Brad Whitworth has had a passion for motorcycles for as long as he can remember.
The 35-year resident of Houston turned that early love into a livelihood and recently was named national champion in the Sportsman 500 Novice vintage motocross class by the American Historic Motorcycle Racing Association.
In winning his class motorcycles built in 1974 or earlier with no more than a 500cc engine, Whitworth rode a 1974 CZ to victory in all seven races he entered during the 2009 season.
To become a national champion, you must race a minimum of four and up to seven events around the country, said Whitworth, who owns MotoExtreme Kawasaki and MotoX Graphics. Each class or event you enter consists of two motos (races). The series travels from coast to coast. You're scored for every race 25 points for first, 22 for second, 20 for third and so on. Of course, if you do the seven events you will get more points. At the end of the series, the one with the most points is named national champion. I won every race I entered.
Whitworth fell in love with motorcycles at an early age and made sure his parents knew about it.
I just remember when I was a kid, I always liked them, Whitworth, 46, said. I remember cutting out pictures from motorcycles mags, and putting the pics everywhere I could think of for my parents to see kitchen drawers, refrigerator, in their bedroom drawers, bathroom cabinets. So, every time they opened something, there was a pic of a motorcycle. They finally gave in, and the rest is history.
Whitworth will be back in action on April 17 when he races his bike, made in the former Czechoslovakia, in the Diamond Don's Eighth Annual Riverport National Vintage Motocross at Jefferson.
For information on the AHRMA, which has several members from the Houston area and close to 5,000 nationally, visit www.ahrma.org.