Cooper arrived at his first national qualifying AMA event stoked and ready to ride. The track was technical and he dug deep, raced hard despite the challenges facing him.
Racers work all year to qualify for this one of a kind national race where their skills and ability are tested racing against the best of the best in motocross, with riders from the farthest reaches of the country. When you arrive at Loretta Lynn's Ranch as a racer you are seeing possibly for the first time, a track that is saved for this special event only once a year. The track is tight, deep, and with every turn and straightaway it challenges the riders ability every time they roll out on the track.
Cooper showed he was ready for the challenge. He entered the track for the one day of practice allowed and laid down strong lap times in the low 2:00-2:03. This challenging track changes from day to day, race to race. The track showed Cooper it was one not to take for granted, he did find the ground throughout the week, but the challenges did not stop Cooper. He picked himself up and came back to place in the 250 C Limited motos in the top 10 throughout the week. There were times where the track sent him to the back, again Cooper dug deep and came back to 10th position in a strong field of 40 of the top riders in the country.
Motocross racing is not for the faint at heart, every time you go on track you have to think fast, and act faster understanding somethings are out of your control. Racing in the 250 C limited Cooper placed in his first two motos 7th and 10th, heading into the last day he was poised to be in the top 10 in the nation entering his last race Saturday. Cooper went on the track tired and sore from a full week of hard racing, yet he was determined to go the distance. Starting the third of three moto's he came out of the gates strong sitting 7th around turn 1, after the first lap his lap time was 1:59,685 Cooper was showing his determination to better his standings! He was completing lap 3, rounding the final turn, the track once again showed it's challenges and took him to the ground, then from behind him a bike ran over his throttle rolling the entire throttle casing covering the starter button crippling Coopers bike, preventing it from being started. Cooper fought to straighten his throttle unfortunately to no avail, Cooper was out of running for his third moto. Even with these struggles Cooper still finished top 16 in the 250 C Limited at this National event.
Cooper came away from the ranch with 10-20-9 for an overall 11th in the 250 C and 7-9-dnf for an overall 16th in the 250 C limited. Most importantly the learning experience this national event provides is invaluable. Cooper is looking forward to the Rocky Mountain AMA Amateur Nationals at Loretta Lynn's ranch in 2020!!!
