With the 41st edition of the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch approaching, we will spend the next few weeks running through some of the names you might not know raced Loretta Lynn’s. Of the thousands of people who have raced at the Ranch, not everyone has gone on to race at the professional level. But several are industry members, the parents/siblings of current pro racers, and people who became well-known outside of the motocross industry. So, in this year’s countdown we are going to highlight some names that make you say, “Wait, they raced at Loretta’s?!”
If you’re relatively new to the sport of motocross, you might think Troy Lee is just some random dude who started a company that makes gear for motocross and mountain biking, and has a professional race team. If you’ve been involved in this sport a little longer, you know Lee is an eclectic artist who’s been painting helmets for decades, knows people from all walks of life, and has relationships with companies like Atari, Sony, and of course, Wow Wow Classic Waffles. Even then you might not know that Lee used to race professionally in the early ‘80s, and you almost certainly didn’t know he raced the Masters (50+) class at Loretta’s in 2017. But he did!
The race probably didn’t go quite as Lee planned, he went 28-27-DNS for 39th, but hey, even to qualify for Loretta’s is a big accomplishment. And to put things in perspective, Barry Carsten was in the same class and didn’t even win (he went 2-2-1 for second overall). But win, lose, or draw, it’s awesome that Lee is still such an enthusiast after all these years. Once a racer, always a racer!
Troy Lee | 2017
39th Overall | Masters (50+) | 28-27-DNS | 2017
