FOUR-WHEELING TO FAME IN MISSOURI CHAMPIONSHIP

Keuhn participated in 14 races this year, both here and Illinois, winning 10 of them. submitted/Randy Keuhn

Kimberly Keuhn, 3, has her own battery-operated four wheeler, just like her daddy. She and her mother, Christina, enjoy watching Randy Keuhn race. Jackson U.S.A./Scott Moyers

Randy Keuhn's 10 years of four-wheeler riding have finally paid off. Keuhn, of Jackson, is this year's Four-stroke Hare Scramble champion.

Keuhn, a 21-year-old employee of Lee Rowan, began racing four-wheelers in 1993 but he has been riding four-wheelers much longer than that.

"We used them on the farm a lot when I was a kid," Keuhn said, "and my folks finally got me one when I was 11."

He knew from the first time he got on one that he wanted to race them one day. So when he turned 18, he did just that.

During that first year, despite his inexperience, Keuhn won third-place in his class. He admits he only won one or two first-place trophies that year, but he won enough second and thirds to give him an overall third-place win.

He knew then he was going on to bigger and better things.

Last year, however, due to financial reasons, Keuhn wasn't able to race with any great consistency, but he more than made up for it this year.

He raced in both Missouri and Illinois and won nearly every race he was in. Of the 10 races in Missouri, he's won seven of them. Of the four he raced in Illinois, he brought home three first-place trophies. He's won 21 trophies in his three-year career.

Keuhn said a lot of people who race against him tease him when they see him at a race.

"They say, 'Man, I was hoping you wouldn't show up.' But they're only kidding, sort of."

So Keuhn knows how to win.

"You've got to be real alert," he said. "You have to watch the trails and keep an eye on how the terrain lays.

"You have to use a lot of common sense, too."

Proper machine maintenance is important to a good race, too, which includes keeping the oil changed and the engine tuned up. "And you need to have brakes," he said, chuckling.

The season lasts from April until October and there are many races during that time. The race is called a scramble, and by that they mean a race on a four-wheeler course.

But it's no ordinary track -- the trails are made up of holes, ditches, and mud, and cut logs are put in their way on the course for them to maneuver around. Keuhn said this just "makes the race more interesting."

The big course is set up with each lap of five to 10 miles in length. Most races take about an hour and a half.

The hardest part of the race for Keuhn happens before the race even begins.

"When we're getting ready to go, they hold up this board and drop it. We can't take off until the board hits the ground.

"The hardest part is waiting for that board to hit. It's so intense just sitting there waiting to go."

The Grand Prix is the final race of the year, and it's also the hardest. This race is 60 miles and lasted 2 1/2 hours. Keuhn said that was the biggest and hardest race he's ever had.

"It was real hot, real dry and real dusty," he said.

But Keuhn enjoys it nonetheless, and a part of the reason he likes it so much is because of the travel.

He's been to Jefferson City, Springfield, the Iowa border, Columbia, and Flat River this year. "I like meeting the people and making friends."

But he's made some enemies as well since he began four-wheeler racing.

"Sometimes you have to shove people in ditches," he said. This is perfectly acceptable according to the rules.

When you come up behind another racer, they're supposed to get out of your way as soon as you come within a quarter-mile of them.

"If they don't you can do whatever it takes to get them out of the way."

He laughs as he tells the story of once having to "take it upon" himself to put one guy in the ditch.

Keuhn's in the four-stoke category, he hopes in the next couple of years to go to the expert class where there is some money to be made.

There is no money but the winner does get "trophies and bragging rights," Keuhn said.

Like many sports, four-wheeler racing can be dangerous.

"I've seen one guy this year break his collar bone," Keuhn said. "He was running down a straightaway and lost it."

But Keuhn feels pretty safe on his Honda 300 EX, which are the best in Keuhn's opinion.

His wife, Christina, and his 3-year-old daughter, Kimberly, like going to watch Kuehn race. His daughter even has a little battery-operated four-wheeler.

"I like to do it providing I have the money. It's just real fun and I enjoy it."

Keuhn will be rewarded at a banquet on Jan. 13. in Flat River.