(Posted July 2, 2019)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
Last year was the first year for dirt bike races at the Madison County Fair. Organizers were happy with the number of entrants and look forward to an even bigger turnout this year. The 2019 event takes place at 7 p.m. July 11.
“In 2018, we had over 120 riders which are good numbers for a first-year event,” said Shawna Bickley, who runs Fast Traxx Racing with her husband, Norm. “We are anticipating 150 to 200 riders this year. We are excited to be coming back to Madison County.”
The Bickleys and their 25-person crew transform the grandstand track into a motocross course, complete with a starting gate, mounded jumps, humps and a series of smaller bumps known as a “whoop section.”
On-site registration starts at 3 p.m. the day of the event, followed by a timed practice at 6:30 before races start at approximately 7:30. Anyone with a dirtbike or quad is welcome to enter. Fast Traxx offers 40 classes for everyone from 4-year-olds to 65 and older.
Classes are organized by age, skill level, and bike size, with separate categories for youths, amateurs and professionals. Many entrants race in multiple classes. The entry fee for youths and amateurs is $25 per class; for pros, it’s $30 per class. The cash payout for pros is 100 percent of pro entry fees. Plaques go to the top three finishers per class for youths and amateurs.
Racers must wear helmets, goggles, long pants, long-sleeved shirts, and boots that cover their ankles. Bikes/quads can range from 50cc to 450cc.
The set-up can accommodate 15 bikes, seven quads, or nine micro-quads per race. Each race covers six or seven laps, depending on the size of the course, and lasts roughly three minutes.
The Bickleys have operated Fast Traxx for the past 16 years, running nine supercross races and 18 grand prix races each year at their home track in Nelsonville, Ohio. They got into the fair circuit about eight years ago. This year alone, they have 19 fair events booked, in addition to their home course events.
Go to fasttraxxracing.com, look for “Fast Traxx Racing” on Facebook, or call (740) 707-7336 or (740) 767-3740 for more information.
The 2019 Madison County Fair runs July 7-13. The fairgrounds are located at 205 Elm St., London. For a full schedule of events, go to Fair Schedule.
