Nationally Acclaimed Motocross Rider from Area

Brandon Smith, 9, is ranked No. 3 in the nation for 50cc motocross.

I pulled up to his house today tucked back by the river, looking for it, and I heard a voice from the back porch.

"We're right here!"

It was confident and loud, and I was paying attention to where I was parking, so it took me a minute to realize that was Brandon's voice.

He's a friendly fellow, and immediately showed off pictures to photographer Rebecca Craig before practically pulling her to the garage to show her his bikes.

This gave me a minute to talk to his dad Mike, who's basic take was a detached, amused, 'He's a cool kid, isn't he?'

Mike is very involved in Brandon's racing despite his mining job and makes it to locales such as Washington, Texas, Arkansas and Illinois to watch Brandon even though he can't get much vacation time.

That's why family friend/mechanic/agent Bruce drives along with wife Ronette to the locales, pulling the trailer and helping with technical duties until Mike can arrive.

Bruce and his wife Jenna are good friends with the Smith family, allowing Ronette to joke that Bruce needs a "I am not the husband" T-shirt so people don't assume they are married.

Bruce and Jenna were driving with the Smiths to Albuquerque ahead of their flight to Belgium today (Saturday). For more, read the article in Saturday's Daily Times.

Ronette is not a typical mom -- I have a little brother that's Brandon's age and I know for a fact that if he ever rode a motorcycle he'd be grounded for the rest of the summer. If he broke his leg, like Brandon did last year when he came up short on a jump, my mom would freak out.

Ronette's take? Well, it's what he loves, and besides, he could get hurt playing football fairly easily as well.

"The broken leg, it was tough to see your son crying and being like, 'Oh, my leg! My leg!' but it's with any sport," Ronette said. "A lot of people say, 'Why do you let him do motocross?' I'm like, 'You know what, that's what he loves. ... you just have to have a good attitude about it."

* Ronette's thoughts on the MX MasterKids in Limes, Belgium: "Usually in the States, we know who the top dogs are. We know the competition. We're kind of going out there blind with who's the fastest kid in Europe."

* Brandon's siblings were not jealous of the attention he got at all. Instead they were eager to help sing his praises, grasping for old motocross cards of their brother and extolling his praises, particularly for helping them get to Loretta Lynn's Ranch every year -- a vacation for them and an AMA national championship for Brandon.

The country legend's ranch is just outside Nashville.

10-year-old brother Kaleb's take: "You see a lot of Elvis around there."

* 13-year-old sister Morgan was excited about the patriotic themes at MX MasterKids -- the world's largest youth team motocross. Brandon is racing for the U.S. in a custom-made red, white and blue race suit, and Morgan said the rest of the family also bought red, white and blue clothing to wear. Their flight takes off today, Independence Day.

* Mike said multiple people have told him he needs to try the beer and the chocolate in Belgium.

Stay true and keep pounding,
Christopher