Some are farmers, some are contractors, others work at Folsom Prison. There are older men and women among them, as well as third-generation children. They came from all walks of life, at least those who walk in and around greater Sacramento. And for a few weeks each April and May, they get together at Prairie City Off-Highway Vehicle Park, pool their resources—the farmers rework the track, the contractors refurbish the facility, the prison guards organize the parking and security—and build the launching pad for Lucas Oil Pro Motocross. That’s why they like to say “American Motocross Starts Here.”

The Dirt Diggers North Motorcycle Club has been around since long before AMA Pro Motocross started. As a matter of fact, the Dirt Diggers’ signature race, the Hangtown Motocross Classic, is older than every other outdoor national on the 2018 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross schedule. The club first held this race in 1969. That’s two years before Daytona opened up its infield to dirt bikes, and three years before Road Atlanta hosted the first true AMA National. Hangtown was the biggest race on the West Coast—so big that when the outdoor nationals started in ’72, Hangtown was not on the schedule because they thought it would actually hurt their crowd!