--- title: Home Field Advantage date: 2014-10-06T00:06:00-04:00 author: University of Maryland canonical_url: "https://terp.umd.edu/home-field-advantage" section: Articles --- # Home Field Advantage *October 6, 2014* — by [Liam Farrell](/authors/liam-farrell) > Terp Builds a Motocross Mecca in Southern Maryland *Terp F2014 Feature moto* **The impromptu city** appears suddenly in the Southern Maryland countryside, as open fields turn into rows of RVs and cars with license plates from Florida, North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan, New York and New Jersey. The midmorning buildup of heat and humidity doesn’t deter relative latecomers to the 2014 Pro Motocross Championship series at Budds Creek Motocross Race Track. After parking on lawns along Route 234, couples, parents, children and even pregnant women drag lawn chairs, umbrellas and coolers. Nobody wears a collar and sleeves are an endangered species, with shirts next on the hit list. All are heading toward the ear-splitting siren call: roaring motorcycles producing what sounds like history’s largest swarm of hornets. *Beasley 2014 budds creek swanberg fixed 18967* *Screen Shot 2014 10 05 at 8 48 46 PM 173x300* ### Almost Paradise A few weeks before race day, Beasley pulls up to the track in his red, turbocharged 1988 Porsche 930. The license plate, “R1SKY,” nods at the car’s ability to top out at 210 mph, a limit he has tested. More mundane tasks await that day, however, as he climbs the stairs of a two-story building that serves as the track’s office and concession space. Its porch, which gives VIPs a bird’s-eye view of races, needs to be stained before thunderstorms roll in. Beasley also has to pick up trophies and grab an order of fried chicken from the Chaptico Market, where he usually proposes to the 80-year-old woman who makes the pies. Ed Day, a friend of Beasley, has been coming to the track since it opened in the 1970s. He says the Motocross de Nations—“It was massive. There were more people there than a Maryland football game”—was a symbol of Beasley’s success, the pairing of the local race community’s loyalty with the courting of a bigger and wider fan base. “He’s nationally and internationally known as a race promoter,” Day says. “He just had the vision and foresight to stick with it.” *People DSC 0105 fixed* *Start 2014 budds creek swanberg 18541 fixed* ### The Hardest Sport Breaking into the mix of country, electronic dance music and rap pounding over the loudspeakers on race day, Tim Cotter, the event director, welcomes the more than 18,000 spectators to “these hallowed grounds.” “If you can’t have fun racing at Budds Creek,” he says, channeling the thoughts in the muddy helmets below, “you better get up and do something else.” Inside the track offices, the walls are covered with posters, jerseys and articles. Beasley talks about riders with none of the creeping cynicism he occasionally throws at corporate forces at work in the business. One of his favorites was Doug Henry, who during a race at Budds Creek in 1995 launched himself far too high into the air, crashed in spectacular fashion and broke his back. A few years later, with a titanium cage around part of his spine, Henry came back and won. The hill where he wiped out is now called Henry Hill, and is where Beasley married his wife, Kimberleigh Mitchell ’89, M.S. ’99. When asked why a rider would come back and risk another near-fatal crash—Henry actually was partially paralyzed in a 2007 wreck on a different course before returning to racing yet again—Beasley says, “They’ve spent their whole lives to get to that point.” Injuries are the part of motocross that Beasley hates. During his senior year at Maryland, he considered walking away after witnessing one of the two fatalities to ever happen at Budds Creek, becoming so rattled he even took the Officer Candidate School exam. But he couldn’t stay away from what he calls the hardest sport in the world. ### Backyard Heros For Beasley, race day is a tug-of-war between sports fan and track owner, as the love and admiration he has for motocross bubbles up amidst his more banal duties. Men with headsets walk back and forth on the newly stained porch, barking race updates to pit crews. Beasley stands with family and friends as the pack roars from the starting line into a brown cloud and then unwinds like a snake into contenders and pretenders. Beasley points out one racer as the rider barrels down Henry Hill. *Stewart m 2014 budds creek swanberg 18684 fixed2* *Screen Shot 2014 10 05 at 8 49 18 PM* ### Terp - **Carousel Slide: Anderson j 2014 budds creek swanberg 18702 1** - **Carousel Slide: GM 130622 BUDDSCREEKMX 0872 1** - **Carousel Slide:** - **Carousel Slide: GM 130622 BUDDSCREEKMX 2359 1** - **Carousel Slide: Fans 2014 budds creek swanberg 18962 1** - **Carousel Slide: DSC 9951 1** - **Carousel Slide:** - **Carousel Slide: DSC 9870** - **Carousel Slide:** **Issue:** [Fall 2014](https://terp.umd.edu/editions/fall-2014) **Types:** [Features](https://terp.umd.edu/category/features)