I hope that she does not mind me saying that when I first met Traci Cecco at a Fly Racing 2010 product debut, I thought that she was one of the models. In actuality, she is a racer. In fact, she just may be the most successful woman racer ever in off-road racing. As a member of Team Yamaha, this young woman has won more Championships than many can dream of. Now going for yet another championship, I sat down with Traci to learn more about her.

MotoUSA: Traci, let’s begin with a little bit of background about yourself for those that may not follow the GNCC series that closely.

Traci: I’m from Shamokin, Pennsylvania, where I grew up riding in the coal mine area. I got into riding through my father; we always had quads that we rode around in our hometown area doing little local races. Later my dad and his three brothers started a race track called the Line Mountain 7 Miler where you race Jeeps, buggies and ATVs. I just started riding that on a utility when I was 16 years old. Unfortunately, my father passed away when we were having a Memorial Race for my brother, who passed away four months previous to that. Later I took time off to go to college and become a Physical Therapist Assistant. Then when I got done with college, I came back and bought a 300 EX (Honda) and started racing local races. At one of the tracks a guy came up to me and said “You really should try nationals; you should try the GNCCs.” So, in 1998 I went out to Mount Morris, Pennsylvania, and did my very first GNCC on my stock 300 EX [laughs]. I had no idea what I was getting myself into; but I worked my way through it and ended up getting second in the Women’s class – at that time there was only maybe five of us in the women’s class. After the race I just laid on the ground exhausted; I’ve never been so sore in my life, but it got me hooked. In 1999, I decided to race a full season and I’ve been doing it ever since. The GNCCs are a great family event, and the Coombs family is just a great family to be part of - I’m happy I race their series.

I have now been at this for around 11 years now, and I have 7 Championships; I am working on my eighth championship this year. I am a factory rider for Yamaha, and I’m in my fourth season with them. I have actually set many records for the GNCC Women’s class, and I’ve been the first one to win the overall in the morning.

MotoUSA: Talk a bit more about getting your Yamaha Factory ride.

Traci: Well, I was racing as a privateer for a while and then Alba Action Sports, a dealership from California stepped in. But it came to a point where I had been racing for a while, and it was getting very hard on me to continue racing - working full time and trying to race. It was getting very expensive, and very emotionally and mentally hard; so I was thinking about maybe just retiring. I think at that time I had four championships; so I was pretty happy. I had the record for the most Women’s Championships. Then I got a call from Bill Balance (many in the industry consider Bill the best ATV rider ever), who is the #1 Pro ATV rider and who also races for Yamaha. He said, “I heard you’re thinking about quitting; what could I help with to keep you racing, or at least keep you racing one more year?” I said back to him that “right now, I just really need someone to prep the bike.” He then told me “Well, I’ll take your bike to and from all the races for you if you just show up to race.”

So I got hooked up with Bill Balance; we went to the Indy Dealer show and he introduced me to Yamaha. Originally this was just going to be like a backdoor deal where they give me some product, and maybe a parts allowance. But as I got to know them it turned actually to be a full factory ride, which was amazing. It was a big step for Yamaha to have their first woman ATV rider; it was something that they had to go back to the big bosses and talk over, but they took a very good interest in me. We have a very good relationship - I’m happy to be part of the Yamaha family.

MotoUSA: You’ve won seven championships; what makes you so good at ATV GNCC?

Traci: I’m bullheaded [laughs]; that’s one way to put it, and I never give up. When you’re racing a GNCC race for two hours, a lot of things can happen. When I start something, I’ve always been taught you finish it. If you’re going to start it, you’re going to finish it - that’s how I look at a race. I’m going to finish no matter what it takes. I’ve finished races with a broken arm; I finished one where I wrecked right off the first turn start, and basically they had to pull me off the quad to get me to stop. I injured my neck really bad once, and couldn’t even hold my head up. I was racing with one hand; holding my helmet to keep my head up - finally they stepped in and said, “You’ve got to come off the track.” I do love to win, but my biggest goal is to always just finish a race, because that’s a big accomplishment in itself.

MotoUSA: How’s the depth of the talent in Women’s ATV GNCC racing?

Traci: The Women’s class is one of the most competitive classes out there. There is that little bit of a gap; but I’d say there are five women who could win the race on any given day - even the top 10 is very competitive. How our points work is that you get 20 points for a win, 19 points for second and 18 for third and so on; that’s why the women’s class always has this tight battle going on. I’m trying to win my eighth championship, and this is the third time where I’ve been in the position where you have to win four out of four races to win a championship. I’ve done it twice before, and I know I can do it again; but that’s how close these points battles are where it comes down to the last race. Crawfordsville, Indiana is the final race; we have so many riders, spectators, and promoters there just to see that women’s race, and who’s going to win the championship - because it usually always comes down to the last race.

MotoUSA: You’ve been on a little break in the series; what have you been doing for fun?

Traci: We do get a two-month break, and have July and August off. The first couple weeks I did take a little bit of time off just to have a mental break from racing. Then I did take a trip to Vegas; I love Las Vegas, so I went out there, did the tour of the Grand Canyon by helicopter, went to a show and did a little gambling [laughs]. Now I’ve been back to working out, and training every day. I’ve also been testing a lot of new product on my bike. My mechanic has been up working with me and I’ve been riding with Chris Borich. He’s one of the pro riders, and he only lives about 15 minutes from me, so it’s easy to get together and practice. Now it’s just hardcore training for that September race.

MotoUSA: You mentioned earlier that you are a Physical Therapist. So even at your level of being a factory Yamaha GNCC racer, that factory contract alone isn’t enough for you…

Traci: I could do it; but I have a lot of wants. Yes, I have goals as a racer, but I also have some other goals in life that I want to accomplish. I built a home, have a nice garage, and things like that. To have all those things I needed another income. You can live off the income that I’m making by racing; but being a physical therapist assistant is just a great job; I can work on myself when I get injured - I also help a lot of other riders. I don’t ever want to leave that work and have to come back to it; I always want to keep my hands in it. Same way when I retire from racing; I always want to keep my hands in that also - I’m trying to keep both worlds happy.

MotoUSA: Does racing ever get old; how do you maintain that level of competitiveness?

Traci: You know, that’s a tough question to answer. It’s very, very hard; there’s a lot of mental training that goes into it. Some people say “Oh, it’s so hard to get to the top”, but my biggest thing is that it’s hard to stay on top. It’s a lot of training, you have to watch who your competition is, and if they are sneaking up on you. You never can let your guard down; I think it’s much harder staying on top than it is working your way there [laughs].

MotoUSA: A minute ago you used the word “retire”; how long can you keep doing this?

Traci: I want to keep racing as long as I can; I’m 33 years old and not afraid to admit that. My competition is all younger than me [laughs]; so that’s a little hard on me, but I’m sure going to keep trying as long as I can. It’s in my heart, and I love it. As long as my body holds up, I’m going to try to race as long as I physically can.

MotoUSA: That’s a pretty good way to wrap up this interview, but is there anything that you want to add?

Traci: First of all I’d like to thank my mechanic, Johnny Gallagher; he’s just an amazing mechanic. I’d like to thank Bill Ballance also; without him and Johnny I could not be racing today. I’d also like to thank Yamaha, GYTR, and Fly Racing; along with Hiper Wheels, Maxxis Tires, Houser Racing A-Arms, Scott Goggles, and just all the people that have been out there supporting me for all these years.