GIRLS RIDE TOO | Bohn Racing Family

UTV Sports: How many UTVs do you guys have for your family of five at the moment?

Matt Bohn: We have 4 within our family, but in total, we are up to 14 – just taking race vehicles into account; as we have more trail UTVs. Two years ago, we gathered with the competitors that I raced against, became friends, and formulated a team, and the UTV count just keeps growing year after year – no idea where the limit’s at! 

USM: Balancing racing, trail riding, aiding fellow riders, work, and family duties – how many hours do you have in a day?

MB: Sometimes, not enough.

Christine Bohn: It’s a very tight schedule. Sometimes you cut corners having less sleep to get things done, but we are definitely never bored.

USM: Let’s talk about your girls, who are both daughters and proteges. How do you separate the roles of a parent and a coach? And how do you split the roles between yourselves?

MB: You have to use all your patience, but there are times when you are in full coach mode, so patience goes out the window and you are not a nice guy anymore.

CB: Speaking of roles, I would say I’m more on the structural side, I make everything and try to connect the dots, while Matt is more on the motivational and technical aspect of it. I’m the one, not racing, and Matt has the expertise. We have a couple of other spotters that help us motivate the girls on the track. Matt takes on more motivational leadership on the track. I’m more the team manager. I have all the equipment on and check that their cars are ready to go.

MB: And when you guys roll your cars, I’ll fix all of them.

USM: But when they get out of UTVs, you are back to being nice and parent-like, right?

CB: Depends on how they did in UTVs!

USM: Do you also teach the girls how to service the cars, or do they just race?

MB: They do it here and there. They are responsible for general maintenance off the track – cleaning the cars, making sure that their radios are hooked up,  putting their gear away, and understanding that all the parts are actually on the car at the end of the day and ready to roll. If there’s any severe damage or whatnot, I’ll definitely take the lead on that, but they can always grab tools and learn.

USM: What skills do the girls learn through this sport that they wouldn’t otherwise learn at school?

CB: They can get a lot of self-confidence and leadership skills. One year the girls decided to be proactive. They collected a bunch of money and donated to a  group called Allies of Autism. They became natural leaders because they were able to do things on the track, learn from others, and inspire others. Another big thing is being outgoing, the ability to go out and talk to such a variety of people and interact with fans – the average kid is not going to do that.

USM: What’s the difference in spotting for an adult racer vs for a teenage racer? What do you say to your daughters when you spot for them?

MB: My teammate Robert Loire is in a Pro Turbo class which is even a class higher than I’m racing, and with him it’s way more analytical, so  it’s not a lot of motivation. And a teenager that I spot for is 17, so I mentioned the details and how to cruise lines, so it’s more motivating for him. With the kids, it’s 99% motivation, support, and giving a little advice that will hopefully pick their spirits up.

I try to keep it more motivational by saying, “Foot to the floor, let’s go, you’re good. Two cars ahead! Go get her, you are faster than her!” I aim to give them motivation for their  small victories. Christine trains Ahna, I’ll coach Abby. It’s harder to spot for your  kid, because as a parent you have so much emotion, so I let my buddy spot for Ashley now. Abby will be the next one, I’ll turn her to someone else.

USM: How long does it normally take to prepare your fleet for the race?

MB: That depends on how much damage has been done during the previous race, but four to five days. We go through all the cars, look for all those little things that might be broken, do full maintenance and race prep on them – it takes four solid afternoons after work. For weekend races, we are normally fully loaded by Wednesday night, and on Thursday after work, we hit the road depending on how far it is.

USM: What would your life be like if UTVs didn’t exist?

CB: We bought our first UTVs in 2017, and I don’t remember what we used to do back then for fun. We started trail riding, Ahna was two. We had a two, four, and five-year-old sitting in UTVs and we just loved the outdoors and doing it together. When they got their first UTVs and were driving around, it was just so cool. Now we are doing it as a family, it’s crazy how much we have in common.

We all love to drive, we all love to race, and we all love our extended race family and cheering each other on. It’s such a big part of our life as a whole. And I’m proud that the girls have become inspirations for other kids. They have the reputation as Jolly Good Girls, the name inherited after our biggest sponsor Jolly Good.

USM: Who decided they wanted to go race? How did it escalate from backyard riding to racing?

MB: I entered into racing first, and we did it for a year. The following year, the series started introducing youth classes, and it was all the perfect timing, the perfect storm. They were here racing around the yard, getting some trees and posts damaged, and I just said, “Alright, let’s do it. I’m already doing it, so you guys should come along.” And every year it gets cranked up another notch. The youngest classes, sportsman classes, normally go first.

