Tanner Young a rising star on ATV racing circuit

While most 16-year-olds lounge by the pool and bask in the wastefulness that is summer break, Green Ridge native Tanner Young is busy solidifying himself as one of the top racing phenoms in ATV-quad racing.

Raised just four miles from LA Raceway, Tanner has raced everything from souped-up lawn mowers to dirt bikes, becoming a fixture in stock hobby racing along the way.

But after dabbling in several racing arenas, Tanner became eligible to race the ATVA and Midwest Extreme professional circuits in January and hasn’t looked back since.

“ATVs and I seem to go together well,” Young said. “The racing atmosphere is way faster, way more physical and definitely more technical than I originally thought it would be, but it’s an exciting sport that I love. Getting used to it all was an experience but ever since I started, I’ve devoted all my time and energy to being the best.”

Experience and winning typically go hand and hand in the world of quad racing, but Tanner wasn’t crafted from the same mold as most teenage riders.

While the racing scene’s influx of youth is well represented on the tracks, 16-year-olds are commonly relegated to the junior ranks, sharpening their skills and gaining experience to one day compete with the veterans.

Tanner, however, has overcome adversity and put together an impressive racing resume, quickly moving up the sport’s rank and handily distancing himself from the pack of the Production C and B divisions.

Now racing among Production A competition, the top division of amateur quad racing, he’s looking more and more like a man among boys — despite being one of the youngest competitors on the track.

The young athlete has already earned his fair share of wins and top finishes, but the racing performance he displayed May 30 at the Duro 2009 Extreme Dirt Track ATVA Nationals put the budding athlete into an elite class.

Pitted against one of the strongest fields in the country featuring riders from South Dakota, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio and Missouri, Tanner placed first in a 4-stroke Production A race and second in the 16-24 Production A class race in Ava.

For the up-and-coming young athlete, the results were a humbling experience but also somewhat expected considering his polished track record.

The 16-year-old phenom currently sits atop the 4-stroke production A points leaderboard and is also the front-runner in the 16-24 Production A standings in the Midwest Extreme Dirt Track Series.

“I really didn’t expect anything special, considering it was my first flat-track national competition,” Tanner said. “We wanted to go out and do good and get out to the front of the pack early. I expected to finish well and was confident, but the experience of winning was definitely a learning experience and something special.”

The ascent to the top can be largely attributed to his raw talent, but Tanner also spends countless hours a week honing his skills on the family track and at his future brother-in-law’s track in Oak Grove.

The two practice tracks provide the precision turns and jumps, large and small, that mimic race-day conditions for Tanner, who practices at least three to four times a week doing what he loves most.

“The results really make it all worthwhile,” he said. “The constant tinkering of mechanical issues, the hours spent practicing on the track and just the mental and physical preparations are demanding and it’s great to validate all the hard work.”

With the racing season lasting up into the fall, Tanner has several races left to build on his points lead in both classes and add to the mounting trophy case. But while the dominant performances may have caught his competitors and the racing community off guard early in the season, don’t expect to see anybody underrate Tanner’s prowess on the track in the future.