Two young locals have punched their tickets to the American Motorcyclist Association’s Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. 

First-grader Owen Ransom (age 7) and his best friend, third-grader Caysen Taylor (age 9), qualified for the 42nd annual event — set to be contested July 31 through August 5 — following impressive performances at the Baja Acres Regional Championship last month in Millington, Michigan.

“This is his (Owen’s) third year racing, and last year we fell short and didn’t make it to Loretta Lynn’s for the national championship,” Owen’s father Bryant Ransom said. “Obviously, this year both kids were absolutely on fire.”

According to Owen’s dad, both boys finished in the top 10 at their respective events at the Spring Nationals out in Texas. Both kids also competed in area qualifiers in New York, Pennsylvania and Indiana, where they tore through each and every competition.

Owen Ransom and Taylor worked extremely hard this year to meet the requirements of the AMA, all in the hopes of competing against the best of the best from all over the country. 

“We want these kids to get the recognition that they deserve,” Bryant Ransom said. “We want people to know that they have kids right here in their hometown who are putting in the work day in and day out on motorcycles that weigh twice as much as they do.”