Motocross champion Walker Porter earned nine key wins to conclude the 2023 season. Traveling between South Carolina and Florida, Porter competed in three competitions as he awaits his chance to compete in pro circuits.

FLAT TRACK OLYMPICS — TRAVELERS REST, S.C.

Porter traveled to Travelers Rest, S.C., over Thanksgiving weekend to compete in the Flat Track Olympics at Travelers Rest Speedway. It was a two day event on a half-mile clay track.

Porter competed in two classes, 450 Expert and Open Expert. Over half of the riders in the Expert Classes were AFT, American Flat Track, pro licensed riders making it a strong field to compete against.

Friday evening, Walker placed No. 5 in both feature events. A few changes were made to the bike on Saturday, and he never looked back.

Walker went out in his heat races, winning both, and recorded the fastest lap time of the event, 19.342 seconds.

In Walker’s first feature event, the 450 Expert, due to a bad start, he had to pass a couple riders and finished No. 3. The Open Expert was the last race of the night and had folks on their feet. Walker passed a couple riders for the lead with about five laps to go. In second was Trevor Brunner, AFT #2 Singles rider in 2023, closing fast.

With one lap to go, Brunner tried to get around Porter in turn two, but Walker held him off and kept lead down the back straightaway. Brunner was coming around on the outside in turn three and they were side by side going in to turn four headed to the checkered flag. No one knew who won until the timing showed up. Porter lost by .003 seconds.

Brunner was pleased with his win and looks forward to seeing what Porter does in the future.

“We were going bar to bar from the center of the last corner and all the way to the checkered flag. It was a great race and Walker is going to be a force to be reckoned with when he turns Pro,” Brunner said.

With Porter having to wait a year and a half until his 16 birthday to turn Pro, he will be going to key events across the country to prepare for the AMA Grand National Amateur event in June-July of 2024.

PANHANDLE CLASH WORLD FINALS 2023 -PENSACOLA, FLA.

Most recently, Porter visited Pensacola, Fla., where he competed in the Panhandle Clash World Finals.

Porter raced at three facilities: Escombia County Equestrian Center (indoor short track), Pensacola Dirt Track (PDT short track), and Southern Raceway (3/8 miles). Each day, Walker competed in the Open Amateur, 450 Amateur and ProAm riding his 450cc Husqvarna and his GasGas motorcycles.

On the first day at the Esquestrian Center, Walker went out and won all three main events. At the Pensacola Speedway, the results were the same, three first place finishes.

When looking at the 3/8 mile track on Saturday at Southern Speedway, the question was, “Can he do it again?” The answer turned out to be “yes.” Porter won nine feature races and three World Championships: Open Amateur, 450 Amateur and ProAm. His overall results were special as Porter had done something no other rider has ever done.

LOOKING TO NEXT SEASON

Now Porter and his team will prepare for the 2024 season. The next race will be the Winter Throwdown in Callahan, Fla., Jan. 12-13.

This event is the largest gathering of the top Amateur riders from across the states and other countries. This event is similar to the AMA National Amateur Championship held in early July in DuQuoin, Ill., where the next Horizon Award winner will be announced to the top Amateur rider in the country.

Porter is currently a candidate for this Award.