How David Clabaugh transformed Thunder Valley into a world-class motocross track over the past quarter-century

LAKEWOOD — When David Clabaugh took over Thunder Valley Motocross Park in 1999, he opened his wallet and his mind.

Clabaugh, a lifelong racer and track promoter, poured an estimated $1.5 million into the track in an effort to bring a national race back to Colorado. And while he did that, he was also busy traveling around to stops on the American Motorcyclist Association’s Pro Motocross Championship circuit, taking on odd jobs as a means to reach his goal.

“I would hang banners, I would pound stakes, I would move hay bales, all while getting to know all of the people on the pro circuit,” Clabaugh said. “I did that from 2000 to 2005. So when the moment came and a spot opened up for a track on the national circuit, everything was in place. I knew everybody and I had been working really hard here to get the track ready.”

The 61-year-old Lakewood native hasn’t looked back.

The track’s celebrating its silver anniversary and Saturday is its 20th year hosting a premier AMA race in the Thunder Valley National. Thunder Valley is also the first and only track to host an AMA national at night, doing so twice in 2008 and ’09, and in 2010 became one of four American tracks to host the sport’s version of the Olympics, the Motocross of Nations.

Along the way, Clabaugh became a fixture in the local motocross community and a central reason for Thunder Valley’s current status as one of the cornerstone races in the Pro Motocross Championship.

“Without that track, Colorado motocross wouldn’t be what it is,” argues Raice Hernandez, a 20-year-old Lakewood resident who practically grew up at the track and is making his pro debut on Saturday. “I would say Colorado is probably around the top five best states in the country for fastest motocross racers, and a lot of that has to do with Thunder Valley and the work that David puts into it.”

Overhauling the track

Colorado hosted its first national motocross races in 1979 and ’80 at Lakewood Sportcycle Park, the city’s precursor to Thunder Valley that was where the Solterra housing development currently sits.

The national then went to Continental Divide Raceways Tech Track in Castle Rock in ’81 and ’82 before returning to Lakewood Sportcycle Park from ’83 to ’87. The city moved the track to its current location off the C-470 and I-70 interchange in ’89 and continued to operate it throughout the 1990s, although it sat idle a few years in the middle of that decade before Clabaugh took over.

“Lakewood Sportcycle Park was a really hard-pack track, but it was also incredible dry and dusty that last year,” said Davey Coombs, the president of MX Sports Pro Racing. “It was blinding dust (in ’87), and the promoter who existed back then didn’t want to make the investment to get more water trucks or put in a watering system.”

In his first few years running Thunder Valley, as Clabaugh traveled the country networking, he knew he needed to make a number of updates to have the track ready for its shot at a spot on the circuit. Hosting a national race was also key to the track’s sustainability.

The overhaul, financed by Clabaugh’s career in commercial real estate, included building an announcer’s tower, filling in a 15-acre ravine on the east side of the track to make for an adequate pit area, and getting water and sprinklers piped in.

“We trenched from houses behind Jeffco Fairgrounds to get water out here,” Clabaugh recalled. “My buddies and I got a big excavator, and we trenched over Green Mountain. We got to C-470, worked with CDOT to bore underneath the road, then bored underneath Rooney Road. I couldn’t afford to hire (labor), so me and my buddies did it ourselves, and the same thing with filling in the ravine.”

For Clabaugh, the sweat equity and financial risk were worth the payoff of Thunder Valley getting its first national race in 2005.

After all, this aspiration came from a motocross diehard who used his earnings as a Denver Post newspaper boy to buy his first dirt bike at age 10. He rode in the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Lakewood Sportcycle Park shortly after that, and then decided that track management was his calling when his pro career ended with a serious leg injury in 1994.

“I always wanted to stay in the sport,” Clabaugh said. “I shattered my leg at 28, and about the same time, I was already promoting races at a track in Aurora where I found an old farmer guy who let me use his land for races on the makeshift track he had laid out. It was bare-bones, but that was at the start of me promoting and organizing races.”

Thunder Valley’s future

In addition to running Thunder Valley, Clabaugh also still races and last year made his second appearance in the 50-plus division at the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.

