6-year-old dirt bike racer tears up tracks across US

ATWOOD, Tenn. — From Tennessee to Texas, to Ohio all the way down to Florida, Colt Delagarde spends his weekends seeking competition on the Amateur Motocross circuit.

Delagarde and his family have about two months out of the year to rest. The other 10 months are spent on the road.

“Somewhere in the country where there’s a race every weekend, we travel anywhere from about 15 hours of Jackson to a race if there’s one that weekend,” Chris Delagarde, Colt’s father, said.

Being on the road consistently can be tiring. But for Colt, there’s no such thing as too much racing.

“Not really. I wanted to ride more. I wanted more,” Colt said.

His dad is there to help make sure Colt is ready to ride every single day.

“I’m the mechanic, the driver, the bank, everything,” Chris said.

Chris introduced Colt to dirt bikes at an early age due to his involvement with them. He said one day Colt was watching TV and showed interest in racing, and from there the two never looked back. They even were able to overcome a rocky beginning.

“He ran into the pool, so we thought he was going to be good, but the pool incident kind of had its little setback,” Chris said.

Since then, Colt has bounced back and won a few races including the Texas Winter Series, thanks to a few tips from Dad.

“You have to get confident, stable. You have to get comfortable, and you have to just stay on that gas to win,” Colt said.

Now Colt has his sights set on one thing — the Loretta Lynn Amateur Motocross Championship, and he knows just what it will take to win.

“I’m going to have to practice. Practice makes better,” Colt said.

He also hopes to send a message to his doubters along the way.

“They think I’m not very good. At least when they see me on TV, they’ll believe me,” Colt said.

To help the Delagardes with travel and expenses of competing in the Amateur Motocross circuit, contact Chris at 731-343-1650.