Motocross doubleheader set for Emo

Joey Payeur

The two best parts for Brandon Croswell about having his dad sharing the motocross track with him this year as a competitor for the first time?
“When he wipes out and when I pass him [in practice],” chuckled the 12-year-old about family patriarch Trevor Croswell.
“I’m not racing in the same category as him because I don’t want him to cry,” he added.
The good-natured ribbing is all part and parcel between the Emo family members, who both are on the Superior Dirt Riders Northern Ontario motocross circuit that is coming to Emo Motocross for a two-day stop this Saturday and Sunday starting at 11 a.m.
Brandon, in his fourth year on the circuit, said he’s given “a couple of hints” to the rookie, who countered that line of thinking.
“I taught him everything he knows,” laughed Trevor, who had a terrific debut at the regular-season opener in Atikokan by finishing third in the MX3 Beginner class while also taking fifth in the Vet 40 division.
“He doesn’t want to join my class because he’s scared I’ll beat him.
“It was great, I had a blast,” Croswell said of his circuit debut.
“I did better than I expected,” he admitted. “I stayed on all two wheels.
“It’s not as easy as it looks,” he stressed.
“I wished I’d started earlier when Brandon was first starting,” Croswell added.
“Being on the Emo track and watching him race, and holding the flag, I thought it would be a lot more fun racing, so I went out and bought a bike,” he explained.
“I didn’t need to hold his hand anymore.”
After much deliberation, Trevor Croswell opted for a two-stroke 250 KTM bike to carry him through his inaugural season.
“With a two-stroke engine, I can rebuild it myself, the engine’s a little cheaper, and they’re pretty much race-ready when you buy them,” he noted.
The elder Croswell also was optimistic about improving on his Atikokan performance.
“Emo’s track has shorter straight stretches and more tight corners, so it should be better for me,” he remarked.
“I just have to see when I get out there and make sure I don’t go faster than I should go.”
The connection to motocross runs deep through the Croswell clan.
While father and son are racing, Trevor also is helping wife, Mary, (along with Ken Kreger) handle the organizing of this year’s event in Emo as John Gavel is stepping back this year.
Instead, he’s settling for competing himself while providing financial backing for the local races.
“It’s been a learning experience, for sure,” Mary Croswell said about taking the reins in staging the races.
“You don’t want to forget anything,” she added. “We hope it will all come together.”
Then there’s Brandon’s older sisters, Ashley and Taylor, whom Trevor Croswell said have varying levels of interest in taking to the track competitively themselves.
“We’re trying to get Ashley to ride the bike on the races I don’t race, and she’s thinking about it,” he noted.
“Both the girls ride but just not competitively,” he added.
“Taylor, I don’t know, she’s not so interested in the bike.”
Other district residents either racing this weekend, or working towards starting racing this year, included brothers Cole and Alex Kreger (Emo), Dylan Tessier (Devlin), Lane Hyatt (Emo), Pat Blair (Barwick), Dawson Pollard (Fort Frances), and Landon Flinders (Fort Frances).
Meanwhile, Mary Croswell is encouraging people to come out and enjoy the high-flyingnspectacle of motocross.
“People should come out to support a local event and local people and see that it’s a sport, too,” she remarked.
“I know we’re a big hockey town, but people need to see there are other sports in the area.
“It’s something different and for someone like Brandon, too, which gets him off the ice and gives him something else to do,” she added.
“It’s a very athletic sport and you have to be in pretty good condition to go around that track four or five times.”
Admission is $10 each day, with kids four and under being free.
Signs to locate the track will be situated at the Off Road turn-off in Emo and then at McNally Road.
A canteen will be operating on-site both days.
Any high school student wanting to volunteer as flag people during the races, in order to get some of their community hours needed to graduate, can contact Mary Croswell at 271-1586 or by messaging her via Facebook.