Smith Rock BMX of Redmond plans to make a bid to host a national championship bicycle motocross event at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center in spring 2008.

Tracy Stephens, a volunteer in charge of marketing and promotions for Smith Rock BMX, is working with the American Bicycle Association (ABA) to make a case for Redmond to host such an event.

The ABA is the national governing body for BMX in the United States and is also the world’s largest BMX sanctioning body, governing competition for more than 250 tracks and 60,000 members in the United States and Canada. ABA organizes and facilitates 25 national championship races held across the country each year. Smith Rock BMX hopes to host one of those 25 races in 2008, Stephens said this week.

BMX racing – in which riders race small bikes over a dirt course with sharp turns and roller jumps – will make its Olympic debut in the summer of 2008 at the Beijing Games.

Stephens said she plans to submit her proposal to the ABA by February of next year. Meanwhile, Smith Rock BMX hopes to increase its membership as it vies to host the state finals in June. The Oregon track with the most members earns the right to host the state finals.

With about 200 riders, Smith Rock BMX is currently No. 2 in the state in membership behind Emerald Valley BMX of Eugene, according to Stephens.

Stephens said that Smith Rock BMX – which stages races at the High Desert Sports Complex in Redmond from April through October – hopes to increase membership and awareness as the organization makes a bid to host a national title race.

”We’re encouraging our riders to come together and tell their friends about it,” says Stephens, whose two young sons race for Smith Rock BMX. ”Our ridership was up 33 percent this year from last year, and we want to do that next year. We still have people go, ‘There’s a track in Redmond?’ ”

Smith Rock BMX and High Desert BMX of Bend are two host tracks for the Governor’s Cup in June, an event that draws riders to four different tracks around the state. In addition, the Central Oregon tracks co-host an annual Fourth of July event, which also draws hundreds of riders and their families from around the Northwest.

Stephens says the Redmond track needs a commitment of $15,000 in sponsorship, and she is hoping to attract three sponsors who will provide $5,000 each, before she can submit her bid to the ABA. She said if Smith Rock BMX is chosen to host a national championship, it could become an annual event in Redmond.

For the event, 3,500 cubic yards of dirt would need to be moved into the fairgrounds events center, and the ABA would build the course, Stephens said.

Most ABA national BMX events attract nearly 1,000 competitors and 2,000 spectators from across the United States, according to an ABA press release. Participants are male and female, ranging in age from 3 to 65.

For more information, call Tracy Stephens at 815-5302 or Julie Parsons at 350-4191, or visit www.smithrockbmx.com.