MARENGO — Certain hobbies have a funny way of taking over your life.
In the case of Marengo resident Rob Seitz, ATV racing has become his life. Nearly 10 years ago, Seitz’s cousin got him into a race.
“I raced, I liked it and I’ve been at it ever since,” said Seitz. “I’ve been riding dirt bikes since I was a little kid on a farm, and I always wanted to race. My cousin got me into it and taught me the ropes.”
It wasn’t long before Seitz, now 33, was riding in the Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series.
“We started going to the nationals and started going all over the United States,” explained Seitz. “We raced in national motorcrosses and in TT races, which are more of a flat-track style race.”
For Seitz, this is all an outgrowth of his childhood pastime.
“I had dirt bikes and ATVs,” said Seitz. “I had all kinds of stuff when I was a kid. I even had a Honda T50 Odyssey at one time — it’s just like a dune buggy. It’s made by Honda, and it’s a lot of fun.”
Now, ATV racing has become a second career for Seitz, who is sponsored by Extreme Tec ATV and McCrearys Body Shop in Mount Gilead, GThunder in Millersburg and Houser Racing.
“It stopped being a hobby a few years ago when I used to race TTs,” said Seitz. “Then it got to be more of a job, where I had to fix bikes to be ready to go on Thursday nights and spend all weekend. I got tired of it and got out of it for a while. Then, a guy invited me to do cross country. I went with him, ran it and fell in love with it. With this now, you show up on Saturday mornings, race at noon and, then gather your stuff and leave. Actually, you get more track time. You can get two hours of track time whereas, with the TTs, you would run 10 laps and then, sit and wait for four to five hours. Then, you ran another 10 laps and wait four to five hours.”
Seitz likes the stability of riding his ’06 Honda TRX 450R ATV as well as the extra traction.
“Dirt bikes are a bit more squirrelly,” said Seitz. “With an ATV, you have more traction you can put to the ground.”
The racers need all of that traction, especially when they get these ATVs race-ready.
“We’re about doubling the horsepower on these things from a store-bought machine,” said Seitz.
Seitz, who has a teenage son, and a girlfriend with three more, has turned his second career into a family affair.
“We went down to Florida last year,” said Seitz. “I raced there on Sunday afternoon. Monday afternoon, we were in Disney World and we spent the entire week there. Then, we drove up to Marion, Ga., and ran the next one. We took all the kids, and I took my mother and my aunt with me. We all had a good time.”
Seitz just wrapped up another season on the GNCC circuit, finishing seventh in the points standings.
“I ran pretty good,” said Seitz. “I had a couple of DNFs (did not finish) due to motor failures — nothing you could foresee. I was running in the top five for most of the year. I didn’t win any individual races, but I led the entire first lap at Mount Morris (Pa.) which is very good for me. Then I cut a tire and ended up way back in the field. I had a couple of good starts, but it didn’t work out for me.”
Seitz, who ran almost every race in the 13-race GNCC series, topped his ninth place finish on the GNCC circuit from last year, which has got him thinking about more.
“I’m thinking of moving up to the next stage at this point and run in the afternoon in the stage where all the pros run on the track as well,” said Seitz, “When these run, you run in a 300 block at once. They start within a minute of each other. You’ll have a row of 50 start and then, the next row of 50 and then, the next. When it’s done, you have 300 to 350 racers out on the track. I been doing that in the morning in D class. I’ve been thinking of moving to the morning where the pros run.”
But he isn’t through for the year by a longshot. Not only has he just finished running the very tough course at the Mansfield Motorcycle Club. As a matter of fact, he races all winter.
“I’m going to keep riding and be ready for Florida again in March,” said Seitz. “We run a lot of these in Ohio. We don’t have the greatest weather around. We have been known to be racing when it’s 10 degrees out. At that point, you’re pretty much frozen when you get off the bike.”
Of course, his son (age 12) is riding, too.
“He has been racing since the age of five,” said Seitz. “He used to run the TT tracks with me, when I used to run them. He got second place in his very first race ever. He even got interviewed for one of the magazines. He wants to go next year, too.”
