This is family business: Oregon’s motocross dynasty

Arenacross is coming to Oregon in 2026. The series will kick off this January in Albany, Ore. at the Leach family operated track.

Arenacross is a variation of motocross characterized by its faster, tighter indoor races. It is the latest advancement from a family that has already shaped motocross in the Pacific Northwest.

Brothers Robert and Ryan Leach, who manage a total of three tracks in Oregon, developed the series for their Albany and Salem locations.

Ryan operates the family’s local circuit based out of Junction City alongside his wife Michelle and their four sons. On race day, the Leach office headquarters sits amid chaos. No more than five feet from the building, racers tear through their laps and leap over jumps. Mud sprays high enough to catch flaggers who wave from the balcony above.

Downstairs Michelle Leach sits in a one-room office furnished with handwritten charts and a heating lamp. She scores participants and readies prizes as spectators cheer outside. Muddy riders knocking on the sliding glass window are answered by Ryan Leach.

The constant roar of dirt bikes is like a second heartbeat for Ryan, who started riding at age 5 alongside his brother, Robert. Their success was both talent and genetics; they were carrying on tradition.

The Leach legacy began with Ryan and Robert’s father, Bob Leach. An early interest in dirtbikes would eventually lead him to professional motocross racing and track management. But for that to happen, the sport first had to migrate to American soil.

Modern motocross evolved from off-road time trials in the United Kingdom. “Scrambles,” as they were termed, were muddy endurance tests of both man and bike. In the late 60s, the sport was ushered across the pond with the help of Edison Dye, an Iowa motorcycle importer.

To accommodate a growing urban fanbase and further heighten the sports spectacle, concert promoter Mike Goodwin organized the first supercross event in 1972. The Yamaha Superbowl of Motocross was held in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for an audience of 35,000. Riders competed on artificial jumps and mud features, a departure from the cross-country terrain of their predecessors. The event brought all the action of motocross to fans in the comfort of a stadium seat. It was an instant success.

As supercross expanded into an officially sanctioned American Motorcyclist Association series, motocross also saw tandem development in technology and commercial marketing. Four-stroke engines, improved suspension systems and increasing investments from big-name sponsors increased the sport’s momentum in America.

Today, the premier series of modern motocross features 11 tracks hosting between the months of May and August. The tour’s eighth stop is held at Washougal MX Park in Washington, whose first national race in 1980 was funded by Ralph Huffman. Bob Leach was part of the team that designed the natural terrain track suited to the area’s hilly landscape.

“It was their vision to put a motocross track up here on the hillside,” Huffman’s son Ryan Huffman, current track manager at Washougal, said. “The core of the track is still the base of what Bob built.”

Track design was part of Bob’s shifting involvement in motocross. He retired from his professional racing days and stepped into management, helping to run the Washougal track before purchasing his own in Albany, Ore., in 1981. Three years later, Leach’s operations had expanded to the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem.

“My dad was ultimately a pioneer of motocross in the Pacific Northwest,” Ryan Leach said. The growing business was supported by Bob’s wife, Linda Leach, and their children. For Ryan and Robert, that meant caution flagging, post-race clean-ups and general maintenance dominated the afternoons and weekends of their childhoods.

“Most of the time that was spent at the track was working. And as a kid, that doesn’t necessarily translate to fun,” Ryan said.

But looking back now, the memories are fond. In his early 20s, Ryan began working for his father full-time. Developing the track, purchasing equipment and the long highway drives together continued to feed Ryan into the churn of the family business.

“As my dad got older, I felt like he could count on me and everything that I had learned from him,” Ryan said. “That was a good feeling for me, and a feeling I still cherish.”

Bob and Linda died in a motor vehicle accident in February 2021. The loss was sudden and heavy, especially for a family that operated as closely as the Leach’s.

“The last time I rode a motorcycle was the day my parents got in the car crash,” Ryan said. “Your whole world gets turned upside down, and riding my bike was really kind of the last thing I was thinking about.”

Despite their grief, returning to the family business was only natural for the Leach siblings.

“I don’t think there was any question that was what we’d do too: continue on the family tradition,” Ryan said. Much like their father 40 years prior, Ryan and Robert invested their experience and passion in the commercial side of the sport.

In September 2021, the brothers took over the Eugene track. A lifetime of learning from their parents quickly made the venture successful, and a generation later, the Leach story is much the same.

On any given day, Ryan and Michelle’s four sons can be found counting laps, manning the concession stand or racing themselves. Their six-person family unit services all areas of the track and embellishes the motocross environment with warmth and familiarity.

“Sometimes it’s stressful, but most of the time I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Ryan said. “I spent a lot of time with my mom and dad in Albany, and I really cherish those moments with my parents. I’m really blessed to have done that, and I’m really blessed to have kids that want to help me and want to see our business succeed.”

The latest frontier of the Leach business is their upcoming Arenacross series. The Linn County Fairgrounds track in Albany will host the first event starting January 7.

Riders in Eugene typically complete the course, created on the property’s 30-acre footprint, in one to two minutes. For Albany’s Arenacross, competitors race a circuit housed within 125 by 200 feet in only 24 seconds. The sound, speed and proximity of riders are all amplified by the echoings of an enclosed roof.

“You’ve taken an outdoor track, and you’ve totally condensed it to fit into a tiny little arena, and it makes for some action-packed races,” Ryan said. The Leach’s latest adaptation is a continued history of dedication to fans, racers and the motocross community.

When many riders faced track closures during COVID-19, the Leach’s found creative ways to continue supporting the passion of their community. Small groups were able to rent the track for shorter, individual practice slots.

“Their influence in staying open and being available for all riders was huge,” Ryan Huffman said. The opportunity for connection helped the sport grow following the pandemic, as riders rediscovered the importance of the motocross community.

“People park awning-in,” Huffman said, referencing the neighborhood of motorhomes and trailers parked at events where fans and riders socialize. “It’s a lot of families enjoying the weekends together.”

Motocross is much more than a sporting getaway, though. The speed and toughness that make it so exciting also make it inherently risky and competitive — an environment that, for many, fosters camaraderie.

“There’s people that will race you on the track — be as competitive as can be — and at the same time, if you need something, they might take a part off their bike to give it to you,” Ryan Leach said. “The community is just great.”

The people are part of what has already sustained two generations of dedication and hard work. Ryan isn’t looking to retire anytime soon, but when he does consider the future of family operations, the situation looks familiar.

“My hope is that I would continue to do and carry on the tradition that was passed on to me, and I will in turn pass on to my kids,” Ryan said. “And I’m hoping some day they’ll want to do exactly what I do.”