Things didn’t start well for Kyle Coffman on Thursday night (July 20) in his first motocross race at the Jefferson County Fair.
Coffman, 14, who will be a freshman at Herculaneum this fall, collided with the rider beside him at the start of the 250c race. Both racers fell off of their bikes and were unable to continue. Minutes later, Coffman returned to a tent where he parked his Yamaha 125, examined his newest bruises and scrapes and wiped away a bloody nose.
Just a night’s work for a young motocross rider. Just another reason for his mother, Kelly Coffman, to run to her youngest son’s side.
“Oh my gosh, I hope he just keeps it on two wheels,” Kelly said before Kyle raced Thursday. “I stand there and pray he’s going to stand up when he goes down because the faster they get up, they jump back on their bikes and take right off. If they stay down for awhile, you know something’s wrong.”
When something bad happens to a person, a common expression is to “get right back on the horse.” An hour or so later, Coffman was right back on his motorcycle and lapping the field to easily win the Open C race.
Two years ago, Coffman broke his femur during a race. Since then, he has had four knee surgeries and now has plates in both knees, which could be removed as early as next year. He said he realizes his sport is fraught with peril and he could be seriously injured if he isn’t in excellent physical shape.
So Coffman started running to get in shape to race. That rubbed off on his older brother, Johnathon, who will be a sophomore at Herculaneum.
“I told Johnathon to start running and he took off,” Kyle said.
Johnathon took off, all right. Last fall, in his first attempt to conquer the Oak Hills Golf Course in Jefferson City, he finished 15th in the Class 3 state championships. During the spring, Johnathon was back with the Blackcats at the state capitol and finished sixth in the 3,200 and 10th in the 1,600 in Class 3.
Kyle said he isn’t good at most traditional sports but said he might try out for the track team next year. But he’s already an accomplished racer and travels with his mom year-round in pursuit of the next race.
“It’s a pretty rough sport,” Kyle said. “It’s a lot of work. You have to be in good physical shape. Your arms get worn out during a race.”
And mom’s nerves get a little rattled. Kelly said she took a lot of grief from people when she allowed Kyle to race again after breaking his leg.
“Other mothers would say, ‘How could you let your child do this?’ ” she said. “My question to them is, ‘How could you take away what your kids are passionate about?’ It’s not different than when a football or baseball player gets hurt. I’m not going to take his love away and he has a huge drive to do this.”
When Kyle broke his leg, Kelly said it was the worst day of her life.
“It knocked him out for two minutes and I ran out to him,” she said. “His face was bleeding because he had bitten his tongue. I was focused on his face and he was holding on to my necklace and to me. I never looked at his lower body until the owner of the track he was at said, ‘I think he broke his leg.’ ”
After the wreck took him out of the first race last week, Kyle seemed more angry than embarrassed.
“I can’t believe I wrecked at a fair race,” he said.
Kyle raced at the country’s premier track earlier this month and didn’t come away unscathed there, either. He said he was in position to finish second in the Pro National at the Red Bud track in Buchanan, Mich., but another rider crashed into him.
“It was my last race of the day, and I was passing to get into second and was coming down the hill and the track’s super rough, with big breaks in bumps and deep ruts,” Kyle said. “I was going to pass and this dude came over on me and ran into me and I crashed.”
Once again, Kelly watched as medical personnel – called the “scoop crew” – tended to her son.
She knows that whether it’s a race against veteran riders, or against those who want to enter their local race for fun, the element of danger is always there.
“Fair races are a lot different because they bring local kids who get to ride in their backyard; the only time they race is when their local civic center or fair has a race,” she said. “Competitive racers, like Kyle, race almost every weekend.
“The biggest thing that concerns me about fair racing is you have racers who are experienced and you have children that aren’t. When you mix the two in the same race, it’s scary.”
And that comes at a steep price, financially. When Kyle travels to race, they load up his two bikes (one is for practice) in Kelly’s 15-passenger Chevy 3500 and hit the road. When they reach their destination, there are fees for entering the gate of the event, practice fees, race fees, parts for the bikes and of course, gasoline.
“It adds up pretty quick,” Kelly said.
Kelly said she cheers just as hard for Johnathon when he’s running for Herky. The brothers are just 20 months apart in age. The two disparate sports her sons compete in only help define who they are.
“It really depicts their personalities,” Kelly said. “They’re black and white. Johnathan is very much an A-type personality, very organized, on time, dedicated and a 4.0 student, while Kyle is a free spirit so motocross really suits him and his lifestyle. It takes you back, how different they both are, but how amazing they both are.
“Every night, I’m most thankful for them.”