ROCK SPRINGS – Mud flies as the screams of two-stroke engines provide a unique mixture of sounds. Despite the weather, the Loretta Lynn Qualifier began racing on Saturday at the Sweetwater County Events Complex.

For the past year, Rock Springs Motocross worked hard to attract one of the biggest National Motocross Series to the area. The Loretta Lynn takes place all over the country as tens of thousands of racers participate in area qualifiers. Through the hard work of several local residents, Rock Springs Motocross landed an area qualifier.

Riders race to qualify at area qualifiers for a spot at the regional qualifier. The top racers at the regional races meet at Loretta Lynn’s ranch to see who the best of the best is.

The area qualifier kicked off the local outdoor series. On Friday, the weather cooperated and Rock Springs Motocross President Wes Smith said they had about 80 riders come out for open practice. He said 80 riders for open practice is a strong turnout.

However, as people looked out the window on Saturday, the sight of snow was the first thing many people seen. To battle the weather, Smith said they made some adjustments to the competition on Saturday. The had 16 races and to help adjust to the weather, started the races a little later than the scheduled start time.

They also built and moved the younger racers on the smaller dirt bikes to a flatter area. Smith said the mud and the ruts on the big track was just too much for the smaller racers.

Despite the weather, 78 racers hit the track on Saturday. Smith said they had racers from South Carolina and Oklahoma as well as several from neighboring states such as Colorado.

Weather permitting, racing will continue at 8 a.m. on Sunday with 14 races scheduled. Smith did not have the numbers of racers for Sunday but was expecting about the same numbers and hoping for a few more.

“Several people put in a lot of effort to plan this,” Smith said. “No matter how much you plan, you can’t plan for Mother Nature.”