Collecting championships
CLINTON TWP — Travis Bartley doesn’t plan to rest on his laurels. But if he did, he’d be quite comfortable.
Travis, 9, of Clinton Township has been riding a dirtbike since age 3. Last year, he won the points championship in the 50cc 7-8 age division of the PAMX series. PAMX is a series of seven dirtbike races across Pennsylvania.
This year, Travis went one better.
He won the PAMX 50cc Open division with 157 points. Kameron Blair of West Sunbury was second with 136. Travis and Kameron tied for the 50cc 7-8 division title with 155 points.
Travis took second in the 65cc 7-9 division, tallying 105 points. Addison Cimino of Roulette won that points crown with 150 points.
“He’s more into this than he’s ever been,” said Brian Bartley of his son Travis. “He’s done other sports, but this is his niche. He likes the independence of dirtbike racing and the confidence it gives him.
“He loves the freedom he has out on the track.”
Bartley estimates Travis won “way more than half” of the races he competed in this season. The only down-side of his season was falling short in attempting to qualify for the Loretta Lynn Nationals in Hurricvane Mills, Tenn., in August.
“We went to a qualifier in West Virginia and there were 90 kids competing,” Bartley said. “They took the top six. We fell short, but we’ll try it again next year.
“It’s tough getting to Nationals. It’s basically the top 42 in the world in each division. A lot of the kids competing for those spots are home-schooled. This is all they do.”
Travis is familiar with the big stage. He qualified for the KTM Junior Racing Program at the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross race in Salt Lake City, Utah, and finished sixth out of 15 riders at that event.
Travis turned 9 last May and is a fourth-grader at Knoch, He dabbles in gymnastics as well.
But he’s out on a dirtbike every day.
“He has three bikes now and he’s always out on one of them, even if it’s just out riding around for fun,” his father said. “He’s got a comfort zone there.”
The PAMX points titles Travis just won were in the fall series. PAMX does a seven-race series in the spring as well. Travis participated in all 14 races.
“Just keep moving up,” he said of his future in the sport. “Try passing more people.”
Bartley said Travis will stay in the 65cc division for PAMX in 2023. The family is prepping for the indoor season at Switchback, which begins in two weeks and concludes in March.
Travis has ridden in as many as six races in one day.
“They’re long days, but he never gets tired of it,” his father said.
