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How the Coal Miner's Daughter Became the Mother of Dirt-Bike Racing

Elana Scherr
·3 min read
loretta lynn
How Coal Miner's Daughter Became Motocross MamaCourtesy of MX Sports
loretta lynn
For most people, Loretta Lynn doesn’t conjure the image of dirt bikes and the wail of a two-stroke. But for a certain group, their first taste of country came with the smell of premix.Courtesy of MX Sports

Loretta Lynn’s reign as the queen of country music began with her first record in 1960 and continued until her death in 2022 at age 90. Along the way, she racked up awards for her lyrics, albums, and performances. Lynn is in eight entertainment-­industry halls of fame, but one of her most recent honors was for a soundtrack of 125-cc two-strokes and the roar of a crowd. In 2021, the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame inducted Lynn in recognition of her role in the sport’s history.

This story originally appeared in Volume 15 of Road & Track.

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While motocross’s amateur-crown event is officially the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship, everyone calls it Loretta Lynn’s, so fundamental was her connection.

loretta lynn
The first event at Loretta Lynn’s in 1982 was a muddy affair.Courtesy of MX Sports

“There are other big amateur races, but Loretta Lynn’s is the most important,” says Brett Smith, founder and editor of the We Went Fast motocross history podcast.