Chasing Gold
He grew up racing quads and dirt bikes as a kid, eventually moving to an indoor BMX track on the east side of Indianapolis to train and compete.
It didn’t take long for Avon resident Wyatt Clark to fall in love with racing, and this summer, he’ll be competing at the BMX World Championship in Australia.
“My first race was at 6 years old, and I just found it more enjoyable than the regular sports like football and basketball,” Clark says. “I liked the camaraderie — the friends I found there.”
While attending races over the weekend, the actual time on the track is about 30 seconds per race. It leaves participants with plenty of downtime to warm up, cool down, relax and hang out with friends from around the world. They talk strategy too, planning the next heat and swapping ideas.
Today, as a sophomore at Marian University, Clark races on both the state and national circuits, as well as on a team for Marian, which most recently won the Collegiate National Championship this past spring.
If you’ve never been to a BMX race before, competitions are divided by class proficiency and then by age group.
Racers can fall into novice, intermediate or expert categories. For Clark, he raced in the expert class for the first time at a national competition at just 8 years old, and though he’s earned plenty of first-, second- and third-place finishes over the years, the older you get, the more competitive it becomes.
BMX competitions consist of an open track and a 30-second lap with a variety of obstacles. It can be a simple three-turn, four-straightaway track; however, designed to test speed and skill, some tracks feature hills, corner berms and more, with the option to jump, roll or pass an opponent.
The first race of the weekend is a heat, or “moto,” against five or six competitors, and if you earn one of the top two finishes, you move on to the second round. Place in the top two again and move on to the quarterfinals, and the top eight from there advance to the mains.
Today, Clark says the friendships he’s made in BMX racing have been some of his best, but he enjoys other aspects of racing too.
“I do love having made so many friends from everywhere, but I also love the hard work leading up to a race. I love the competition and all the traveling. At least once per month, I’m in a different state, racing and seeing new cities, and the trips along the way are some of my greatest memories,” Clark says.
Having friends from all over the world will come in handy when he travels to Australia this summer, extending his trip beyond competition days, July 16-25.
He has one friend from Indianapolis who is from Australia and also qualified to go to Worlds for his home country. Another member of the Marian team will be joining Clark as well.
“All of my friends were super excited. A lot of us train and practice together. We work together and push each other to be the best we can,” Clark says.
Representing Team USA, he’ll join 16 teammates to compete against more than 150 participants from across the globe in the 17-24 age group.
As one would expect, earning a spot at the world competition is an impressive accomplishment.
“I was pretty excited. It was one of my big goals for the year. It felt good to make it to Worlds and gave me a boost for the upcoming year,” Clark says. “If you make it to the main at the Worlds competition, you run a world plate for the year. Whatever place you finish with has a ‘W’ in front of it. It carries some weight. That’s the goal — to come home with a world plate.”
Clark will stay in Brisbane for the championship and then fly two hours to the west coast to stay with a friend.
“It’s nice having friends from Australia. They can help me prepare for the trip, and I’ll get to see both coasts,” Clark says.
He’s going to spend an additional week before the competition and another week after to travel and explore all the continent has to offer while making memories to last a lifetime.
Looking beyond his college years, Clark says he’ll continue to train and compete at his current level until he graduates from college, where he is majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in mathematics.
He hopes to pursue a career in aviation or race engines; however, he may not leave racing behind forever.
“There are little kids competing at 2 and 3 years old and 70-year-old grandparents who race as well. There are groups for under 6 and over 56, but I’m excited to be where I am today, and I can’t wait to visit Australia and compete in the World Championship,” Clark says.
