The final curtain call. After 10 years in the making, the lead crew at CTMX have decided to step down.
Ten years ago an idea was planted to build and host Mx races in Chillicothe. At 30 years old I thought it would be a cake walk to plow some dirt up, build a couple ramps and watch the money roll in like high tide on Hurricane Chilli! Several years later I could write a book on how that is centuries away from the truth.
Ctmx arrived where it is today not from any one person, sponsor, racer or spectator. It’s the fruit of several folks. Our core group at Ctmx always kept our heads high and our hands dirty. We literally shed blood, sweat and tears in this venture. We gave it everything we had. We never wanted to reinvent the wheel, we just wanted to shine her up a little bit. Always striving to find a way to “one up” our competition and give our customers the feeling of getting your monies worth. Our goal was to always supply a platform where the Mx community could come together and have an enjoyable weekend and experience.
Have we succeeded many will ask. If you measure success on how a group of rookies can turn a flat field into a yearly destination for families all over the Midwest to come hang out, then yes, we succeeded beyond our imagination.
We were always ridiculed by the other tracks for our shortcomings and downfalls. Probably one of the toughest things to overcome is the feeling of insecurity when you think you’re giving it your best. We called that motivation and used it wisely.
To the racers and families, thank you. I talked with several people this past weekend who never missed one of our thirty something races. Folks like Greg Evans or Big Mike always made it.
What does the future hold for Ctmx? First of all to dispel any rumors, this decision is solely within the current organization. The Ross County Fairboard along with the Commissioners have been 110 percent supportive. They took a huge risk on a five minute power point presentation and believed in us. They have been nothing but easy to work with. We are not going to jump right in and start removing the track or facility. We still have time on our lease, we will still keep the grounds cleaned up. There may be someone out there with the gumption we have seem to have lost here lately. We always said when we are not having fun, it will be time to move on. When it’s not fun for us, the finished product will start to show a decline.
After last weekends event with the three moto format and pounding over 600 entries under the finish line, I think it’s safe to say we came into this venture with nothing and finished with everything. It was a ten year battle and we came out on top TEAM! We won!
Thanks for all the memories, shall they talk about us for years to come.
So it was said, so it was heard!
Jeremy Forcum