Slaw Dog
Morgantown, West Virginia – Two weeks ago the sport of motocross was celebrating its 40th Anniversary at the home of country legend Loretta Lynn in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, located a mere seven miles from the small town of Waverly, Tennessee, and welcoming Loretta Lynn herself as an American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Hall of Fame Inductee to the Class of 2021. This annual event, the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship, is the premiere amateur motorsports competition in the world.
This past Saturday, August 21st, the small community of Waverly awakened to severe weather, which before day’s end would result in more than 17 inches of rainfall. This unprecedented event led to a tragic day for the citizens of Waverly, marked by severe flooding that left a path of death, injury and destruction, unwitnessed before in the history of central Tennessee. In a matter of hours, the lives of every resident of the community of Waverly would be adversely impacted, with more than 20 deaths and an equal number of residents still missing.
Each summer over the past forty years, Waverly has been a welcoming host to the sport of motocross, and hundreds of its local residents have worked at the event in nearly every capacity possible, from track crew, to caution flaggers, waste management, security, parking and welcome center, and many, many more positions. For three generations of racers and their families, for a couple of weeks each summer, Loretta Lynn’s Ranch became something of a second home, a special place where childhood dreams came to life.
Now, as the citizens of Waverly face the greatest challenges of their lives and seek to find the formula for the recovery of their community, our community of motocross and off-road racers has the opportunity to repay the kindness and support that the Waverly community has shown to us for nearly half a century.
MX Sports, organizer of the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at the Ranch, has placed a Call to Action to our sport, our athletes and the motorcycle industry as a whole, to join us in a charitable fundraising program to support the community of Waverly. It is our goal to develop a meaningful outreach plan to provide financial and operational assistance to the community of Waverly and its citizens and to those who have suffered life-changing losses as a result of this tragedy.
This program, Racers 4 Waverly, will benefit members of the Waverly community as a whole, including local residents who have been actively engaged with the event. The program will be collectively coordinated through our sport’s official charity, TheRoad 2 Recovery Foundation.
Here’s how you can help:
Donate MONEY to Racers 4 Waverly online here.
Donate PRODUCT to be auctioned by Road 2 Recovery for the benefit of Waverly by contacting them at [email protected] or calling (619) 339-5671.
To apply for assistance, contact Road 2 Recovery at [email protected] or call (619) 339-5671.
Each summer, when the sport of motocross descends upon the small town of Waverly, we’re welcomed as valued guests. This summer, the Racers 4 Waverly motocross community outreach effort gives us all a chance to say ‘thank you!’ to these wonderful folks at a time when meaningful help is most critically needed. Your generous contributions will not only ease the pain and burden on this community but will testify that the motorcycle racing community is organized, grateful and compassionate.
In the days and weeks to come there will be additional support needed as the town continues to rebuild. We will continue to provide information on ways in which you can help. As you can imagine, a natural disaster of this magnitude will take many months and maybe years to recover from, and our continued support will be necessary as the townspeople of Waverly work to rebuild their lives and town.”
More information regarding the Racers 4 Waverly fundraiser, and how you can help, will be available through the Road 2 Recovery and MX Sports websites and social media resources.
