A motocross track transformation comes to life in Texas
One’s passion for motocross rarely fades, although sometimes life’s responsibilities get in the way. That was the case with our custom track build in Weatherford, a small town 30 miles west of Fort Worth, Texas. The customer, who is a grandfather and owner of a nice plot of land, used to ride and take his son motocross racing before stepping away to focus on the family business. It was his young grandson who rekindled the family’s interest last Christmas when the boy wished for a dirt bike. The proud grandfather bought him a Yamaha PW50 the very next day, as well as bikes for he and his son. Naturally came the next need – a track for the family to ride on. The customer quickly realized that the process of creating a track was more involved than he originally thought. He grabbed his phone, found MX Track Builders online, gave us a call, and our team was off to Parker County.
We were greeted by a 5.5 acre spread of fairly open slightly elevated land. The sandy clay loam was a great base, but a lot of work needed to be done to ensure proper drainage. Texas is known for its unpredictable weather patterns. Part of the building process included super-elevating the entire surface of the track for water run-off. We also installed 440 feet of 12-inch diameter dual-walled pipe for drainage underneath the track. The team used 22 tons of riprap to line the inlets and outlets of the culvert. These steps were necessary to help with erosion. There was also a technical challenge of working with the customer’s retention ponds on site. Our track layout was designed to wind around those basins and work with the existing spillways. We had to engineer things so that water, if spilled over the basins, would drain into the culvert underneath the surface instead of washing out the track. It was a necessary process to ensure long-term success.
The 0.75 mile track was loaded with features enjoyed by all skill levels. We built tabletops and rollers, a camelback, doubles, off-camber corners, sweepers and more. Also, because MX Track Builders offers a comprehensive service, we installed track markers (224 in total) and three starting gates for the customer. Our mantra is to handle as much of the project as possible so the customer doesn’t have to worry about it. We also help our customers select the best equipment for routine maintenance. Our goal is to provide a service that leaves the customer satisfied again and again. And, given the huge smiles shared by the family after their first ride together on the new track, it was yet another mission accomplished.