had ever rolled a wheel around this new track, not even the event promoter’s kids, Tim and Davey Coombs. Even they had to qualify for the race, just like everyone else. Coombs Sr. would not allow preferential treatment here. At that time, Coombs Sr. made it clear that the Loretta Lynn’s Ranch site would be used only once a year to maintain that level playing field and the integrity of the race.
The Ranch was the ideal place to hold such an event. Not only did it provide fairness for the racers, but it also had several excellent amenities, like many, comfortable and shaded campsites for the racers and their families to happily call home for the week, and the area, in general, was simply just a nice place to hang out, despite the hot temperatures and high humidity of mid-summer. And there were plenty of things for the kids to do between motos, like cooling off in the Ranch’s large pool, wading in a nearby creek, riding bicycles, or just watching the great racing. It was more than a racetrack or a racing event; it was indeed a vacation destination that the entire family, not just the racers, could enjoy, and when you consider all the travel getting there and back for most people, it was most families’ only vacation of the year, so it had to be a place everyone could enjoy. The timing was important, too.
“[The race] will all take place August 4-5-6-7,” Dave Coombs told Cycle News in March of 1982. “We felt it was important to have the AMA National before school started and during the peak of family travel time. We want people to make a vacation out of the National because Tennessee has a lot to offer vacationers. Besides the ranch, which is a great pleasure trip in itself, there is Music City with the Grand Ole Opry and Opryland Amusement Park….”
Larry Maiers interviews one of the amateur racers.
Unfortunately, everything wasn’t perfect at that first Loretta Lynn’s race—like, of all things, the track. It left a lot to be desired. It was flat and laid out in a middle of a field. It lacked jumps, and the dirt was funky and full of horse manure. It was much different from the hilly and more natural terrain layout that the racers were accustomed to at their home tracks. The Loretta Lynn’s track didn’t impress anyone, which wasn’t good for such a high-profile race; after all, it was a National! It also dried out quickly and got dusty—until the rains came, and then things just got muddy and nasty. Luckily, everything else about the event was so good and fun that most of the racers and their families could ignore the track’s shortcomings and would return the following year, especially after promoter Coombs Sr. promised that the track would be better, and Coombs was never known to go back on his word. The 1983 track was indeed better, and thousands of racers have returned to Loretta’s year after year. For many racing families, Loretta’s has turned into a must-do every year.
***That first Loretta’s race saw a new racing format. We reported that the Amateur National, Youth National, and Women’s National, run separately in past years, were brought together for this new event. Plus, a Senior class and several new B classes were also added. Overall, there were far more classes than people were used to. Competitors spent Wednesday practicing on the new track. Then each class raced one moto per day for the next three days, and scores were averaged to determine the winners. Each class had a 40-rider limit, and every rider was required to wear a racing bib with a large Wiseco logo on it. And each rider was assigned a number 1-40.
Emery Anden is remembered as the first to take the checkered flag at Loretta Lynn’s. He won the first Open A-class moto on a Honda. According to our report, Anden crashed in the third and final moto, held in the mud, so he was denied a chance to win the class championship, which ended up going to West Virginian Dave Scott.
Several riders competed in that first Loretta’s race that went on to become big names in the sport of motocross and Supercross, including Damon Bradshaw, Mike LaRocco, Larry Ward, Brian Swink, Bobby Moore, Keith Bowen, Todd DeHoop, Donny Schmit and future road-racing legend Colin Edwards. But the first official motocross star to graduate from Loretta’s and go straight to the bigs with good success was Ron Lechien. The young Yamaha support rider from El Cajon, California, competed in the 125cc A Stock and Modified Youth classes at Loretta’s in 1982, winning both. Less than a year later, the now-factory Yamaha rider won his first Supercross in Orlando, Florida. He then won his first Motocross National (125cc) in Texas a week later.
Kawasaki has been a big supporter of Loretta Lynn’s since day one.
Some of the other Loretta Lynn’s class champions in 1982 whom you might have heard of included Kyle Lewis (85cc Modified 7-11), Danny Storbeck (85cc Modified 12-15), and Eddie Warren (125cc A Stock and Modified). Bowen (250cc A) and Ward (85cc Stock 7-11) also won titles that year.
There was at least one rider who liked that first Loretta’s track, and that was Women’s Champion Lisa Atkins of Southern California, who won all three of her motos.
“I guess I really don’t have anything to complain about,” she said. “This track is a lot better than Carlsbad.”CN
