[American Motorcyclist Association] - Ryan Brinker: AMA ATV hare scrambles champ

[Ninjette Newsbot]

Heartbreak and racing go hand in hand. That’s something that racers accept, and it’s something that ATV hare scrambles racer Ryan Brinker had to deal with during the 2014 season.

“The most heartbreaking thing for me was at the Peace River National in Florida,” says Brinker, 19, of New Tripoli, Penn. “It was sunny all day and right before the race it started to rain.

“I got a dead-last start and had to work my way back up through the field,” Brinker says. “By the last lap I had gotten myself into second place but from all the mud being thrown up it packed my radiator and the engine overheated and blew up. I was unable to finish the race.”

Despite the misfortune at a round of the 2014 AMA ATV Hare Scrambles National Championship Series, Brinker still captured the championship in not one but two classes: Overall and Open A.

Brinker, who races a Yamaha YFZ 450X, says there is no single competitor who is tough for him because they all are. “Everyone is your competition,” he says. “Every track brings new faces and even tougher competitors.”

He says the funniest thing that happened during the 2014 season was in Missouri.

“It rained the night before the race so it was really muddy. I was covered completely in mud so after the race I decided to clean myself off in a pond in all of my gear,” he says. “While I was in the water my dad took a picture of me and sent it to my mom at home and told her I missed a turn. She believed him and thought that my season would be over, that we could not fix the quad.

“Later we told her the truth and she got mad at us for playing a joke on her like that,” he says.

Brinker ran his first race at the age of 8 aboard a 50cc Polaris scrambler 50cc at a track called The Flying Dutchmen in Pine Grove, Penn.

“It was very exciting for me because I had never done anything like that before,” he says. “I'd watched it on TV and never thought I'd be doing it.’

What Brinker enjoys about racing the AMA ATV hare scrambles series is that the tracks and people at the races are always different so you don’t know what to expect.

“My plan for the 2015 season is to move up to the AA or XC2 Pro-Am class to race and try to get some wins,” he says. “To get ready I have to rebuild the quad and train more and harder.”

For those who would like to race ATVs but have no place to practice, consider that Brinker won two class titles even though he, also, has no place to practice.

“Everything I've learned I learned from being on the track racing,” he says.

“Some advice I would give to someone who wants to race is to just go out and do it,” he adds. “Have fun, don't let anything stop you from doing it. It doesn't matter whether you are an amateur or a pro, it is one big community.”

Brinker concluded by saying: “I would like to thank my mom and dad for helping me get to the races and for being my pit crew, and my girlfriend for supporting me at home. A special thanks goes to Lazarus Sommers and GT Thunder, Leatt neck braces and Houser Racing.”

Finally, Brinker dedicated his season, and titles, to his mom.

Story by Bill Kresnak



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