by: Rachel Gutish
Tuesday, July 7, 2020 | 1:15 PM
GNCC Racing has always been a family sport, accessible to all ages. However, the Rich/Dickerson family, from Warsaw, Ohio, takes that to an extreme, with six GNCC ATV racers spread across three generations. The oldest, Kenny Rich SR, races in the Golden Masters (60+) class and is currently third in points. His two children are both racers as well: his son, Kenny Rich JR still races intermittently, in either Sportsman or Vet B. His daughter Amy and her husband, Dustin Dickerson, are former racers, but both stepped back from their own racing so that their children Raelynn and Bryson Dickerson could begin. They race in the MXC1 (5th in points) and MXC2 (4th in points) classes, respectively. I spoke primarily with Amy and Dustin, but also talked to Kenny and the Dickerson kids as well about their mutual passion for GNCC racing.
Hey Amy, tell us a little bit about your family and how you all feel about racing.
Amy Dickerson: We are a very down to earth family. We love being outdoors and our lives are all geared around motorsports and racing. We enjoy all types of racing, but ATV racing especially. While some people follow football, baseball or Nascar, it’s off-road racing we are passionate about. Our children, Raelynn and Bryson have been at the track since they were only weeks old. They took to it like fishes to water and love the track life as much as the rest of us. They always can’t wait to get here so they can see their race friends – more like race family, really, many of whom live in other states hundreds of miles away. We love this and wouldn’t change it for the world. We also feel like this is life building experience that will help prepare them for the rest of their lives.
Now if I understand correctly, there are three generations of GNCC racers in your family?
AD: Yes – my father, “papaw” Kenny Rich SR started it all. My brother, Kenny Rich JR and I both grew up racing. My husband Dustin raced as well, and now both our kids race.
Since Kenny SR is the one who got the ball rolling, let’s jump on over to him. How did you originally get started riding and racing?
Kenny SR: Two buddies of mine had dirtbikes and talked me into getting one. I was twenty-four years old when I first threw a leg over a bike. I thought they were crazy at first. I rode it for about a month then went out and raced it. I’ve been racing ever since.
Amy told me that you started out with moto – what made you decide to switch over to GNCC?
KSR: Age had a lot to do with it… but don’t get me wrong, you still have to be tough to be a GNCC racer, and you definitely have to love to ride.
What are your goals for this season?
KSR: To win the championship!
How does it make you feel to see your children and now grandchildren following in your footsteps?
KSR: I think its great. It’s been really interesting and fun to watch the kids learn and progress the way they have.
Back to Amy and Dustin – how did the two of you meet? Was it through racing?
Dustin Dickerson: Yes, we met originally through Amy’s brother, and our relationship developed while we were all racing together. We fell in love on and off the track (laughs). We went from spending all our time together at the track to spending all our time tougher everywhere… and here we still are ten years later, now with two kids with the same passion for the sport.
For the time being I know you’ve stepped back from racing yourselves to better support your kids. Do you foresee returning to racing once they’re older?
AD: We do try to race as the opportunity arises, but yes, our main focus is on the kids and their future. Right now this is what they want to do, and we will do whatever we need to do so they can chase their dreams, and we want to make sure they have every opportunity, some that we might not have had at their age. But if the day comes when we can go back to racing full-time, we’ll jump right in! It will be very nice to race again with the kids, they think it’s cool on the weekends we race too.
Tell us about your experiences racing GNCCs.
Our experiences run the full spectrum – as anyone who races knows, there’s a lot of highs and lows, from devastating mechanical breakdowns to losing a championship by a handful of points, all the way to standing in the center of the box and watching our kids take off from the line for the first time. Good and bad, it's all part of it, and we wouldn’t change anything.
This is for both Kenny SR and Amy/Dustin – why do you guys believe that GNCC racing is such a good family environment?
KSR: You meet lots of great people from all over the country and become good friends. GNCC is a good family sport, young or old.
AD: We love how everyone comes together, and there is such a good atmosphere on and off the track. Everyone there is willing to help anybody else who needs it. The culture here in GNCC is amazing, especially coming from the MX side, where that isn’t always the case.
Moving on to the kids, why do you guys love riding and racing?
Raelynn Dickerson: It’s my favorite thing to do!
Bryson Dickerson: I like to go fast and win!
How has your season gone so far?
RD: It’s been good so far.
BD: Pretty good, but I’ve made lots of mistakes and I’m trying to learn from them.
Which track this year has been your favorite?
RD: Camp Coker, because it had a fast field that I really liked.
BD: The Penton, because there were lots of line choices and I got my best finish so far this year
What are you goals for the season?
RD: I want to work on getting faster and find my comfort zone.
BD: I want to work my way to the front of the pack and get a win!
This question is for everyone – tell us about one good racing memory that really stands out in your mind.
KSR: My first GNCC win! I snuck by Glenn McConnel on the very last lap and it was on like Donkey Kong right up until the end.
DD: Seeing Bryson on the center of the box in Georgia when he got his first win.
AD: Every time I see my kids coming off the track with smiles on their faces. I love getting to see them out there ripping it up!
RD: Celebrating third overall with Adam McGill and getting to interview him! He gave me his third-place medallion and tried to kiss me on the cheek because it was my birthday (laughs)
BD: When I won Ironman, clinching my championship and finished 4th overall from the third row!
Anything else you guys would like to add?
AD: Just a couple things – We are so happy we can help make our kid’s dreams come true, and we have a ton of great sponsors behind us and are very appreciative of everything they do. We also wanted to talk about our racing numbers - #47 was my dad’s number and I ran it for years myself. Dustin’s number was #24. So when it came time for our kids to get numbers, we made Raelynn’s #247, partially mine, partially her dad’s, then for Bryson’s we switched up the order to make it #724. And lastly thanks to you and to GNCC for letting us tell our story, and thanks to everyone who read this and listened to it!