Barstow's Kristina Simpson has been making a name for herself in her first season of motocross racing. The 25-year old wife and mother of two was recently crowned No. 1 among Novice Women and awarded Plate No. 1 among all women in the AMA SoCal Championship Motocross Series. >PHOTO BY J.J. CALVACCA


Wife, mother ... motocross champion?


One look at Barstow native Kristina Simpson and you could easily imagine this 25-year old as perhaps a banker, a teacher or maybe even an attorney but a fiercely competitive offroad and motocross motorcycle racer?

That was the impression I got when we met. The truth is that Simpson isn't just a motorcycle racer. She's become a champion in her very first season of racing.

Simpson drove away with the No. 1 plate reflecting her first place finish among Novice Women in the Southern California District 37 AMA Championship Motocross Series.

“This was actually my first year racing, and I think I did relatively good for my first series,” Simpson said.

When you consider that she put together two wins, three second-place and two third-place finishes, “relatively good” just might be considered a bit of an understatement.

“I've always been around bikes, even when I was very young,” Simpson said. “My neighbors always had bikes, so I guess it was something I was destined to do someday.”

When District 37 held its annual Awards Ceremony recently at the Cocky Bull in Victorville, Simpson was awarded the coveted No. 1 plate, which she will hold until next season.

The series included two races, one sponsored by the Dirt Diggers Motorcycle Club and held at Starwest MX and a second, sponsored by Racers MC and held at Milestone Ranch, that were day/ night events with racers finishing under the lights.

In addition to these, races in the seven round series are also held at Competitive Edge, Racetown 395, I-5 MX in Gorman and Honolulu Hills Raceway. It's a pretty ambitious schedule, especially for a first-year rider, and Simpson was making her presence known in every round.

In addition to her racing exploits, Kristina is also a stay-athome mom to 5-year old daughter Kylee and 4-year old son Cody. There, too, is husband, and chief mechanic, Craig, who is unabashedly Kristina's biggest supporter and fan.

The two were married when Kristina was just 17 years old and graduated early from Barstow's Central High School. It's been a real partnership between them ever since.

“I wouldn't have been able to race and win this series if it weren't for Craig,” Simpson said. “His support has been my greatest motivation, even when he was threatening me with dirt clods.

“Racing in this series, especially in the middle rounds, meant sometimes leaving Barstow at two or three in the morning in addition to really long days, but there's no doubt that it was all worth the effort.”

As if all this wouldn't be enough to fill a young woman's schedule, Simpson also serves as the Secretary of the Huntington Beach Motorcycle Club, an AMA District 37 affiliate, headquartered in, of all places, Ridgecrest, which recently held their 40th Anniversary Dual European Scrambles event at the Stoddard Valley OHV area off the I-15 at Hodge Road.

To top it all off, she organized, advertised, coordinated and led last year's 1st Annual Ladies Ride in Honor of Breast Cancer Awareness. The event was a hugely successful effort, and Simpson has plans to make this year's ride even bigger.

Simpson is definitely one young lady who personifies the old adage that you can't judge a book by its cover. In an article she wrote recently for the District 37 Newsletter, she put a fitting end to this season by writing, “I hate endings! I made some new friends, met some new faces and made somewhat of a name for myself, and I'm proud to say that this year's series was a blast to race.”

If her next season of racing comes anywhere close to matching this past one, there's no telling how far this wife, mother of two and truly competitive motocross rider can go.


ABOUT THE WRITER


J. J. Calvacca Watchin’ the Wheels

J.J Calvacca is the motor sport corespondent for the Desert Dispatch. His columns appear every other Wednesday, and he can be reached at MAVSRADIO@aol.com

Let me tell you, it's been a blast! This past Thursday, (September 18th 2008) was our Awards Ceremony! I guess I must not have been paying very close attention to where we were in handing out awards, but the announcer starts going on about somebody and then has to speak louder because of all the applause and cheering going on and only then, I realize he was talking about me... (and when he said my name) LOL. So, I get up, I'm sure my face is all red and think to myself, "I better not trip walking up there looking hot the way I do in my 4 1/2 inch stilettos!" I don't! I go up, get my trophy and my #1 plate!! Woo hoo!! I feel awesome, but nervous too. I've never done this before. So, this is it?  After getting handed a bag with a ton of goodies and coupons in it, I walk down off the stage, get handed a free t-shirt, and then get some pictures taken by Grumpy. (awesome photographer!!) Hmm, I guess I should do this whole number 1 thing more often. It's kinda nice. It was REALLY neat meeting Kurt Caselli there too. He was nice enough to take a picture with me after all of the number 1 plate winners went back up on stage. (check my pics and profile) I also got an autograph from him on the back. If I ever see him again, I'll have him make it personalized instead of just his signature! So, after that, we jammed outta there. (if you see my pics, you'll understand why... LOL. We had our kids there...) So, I'm happy to be the 2008 #1 women in the AMA SoCal Championship Motocross Series and I look forward to next year. I'd also like to thank my current sponsors: Answer, Gaerne, Utopia, DeCal, Acerbis, Osiris, Dunlop, BMC, and Regina. Now I'm off to finishing up making and sending out my resumes to more race companies!!   ;)

P.S. KTM's ROCK!!!!

