Image by Rob White
By: Heather Thompson
The Great Escape
I had never been to a motocross event before, and up until October 19, never met Cobb County residents John Watkins or Nick Blackmon either. Upon arriving at the 70 plus acre Dale family farm in Buchanan, I was greeted by smiling faces – wives of the motocross riders and event coordinators – and after parking my car in a hay field, I followed the sound of two-stroke engines toward the starting line where hundreds of people were gathered with numerous helmet-clad riders revving their bikes awaiting the drop of the starting gate.
John Watkins stood at the top of a hill holding a two-sided sign with the numbers “1” and “2”, just a few steps away from a Red Bull tent where event goers sheltered from the sun on a gorgeous fall day in Georgia. The Dale’s, Andy and Victoria, once had cows on the property but sold them a few years ago and now use the land to cut hay. Their house sits at the back of the property, right next to the dirt track built by John using tractors donated by Ground Control Excavation, and Andy and Victoria’s close friend Kevin Kelly. You see, Victoria has ALS and has progressively gotten worse over the last several months creating large medical bills, and forcing a beautiful formerly self-sufficient, independent public-school teacher to depend on her husband and family for everything – even lifting her head.
Kevin Kelly’s relationship with motocross was pumped into his veins from childhood because his parents spent the 1970s through, about, 2015 running several different motocross tracks across the state of Georgia. Now, Kevin is one of the premiere announcers for motocross in the country. When Kevin decided to host The Great Escape, a charity motocross event for the Dale family, he recalled something he heard at church “the pastor at our church said ‘hey, use whatever talents you have to help other people’ and my talent is running races.”
When Kevin approached John and Nick about a charity race to benefit the Dale’s, it was on their motocross podcast Winner Take Y’all. “We were voluntold, that we were going to do a charity race,” Nick laughed. “We didn’t even know what we were saying yes to,” John added as the trio discussed plans for next year at John’s kitchen table in Acworth.
But, thanks to Kevin’s connections and John’s skill with a tractor, the trio wrangled some of the biggest names in motocross to either attend or promote the event. Even other track owners pitched in to help raise money for a family that had no ties to the motocross community but needed help anyway. Calhoun Motocross helped promote The Great Escape and Big Springs Motocross provided the starting gate – you can’t have an event without one of those!
The Great Escape saw nearly 600 riders over two days with 1,500 spectators – a solid turnout for a first-year event where all the advertising consisted of social media posts and word of mouth.
Near the starting line, different vendors like Triumph – who offered demo rides on their new 250X and TF 450-RC Edition – Red Bull and Yamaha were more than willing to pitch in. Yamaha paid $500 toward entry fees for the races with the youngest riders. Entire families, including John, Kevin and Nick’s pitched in to make the day run smoothly, and efficiently. But, even when things didn’t go according to plan, not even riders or attendees complained.
Andy and Victoria
I had the incredible privilege of meeting Andy and Victoria that day, and upon entering her room I saw a wooden picture hanging over the bed with the words “I have found the one whom my soul loves,” a take on Song of Solomon 3:4, which speaks of finding the one whom you love and holding them tightly.
Out the bedroom windows, was the view of the track and the sound of bikes as they flew across the course, engine’s wide open.
“It’s a very humbling feeling, to look out over what was once cow pasture and to see food trucks and campers as far as the eye can see,” Andy shared as he sat on the bed with his high school sweetheart.
“And just the volunteers that showed up; because we know people look forward to their Saturdays but that they’ve chosen to be here for us is just amazing,” Victoria shared with tears in her eyes.
It’s All Vibes
“Everything has been so positive…I’ve talked to something like 35 people that said to me ‘I saw so-and-so and I haven’t seen him in 30 years,” Nick said about the riders and attendees. And indeed, the crowd that assembled wasn’t merely old timers riding classic bikes, but the best of the best came out in support of Andy and Victoria. Nick also credited their podcast audience for spreading the word about the event.
Kevin, John and Nick gave all the credit away and kept none for themselves as they sang the praises of all who were involved.
“These people don’t know Andy and they bought into the day and into the cause,” Kevin added with gratitude to all who made the day possible.
“I reached out to Ricky Carmichael and asked him to share the event on his page and he did,” Kevin said and added he hopes Ricky will attend next year.
“We did have the support of nearly every Georgia racer that has ever accomplished anything on a national level,” John said as he listed off the different groups of champions from Outdoor Motocross to Supercross riders who either attended or shared the race to their audiences. Kevin admits that he cashed in every favor he had to help his friends – because that’s what you do.
The Track
The track wasn’t a professional build, but it looked fun and I venture that everyone who was comfortable on two wheels wanted a ride. “It’s hard to get hurt on a grass track,” Kevin said, although there were the usual cuts and bruises associated with the sport. I’ll be honest, even I wanted to try it out but that would have been a terrible idea.
Being an “old timer” event, as I heard throughout the day, meant that a lot of motocross riders were – well – not kids anymore, and several had been involved in serious crashes in recent months or years, like Troy Collier who drove up from Florida at the behest of his good friend Frank Mann. Troy reflected that motocross racing is “not always about money; the comradery with everybody brings back what motocross started out like when we were young” and that laid back atmosphere, along with a great grass track, helped give him the confidence to ride again.
Terry Hunter, who designed a retro helmet that was raffled off and ultimately won by Daniel Sullivan, was another motocross rider who hadn’t been on a bike in years after having a pretty serious accident. But the track’s construction made it less intimidating and encouraged even the oldest of riders to get out and try it. Enter Barry Higgins, the first ever paid motocross rider in the history of the sport, and the Grand Marshall of the race, whose 8-foot-tall picture met riders at eye level over one of the track jumps. He let Kevin, John and Nick store equipment at his house – which was only 4 miles away – in preparation for the event. Barry, now 78, also rode in the event.
What Was Left
“We tried to be good stewards of [the Dale’s] land,” Kevin said, and it was true. Walking from starting line to food trucks, an attendee was hard pressed to find even a particle of trash on the ground. When any attendee saw garbage casually sitting in the grass, they took it upon themselves to pick it up. In fact, Tyler Dickenson with Magnum Paving provided a 30-yard dumpster that was hardly used because event goers took their trash home with them. Tyler also provided two water trucks, and 6 porta pottys that were continuously serviced throughout the entire weekend.
“The Dale family didn’t grow up around motorcycles, and motorcycle tracks are the most annoying thing if you don’t like the sport,” John added.
It was a true family event though, “all my kids were flaggers, and my wife was at the front gate; my brothers and their families were all involved,” Kevin shared as Nick and John added that their families were also there doing work. John’s wife, Amanda, ran the t-shirt table and Nick’s wife, Stephanie, kept score. “We couldn’t have done it without them,” Nick said.
Kevin, John and Nick all agreed that the day wouldn’t have happened had it not been for the effort of their sponsors, community of business owners and motocross riders who took time out of their weekend to work for free.
“It was nothing but expense for these people,” John said. United Rentals provided the light towers for the event, Roost MX graphic design made the logos, shirts, signage as well as the awards – providing much of it at no cost to the event organizers. In fact, if you look closely at your The Great Escape t-shirt, it says “For Victoria” in the designed logo.
Other sponsors who contributed time or funds are Landmark Dodge, Ed Perry Roofing, along with Buckwild Digital Marketing and Belt General Contractors.
What I saw on Saturday was the true American spirit. No one complained but instead did the work with a smile on their face. The riders, attendees, volunteers and sponsors came for one reason and one reason only: to help their fellow man.
And that, my friends, is the beauty of the unconditional love of the motocross community.
If you would like to help Andy and Victoria, you can donate here.
