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Cayden Switzer finished fifth at a regional qualifier to earn a spot at the prestigious Loretta Lynn national championship races later this month.

(Courtesy photo | Julie Elko)

MUSKEGON, MI – Cayden Switzer got a second chance at fulfilling his dream this year and made the most of it.

It looked like Switzer's dream of competing in the most prestigious motocross race, the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship's at Loretta Lynn's Ranch, would have to be put on hold for yet another year early last month.

The 10-year-old suffered a broken collarbone two weeks before the Mid-East regional qualifier set for June 7-8 in Buchanan and doctors told him he wasn't ready to race when the regional rolled around.

Switzer's busted clavicle healed just in time, however, for the North Central regional held on June 21-22 at Sunset Ridge in Walnut, Ill.

The Switzer family packed up and headed for northwestern Illinois after Switzer's sling was taken off and he was cleared to race. The young motocross rider put together three solid races to finish fifth in his age group to qualify for the national championships in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., July 28-Aug. 3.

"It was fun," Switzer said. "I was excited to see how I did. It was cool, I was really happy. I'm so glad I got another chance to make it to Loretta Lynn's."

Cayden Switzer shrugged off a broken collarbone which kept him out of a local regional qualifier to earn his spot in the national championships.

The amateur national championships is something Switzer has had on his radar for the last two years.

Switzer has been one of the brightest young stars in motocross in West Michigan for the last several years, but it's not easy to qualify for nationals. The Loretta Lynn race organizers estimate 20,000 competitors from across the nation attempt to qualify each year for a total of 1,446 positions open.

The son of Blaine and Jill Switzer will compete in the 65 class age 7-9 group (age group classifies age as of Jan. 1 of current year) against the best 40 racers in the nation at that age group later this month.

"Cayden's pretty excited about it," Blaine Switzer said. "We're all pretty happy for him, but he's been waiting for this for two years, so he's a lot more excited about it than anyone."

When Switzer was told by his parents he couldn't compete at Buchanan, he was crushed.

"I was mad," said the Orchard View schools student. "I was so mad, I bawled my eyes out. I didn't know what to say, so I went off by myself."

It took a few days for his anger to subside, but once it did, Switzer followed the doctor's advice by taking his vitamins and drinking plenty of milk to promote bone healing.

The week of the North Central regional, he was able to take his sling off, do some exercises and ride around with no pain.

Despite getting almost no practice for a month before the biggest race of his life, Switzer raced extremely well to qualify for nationals.

"Cayden knew that it was his last chance," Blaine Switzer said. "He left it all out on the track. He was up against kids who'd been riding every day, but I think Cayden had a lot more drive and desire."

Switzer earned his spot in the top 5 percent of his age group with a composite finish of fifth over the three-race qualifier. He had no problems in the first and second races, taking second and fourth, but ran into problems on the third race.

He and another racer battled around a corner on the first lap, and Switzer and his No. 66 TKM 2014 SXF bike went down and were run over by a couple of other racers. By the time he recovered, he was in 24th after one lap of the four-lap race. He passed half the field on the next lap, though, and cruised to eighth, which was good enough to qualify for the Loretta Lynn.

"I thought it was over," Switzer said. "On that second lap, it only seemed like I passed two other people. I didn't realize I passed so many people.

"When I heard where I finished, it made me really happy."