Don’t Give Up. Chase the Pro Gate — and Race As Long as You Can....

Somewhere along the way, a lot of riders and families started believing there’s only one path in motocross.

Qualify for Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Motocross Championship. Make it there. Win there. Then maybe you’ve “done something” in this sport.

I don’t agree with that. And I never have.

Loretta’s is an incredible race. It always has been. The riders who make it there earn it. The families who get there sacrifice for it. I respect what it represents. But somewhere over time, the message changed. It stopped being one milestone and started being treated like the milestone. And when that happens, a lot of riders quietly start believing something that just isn’t true — that if they don’t make Loretta’s, they somehow missed their chance in motocross.

That’s just not how this sport works.

I raced professionally for four years. I lined up with fast riders. I chased the dream the same way everyone else does. But I never went to Loretta’s. Not once. And it didn’t stop my career. It didn’t stop my love for racing. It didn’t stop me from becoming who I am in this sport. My path didn’t go through Tennessee. It went through local tracks, regional races, long drives, small gates, tough motos, and a lot of weekends just trying to get a little bit better than I was the week before.

There isn’t just one road. There never was.

Some of the strongest riders I’ve ever seen didn’t come from national amateur programs. They came from Saturday practices at rough local tracks. From racing the same five guys every weekend and figuring out how to beat them one lap at a time. From families working out of pickup trucks and pop-up tents. From places nobody outside their region would even recognize. Local racing builds real riders. It builds patience, toughness, confidence, and something even more important than results — it builds a love for riding that lasts.

If your goal is to go pro, chase it. Go all in. Line up with riders who are faster than you. Put yourself in uncomfortable situations that force you to grow. Learn timing. Learn starts. Learn how to ride when you’re tired and when things don’t go your way. But don’t believe the myth that there’s only one doorway into that future. There are riders every year who turn pro without the perfect amateur resume. What they have instead is years of showing up and refusing to quit.

The part that matters most to me now is something I didn’t fully understand when I was younger. You’re only young once in this sport. There’s only one window to race 65s. One window to race 85s. One window where loading the truck before sunrise still feels like an adventure. If everything becomes about one qualifier, one region, one event, one finish line, you miss what motocross is really giving you along the way. Some of the best memories you’ll ever have won’t come from a national gate. They’ll come from your local track with the same riders you grew up racing next to every weekend.

Motocross gave me more than results ever could. It gave me friendships that are still part of my life today. It gave me lessons I still carry. It gave me a connection with my family that now includes my son. And it’s a big part of why we built FlowVision in the first place. Not for hype. Not for rankings. Not for one race in August. For riders. For families. For the long road that starts at your local track and keeps going as far as you’re willing to take it.

So if you’ve got the drive to chase the pro gate, go after it with everything you have. Just don’t let anyone convince you there’s only one way to get there. There never was. And there still isn’t. 🏁

-Nick, FlowVision