By Patricia Duran
Long before the championship race, Raton's locals have been trying to bring racing back to Raton-horse racing, that is. Talk to a long-time community member, and they will tell you about the glory of days of boom-time in Raton when the mines were still open and the summer weekends were bustling with tourists and citizens alike.
Every weekend was a party waiting to happen, with plenty of saloons and bars to go dancing, including the daily horse races at La Mesa Park.
When La Mesa Park closed down in 1992, the town was left with a hole in its cultural heart. Many jockeys and enthusiasts longed for a warm weekend at La Mesa, and still do.
Despite a few attempts at revamping or restarting our racing days, bringing racing back to Raton has not been an easy feat. However, a reimagining of racing has taken place with the Raton Supercross committee.
Back in May 2019, over 30 locals participated in the Recharge Our Community Economy workshop hosted by the Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) and GrowRaton, the city's certified Economic Development Organization by the state of New Mexico.
The workshop's premise was to help locals get more involved in their community to positively impact and affect the health and wealth of Raton's economic future by building and implementing a project or idea. Communities taking the RCAC workshop in the past, built small or large scale projects that had profound effects on the overall community wellbeing including economy. They help launch new businesses, create jobs, or help business expansion.
In 2019, one community project sat on the table with the potential to bring racing back to Raton via supercross. Spearheaded by Kim Davis, a local and employee at the Center for Community Innovation (CCI), Raton Supercross grew legs in early 2020. Kim rallied with then CCI Executive Director Geoff Peterson and now director Patricia Duran, and RCAC to launch this project.
Kim made some connections and phone calls to the RMRA, and Patricia and Kim created a presentation to sell Raton as a possible location for a Colorado circuit point race.
A point race had the potential to bring 400 riders plus their families to the area for the weekend, create a newfound love for the sport in locals, and be a positive impact in the lack of youth events. The race was sure to help improve the city in many ways economically and through community-building.
Boasting about our possible race location, plenty of hospitality services, and accessibility to the Rocky Mountains, state parks, NRA Whittington Center, as well as a short 10 minute drive from the New Mexico-Colorado border, RMRA entrusted the team with its first supercross date.
RMRA race promoter Mike Zawacki worked hand-in-hand with the supercross committee at CCI to see a race happen in Raton. With safety requirements and promoter costs to be paid, Raton Supercross needed to work with stakeholders, volunteers, and local government to pull off the race in time.
However, fate took a turn and COVID happened, canceling the 2020 race date, which allowed the committee extra time to work on the checklist of requirements needed for the race to occur. The team had many other items to finish like creating a Raton Supercross brand with merchandise and getting sponsors.
For the proposed location, the Jim Young Rodeo Arena in Raton, the committee needed to work with the county to change the name to the Colfax County Events Center, and expand the arena and install LED lighting for the safety of the riders, which could also help improve the arena for attracting future events aside from Supercross.
In 2021 and 2022, Raton received two race dates in the RMRA circuit and the supercross committee worked diligently to fundraise and make improvements by expanding the arena 50 feet, update and install new LED lighting, upgrade the dirt, and install a new sound system. In total, the committee provided over $250,000 in volunteer work and local business donations and materials necessary to improve the Colfax County Events Center for future events.
Both races were major successes. Racers and families enjoyed the new dirt track in Raton and our local amenities so much that RMRA decided to give Raton Supercross the championship race date for 2023.
With so many positive partnerships, hard-working volunteers, and organizations, Raton Supercross is excited for the upcoming race season and is expecting a great turn out from both riders and local spectators for the future.
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