Keith Sayers has constructed an MX masterpiece deep in the middle of Montana
October 21, 2009, 5:48 PM
By: Ryan Leyba
For the past couple months I've been seeing some photos floating around the web of what looks to be one of the sickest looking FMX/Moto compounds in existence. Of course there's the Red Bull Compound in Southern California, but the photos from this mystery compound look like something you'd only see in your dreams. I did a little research and as it turns out, the compound is called "Racetrack" and is located in the middle of nowhere Montana. Local FMX ripper Keith Sayers is the mastermind behind the course and so I hit him up to see how the whole thing came about. And no ... you can't ride there.
Keith Sayers
Wanna play? Racetrack is located near Missoula, Montana, and is off limits unless you're a badass.
So how did this FMX haven come about?
Well, about two years ago I sold a ramp to this 18-year-old kid named Coy Cooper that I grew up riding and racing with. We used to ride together all the time at a motocross track that he had built on the property. So, when he called me to buy a ramp, I sold it to him and just kind of let him go about building the landing himself. Then a year went by and nothing really came of it—he built a little landing and stuff, but he was just kind of over the whole thing—trying to learn tricks by yourself is a pretty tough thing to do. So, I called him up one day because I heard he was trying to sell the ramp and his bike, and I pretty much offered to help him out because I didn't want to see him give up.
His dad has a dozer and skid steer, so I went out and started pushing around so dirt and I told him I'd help him out and practice with him. We started riding there and then he would come to my house and I basically took him under my wing and taught him everything I knew. That's honestly how it all started. I had the place planned out in my head of how it could look and I just started spending tons and tons of hours out there every night, working on the place. Then Steve Haughelstine came up and he's been a huge help as well. He's a huge freerider so he had some really good ideas and came up with some cool lines.
Keith Sayers
Another view of Racetrack shot from space ... or a helicopter.
It's cool to see places like the Red Bull Compound and all these rad places, but there's tons of money backing that stuff and that's what makes this place so special—it's all us. We did it all on our own dime and I put nearly all the money I made from riding demos back into the place. A lot of people had doubts as to what I was trying to do out there, but now there are a lot of people that are like "Holy cow!" And it's not even close to being done. I mean it's done for the moment, but there's still a lot of stuff I want to add to it. It's crazy how much better of a rider Coy Cooper is now because of the place—it's made him such a better rider and now he's riding shows with me, so it's cool to see it work like that.
I'd have to say that you've built one of the sweetest FMX parks in existence, yet I know that area and it's in the middle of nowhere. Does it bum you out that you're so far away from most of the top pros? It seems like if you have a place that sick, you'd want to share it with everyone.
Oh for sure, but the word's getting out. It was cool, while I was in Vegas for the U.S. Open people like Twitch were coming up to me and telling how they want to come up and ride the place. Matt Buyten was also passing through and he hit me up to ride it, but unfortunately it was raining. Metzger's ridden here. I kind of built the place because Montana is like a destination place. I want everyone to WANT to come here. There's also so much more to Montana than just this course—there's tons of sweet freeriding spots and the trail riding is just insane. It's like one of those things that if you build it, hopefully they all come.
Alright, if you could have one rider—racer or FMXer—come up and ride Racetrack, who would it be?
I would have to say that it would probably be Twitch or Nate Adams. Twitch is my favorite rider by far—the skills that guy has on a bike, from freeriding to ramps and even the track, are insane.
Click here to check out a rad video from Racetrack, shot by Steve Haughelstine.
Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Contributors
Ryan Leyba
Leyba is a bitter, retired FMX rider that likes to sit in his cubicle and call the professionals of the sport wussies for not pulling 360s and double backflips. He claims he quit riding FMX before flips were even invented... yeah, right.
Cliff Talley
Making FMX videos exciting is easy. Making them look good is not. Cliff Talley does both of these well and still manages to find enough time to piss off his neighbors with his Travis Barker-esque drum skills.
Chris Tedesco
You've seen his photos on the covers of Transworld, Racer X and more. You've also seen his tequila shooting skills at your local dive bar. Ladies, Chris is single and looking to mingle.
Grant "Goba" O'brien
FMX in Australia wouldn't exist if it weren't for Goba. Well, maybe it would, but it wouldn't be nearly as cool. I don't know why, but we can't quit calling him gobalobadingdong — it just rolls off the tongue.
Tes Sewell
Tes is the dude that's always involved in everything that's going on in FMX. How he does it, we don't know, but that's the reason we hired him to share his plethora of FMX wisdom in the form of a monthly column.
