Mar 02, 2020

Rider Spotlight: Ashley Ross

Name: Ashley Ross

Age: 24

Fun fact about you(non racing related):

-I absolutely love National/State Parks

How long have you been riding/racing?:

-4 years riding

-3 years racing

Series:

-World Off Road Championship Series (WORCS)

-Supercross Futures

-RMX

-Loretta Lynn Qualifiers

-Best In The Desert

-Mint 400

-AMA Nevada State Championship MRAN

How did riding become a part of your life?:

-My boyfriend started to bring me to the local races and then I got to see him race. I knew from right then and there, it’s something I wanted to do.

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve come across in the racing industry?:

1) I started so late so I’ve tried to progress as fast as I could to get to the best I can but in all honesty, I’m pretty behind. I don’t have a lot of the Technique that I should.

2) Not really being taken serious as a female rider. I feel the actual female racers can relate to this. You might be fast as heck, but the standard set for female riders is so behind and low.

How do you think things could be improved for women in the racing world?:

-I honestly feel that Women riders are sooooooo over looked. It’s like we are looked as doing this for attention, but never actually taken serious about racing. I know I’ve had to step up to get the full amount of laps for a desert race including all of the female teams and sometimes we aren’t granted the ability to race like the boys. In all honesty it’s beyond frustrating because I know all those girls were faster than some of the boys out there.

The way to improve it is for female to stop selling their body’s with their machines. If you are a racer... race. If you want to be a model then do that. If we stop sexualizing our selfs... we actually might be taken more serious! I also think this would help the real girls who are actually trying to take this somewhere with sponsors as such.

What advice do you have for young girls starting out in racing?:

-Keep trying and don’t give up. It’s going to get hard... don’t get scared! But most importantly.... KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON! Don’t ever feel like you need to express or exploit yourself like that to advance your career in this male dominated sport. Let your racing and riding talk. You’ll be much more respected!

Where do you see yourself going with racing?:

-My goals this year is to qualify for Loretta Lynn’s, place top 10 in the Supercross Futures National Championship. Goals for next year are to go PRO in WORCS and we will just have to see from there, but I’d like to go as far as I possibly can!