LANCE NELSON’S MINI MOTOCROSS MAYHEM

He saw the pandemic coming and steered into the skid…

Dirt bike superstar Lance Nelson couldn’t bear to let quarantine get in the way of his motocross plans, so he adapted to the times and became a hometown hero.

Everyone has a calling and for Lance Nelson, that calling is action sports. For him, it’s so much more than just the thrill of the ride. In the midst of the uncertainty and turmoil of 2020, Lance Nelson managed to unite his community and pull off a successful sporting event that wowed even the public officials who initially tried to put a stop to it.  

Limited time, resources, and funds would stop anyone in their tracks; however, the biggest obstacle Lance encountered was when the city went after him for not having pulled any permits to put on his event. In his words, “all we had was just a big insurance policy”. Luckily for Lance, a “friend of a friend of a friend” type connection, “knew someone in Palmdale through the city [who was able to] talk to someone in Lancaster and get everything cleared away.” It takes a high threshold for thrill to ride motocross but an even stronger constitution to go toe to toe with bureaucracy and come out a winner.  

In less than a month, he was able to put together a mini version of a professional Motocross AMA event. To this day, people are still asking when the next one is. Many have tried to replicate it but none have come close. So many attendees claimed it was the best day that they’ve ever had.

As the saying goes, “it takes a village” and Lance’s event was truly a labor of love. He put up a post on Instagram on May 7th and set a date for the event which gave him less than a month to plan. Through the magic of Social Media, contributions and volunteers came out of the woodwork to help out the cause. “Everything was donated, from the concrete for the starting gate, to tractor time asphalt grounds to keep the dust down on the roads, to tractors, water trucks…tons of people volunteered to help with the scoring,” Lance said. There was a $1,500 purse prize and $12,000 in raffle prizes. The event was held on May 30th, 2020 just months into varying stages of lockdown for quarantine. 

In Lance’s words, “Nothing came out of the pocket. We had 300 entries for riders and about 2,000 attendees throughout the day. The weather was perfect after a super-hot week and then two overcast days which helped out a lot. We had two water trucks, an asphalt truck, a taco truck, officials to call the races, a full-time announcer, and even 12-year-old girl who sang the national anthem and someone to say a prayer to open the event. It was an event for the people and by the people. The community wanted it, and everyone came together. People lent each other bikes, which is unusual.”

One month after the event, the city of Lancaster tried to fine lance’s family. Through lucky connections, they were able to avoid the trouble.

 Looking ahead to the future, there is still a great deal of uncertainty as to what the world will look like when it comes to staging large scale public events. There is, however, one thing we can all count on: When the time comes to saddle up and ride, Lance will be leading the charge.

Premier: What was the defining moment in your life when you realized you wanted to take your love of action sports to the next level?

Lance Nelson: I was an only child, and I don’t like team sports. My dad used to race dirt bikes and he taught me how when I was 3 1/2. My lifelong best friend and next-door neighbor was super talented at action sports and I always wanted to try and keep up with him. The aspect of social media was really helpful too in helping me connect to others and learn more. 

P: Do you think Social Media had an influence in your connections for putting on the event?

LN: Of course. Social Media allowed me to network, and it helped me out a lot to find sponsors. If it wasn’t for the connections I made through Social Media, I could have never pulled off the event. This race would not have been what it was without Social Media because things got shared so fast. I used my stories and my layout – all free. I didn’t pay for one advertisement or sponsored post. People came from up North, from Colorado, Utah, Washington, Nevada, and Arizona and all over California. 

P: What was the moment when you realized it had all come together?

LN: I teared up when I heard that girl sing the national anthem. I teared up, broke down crying and seeing everyone else. I saw a friend’s child ride in his first race and everyone cheering him on. Everyone was so welcoming. It felt like a normal day at the dirt bike track. It almost felt like our childhood back in the day. Just kids wanting to have fun, like old times. 

P: When do you plan on throwing your next event?

LN: I would like at least a month more to prepare. I want to minimize the sponsors and get the other sponsors that I really want on board to put forth more and know that I can do what I’m capable of. I would like to bring up the cash purse prize money to give people more incentive to get people to come in from out of state. I’d like to beef up the track and make it the most fun for people to ride on. It’s not about the money. It was never about the money from the get-go. I just want people to have the best time. The hard part is relying on the property owner for the next event. I definitely want to keep it in the cooler months and make it a full weekend event. Something that people can take time off for and look forward to. The next event I do might not even be a race, but maybe a ride day. Even if it’s not a race, I just want people to have fun.

Follow Lance on Instagram.