A pair of brothers from Red Deer County has returned after living out an experience of a lifetime at the 2022 Walton TransCan Grand National Championship in Ontario Aug. 10-13.
Clayton Schmucki, 18, and his little brother Trey, 11, lived out a dream after they qualified for the tournament earning two of just 42 spots in one of the biggest amateur motocross events in the nation.
“It was a very cool experience. It’s the biggest race in Canada so it’s very competitive so it was just a cool experience to go there and race,” Clayton said.
Clayton competed in the 250cc intermediate open and 250cc intermediate classes. He explained in the first 250cc intermediate he finished second and in the intermediate open he came in eighth place. In the second 250cc intermediate he ended up getting in a crash on the course and was unable to finish the rest of his races.
Trey did very well in his races Clayton said, the youngster got fourth in his 65 class and 10th in 65 class 10-11.
Clayton said to qualify for the national championship they take four riders from each province and in the bigger provinces they take a few more such as in Ontario. The brothers qualified after being some of the top finishers in the regional qualifier in Raymond, Alta.
Clayton said it meant a lot to him to make it to the Grand National Championship.
“Only the best get to go and it’s very high competition and if you make it there you’re one of the best in Canada,” he said.
The duo got interested in the sport because their dad, who did it for fun, took part in motocross and rode motorcycles. While the boys were young it’s something they would all do together before Clayton and Trey began to consider competing at a high level.
“We started getting serious and then we started really training hard and just got into it more,” he said. “Our whole family kind of does it. It’s like our whole hobby and it’s a family activity. All of my brother’s race and it’s lots of fun.”
Clayton also took part in the professional national series this summer with the Grand National Championship as the final competition of the year. They will take some time off before they begin training again in the winter full-time down in Georgia at a training facility with professional instructors.
