Southwick Motocross (The Wick 338)

Southwick Motocross, known everywhere as The Wick 338, is one of the most legendary tracks in American motocross. A crew of MX dads from American Legion Post 338, led by Bernie Yelin with Ray Peebles, Pat Smith, Dante Molta, Clovis Goyette and others, carved the track out of the woods behind the post in 1973, and the Southwick National has run here since 1976. Today the Johnson family runs it: Rick Johnson handles the office with Jeanine O'Brien, and multi-time NESC champion Keith Johnson preps the track with Vic O'Brien and New England legend John Dowd. The track is being returned to its original direction with the iconic jumps and turns rebuilt to the layout thousands of racers grew up on.

The signature is the sand. Deep, soft and beach-like, it breaks into square-edged ruts as a moto wears on, and by the second moto the lines are unrecognizable. Northeast sand riders grow up here and tend to dominate sand rounds everywhere else; first-time visitors learn fast. It is also one of the most physical rounds on the pro calendar when July heat and humidity stack on top of 30-plus minutes of fighting ruts.

The Wick is not a daily practice track. The gate opens for the dates on the 2026 schedule: open practice Saturdays ($50 per rider, sign-up 8 AM, riding 9 AM to about 3 PM in timed groups by class, all racers welcome with no license or club membership required), NESC, NEMX and MSC race days, the Massachusetts AMA State Championship, the Loretta Lynn Regional Qualifier, the July pro national, J Day Offroad GPs that run part moto and part woods, the Northeast Vet Championship in October, hare scrambles into November, and the Ride Beyond the Finish Line memorial ride. Amateur race weekends run a $20 wristband from Friday night through Sunday, cash only at the gate, with camping on the grounds, quiet hours from 10 PM to 6 AM, and no fires per the Southwick Fire Department. Bring your membership card, ID and insurance card to sign-up. Minors need the 2026 minor release signed by both parents, notarized or in front of a track official, plus a per-event release signed by a parent at the track; a notarized guardian form covers a minor attending with another adult. Pit vehicles are golf carts and side-by-sides only, driven by licensed, insured adults at 10 mph.

The Wick sits on Legion Road in Southwick, within a couple of hours of Boston, Worcester, Hartford and New York, and it draws a crowd at almost everything it runs.