By CHAT News Today

VIDEO: Motocross races return to Medicine Hat

May 19, 2017 | 4:40 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Racers are getting ready to put the pedal to the metal this weekend.

The Canalta Hotels Alberta Motocross Championship runs through the long weekend at the motocross track north of the Medicine Hat Drag Strip.

Mckenzie Lacey is not only helping to put together the event, but is also racing on the weekend. Lacey’s love of motocross started in his teenage years growing up on an acreage outside of the city.

“I started out on just a 100cc trail bike, and I fell in love,” he said. “I got onto a 250 race bike, and I just wanted to race it. I went to tracks and started joining competitions. I had some close friends who also raced competitively, so it helped a lot.”

Lacey raced for the first time at age 16, describing the experience as “pretty crazy.”

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“I remember it was a spring race out here, and it probably rained a good five or six inches, and it was just muddy, with a ton of ruts,” he said. “It was a good time.”

Lacey estimates there will be approximately 100 racers from the southern Alberta circuit out on the track this weekend, coming from as far away as Calgary, Drumheller and Brooks to compete.

Lacey adds he’s hoping the event may help spur the growth of motocross in the region.

“There hasn’t been a lot of growth,” he said. “A lot of the riders have left and not a lot of people have taken it up.”

He adds if young kids come out to see the event, it will get them hooked on the sport.

Saturday is set aside as a practice day for riders, and races begin Sunday and Monday at 9:15 a.m. Admission for spectators on Sunday and Monday is $10 per person, $30 for a car load and free for children under four years old.