Bradenton-native Huss' return to motocross takes him to amateur nationals
BRADENTON
There was a time when road trips like the one Robby Huss took from Bradenton to Hurricane Mills, Tenn., on Saturday were the way he'd spend his entire summer.
A decade ago, Huss, 23, was a promising motocross racer. He grew up idolizing Jeremy McGrath and picturing himself as a professional. One of the friends he used to travel with for these youth tournaments, Zack Freeberg, is now a professional motocross and Supercross rider. Any time he watches tournaments, now he sees names he recognizes from his childhood.
"I remember racing them, battling with them growing up," Huss said.
He still remembers his last race from his childhood before he stopped at 14. He was traveling with Freeberg and his other friend, Tyler Moore. They were at Lake Whitney in Texas and Moore, who Huss said was the fastest of the three, was in first place. He hit a jump, but a spring was loose and he got shot off the bike.
On the way back to Florida, Moore and his father decided they were done. Huss' parents were in the middle of a divorce, which would make it tough to finance his riding. He and his grandfather decided they were done, too.
For almost 10 years Huss never thought about returning to motocross until his girlfriend suggested he try it again less than two years ago. It began as just a hobby and inevitably became a competitive activity once again. Huss, a Braden River High alumnus, finished second in the 250 modified race at the area championship in May and then sixth at the region championship.
On Wednesday, he'll take the track at Loretta Lynn's Ranch for the American Motorcycle Association Amateur National Motocross Championship. His
first race is at 1:30 p.m. and can be watched online at RacerTV.com.
"I'm excited," he said the day before leaving before his biggest tournament yet, "but I'm definitely nervous, too."
Motocross was always an activity to bring Huss and his grandfather, Rob Huss, together. Rob is a mechanic and was typically the one in charge of tinkering with Robby's bike between races. Now Robby is a mechanic and it's a joint effort to maintain the bike during races.
He takes racing more seriously than he did when he was a child, too. Once he got back on the bike and realized his skills hadn't deteriorated much since his childhood he committed to competing on the amateur circuit and started working on his stamina and forearm muscles. He doesn't get to ride more than a few times a week, but he can hit the gym for a workout and a few miles on a stationary bike every day, which can be nearly as helpful.
And after a handful of races he started to gather some attention. He caught the eye of Ted Allen from Shore Form Systems, who provided him a better bike, which he'll be using this week in Tennessee. The winner gets contingency money for bike supplies and for Huss it will be a chance to see if he could've kept up with guys like Freeberg had he stuck with motocross.
"Now that I'm back into it I see them and I'm like, 'Man, that could've been me,'" Huss said.
Manatee 10U wins tourney
The Manatee 10U Cal Ripken All-Star team is off to the World Series.
Playing at the Babe Ruth Southeast Regional Tournaments in Glen Allen, Va., Manatee blew out Atlantic Beach by 17 runs in the semifinal Saturday before taking down host Glen Allen 1-0 later in the day to avenge last year's loss to Glen Allen in 9U and reach the World Series in Jonesboro, Ark., beginning Aug. 8.
Manatee began the tournament Wednesday with a pair of wins against Glen Allen and Putnam County from Tennessee before splitting a pair of games against North Carolina's West Raleigh and Mt. Pleasant from South Carolina on Thursday to finish second in the group.
Lakewood Ranch gears up
The Florida Little League state tournaments wind down this weekend with the majors baseball champion in Tallahassee and the Lakewood Ranch All-Stars are just a handful of wins away from giving Manatee County its first state champion since the Braden River All-Stars in 2002.
Lakewood Ranch opens the tournament Friday at 5 p.m. against Sarasota American at Canopy Oaks Community Park and will play two more games in Pool B play Saturday. With enough wins, Ranch will face the winner of Pool A on Sunday with a spot in the Southeast Region tournament on the line.
Palmetto Little League sent an 11-12 All-Star softball team to the state tournament this past weekend, however it failed to make it out of group play after winning its first game.
In Rockledge, the Palmetto All-Stars opened up by beating the Cape Coral All-Stars at Rockledge Park before falling to the Windermere All-Stars in the de facto Pool B championship game. Windermere went on to the region tournament by beating the Keystone All-Stars 5-1 in the championship game.
David B. Wilson, Herald sports writer, can be reached at 941-745-7057. Follow him on Twitter @DBWilson2.