Youthful rider eyes a future in pro ranks
Last year in February, Briar McCorkle got his right foot stuck
in the mud while negotiating a turn at Hollister Hills. He twisted
it completely backwards, he said, but finished the remaining two
laps of the race, nonetheless, standing with one foot on the
peg.
”
I knew something was wrong because I couldn’t get off the
bike,
”
McCorkle said.
Youthful rider eyes a future in pro ranks
Last year in February, Briar McCorkle got his right foot stuck in the mud while negotiating a turn at Hollister Hills. He twisted it completely backwards, he said, but finished the remaining two laps of the race, nonetheless, standing with one foot on the peg.
“I knew something was wrong because I couldn’t get off the bike,” McCorkle said.
An MRI later revealed McCorkle had a torn ACL, torn inner and outer meniscus and bone chips.
Surgery, though, had to wait. There was an upcoming national race in Las Vegas, and McCorkle told his mother at the time, “I’m racing.”
Noting that a “deal” was in place where if the 17-year-old felt any pain in the knee he’d drop out of the Las Vegas National – he said he felt fine, however – McCorkle managed to qualify for both his 250 stock novice and modified novice races anyway.
He didn’t fare well in either main event after a bad start in one race and a mechanical problem in the other, but as an incoming junior at San Benito High School, McCorkle displayed the drive and determination of a professional rider at the intermediate level, and with a torn ACL, no less.
The injury setback halted his plans of going pro for a short while – six months to be exact – but after surgery late last year to repair his banged-up knee, McCorkle is once again on the fast track towards motocross stardom. His current Intermediate Level-standing is just one step shy of turning professional.
“The struggle of knowing I couldn’t ride for six months was difficult,” McCorkle said of the time off due to his surgery. “But once I got back on the bike, it came back pretty quick.
“I knew I would have lost some speed after taking six months off … but I’ve only been riding for a couple months, and I can go a lot faster than I thought I was gonna be.”
Although he recently returned in May, McCorkle took home arguably his highest honor just last weekend. After carpooling with the Raisbeck family to Washington state, McCorkle rode to a third-place finish in the 250 Intermediate Class at the Washougal national. He also finished 12th in the Before the Hill Open Class race on his 250 F.
“I definitely have a lot more confidence in racing in the series,” McCorkle added. “I feel like I can do a lot better.”
Getting his first bike at the age of 4 – a PW 50 – McCorkle got his start in racing at 10 years old, when he was given a reality check in his very first race.
Under the impression that he’d perhaps breeze through the ranks and become a professional in no time, McCorkle’s first motocross race is a distant memory. When asked where he finished in his first race, McCorkle said, “Probably not that good.”
“I didn’t know about the levels and I just thought I was gonna move up really quick,” McCorkle said. “Once I had my first race, it was a lot more difficult than I thought.”
Looking up to pros like Ryan Villopoto and Ricky Carmichael, as well as taking lessons from local riders Billy Jurevich and Jeff Pestana, McCorkle is pacing himself towards his pro career.
The McCorkle family currently shells out money for entry fees, gate fees, fuel and bike parts, among other expenses, for Briar to participate. A move towards the professional ranks would allow McCorkle to start earning money and paying off those costs. But if you’re not able to win at that level, you won’t make money at that level, either, said McCorkle’s mother, Audra.
“Once you go pro, you can’t come back,” Audra said. “It’s a whole different level, just because these guys are out there to make a living.
“If they feel you’re in the way, they’ll run you over … You need to make sure you’re ready.”
McCorkle knows that, though, and he doesn’t plan on making a move to the professional ranks – where the only requirement is that the rider is 16 years old – for another year to year and a half.
“I was only doing it for fun when I first started. Now it’s something I want to make a career out of,” McCorkle said. “I’m learning from people that were older than me. I have a little ways to go before I beat all the competition in my class.”
Now in his seventh year of racing, McCorkle’s sponsors include Hollister Honda (which sponsors his 250 F bike), Faultline Power Sports, Halftime Energy Drinks and Fox Racing. He currently occupies a top-three position in all three classes (250 Intermediate, 450 Intermediate and School Boy) at the Top Gun Summercross Series in Los Banos, and currently races two times per class, per weekend.
As Audra said, “Every race is practice for the next.”
And the next will come in the first week of October, when McCorkle will travel north towards Sacramento to compete in the 2008 Dodge Amateur Motocross National at Prairie City in Rancho Cordova.
Every race until then, of course, is practice. And every national race as an intermediate rider is another step towards turning pro.
“There’s always a chance to make money,” McCorkle said. “That’s my only motivation to move up right now, but I’m not ready to move up just yet.”
