Central’s Austin Bradford Wins LACC Championship

CENTRAL — Austin Bradford, a seven year old 2nd grade student at Central Private School, won 1st place for the 2011 LACC race series in the competitive beginner peewee class.  The MTA Louisiana Cross-Country (LACC) series is a 10-round championship series promoted by AcadianaRacing.com.  Race venues test each rider’s overall ability by offering motocross sections, hills, roots, woods trails, and grass tracks.

Austin was introduced to dirt bikes at the early age of three years old. After a year of riding on training wheels, he convinced his parents that he was ready to take them off and never looked back.  As his riding skills progressed, Austin advanced from the mild power of a 4 stroke 50cc dirt bike to the aggressive power of a two stroke mini 50cc dirt bike at the age of 4.  He competed in his first motocross race while still at the age of four and has been racing ever since.

After discovering the LACC series and racing one round in 2010, Austin was determined to race the entire series for 2011 in an effort to obtain the overall championship for the year.  As the series began, his determination and competitive spirit was obvious winning rounds 1-4.  The next three rounds proved to have challenging conditions and Austin narrowly lost the 1st place spot, but still managed a respectable 2nd place in each of the rounds.  With three rounds remaining, the overall championship for the year was still up for grabs.  Due to the LACC rules, a rider can drop two out of the 10 races; therefore, as long as Austin won rounds eight and nine, round 10 would not be a determining factor for the overall championship results.  Austin came out on fire at round eight winning with an impressive one minute 33 second lead over 2nd place.  He continued this winning streak at round nine with another exciting 1st place finish clenching the overall championship for the 2011 series.

With one race remaining in the series and the overall championship sealed, Austin had the opportunity to race in the class he will be moving up to this year on his new and more powerful KTM 50SX he received for his birthday.  Although Austin would be the youngest competitor in this class, he jumped at the chance to get the valuable experience and seat time on his bigger bike.  Battling the pain of a deep bone bruise in his right arm caused by a hard crash during practice the day before, Austin not only surprised the competition, but the spectators as well with a flawless race and a remarkable 1st place finish.

As a direct result of his hard work, dedication, and determination, Austin will receive an award for the 2011 LACC overall championship in his age group as well as the Number 1 plate which signifies his accomplishments during the 2011 series at the year end LACC awards banquet.

Austin’s 2011 race results: Round 1, Leesville, 1st Place; Round 2, Carencro, 1st Place; Round 3, Pine-ville, 1st Place; Round 4, Dubach, 1st Place; Round 5, Sicily Island, 2nd Place; Round 6, Wilson, 2nd Place; Round 7, Sicily Island, 2nd Place; Round 8, Loranger, 1st Place; Round 9, Ethel, ,1st Place; and Round 10, Mansfield, 1st Place.