Motocross brings riders to Havre

The Lohman Motorsports Complex brought motorcycle and ATV riders to the Hi-Line to take on the area's track Sunday.

The riders competed in a variety of events to earn points for Sunday's competition and for year-end totals.

Lohman Motorsports Complex, located halfway between Havre and Chinook just east of the town of Lohman, is part of a larger circuit that many of the riders are traveling around in. The points they earned at Lohman Motorsports Sunday will be added to the scores they receive at the other events they compete in.

Tera Verploegen, secretary and treasurer of Lohman Motorsports, said the 120 riders who competed Sunday ranged in ages from 4 to 70. The riders came largely from Montana, though a few traveled from Washington state and Canada.

"Riders earn points at each event and at the end of the year they get prizes for the amount of points they win," Verploegen said.

Lohman Motorsports Complex has been holding motocross competitions off and on for 12 years. This is the third annual motocross since they took a break from hosting the event, but the complex has been offering memberships since it was constructed more than a decade ago. Memberships last a year and cost $100 per family. The track is open until snow hits the ground, Verploegen said.

"It brings something new to the area," Verploegen said. "It brings in more people from around the state. Many participants have never been to the Hi-Line, so they stop and try to take in different things while they are here."

Tory Carson, who is an organizer of the motocross, said they are trying to make motocross more popular in north-central Montana. The sport is one of the less popular motor-sport events in the area, Carson said, possibly because of being so far north in the state.

With the competition held Sunday, riders were able to practice on the course Saturday, giving them the opportunity for two days of riding.

"I'm trying to make the event bigger and better each year," Carson said. "And we're working that way."