Mikey Avila started racing at four years old, a mere six months after he learned how to ride a motorcycle.His first race was at the Carruthers Fairground, in central California, hosted by the Fresno Motorcycle Club.He rode a Yamaha PW50 and won.
Mikey quickly graduated to a Kawasaki 65 that he ended up riding for a few years. In 2004, he moved up to a Honda 85 and that’s when his father Jerry said he started getting fast. They raced every dirt track in the San Joaquin Valley and Northern California, picking up knowledge of various track surfaces, configurations and bike setups that would prove to be invaluable as Mikey’s career progressed. In 2005, at the age of 10, he began racing a Honda 250 as well as his by-now trusty 85.Interestingly, it was only in October 2008 that Mikey swung a leg over a full-sized flat track bike, a Honda CRF450.
Mikey and his Dad Jerry started contesting the AMA Amateur Nationals in 2004, traveling to Springfield, Illinois.The first year his best finish was a 12th place.But that didn’t stop the duo from making that 4,500 mile round trip the following year.The result was Mikey getting a solid third place in the 85cc class.He also won the 85cc championship at Eddie Mulder’s WCVDTS Series and secured a 3rd place on his new 250.
2005 saw Mikey win 250 championships in both the WCVDTS and the AMA Southwest Nationals.
In 2006, Mikey was on the steep side of the learning curve with the bigger bike. He failed to finish well at the nationals now held in DuQuoin, Illinois.However, he still managed to win the WCVDTS 250cc crown that year. It proved to be a year of transition.
In 2008, Mikey impressed all with a 250cc win at the West Coast Amateur Nationals and kept the momentum up in winning the AMA Amateur Grand National Premier 250 Class Championship in DuQuoin.Notably, this year Mike also finished second place in standings in the uber-competitive Gene Romero West Coast Dirt Track Series.This was also his first experience in road racing as he was invited to the Red Bull U.S. Rookie’s Cup at Barber Motorsports Park.He did well considering his lack of road race experience, impressively making the cut on the final day of racing.
2009 proved to be Mikey’s best year yet in his young career.Mikey finished second in the Gene Romero West Coast Flat Track Series Top Gun 450cc class.It might have been a championship except for a complication with the AMA and WCFTS that required 450 racers to be at least 16 years old for the final race of the year in Pomona.And Mikey was only 15 years, 11 months and 26 days old.A valuable lesson for the kid in that things don’t always go your way.
In July 2009, Mikey achieved his childhood dream of winning the AMA Dirt Track Horizon Award.This year Mikey was dominant in DuQuoin, winning the 450cc Modified, 450cc DTX and 250cc Modified Championships and Mikey joined such notable riders as Nicky Hayden, Jared Mees and Ben Spies in winning the Horizon Award.All of those years of hard work, endless thousands of miles of driving and major expenditures had now paid off for Mikey and Jerry.
2010 PLANS
In 2010, Mikey will be contesting the AMA Pro Singles Championship.This will be Mikey’s first step in professional motorcycle racing and it will be heady task for the young Merced, California rider, facing the best young racers in the nation.The series starts in Daytona Beach, Florida on March 3rd and ends on October 10th in Prescott, Arizona, 21 races in all.Likely his most fierce competitors will be J.D. Beach, Jeffrey Carver and Brad Baker (should he not move to the Expert class).
A FEW FACTS ABOUT MIKEY At a very young age, Mikey understood the importance of being in prime physical condition.He presently works out once to twice a day, six days a week and two hours to a session.
His first sponsor was Tom Bautista building the 50cc motors.
Jerry has dedicated years of his life (and retirement savings) to Mikey’s racing.During racing season (pretty year-round the last few years), his schedule is drive to the race on Saturday morning, set up, race and tune, drive home early Sunday morning, unload and clean, then work on the bikes every weekday night til midnight or 1:00 AM, and then go racing the following Saturday, repeated 500+ times since 1998.
Mikey recalls that his most memorable race was riding Jim Kelly’s XR750 in October of 2009.Jim was there, in failing health.Mikey surprised him with his mature riding that day on the big bike – that would be Jim’s last race as he succumbed to illness later that month. Due to the wide range of tracks and series, Mikey’s never has had too many serious rivalries, except for one with Mike Martin at District 36 and the WCFTS series and that’s only been minor in nature.
In 2008 they sent an application to enter the U.S. Red Bull Rookie’s Cup but the paperwork was misplaced.Mike and Jerry persisted and they got invited to Barber Motorsports Park.There were 200 participants and the event stretched over three days.The last day the rider count had been whittled down to the fastest 50 riders and Mikey made it. Not bad for his first time on pavement.Kevin Schwantz and Danny Walker provided coaching and judging for the event.
One of Mikey’s favorite mentors both on and off the track is fellow racer, Jimmy Wood.Jimmy’s a 22 year old accomplished dirt track and road racer.In 2009 Jimmy competed in the AMA’s AMA Daytona Sportbike and WERA as well as many dirt track events. Check out the YouTube video on this site of Jimmy and Mikey at play one night at Chowchilla.
In addition to racing, Mikey’s an excellent student at Madera High School, maintaining an A average. He also participates in track events as a runner, works out daily and rides trail bikes to stay sharp.
Mike’s Favorite Quote:"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, an hour, a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take it's place. If i quit however, it lasts forever" - Lance Armstrong