Welcome to the 2007 Moose Racing/ITP ATVA National Motocross Championship. A big celebration is in order. It's been a long, hard road to get to this point, a point most consider the biggest and best era yet in the long history of ATVA racing. Such evolution didn't come easy, but now that the series has found solid ground, it's time to step back and celebrate what a great ride it has been.

When this series started over 20 years ago, ATV racing looked to have a bright future. Sales of three and four-wheeled machines shot through the roof as families discovered the joys of working, playing and even racing on the latest equipment. Soon the racing scene took off, and the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) started a separate sanctioned series for the machines. The series consisted of two distinct championship tours, one for TT-style flat track racing, and another for rough and tumble motocross. At the end of the season, the points from both series were combined to create the Grand National Champion (GNC). Factory rides and fresh talent poured into this new series, and the sky was the limit.

Unfortunately, safety concerns left over from the three-wheeled machines led to a mass exodus from ATV racing. Factory rides dried up, and the manufacturers stopped producing performance-focused racing machines. But while those dark days could have sent many scrambling to other sports, the die-hard, committed loyalist of the ATV racing family carried the flame through the 1990s. Stars like Gary Denton, Tim Farr and Doug Gust fought for the GNC titles on machines built almost entirely of aftermarket components, with pride, instead of factory money, as their motivation.

At the dawn of the new millennium, however, light began to form at the end of the tunnel. ATV racing and riding was growing once again. To further expand the sport, the AMA formed the ATVA (All-Terrain Vehicle Association), and then the GNC Series went through an evolution that split the MX and TT series into separate championships. This made the titles more accessible to riders who could only afford to specialize in once series. Manufacturers started producing raceable ATVs again, and production classes opened up the sport to a new generation of talent.

Realizing the growth of the ATV racing market, manufacturers pushed the technological envelope with their machines, and soon the production ATVs were once again the prime choice for competition. Then the factory rides came back, and ATV MX racing once again saw the same bright future it had had 20 years ago.

But this time no storm clouds are on the horizon. The 2006 season was the biggest and best ever, with 14 action-packed motocross rounds. Rider entries and spectator counts continued to climb, as did the exposure for the series through a dedicated television program on the Versus network. And the chase for the pro ATVA National MX Championship may have been the best ever. Veteran Joe Byrd dud deep to win his first title, a popular win for one of the most dedicated ATV racers ever.

Besides the pro racers, the ATVA National MX Series is the premier ATV motocross series in the world for amateurs, offering classes for riders as young as 4 on 50cc machines, all the way up to 40+ classes and classes for riders on 450cc machines. There's a class for everyone in this series, and riders can choose to follow the entire tour from coast to coast chasing a championship, or just come and see what they have when the series come close to their home.

Just like a rugged ATVA MX track after a long weekend, the path to this series' greatness has been bumpy. But any racer will tell you that finishing a long, hard moto is the best feeling in the world. For those dedicated to this sport and this series, making it to this grand new era of ATV racing is worthy of a big celebration. Congratulations.

- The ATV Promoters Group and the All-Terrain Vehicle Association