Paso Robles teen wins motocross championships, heads to nationals
Paso Robles Motocross rider Carlen Gardner.
Carlen Gardner travels to Tennesse for nationals
Carlen Gardner, 16, won the 2-stroke B/C (16+) division at the 33rd Annual Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship held at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., July 28 to Aug. 2.
The Paso Robles teen has been riding motocross since he was 7 years old when his dad Craig Gardner bought a JR50. From taking trips to the desert to ride, Carlen said he really found he loved racing motocross.
“When I started, I played every sport pretty much, but I’m not a team guy,” Carlen said, adding that being on the motorcycle relying on no one but himself, he feels good.
The races are sometimes as short as 15 minutes, but Carlen said that the energy used traversing the hilly, dirt track is incredible. The track at nationals, however, is much longer than the smaller, local tracks. To go to nationals, Carlen had to be one of the top 15 finishers in a qualifier race to go on to regionals. The top five then went on to nationals. Gardner raced against 41 others in nationals, beating every one of them.
“It was a bittersweet kind of deal,” Carlen said about winning nationals. “I’ve worked really hard over the last couple of years for this … it was kind of a relief to have that finished off.”
The closest practice track to Carlen is located in Los Olivos. He said he tries to get down there at least once a week, usually on Sundays. Sometimes he goes down by himself, other times with his dad and brother. The closest races are four to five hours away.
While Gardner will be a junior in high school, he will be homeschooled this year because he is getting more serious about racing and “the more serious you get, the more school you miss.” Carlen travels around the country for races year round, with the bulk of the motocross season from October to July.
