Dylan Varn isn’t your typical 10-year-old.
At just 4 years old, the Plant City resident learned how to ride a bicycle, a typical feat for a young boy. But two years earlier, he began riding a more powerful bike — and he hasn’t stopped since.
“He learned how to ride his motorcycle before his regular bicycle,” his mom, Leslie, said.
The same year he started to ride a bicycle, Dylan began riding dirt bikes competitively, starting on flat dirt tracks and later graduating to motocross tracks.
“My whole family has been racing basically their whole life, and I watched my dad race one time, and I knew I wanted to race,” Dylan said. “I like that I get to follow in my family’s footsteps and get to do something they did.”
When he was 5, Dylan won his first race in Dade City. In 2010, he became an AMA national champion, winning the 4-6 division at the Amateur National Motocross Championship, at Loretta Lynn Ranch, in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.
After failing to qualify the past two years, Dylan is back in the field for the 32nd Annual Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship, after finishing fifth at regionals against some of the top young riders from around the southeast.
Dylan and his family leave for Tennessee this weekend for the weeklong event, at which Dylan will compete in three races against 39 of the best riders in the nation in the 7-9 division.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
As with any sport, to be be a successful motocross rider takes a high level of determination and a demanding practice schedule.
Dylan works both with his dad, P.J., and Vince Devane, in Lakeland, to prepare for competitions.
Dylan’s practice schedule includes three to four 30-minute sessions each day, along with 50 pushups and at least 100 sit-ups each night before bed. When he isn’t riding on one of two tracks on his family’s property in Plant City, Dylan works with Devane at one of his tracks in Lakeland.
“He’s really helped me a lot with my riding,” Dylan said.
“He (Devane) is focused on his riding and his mental state of mind, where I mainly work with him on his physical fitness,” P.J. said. “Vince also makes him watch what he eats, and, obviously, hydration is a big issue right now.”
After competing in the 7-8 division on 50cc bikes the last few years, Dylan will compete in the 7-9 division on 65cc bikes at this year’s national.
“With the faster bikes, I felt weird the first time I got on it,” he said. “But the more I rode, I got better and started jumping more things and got more comfortable.”
At this year’s national, Dylan hopes to have a similar results as his 2010 performance, when he won all three races and the overall national title.
“I knew I was going to win,” he said of the series. “I just had that feeling in my heart.”
Dylan crossed the finish line of the first race 40 seconds ahead of second place. After winning the second race, he had secured the overall win, but Dylan was determined to win the third race, as well.
“In my last moto, my dad was telling me to slow down, but I wasn’t slowing down,” Dylan said.
“I wanted him to slow down, because he was pushing really hard,” P.J. said. “It was the last lap, and I knew we had the overall, and that was way more important than crashing and throwing it all away.”
Dylan did crash on the last lap and was passed by another rider, but he was able to recover and pass the opponent on the finish line in a photo finish to take first, securing his perfect score.
LOOKING AHEAD
Like gymnastics or swimming, motocross is a sport in which athletes often hit their peaks in their teenage years and into their early- to mid-20s.
“You don’t see a whole lot of older motocross riders,” P.J. said.
Riders can turn pro as young as 16.
“I want to be like James Stewart or Ricky Carmichael, because I really looked up to them,” Dylan said. “They went pro and each won at least 15 championships.”
Both Stewart and Carmichael are local riders, with Stewart residing in Haines City and Carmichael from Clearwater.
With travel, bike maintenance and other costs, motocross is an expensive sport and lifestyle, but Dylan’s parents said they are happy to make the sacrifice for their son.
“In motocross, a lot of people think that it’s the parents pushing the kids, but there’s been times that we’ve begged him to stop,” Leslie said. “He just doesn’t want to, and that’s his choice.”
Recently, Dylan received his first sponsorship offer from Cobra Motorcycles. The better he performs, the more financial assistance the sponsor will give, including gear, bikes and needs.
“I want him to achieve all the goals he wants to achieve,” P.J. said. “I want him to go as far as his talent and our wallet will take him. I want him to go pro, if that’s what he wants to do, and we’re going to support him all the way.”