PARKER — At age 6, Parker resident Tyler Martin placed seventh in his division at the Loretta Lynn Amateur National Motocross Championships.

He didn’t appreciate it then.

He really appreciates it now.

Martin will be a senior at Karns City High School this fall and did not return to the Loretta Lynn Nationals in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., until last year. He placed 22nd overall out of 42 motorcycles in his class.

“I was too young to realize the magnitude of it back in 2000,” Martin said. “I didn’t really understand what it took to get that far.”

Martin, 17, has qualified for this year’s Loretta Lynn Nationals, which take place Aug. 1-6. Riders must finish among the top eight in a qualifier to get to a regional, then finish among the top seven in a regional to reach the nationals.

Overall, more than 25,000 riders compete for less than 1,400 spots in the 33-division Loretta Lynn field.

Martin competed in a qualifier at Crow Canyon, Ohio, earlier this season, finishing second in the College Boy division and fifth in the 250 B Mod division.

At the regional in Michgan, he finished sixth in College Boy and ninth in 250 B Mod, though he will qualify in the latter event as an alternate.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll be competing in both,” he said.

The key now is getting ready. The Michigan regional was June 9-11. Martin learned on June 8 that he had contracted mononucleosis.

“I was just in a room, with a guy who had it,” he said. “I should be clear of it in another three weeks, but it’s making it hard to train.”

Martin puts himself through a rigorous training schedule in preparation for the Loretta Lynn event, which is contested in 100-plus degree temperatures.

He has a new trainer — Mike Lucas — who he works out in the gym with twice a week. Martin rides a bike or jogs on the other days, often times wearing a coat to acclimate himself to feeling overheated.

“There’s no way to fully prepare for how grueling, hot and competitive that race is, but I do the best I can to try,” Martin said.

Martin’s father, James Martin, is his crew chief, “driver, motivator ... He’s everything to me,” he added.

Martin got his first bike when he was 4. He was competing in motocross within two years after that.

“He told us out of the blue, when he was 3, actually, that he wanted a dirt bike,” Martin’s father said. “He was a little too young at the time, so I waited a year.

“Tyler is very serious about this. Rather than run around to parties at this time of year, he’s getting ready for nationals.”

Martin is hopeful of turning pro in motocross in a few years. He has suffered only two significant injuries — a broken left wrist and right pinky finger — in nearly 13 years of competition.

He suffered a broken back and ruptured kidney while playing football in seventh grade.

“He came back to play in eighth grade, but the coaches wanted him to choose either football or motocross at that point — and that was that,” James Martin said.

“I took a correspondence course over the Internet to learn the basics of working on motorcycles, how to take one apart and put it back together.”

Martin’s son has kept busy. He runs in 35 to 40 motocross events per year and has won a few hundred trophies.

“Keep going against fast competition and you get faster,” he reasoned.

The younger Martin described the Loretta Lynn course as being “very technical” and the pace is naturally fast.

“You’re out there for 25 minutes plus two laps,” he said. “I’ve been training with some pros and they tell me I’ve got the speed to finish among the top three.”

Regardless, his father knows he will run a smart race.

“Tyler is a smooth rider who races smart,” Mr. Martin said. “He’s consistently fast and he knows how to stay out of trouble. He doesn’t try anything stupid.

“We’ve had to do very little bike repair after a race. He keeps it clean. I can see him having a future doing this.”