In 1980, I joined the NMA and started my campaign to be a motocross champion. The NMA at the time was a chance for amateurs to compete on a regional and national level. We traveled all over Texas to qualify for the national race in Ponca City Oklahoma. I can't remember how many races we attended but the last one was in Conroe Texas.
At the last race of the season, I won both stock and modified in my division for the Texas-Louisiana region. After the races had finished up, they had a father and son event planned. The race was four laps beginning with the sons. After completing each lap, the fathers and sons would "relay", or swap out riders onto the same bike.
Dad and I had a dilemma because he only had one arm. On a bike that Dad rode, we would swap out the front brake and clutch cable so that he could use the clutch with his right hand. We set up a bike so he could participate but I wasn't able to ride well with the clutch on the "wrong" side. NMA officials decided that we could ride separate bikes, and I would just have to tag him for his lap to begin. We were going to get to participate!
The race started and I was in 3rd place at the end of lap one. We tagged and Dad took off like a bat out of hell. He rode exceptionally well and passed the other two fathers. before the end of lap two, we were in 1st place. He tagged me and I sprinted around and extended our lead to about 5 seconds. We tagged again and Dad was off again, riding his heart out! Near the beginning of his last lap, Dad was going too fast and blasted right through a big berm, going off the track and into deep sand. While he struggled to navigate back onto the track he was passed by another father. He rode like hell to catch up and pass the guy back. Dad passed him just after the finish line and he thought we had won.
It was the only time my Dad ever raced motocross and he put in a valiant effort! It was the most fun race I had in my life. I'll never forget it. We got second but it wasn't from his lack of effort. He had a blast and we got to compete together as a team. I couldn't have been more proud of my Pop!