Today we’d like to introduce you to David Clabaugh.
Hi David, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Motocross has been my passion for as long as I can remember – every day I am either on a dirt bike or doing something to promote dirt bike racing in Colorado. I started racing when I was 10 years old – it’s a really fun sport. Once you do it, you are hooked for sure! I purchased my first dirt bike myself with the money I made as a newspaper delivery boy.
At one point, early on in my career, as an XR75 rider, I was chosen to showcase motocross to the mayor of Lakewood at the old motocross track on Alameda. I continued racing every weekend and moved my way up to a top finisher in local races and then moved on to racing at the professional level. Shattering the lower part of my leg at a race in Colorado Springs – the doctor said it was like taking a sledgehammer to a wooden stake – ended my pro racing career. I love this sport and knew I wanted to stay involved in the sport somehow.
So in 1999, I decided I wanted to buy a track. The City of Lakewood was running the track from 1986 – 1998 (although it sat idle from 1990 – 1994) and they were thinking about closing it. I approached the city about taking it over. I ran local races on the weekends and open riding during the week. However, I wanted the facility to grow. I wanted an AMA Pro Motocross championship event. In 2001, I met MX Sports’ Tim Cotter and I figured the only way I was ever going to get a stop on the national circuit was to start going to as many races as I could and figure out how it works.
For three years, I went to six or seven national races a year, doing everything from pounding stakes and hanging banners to helping park semis – just getting the inside line on how it all works. I began talking with the executive staff of MX Sports about wanting a national – learning all the aspects of the sport and figuring out how to promote it. My goal was to make great contacts and get my name out there. During this time, since I had shown interest in being a promoter, several people came out to see if I was equipped to have an AMA Pro Motocross championship event.
Since purchasing the track in 1999, I have made lots of upgrades to the facility by adding buildings and filling in ravines, expanding the parking area, etc. I heard there was going to be a spot open on the national schedule and in October 2004, I was told that Thunder Valley was first on the list. My staff and I had worked hard to make sure we were the top choice and that our facility was ready for a professional race. In 2005, I held my first pro motocross championship race. This year will be my 20th anniversary of pro motocross races at Thunder Valley!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
During the next several months, after being told I would be hosting a national in 2005, my crew and I worked non-stop getting everything ready. We typically put in seven-day work weeks, some nights still working until midnight.
One of the first things I had to do in the renovation of Thunder Valley was to fill in the ravines to create adequate parking for the team rigs and the rider’s motorhomes. I had to create a pit area of at least eight acres. By filling in the ravines and adding to the existing space, I was able to generate about 10 acres for the pit area. I also put in a sprinkler system by running water lines under C-470 (that was a huge undertaking!). I installed an announcer’s tower and created a permanent shop and office building to replace the previous office that used to be in a trailer.
The track also needed improvement. I brought in national track builders to add new sections and refigure several sections of the track. To do that, we hauled in tons of new dirt. The improvements cost about $350,000 (in 2004). At that time, there had not been a pro race in Colorado for over two decades, and bringing it back to Colorado was a big goal, a lot of work, and a lifetime dream!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Thunder Valley Motocross Park?
Many people don’t realize that we are open year-round to the public for open riding. There are a few days when we can’t be open, but if the weather cooperates, we are open. January is sometimes one of my busiest months of the year! We hold about six local races and also qualifying races for the amateur nationals each year.
Our largest event every year is, of course, the outdoor national AMA Pro Motocross race. Our first few years we were on the schedule in July. The pro riders and their mechanics had to deal with the altitude and the summer heat that made it not only physically challenging but also caused the fuel in the motorcycles to boil! In 2008 and 2009, I hosted the first (and only) AMA Pro Motocross National race to ever be held at night under huge lights!
In 2010, I hosted the Motocross of Nations – an international race with teams competing from every country around the world. It was only the 3rd time in the 50-year history of the MXON to be held in the US. The Colorado fans were ecstatic and the racing was amazing – and the US won with our local Colorado pro racer, Andrew Short, as one member of the team!
I still find time to race in amateur races locally and throughout the country. I qualified to race at the Amateur National Motocross Championship race, at Loretta Lynn’s ranch in Tennessee, in both 2016 and 2023 and am hoping to qualify again this year.
So maybe we end by discussing what matters most to you and why.
It is important to me to constantly improve. As soon as one national race is over, I start thinking of ways to make improvements for next year’s race. I want to be one of the top tracks in the nation. I want the riders to look forward to coming here every year and feel like it is a professional-level track and one that is challenging and fun.
There have been big-name racers win here over the past 20 years – Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart, Ryan Dungey, Ken Roczen, and Jett Lawrence, just to name a few. And of course, the Colorado fan’s favorite, Eli Tomac. It’s always fun to have a local racer win at the Colorado track! And I am always so appreciative of their positive comments on track conditions and overall race management. We work hard to make sure both the riders and the fans have a great experience!
Pricing:
- $25/day for open riding
- $65 General Admission tickets to the AMA Pro Motocross National Championship on June 8, 2024
- $250 / $285 VIP tickets to the AMA Pro Motocross National Championship on June 8, 2024
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tvmx.net
- Instagram: @thundervalleymx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TVMX.net
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-clabaugh-3b49a211/
