Bell making his mark on motocross circuit

On a typical weekend, Brad Bell finds himself blasting around a dirt track on a finely-tuned motorcycle at break-neck speeds as he flies through the air and guns the bike through tight corners.

It’s all good for the 41-year-old motocross racer from Columbia Falls, who won the High Country Motocross Association state championship in the 30-plus division for the second year in a row.

Bell has been racing competitively since 1985, but it’s been the more recent years that he’s really seen success.

Call it maturity.

Call it a sense of purpose.

Or maybe it’s just plain fun again.

“Being there with my wife and son and the relationships I have with other racers,” Bell said. “That’s what makes it enjoyable. It’s a huge family sport.”

Bell’s wife, Kathy also races on occasion and their 4-year-old son Brady has his own little motorcycle as well.

The Bells run the race circuit in Montana and parts westward from early spring through the summer and fall.

Bell said he doesn’t really practice ride too much, but he does work out to stay in shape — motocross is a physically demanding sport. He has yet to suffer a broken bone, even though most days he’ll run four races and each race is about 20 minutes long.

He drives a 2010 Honda CRF 450, though a 2013 model is on the way. He runs two classes — 30A and 40A. The “A” stands for advanced. The number is the age group. Last year he said he won about 90 percent of his races. Prize money went toward travel and maintenance. It’s like rodeo — a rider is lucky if they win their expenses back.

Bell works as a sander operator at Plum Creek. Kathy is a surgical technician at Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

Bell gives his wife a lot of the credit. She makes sure things go well.

His favorite track?

Anaconda.

“It’s sand with big uphills and downhills and big drops,” he said. “It’s really fast.”