11-year-old is on track to racing stardom BY PAM STEVENS | EDITOR A father’s dream is to have his son grow up smart, healthy, successful, and sometimes just like himself.

For Ron Masset of Lake Stevens, his son Taylor is doing just that and more.

11-year-old Taylor will be going into the seventh grade and has already surpassed all expectations his father has of him when it comes to racing motorcycles, as he once did.

Only riding and competing for three years, Taylor has already won more than 700 trophies which he now gives to younger kids or a special fan at races he competes in.

“I’ve been riding quads since 1999, and motorcycles since I was eight,” Taylor said.

Taylor says he credits his father and older sister for his interest in racing.
“I’m just a normal kid,” he said, “who likes to ride bikes and play video games.”

When it comes to racing, Taylor’s specialty is in flat track racing which differs from the popular supercross style of racing.

“Flat track is just an oval—no jumps, with left turns; and motocross and supercross they have like a whole bunch of jumps, right turns, and step downs,” Taylor said.

His father said Taylor competes in TT racing which is like motocross, but not as radical.

Safety, maintenance and the handling of a motorcycle no matter the size is always important.

It’s difficult to determine the speed of the riders, but his father guesses that some of the racers in his son’s age group can reach speeds of 80 mph on their 85cc motorcycles on a half-mile track.

Maintenance of Taylor’s Honda and KTM motorcycles can be different depending on the track, and may call for different preparations and set-ups as well.

“On the half-mile, we had to put WD40 on the front-end because it was a limestone track, and it could stick to your bike and rust,” said Taylor of one of the race tracks.

Taylor has just started competing in out-of-state events this year, and in his first experience at a Ford sponsored national event, he had his motorcycles and tools stolen from him at a hotel in Florida.

“We went to Florida, and it was a disaster. We got our bikes stolen, and everything,” Ron said.

“Nevertheless there were some very nice people.”

“We borrowed some people’s bikes at the races, and people were letting us use their tools and everything,” commented Taylor.

Much to their surprise, the generosity and help continued when they arrived home with help from Everett Powersports

Most recently, the Massets returned from the Black Cat Gold Amateur National Dirt Track Event in Du Quoin, IL.

Taylor finished a respectable third overall in the 65cc class, and sixth overall for the 85cc class against riders from all over the nation who had more experience than he did.

“These were all the top kids,” said Ron.

Taylor says his dream is to turn pro and make a living from racing, but his father says the first thing is to make sure his son maintains his grades.

“He’s on the honor roll,” Ron said with a proud smile as they readied themselves for another race that evening in Bellingham.

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