“I keep telling myself, ‘You really shouldn’t be racing,’” Clabaugh said with a laugh. “But if I can still do it, I’m going to do it. And I just can’t give it up. It’s in my blood.”

Back home in Lakewood, Clabaugh puts on about 10 amateur races annually, while also maintaining a kid track on the south end of the 200-acre property. Thunder Valley is open year-round for locals to practice. And with nearby Bandimere Speedway closing in 2023 following a 65-year run, Thunder Valley is now the premier motosport venue in the metro area.

Shane Schaefer, the track builder for the Thunder Valley National for the last 15 years in charge of beefing up the features, says the venue has become “a top-two spot on the pro circuit.”

“This one is one of the most enjoyable (for race teams) because of the easy access off the highway, and how you can see almost the entire track from one hillside is a huge benefit for spectators,” said Schaefer, who also works on other national tracks. “The dirt is really good here, and most of the riders love the flow of the track. The jumps are in natural locations, and riders can get into a zone. The uphill start is pretty dramatic.

“In terms of a facility, it’s really the complete package.”

On Saturday, the biggest names in motocross will again be lining the starting gates at Thunder Valley in front of an anticipated crowd of about 20,000.

That includes the sport’s preeminent star, Jett Lawrence, the reigning 450 class champion who won every single race last year. That feat, achieved in Lawrence’s first year in the 450 class, had been done only three times before. Reigning Rookie of the Year and current 250 class leader Haiden Deegan as well as current 450 class leader Chase Sexton are also competing.

“What gives Jett so much upside is that he has the drive of (all-time great) Ricky Carmichael, he’s got the talent of (other motocross legends) James Stewart and the creativity of Jeremy McGrath, and he’s got the charisma of (X Games gold medalist) Travis Pastrana,” Coombs said. “He’s right there with all of them.”

Lawrence echoed Schaefer’s sentiment about the track, noting that with Thunder Valley’s signature black dirt, “there’s been times this place has been unreal to ride.” Lawrence, who crashed last weekend at Hangtown to snap his 24-race win streak, will be riding on Saturday with a still-healing gash on his leg and a sore shoulder.

“This track is up there for sure (in my rankings),” Lawrence said. “It works with the hill really nice and it’s definitely in the top three or five tracks in the U.S. And lately they’ve been adding a little mulch to the dirt, which gets you into a different riding style.”

But how long can the braaaps and holeshots and star power last at Thunder Valley, especially considering encroaching development and parking space considerations were two of the reasons that the Bandimere family sold its track?

Clabaugh believes a number of factors are in his favor to keep Thunder Valley going long-term. Coombs describes Clabaugh as “a rider’s promoter” and says as long as Clabaugh is around, the AMA has “zero intention” of moving the national from Thunder Valley.

The power lines that are perched on the property, its water scarcity, and the fact that Thunder Valley is surrounded on the hogback by trails and open space means it likely won’t be overrun by a housing development anytime soon.

“David will probably operate Thunder Valley until the day he dies, because he lives for this,” said Clabaugh’s friend and longtime dirt bike aficionado Jim Eckert. “When you’re a moto-addict that’s one thing, but to do at this level that he does it, is another. And I don’t see any end to his dedication in sight.”

2024 Thunder Valley National

What

The 20th consecutive year of an AMA pro race at Denver’s top motocross track

Where

701 S Rooney Road, Lakewood

Schedule

8 a.m.  — Practice & Qualifying
12:30 p.m. — Opening Ceremonies
1 p.m. — First Motos (250 Class & 450 Class)
3:30 p.m. — Second Motos (250 Class & 450 Class)

Tickets

Tickets available online or by walk-up at the gate on Saturday

General Admission — $65 Adults / $35 Kids (ages 6-11)
Saturday General Admission + Pit Pass — $95 Adults / $65 Kids
VIP Gold Zone — $275 Adults / $135 Kids
VIP Silver Zone — $250 Adults / $130 Kids

TV

10 a.m. — Race Day Live on Peacock

1 p.m. — Live racing on NBC