The first time he saw it, the first time he went to the motocross track in Pavilion, there was something about the speed, the dust, the bikes flying over hills, the racing, that made then 8-year-old Joey Spadaro tell his dad, "I want to do that."

Seven years later, Joseph Spadaro says of his son, "He's a beast on the bike. A hard worker. Super competitive. He absolutely hates to lose. He will go above and beyond most boys, most men, because he doesn't like to be behind anybody."

That competitive spirit has won Spadaro his second trip to the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., starting on Aug. 2.

"That’s the most fun event," said Joey, who is now 15 and in the 10th grade at Le Roy High School. "Everyone there is fast. Everyone there knows what they’re doing. A bunch of people. The atmosphere is cool."

Joey didn't win his first race -- at Area 51 -- when he was 8 but he figures he's won more than 400 races in the local area since. He made it to the national event by finishing in the top six at the regional meet in Unadilla, NY. At that event, Joey ran three races coming in fourth, first, and ninth, for a fourth-place overall finish.

His father figures that makes Joey one of the 40 best in his class in the nation as he heads off to nationals.

"He's been a gear-head since he was tiny," Spadaro said. "He never rode a bike. He went from walking to riding a dirt bike. He never rode a bicycle until he was already riding a dirt bike. From his first race it was like, 'Woah, you already know how to do this.' "

Before this season, Joey raced in Class C and won more titles than he can count both at home and away. He's moved up a class and will be able to race in that class for two seasons.

Before going to Pavilion, Joey said, he had training wheels on his 50cc dirt bike. Those quickly came off after Pavilion and he took off to the races.

"I just thought it was really cool," Joey said. "I never thought I would be as good as the people I watched and it turned out I became better than the people I was watching."

He now runs a KTM 125 and a KTM 250.

During the off-season this year, Joey will travel to Chesterfield, S.C., where he will train at a motocross club. That off-season training is what helps elevate Joey to a pro-level rider, Spadaro said.

"If he can train in the off-season like the pros do, I think he can be a pro at a higher level," Spadaro said.

Yes, Joey does want to race dirt bikes for a living. It's what he loves to do and he loves to win.

"I enjoy it because I'm good at it," Joey said. "It's just fun to be good at something you love to do."

Riders from all over the world will be participating in the inaugural SUNY Canton and St. Lawrence Radiology Pro-Am Challenge on July 2-3. Quads will race Saturday, followed by fireworks at 9:30 p.m., and bikes race on Sunday.

This will be a bike, youth and quad event, with the Peewees, C bike and C quad riders having their own separate races on courses friendly to them. Pavilion Motocross Park is located at 1260 Taylor Road, Covington. The course will include the MX track so spectating will be awesome.

Purse and prizes total more than $30,000. Pros will be competing for $400 to $3,000 payback -- depending on their finish, with $1,500 purses for the Women's bike and quad classes. You could end up getting paid to race, so this should help ease the cost of fuel for getting there.

Separate reserved track-side parking in the pits for the Pro riders and, a first, the Women A/B riders, too. The event is being held near the Darien Lakes Theme Park (only 25 miles away), with a discount coupon for $16.99 admission (instead of $42.95) being given to the first 1,000 people attending the race.

Also, Steve Hatch <www.stevehatchracing.com> is holding one of his famous riding schools on July 4th after the race, with free Darien Lakes admission for those attending his school and plenty of Steve's attention to your riding -- a deal any way you look at it.

Red Bull will be here handing out samples and they'll have remote toys for the kids to play with.

Online pre-entry and rider-number reservation are available. There is plenty of free swag for the first 500 racers registering for this event. Onsite parts and food available in case you get hungry or forgot/broke something on your bike/quad.

A $10 gate fee buys admission to the whole weekend of racing and activities Gates opened today (Friday) at noon and close on Monday July 4th.

With more than 70 acres of dry, level parking and free primitive camping no one should stay home from this event. A special invitation goes out to our Canadian friends. This event is only 55 miles from their border.

For more details email fullactioncycles@yahoo.com or call Ken and Sue at 585-297-2742, you can also get more details at <www.amanationalharescrambles.org>.

A young rider waves to the camera, making it look easy! He's in the 7-11 age group!

Four more photos after the jump:

Two riders battle for the lead during the final lap!

Photos by Destin Danser

A young rider waves to the camera, making it look easy! He's in the 7-11 age group!

4 more photos after the jump:

2 riders battle for the lead during the final lap!

Photos by Destin Danser

This is a sport I don't understand at all, but based on this chart (which features live results, so it could be different when you view it), it looks like he is doing very well. I think he's in first place, 22 laps into the race.

The multiple day event is airing on SpeedTV. The next, and final, telecast is tonight at midnight.

DiSalvo won the first race of the season, the Daytona 200.

Jason returns to New York after this race and begins preparation for the Miller Motorsports Race in Salt Lake City.

This weekend Area 51 Motocross hosted their biggest event of the season, The Can/Am Air.

Saturday gave competitors a chance to get in some practice time on the main track, and featured a grass race and the Dunlop "Minicross" race. The minicross race was a chance to introduce young kids to the sport in a safer and less competitive environment.

Sunday was the main event, which was expected to bring out 600 riders to compete for over $40,000 worth of prizes. There were 19 classes ranging from "schoolboy" (ages 12-16) to the women's 50+ category and everything in between.

The competition was tough, and the racers really pushed their limits to try and get on the podium. Every racer I talked to couldn't wait to come back next year, Thank you to everyone at Area 51 for putting on such an awesome event!!

2 young riders fighting for the win in Saturday's minicross race

More photos after the jump:

A rider tries to hang on to the lead in the grass race.

Trying to get around the corner as fast as possible.

Huge air time, it is amazing what these guys are capable of.

Today was race day at Area 51 Motocross. I thought it would be interesting to head out to the dirt bike track and snap a few photographs.

More pictures after the jump: