One of my most memorable experiences in my ATV racing career was winning the Mickey Thompson Championship in the early '90s. It was an awesome series to be a part of at the time: Going to huge venues where there were anywhere from 30,000 to 40,000 people in the stands watching you race under the lights, signing autographs before the races and banging bars with some of the best names in the industry. Lining up with some of the greats, such as Charlie Sheppard, Gary Denton, Don Turk, Shane Hitt, Greg Stewart and Mark Ehrhardt, made for some fierce racing action for all of the fans to enjoy.
I went into that night's event with a point lead and only needed to finish in second or third place to secure the championship. Earlier in the day, I had done really well in qualifying, and in my heat race I placed second or third. That finish would give me a front-row starting position in the main event. Everyone knows that a good start is critical to winning one of these races. When the green flag dropped, the pack took off and I unfortunately didn't make it out of the first turn in the lead but was a close second.
So I set my sights on the first-place rider and quickly charged past to grab first. Charlie, who was second in the point chase, didn't have as good a day in qualifying and heat races as I did. Because of this, he had to start farther back in the pack and it was evident that he was on a mission to catch up to me. All I could think about was to stay up front until the checkered flag was thrown.
I kept on with the ride of my life and Charlie still made a charge which got him around me for the lead. I knew that I didn't have to place first in the race to secure the title, but I wanted to win it the right way. I stayed on his tail and within a few turns made a pass around him to reclaim the lead. My lead stretched out and gave me a win with a decent margin on second place. It was an awesome feeling to know that I had clinched the championship, but even better to know who saw me do it: My girlfriend Joan and my parents were there to witness my big win.
Crossing the finish line in front of that crowd was nothing short of intense. Even better was getting to do the post-race interview up on the podium for all of the fans. Once I completed all of the interviews, the party moved back into the pit area. This is where all of my friends, family and fellow racers came to congratulate me. We all began shooting champagne at each other as we were hooting and hollering because of how excited we were.
This was the first major championship that I had won racing ATVs. It was a great battle with great riders, and I came out on top. I was also able to impress my girlfriend, who is now my wife, and earned what would be the first of many championships to come in my career. From this point on, the sky was the limit, and it's been a great ride.
Editor's Note: At press time, DE had just signed on for his third year to race Polaris ATVs.