Just north of Nebraska City, nestled in the hills overlooking the Missouri River, sits one of Nebraska’s newest motorsports facilities.
The Three Hills Motocross Track plays host to off-road racing events in a beautiful setting that includes several natural challenges. Three Hills features 100 feet of elevation change, multiple off-chamber turns, flat-out straights across terraced fields, twists through the trees and 1.2 miles of lightly groomed and grassy surface.
This weekend, the facility hosts the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) Vintage, Post-Vintage and Trials Series. It’s the way motocross used to be, no artificially built course that comes and goes but one that winds through the natural terrain of the wooded hillsides.
The AHRMA series is a 22-race national series for vintage motorcycles that runs from California to New York, racing on some of the most scenic motocross facilities in America. The association is dedicated to preserving the motorcycle, race tracks, riding techniques and strategies from the early 1970s era.
“It’s the 13th stop on the national tour,” Kent Taylor said of Great Plains Vintage Motocross, the host for the event. “We are expecting at least 100 riders from 14 states, and some of those riders will bring two and three different bikes so that they can compete in multiple events.”
The competition is divided into two basic categories: The older bikes (1974 and older) on Saturday, with the post-1975 bikes racing Sunday. As far as the difference in the two classes, Taylor said: “In 1975, the motocross racing factories started moving the rear shocks forward and also came up with the mono-shock concept, so the newer-class bikes have much better suspension than the older bikes.”
One thing for sure, whether you’re an older or younger rider — and whether you have an older bike or one of the more modern bikes — riding the Three Hills motocross courses through the trees and hills in a beautiful natural setting will be a blast.
For more information, visit www.greatplainsvintagemx.org.
Thunder by the River
If you love horsepower of the tractor variety, then you need to head up to Wisner, Nebraska, this weekend for one of the biggest tractor pulls in the country, the annual Thunder by the River.
Unlike many tractor pulls, at Wisner they have two tracks, two sleds and three performances. Things kick off on Friday with a 5:30 p.m. event, then Saturday is a doubleheader with pulls at noon and 5:30 p.m.
Doug Oertwich, the promoter of Thunder by the River, said the event just continues to grow.
“We have added additional parking for the fans as well as extending the pit area.” said Oertwich, who added: “I just found out that Thunder by the River is the biggest tax revenue weekend of the year for Cuming County.”
Oertwich said there were 186 semis in the pits last year, hauling entries in from 14 states. Thunder by the River is the biggest pull west of the Mississippi River. For more information on Thunder by the River, visit www.thunderbytheriver.com.
