SkillsUSA chapter member Grant Ashurst had been on the hunt all summer for a project to serve as his entry point to the state competition. Friday was the kickoff workday for his ambitious project: rebuilding the dirt bike track just East of Lusk. Born from a passion for dirt bikes, the idea to rebuild the track came after Ashurst purchased his first dirt bike this summer.

Ashurst’s passion for equipment, working with dirt and bikes came together to form the nucleus of his project. Marinez became aware of the old dirt bike track owned by the Pavone family. In need of repair after years of hard riding, this became the focus of Ashurst’s project.

“We give them an opportunity to learn how to run different equipment and maybe take a different path in life and to show them that there are some really good companies out there and give them an opportunity to have a long-term career,” Canepa said. “The first project was at the Town of Lusk dump area. We had the same kind of thing. We had equipment up there. We weren’t really building anything whereas here we are actually build- ing these tracks for the community so these kids can come out here and race and hopefully draw other riders from different communities.”

Canepa added, “The kids are awesome. Most of these kids have an ag- ricultural background. It’s amazing how good they are once they get on to this equipment.”

According to Canepa, experienced operators were stationed with the kids. Oftedal brought in their heavy equipment, which included an exca- vator, a track skidster, bulldozer, motor grater and a compaction roller. Oftedal also had some trucks, a side dump, a water truck and a service truck on hand.

“A lot these guys around here that work for me are from Lusk. It’s a neat way to give back to the community of Lusk,” Canepa told the Herald. “This is our third season and we’re coming back next year. Lusk has been really good to us.”

“This motor cross track is basically Grant’s project but, at the same time, it helps to get the other kids involved, with. They have a full 401k and good benefits and, if the kids get into it at an early age, they can really build a retirement when they’re 40 to 45 years old. I’ve got a lot of young people from Lusk who are set up.”

Construction of turns, jumps and berms were completed. A sizeable amount of water will be hauled onto the dry, loose soil to make it suitable for riding. Oftedal didn’t just agree to the workday. They signed up for the whole project. Oftedal have already allocated resources, equipment and crews to finish the project in the next week or so. The grand re-opening has been tentatively scheduled for November 2 with more information to follow.

“My favorite part of the day was running the blade,” Ashurst said. “It was super simple and I loved watch- ing the dirt roll off the blade.”

Ashurst spent a fair amount of time in the skid steer constructing a jump on the course and also working on the berm of a large turn.

“I can’t wait to ride this track on my bike,” Ashurst said. “I can’t believe Oftedal was willing to help me with my project and the Pavones let us do this. It’s very niceof them all. I can’t believe how many guys showed up and how much equipment they brought.”

On top of all the heavy equipment work, employees from Oftedal gave the students demonstrations on determining slopes and grades of roadways and a large drone was on hand. The drone operator was able to fly the course and instantly put the aerial images into software and cre- ate a detailed grid of the property. Decker’s donated the supplies for lunch and, at the noon whistle, all gathered around the grill to enjoy some chatter and ask questions. Martinez and Ashurst want to ex- tend a big thank you to the Oftedal crew for all the time and effort.

“Today had gone fantastic,” said Martinez. “I think the goal today was to let kids experience things that they might not get to experience any- where else and to kind of get a feel for running heavy equipment on fresh ground and not just a parking lot.”

“I know that all the kids here are smiling and that’s a plus. Oftedal is a really great company to work with. We’ve worked with them in the past and, before I even came to Lusk, I had partnered with Oftedal,” Martinez told the Herald. “They had taken some of our kids to Glenrock job sites. Oftedal, in my opinion, is a really good company to work for and they’re a really good company to work with.”