![]() ![]() Her grandson Anthony Brutto has been managing the ranch for years now, and he's not only a huge fan of motocross, he's a rider himself. Now there are comments that with Loretta herself passing, this might spell the end as well. Fortunately, they were wrong, and the race went on that year and every year since. When Big Dave passed away in 1998 on the day that year's race started, many thought that would be the end of Loretta Lynn's as far as motocross goes. Needless to say, she was already in pretty much every music hall of fame that exists. And last year, she joined my dad once again, this time in her induction into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame for her contributions to our sport over four decades. ![]() She even performed a few times after riders' meeting, with my dad playing bass guitar behind her with her usual band. As a result, Loretta Lynn's name became synonymous with amateur motocross, and she remained a frequent visitor to the event right until this past summer. They immediately hit it off, and before we got back on the road home to West Virginia, they had an agreement to give the big race a try.įorty-one years later, the Loretta Lynn's AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship remains the single biggest amateur motocross program in the world, with 64 rounds of nationwide Area and Regional qualifying and close to 27,000 entries this year alone (and the race week is still the only time in the year that a motorcycle gets out on the ranch track). Mooney Lynn happened to come by the office. #Champion outboard motor serial numbers movie#That did not happen-this was the height of Loretta's fame, as the movie was still in theaters-but Dad got lucky. He did, liked what he saw, and then went up and knocked on the door at the front office and asked to speak with Loretta. Dad's future partner in the event, Paul Shlegel, suggested that he stop at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. He also envisioned it at some kind of campground or amusement park–type setting so it wouldn't have to rely on holding other racing events throughout the year. His idea was for a centrally located venue that would only host one race a year in order to remain a neutral, even playing field. Dad had the gears in his head churning with the idea of a new AMA Youth/Amateur National that would replace the old nomadic ones that moved around the country from year to year, never really gaining the traction of big events like Ponca City, the World Mini Grand Prix at Saddleback, and the Mini Olympics in Florida. ![]() We were on the way home from the Ponca City NMA Grand Nationals in Oklahoma. That would change in August of 1981 when Loretta and her husband, Mooney, met my dad, Big Dave. To that point in her life, Loretta had absolutely nothing to do with motocross racing. ![]() Her story was the basis for the biographical, Oscar-winning film Coal Miner's Daughter, which catapulted her even further into the stratosphere of fame when it was released in 1980. Loretta Lynn was 90 years old, and she had one epic journey through life, going from a dirt-poor existence in Butcher Hollow in Kentucky to the very pinnacle of success in music. It didn't take any more to realize that the “Coal Miner's Daughter” herself, the Queen of Country Music and the hostess of the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship since 1982, had passed away. I wasn't really sure what he was looking for-and then I got another text, and another. The first message I received early Tuesday morning came from a friend at NBC asking for some kind of quote about Loretta Lynn. That was when we got a double dose of big news, both good and bad, and sad. And even more specifically, a single day of news unlike any I can recall: Tuesday, October 4, 2022. Welcome to Racerhead, and welcome to what's been the most significant week in any off-season that I can remember. ![]()
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