Abby would normally go earlier during the day, then Ashley, and then the Pro classes later in the afternoon. I would go last. It affected me in some moments, for instance when Ashley won the World Championship race, and two hours later I had to go sit in the car and I was crying. It was a big deal. You have to re-focus. I have my 30-minute calming ritual that I do every time before I hop in the car – strapping the exact same way, putting myself in the right mindset, clearing out other stuff, and focusing on what’s about to happen.

USM: Speaking of sponsors, how did you start your partnership with Jolly Good?

CB: Jolly Good is a soda company that was two blocks away from where we lived. We researched companies that were good local companies for the kids. We reached out to them, and at first, they gave us a case of soda and some stuff to hand out. But we made it  big time. Ironically, I ended up getting a job there for a little bit, and we talked to the owner and marketing manager. They thought it was a very good opportunity, and they wanted to go all out on the girls. They wrapped the girls’ car, and they wanted to do our trailer. They were very generous with the sponsorship to help us out. It was cool, and then they actually gave us soda to hand out.

Everyone loves free beverages at the race tracks, the kids always know where we are parked. They always find out where the soda is and they just need to pick a flavor from the fruit punch, blue raspberry and grape soda cars. Jolly Good has been  willing to sponsor us again and again, so we added Ahna. We partner with them, we keep their promotions going, and we also represent them in parades downtown when they have events. It’s a local family-owned company. We love their products. We are also supported by Polaris, which has been a huge help. All that factory support with the intel, parts, accessories and stuff like that. It would be really hard to do without it, it plays a really big part in our team. 

USM: You say, many kids approach girls after the race to talk to them. What do they normally ask?

CB: Sometimes they just want an autograph, we have some stickers and stuff to hand out. We let them come and sit in the cars, take pictures, and just get to know the girls. The first question is normally how old they are. Also, a lot of random people come up and say, “How did you get into this?”; “Hey, this is cool.”; and “Can we sit in your car?” That’s how a relationship starts. They have a lot of young girls who come to the races and cheer for them. 

There are at least a dozen kids and families whom we have helped to get into the sport. Looking back, there are so many little things that you don’t know until you learn the hard way. So we share our experiences and shorten that learning gap for the newcomers. A nice thing that surprises me is that Ashley got an award for racer of the year and that was from all the classes. It showed how much attention they are getting. When they called her name, they added – in a Jolly Good Car – it was a huge compliment that they acknowledged our brand.

USM: Let’s talk Safety. Are you worried for your young racers as a parent?

CB: Yes, but I also have confidence, because the girls have flipped over, and I haven’t actually seen any kids get hurt. I think the way the cars are engineered, makes them pretty secure in the cars. If they were riding dirt bikes, I would be freaking out, but the fact that there are four wheels, they have very secure cages, they have their helmets and five-point harnesses, and everything in there. Maybe I’m wrong, but so far – we just flip the car back up and keep driving.

MB: We build the cars here at the shop and I always have safety in mind. We even purchased a race-ready car for Abby last year, which saved some time. But when I start looking into it, I see one thing I don’t like, then two-three, and fix them. Some people cut corners, and they don’t do it right, and it’s not worth it.

USM: How do you support the UTV community through the trail-riding events you mentioned? 

CB: We’d go there and introduce other people to trails. When we first went there as a family, we were the first ones with kids. I learned the hard way what foods not to give them. Now we help others with what to expect. Like, don’t give your kids milk in the morning before going on a UTV because you don’t want them to get sick in the helmet, how to be safe, and what snacks to bring. And before the season starts, we have some activities where we go to clean up the trails, pick up cans and cut trees to clear the trails – we try to do that kind of thing. We are invited to take part in parades and community events. We love the opportunity to volunteer with Allies of Autism – we’d like to do more things like that because we enjoy fundraising and supporting charitable events.

USM: Any advice to parents who want their kids to enter this sport?

MB: The biggest thing is just to make sure it stays fun, don’t let it consume you. There are so many parents who don’t seem to be having fun, they are just screaming and yelling at their kids and they just take it too seriously. Let’s be real – racing takes a lot of time and a lot of money, so not having fun is just wrong. So keep the fun.

CB: I guess you have to be mindful of what it is. It’s not a 10-minute task, it takes work, and you have to be in the mindset that you’ll get what you’ve put into it. At the end of the day, if you are ready, it can be a blast!

If you’d like to write the racing family some words of support, or ask for advice, follow them on Facebook: Bohn Motorsports.