Championship Mud Racing

Over 12 hundred atvs were lined up for the championship mud racing series at Rocks Bottom, home to race number 5 of the ten stop event.

"This is basically nascar for four wheelers," Forest's Richard Wilkerson said.

"Man this is my life. This is what I do," Floerence's Flynt Cloer said.

"Like being jacked up on red bull or something," Wilkerson said.

"It's a drug. I mean its like anybody says about racing. If its in your blood you have to do it," Cloer said.

Racers from Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas and drivers from across our own state made their way to Forest.

"An adrenaline junkies world and you get to play in the mud," Louisiana's Mark Wise said.

Race day, lots of jitters, no matter how experienced the driver.

"Everytime I get behind the handlebars it's like the very first time. Your heartbeats out of your chest and you almost cant hold back," Cloer said.

"I've been doing it since 2003 and everytime you pull up to that line to race you know you still have those butterflies in your stomach because you want to win," Lake's Billy Wooten said.

Winning is everything.

"It's good to have them come here as your guest to welcome them into your park, but at the same time you don't want to let somebody from Louisiana come to your house and beat you so we hope we can load it up on the trailer and send them back home," Wilkerson said.

The race lasts minutes. Preparation, countless hours of hard work.

"I'll tell you what I probably had twelve hours of sleep this whole week getting ready with between my own personal bike and everybody elses that I work on, we've not stopped and matter of fact my guys are over there working on my bike right now," Cloer said.

Is the lack of sleep because f the work or the anticipation?

Last night, lack of sleep was anticipation, but the rest of the week its because of the work," Cloer said.

"The good thing about this sport opposed to some of those others is not always whose bike is tha fastest is gonna win. It's whose bike is gonna stay together, the better rider, cause you get in some pits its worse than others you have to actually ride it, its not just sitting there mashing the gas and going around in a circle. You actually have to ride it, Wooten said.

"It's a lifestyle. It's something that you all do during the week to prepare for the weekend and then after the weekend you spend the next week getting ready for the next race, wherever it might be," Wilkerson said.

And the drivers come from all walks of life.

"Youv'e got people that are doctors lawyers to just the average working man that do it," Wilkerson said.

One thing I bet you didn't know is mud racing is another way to say I love you.

"I met my wife right here at this very park that we standing on today and we've been married and it'll be two years in November," Wooten said.

It's our twelve year anniversary. We wont spend it any other way, except mud riding," said one mud riding couple.