Loretta Lynn's Ranch

Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee is the most prestigious amateur motocross race in the world. Founded in 1982 by promoters Dave Coombs Sr. and Paul Schlegel alongside country music legend Loretta Lynn, the track has hosted the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship every August for over four decades, and qualifying for it is the lifetime goal of nearly every American amateur racer. A Loretta's number plate carries weight at any race the rest of the year, and a class win there can launch a factory amateur deal.

What sets Loretta's apart from almost any track in the world is that it is completely closed to the public for practice. To kill any hometown advantage, the racetrack runs just twice a year, once for the AMA Amateur National in the first week of August and once for the AMA ATV Motocross Championship. Because nobody is allowed to turn a practice lap outside those events, every rider arrives on equal footing and has to win on raw talent and adaptation alone.

The dirt is a punishing Tennessee mix of river-bottom loam, deep sand, and hard-packed clay that churns into deep, technical ruts as a race week wears on. The layout stays fundamentally true to its 1982 design, weaving along Hurricane Creek under heavy tree cover, with a massive 40-rider starting gate, sweeping turns, rhythm sections, and a famous finish-line jump. Stack on the brutal early-August Tennessee heat and 90-plus-degree humidity and Loretta's becomes as much a test of fitness and grit as of speed.

You cannot just show up and buy a pass. Earning one of the coveted 42 gates in a class means surviving a multi-tier elimination: Area Qualifiers held nationwide from February through May, then highly competitive Regional Championships in June, with only the top finishers advancing to the final showdown at the Ranch. The share of riders who make it out of the field that starts the process is small enough that simply making the gate is an accomplishment. Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart, Jeremy McGrath, Travis Pastrana, Ryan Dungey, Eli Tomac, and Adam Cianciarulo all came through Loretta's.

The race is also a motocross family vacation. The 6,000-acre working dude ranch packs in a full-service RV park with over 300 hookup campsites plus primitive camping, clean log-cabin rentals, a public swimming pool, and Hurricane Creek right there for tubing and swimming. Between motos you can take in the Coal Miner's Daughter Museum, Loretta Lynn's historic home, the gift shop, and a western town. The 2026 championship runs August 3 through 8. The ranch sits about 75 miles west of Nashville off Interstate 40 at Exit 143, and most families camp on the property or stay in Waverly or Nashville for the week. Outside the August event the property operates as Loretta Lynn's working ranch and country-music attraction, and the motocross track stays closed to public riding.