ROCK SPRINGS – Dirt spits in the air and the roar of motorcycle engines fill the open Wyoming sky. Racers from all around the area filtered into Rock Springs for the Wyoming State Motocross Championships which runs Friday through Sunday.

All ages, sizes and genders compete throughout the summer and fall. Not only do they compete in Wyoming but also travel to neighboring states to get dirty.

While the competition for the local racers is at a very high peak, they also find motocross brings them together as a family. Local rider Jerry Georgis feels both the competition and camaraderie from the other local racers.

This weekend’s weather has been confusing at best, Georgis said it has been “perfect racing weather. He also spoke highly of the track at the Sweetwater Events Complex.

“They have been changing it up a lot the last few years but the track has always been good and challenging,” Georgis explained. “It’s the best track in the four neighboring states. We have lots of riders from Utah and Wyoming and even a few from Nevada this weekend.”

For anyone who has wanted to watch or participate, Georgis said to come out and see the great facility He said it looks easy on television but it also looks worse to be on a bike than it really is. Georgis explained once you get the handle of the motorcycle it will soon be like a “dancing partner.”

Some riders are young and learning something new. For 7-year-old Green River racer Jacob Cook, pretty much everything is new.

Cook has been racing for about a year and said so far it has been pretty fun. He likes racing on the track at the events complex and his favorite part of the track is the finish-line jump.

“I get going way fast and fly over it,” Cook said. “It makes me feel like I can fly.”

Another Green River Racer Coleton Bernard said he has raced for six years and was just getting ready to take the track to compete in the Wyoming State Motocross Championships as SweetwaterNOW caught up to him.

A close friend was the reason Bernard go involved with racing. He said his friend John was always riding around and so he asked his dad for a motorcycle. Since his dad got it for him, he has not stopped.

The track was also on his mind as he strapped his helmet on.

“They have mixed compost in the dirt so it has really kept it moist,” Bernard explained. “There are also ruts, we have never had ruts here before which really makes it fun.”

While racers fly around the track without any worries, there are parents watching eagerly along the track. Mother Kandi Cisneros has been watching her family race for the past eight years.

“While a lot of it is very exciting, a lot of it scares the living shit out of me,” she said.

Cisneros said watching her son get a holeshot is the best part of racing but also said if he does not, it is also fun to watch him race through traffic to get up front.

“He never quits and never gives up,” she said.

Of course the wrecking is the worst part for her. Parents are not allowed to go on track after a wreck and must wait until the finish,

“You know he’s out there crying and there is nothing you can do,” Cisneros  added. “It’s really hard to sit and wait.”