2024 has been a knockout year for a local kid done well. Cory West, a 2002 Eureka Springs High School graduate, saw the birth of his first child and racked up an impressive win at the MotoAmerica Super Hooligan National Championship in Texas.
Cory grew up with his mother in the suburbs of Dallas, but when he was ten years old, he moved to live with his father in Eureka Springs, where his grandmother rode motorcycles and ran Frog Fantasies Museum and Gift Shop. His family has been connected to motorcycles and racing since his great-grandfather.
So how did his grandmother come to collect and sell frogs? Cory said when his grandmother, Louise Mesa, was a child, her father had a Harley-Davidson with a sidecar and took her and her brother on the road to the state of Washington. During the trip she got a quarter from her father for a gumball machine, but instead of getting gum she won a small collectible frog. That led her collecting more than 8,000 frogs that she kept in her museum at Spring and Howell Sts. The collection also got her into Ripley’s Believe It or Not. When Louise passed away, she left Cory her frogs, which he sells on Etsy under her name in her memory.
Cory said that Eureka Springs is a place of family connections and winding riding trails that have kept him here for more than 20 years. Using Lake Leatherwood City Park as his backyard has honed his mountain bike and motorbike riding skills.
As a kid, Cory loved street bike racing. He had a scooter in middle school, and bussed and waited tables so he could buy a 250 cc bike when he was a teenager. His decision to start racing occurred when he accompanied his dad to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, in 1998 for a race and saw a Grand Prix 125 bike. That’s all it took to pursue pro racing.
Cory said that although he never felt pressured to race, he was driven by a competitive spirit and felt he could race with the best. That led to him being selected 2004 Rookie of the Year in the US Superbike series.
West has raced all over the world, travelling to Spain at age 18, where he learned racing was almost as big as soccer. He raced in the UK where he noted that the “tracks are scarier and the fans a little crazier, but it was a great deal of fun.” He said racing in China was eye-opening, but he had difficulty choosing one place as his preference sayingm “Wherever the next adventure takes me, that’s my favorite.”
Racing even led West to meet his future wife, Patricia Fernandez-West, also a champion motorcycle racer. They are the first husband-wife team to compete at the fonaCAB and Nicholi Oils North West 200, both in Ireland. They ran into each other casually at races, but when West taught at a four-day racing camp, he invited Patricia to go mountain biking with him in Eureka Springs. They’ve been together for nine years and married for the last two.
Cory said his favorite moment ever was when he became a father and won the Nationals in the same week.
Of course, Cory has been injured in motorcycle crashes, even breaking his wrist at the same racetrack where he would later win. He attributed his overall safety to several factors: his team is sponsored by well-known gear manufacturers that offer reliable protection, and his routine of keeping calm and staying prepared. “Proper prep prevents piss-poor performance,” he said. “The experience of racing matures you. To go fast, sometimes you have to slow down. Racing has taught me patience and to never give up.”
For those who want to pursue racing, Cory said, “If there’s something you want to accomplish, dream big and put in the work.”
Cory said Avery has good genetics, but that the racing life could be hard, rough and tumble. He said he’d prefer it if his son did something a little less dangerous and that paid a bit better, but that if he grew up wanting to race and had the potential, they would support him. He also said he might nudge him toward a different path. “Golf would be good,” he laughed.