Local racer aims for top spot

Robert Strength, a 52-year-old dirt bike racer and Grovetown resident, recently qualified for the largest amateur motocross race in the world.

//

Strength will compete in the 26th annual Air Nautiques AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.

More than 20,000 other racers from across the nation competed in area and regional qualifiers with only 1,386 spots up for grabs. Strength earned one of those bids with a sixth-place finish in the Senior 45 Plus division at the Aonia Pass Area Qualifier in Washington, Ga. on April 28. He also took top 25 finishes in races in Bremen, Ga., and Valley, Ala.

Strength, who works in the Individualized Education Program at Fort Gordon, has been riding since he was 18 years old. Sponsors such as Dunlap Tires help pay his way to the races. He has won several races in the past nine years and competes nearly every weekend in states throughout the Southeast.

The 2007 Air Nautiques AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships will take place July 30-Aug. 4.