So the AMA SoCal Championship Motocross Series has finally come to an end! I hate endings!! I'm proud to say that this years series was a BLAST to race! I did every round, and although I feel I could have done better on some of them, I really enjoyed myself. I made some new friends, met some new faces and made somewhat of a name for myself, no matter how small it may be in this little community of racers. I'd like to thank all of the people who have been responsible for making this series happen! 



Chairman and awesome announcer: Chris Johnson

Co-Chairmain: Dick Christensen

Secretary: Tom Marshall

Treasurer: Debbie Evan (and doing results etc..)

Referee: Devon Rich

Series Steward: Dane Evans

Advertising Officer: Kim Carpenter 

Webmaster: Dane Evans 



A HUGE thank you to all of the participating clubs and their members, this couldn't have happened with out you guys!!

Dirt Diggers for Round 1

HBMC  for Round 2

Hilltoppers  for Round 3

Four Aces  for Round 4

RHR  for Round 5

Racers MC  for Round 6

Rovers for Round 7



I'd also like to thank Gearhead Racewear for his AWESOME SHIRTS, and Photo's by Grumpy for his AWESOME photos!!! If you didn't pick up a shirt or two, or a pic or two, you should because you'll be missing out on some great stuff!!



I'd also like to thank all of my sponsors, my HUSBAND (and all knowing mechanic!!), Gaerne, Osiris, Acerbis, Tekbolt, Dunlop, DNA, Regina, Sunstar, Hinson, No-Toil, BMC, and DeCal works.

(Don't forget to check out my updated sponsorhouse profile with pictures, race results and blogs from all rounds!! http://www.sponsorhouse.com/Members/KriStiNaSiMpSoN/Home.aspx )



I'd like to give a HUGE shout out and give all of my LOVE and GRATTITUDE to my biggest and number one supporter.... MY HUSBAND!! I wouldn't have been able to race and win this series without him! Even though he just threatened me with throwing dirt clods at me, he did something even better to motivate me... he supported me!! Thank you, and I LOVE YOU!!!



Don't forget to attend this years Awards Banquet on Thursday September 18th at the Cocky Bull!! (7 pm)



I hope everybody that participated in this series had as good a time as me! I really look forward to racing with you all next year and defending my #1 title!!

Okay. So I had a good time at Round 6 of the AMA SoCal Motocross Series this past weekend. (Sat Aug 9th) The track was REALLY small compared to what we've been on. LOTS of turns. But anywho, I got my first again! Woohoo! And, my friend Tracy was there NOT racing. I talked to her and she is having to have to work on her low end on her bike and has decided to not race the last to rounds. So, the #1 plate will go to me. If she had decided to race, it would have been a close call there in points!! I'm really stoked and can't wait for the last round!!

Okay, what the hell happened!!! I was on my sponsorhouse last night and everything was fine!! Then I get on this morning and my profile is "updated" I guess and it's all different. I had about 8,500 views and only about 200 votes. Now,  I have 22,600 views and 625 votes.... (maybe the sponsorhouse wasn't updating correctly??) And the whole, I can't get a background of my OWN on here anymore!! We now have more to choose from the "basic" choices. Maybe they don't want us to be diversified and different?? Maybe it was overloading their system or something with all of our different profiles... I don't know. But when I go to "contact" somebody from sponsorhouse, their link it broken!!! What's up with that!!! Arrggghh!!! I'm pissed cause I worked long and hard on my profile and now it looks like crap!!!

in stone. All you can do is hold on tight and hope for the best!

Okay. So heres the low-down. I'm currently first in the Women's C class in the AMA SoCal Motocross Series. I'm soo stoked. But as of the latest round (round 5) I'm currently in the points lead for the Women's Division. That is FREAKIN AWESOME!! I hope I can keep it. It's between me and my friend Tracy! Ahhh. The more I think about it, the more I get nervous.

This series and been so much fun! Since I've done 5 rounds so far, that would make it 7 times I've raced motocross, and about 25-30 times I've actually been ON a track. So, I FEEL I could be doing better out there on the track. I've been getting second and one third, and for the 5th round, I got my first! FINALLY! So yeah, this series has made me push harder and try to get better! There's things I need to work on, (I guess if your behind me, you'll know what I'm talking about) LOL. But, hey, practice makes perfect.

I'm looking forward to the awards banquet out at Cocky Bulls! That'll be fun and they have an awesome line-up for special guests.... (Mike Alessi for one...) Anyways. Thanks to all my sponsors and all the people who support me. My wonderful Husband Craig and my two little kiddies Kylee and Cody who tell me, "you got second? You need to go get first!"  LOL.

So, I've decided to put on a "Ladies Ride" in Honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. (yeah, I know it's November, but I had it planned for October and some things came up so it got post poned) So I've had the flyer made up, got it sent out, and I've gotten DNA Energy Drink to help sponsor this ride. This is GREAT! I can't wait. Craig and I are going out Monday (if he races, this weekend if he doesn't) to ribbon of a course. It'll probably be about 30-35 miles long. I'm just sooo excited but extremely  nervous at the same time. I don't want it to be unorganized and I want the women to have a good safe time! I hope all goes well. Wish us luck!! If all goes well this year, I'd like to turn it into an "Anual Ladies Ride".