DETROIT LAKES — Turf Wars is a family affair for Keith Heinlein and his 13-year-old son, Mikkel. The rural Detroit Lakes duo make it a point to compete at the annual drag racing event as a way to rev up for the summer.
Held on Saturday, June 4 at the Becker County Fairgrounds — a new venue for the event — this year's Turf Wars pulled in hundreds of racers to compete on a shorter track than there was at the prior location.
“In past years, the track was 500 feet long, but this year it was 300 feet, which meant there wasn’t time to correct mistakes off the line,” Keith said.
“Red. Yellow. Yellow. Yellow. Green,” Mikkel added, noting those were the lights he saw ticking off to the start of the gun and run. “This was my third time racing (at Turf Wars). My best finish was last year. I got first. This year, I was fourth in my division (of 39 racers).”
Mikkel runs in the 150-horse-stroke/85-smaller-two-stroke. This was his first year racing with the adults — his father noted that anyone older than 12 races with the adults. One day, Mikkel hopes to compete against his father in the two-stroke-500 class.
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Mikkel started riding a bike when he was one year old, his mom, Stacy, recalled. She said his brothers raced BMX and he wanted to be like them.
“His legs were so short we had to take the seat off for him to push it around,” she said.
When Mikkel turned five, he started riding dirt bikes. A member of the extended family was upgrading from a Yamaha PW-50, so Keith purchased the used bike. Mikkel jumped into the saddle and honed his skills on a track that his dad etched out on their 2.5-acre property in rural Detroit Lakes.
“I’m glad that I’m able to share this with my kids,” Keith said. “Mikkel has always been a motorhead.”
Keith started dirt bike racing when he was eight. After saving his money from working odd jobs on a farm, he purchased a 1982 YZ100. He remained on the motocross circuit until his early 20s, when life and responsibilities picked up steam.
But when his son began showing interest in the sport a few years, he decided to get back into racing. He competes in the two-stroke-500 class and placed sixth at the Turf Wars event.
“Not a lot has changed,” Keith said. “Gas is more expensive.”
While Mikkel is competitive, enjoys the sweet taste of victory, and looks forward to kicking off his motocross career, his father ingrained in him the ideology that not all wins come with trophies. That means he may not always place in the top 10, but will still find a win in sharing a laugh with his dad, helping a friend, making a new friend, or simply by having fun.
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