At the first round of five scheduled grassroots quad and side-by-side night races at Lake Elsinore MX Park a couple of unique racer experiences surfaced.

Side-by-side (SXS) is a class of utility vehicles such as Yamaha Rhinos, Kawasaki Teryxes or Polaris Razrs suited up for competition.

Kids first

Quad racer Kayla Smith (#95), a 12-year-old student at Gardner Middle School in Temecula, said, "My friends at school don’t believe me when I tell them that I race quads and side-by-side."

Kayla’s mom Darla Kooiman confirmed, "She takes pictures to show at school and the girls don’t believe her. I guess that’s junior high for you."

"I love racing against the boys and beating them. I do ride dirt bikes, too – that is, if I can borrow one," said Kayla while munching down Doritos.

Trevor Smith, Kayla’s dad, said, "Rhino racing is my daughter’s main focus, but the quad racing is much more affordable."

Julie Smith, Kayla’s stepmom, stood by Darla’s side. "Kayla has always been very inspired by anything that her dad would build," she said. "If he builds it, she’ll race it."

"We all come out here as one big family," Trevor commented. "We decided a long time ago that the kids come first and everything else [about adult relationships] can rest aside. It’s about having a good atmosphere while raising the kids."

Sara Smith, Kayla’s little sister, said, "When I see my sister race I always yell ‘Go Kayla!’"

The younger years

"Kayla started riding a quad at age 5," Darla recalled. "She was always on it. Taking her off the machine Advertisement

[ Berry-Bell and Hall Mortuary ] was always a chore. She didn’t want to get off of it."

Temecula resident Mike Gleenie, 22, was one of Kayla’s many older cousins on hand in her pit.

"I remember when she was little all of us would put her in Grandma’s miniature grocery cart and shove her [repeatedly] down a hill," he said. "She was always good to go on that ride."

All the young faces in the pit nodded, smiling.

The pit next door

In the Mafia Industries pit was 16-year-old racer Luke Johnson, a student at Mira Monte Independent Study High School in Lake Forest.

Johnson is a regular racer in the Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR) series. "We just came out tonight to test a motor," he said. "The opportunity was here to jump into Joe Clark’s car, get some seat time and have some fun. That’s what it’s all about.

"We’re getting ready for next season in CORR. I’m trying to move up to the Pro Lite class and continue to race for two more years in the SXS class as well."

Cross training

"I still come out to the Inland Empire and ride my KTM 450 at least three days a week. It helps with line selection [on the track] when I’m racing other vehicles," Johnson said.

"I’ve noticed that the truck racers that used to race MX convert faster to truck racing on the track than racers that don’t have an MX background," he added. "MX riding is the best practice to pick a line and commit to it."

"I am project 648," Johnson’s MySpace account reads.