• DOB: Februry 2, 1982
• Height: 6’
• Weight: 185lbs

Professional Goals

• Campaign the 2006 MXI Super Tour Series
• Campaign 2006 Score International's Baja 500 & Baja 1000
• Campaign 2006 Weston Super Mare
• Encourage future ATV Racers/Riders to excel
• World Domination

Championships Owned

• 2003 SFX Stadium Series
• ProQuad Series Champion

• 2001 divisionfour.com Freestyle
• National Champion

• 2000 AMA GNC Series
• 250A National Champion

• 2000 divisionfour.com Freestyle
• National Champion

• 1986-2000 Northern California
• Sixteen Series Championships

The Dirt on Dana

Dana began his riding career when he was 7 weeks old. This fact alone might have the possibility to put him in the Guinness Book of Records some day. Dana's first solo gas powered ATV riding attempts included full-throttle gassing a 1985 Yamaha Tri-Zinger across the back lawn and directly up his Grandpa Dale's right leg. Needless to say, we, Dana's parents, Skip and Teresa, were sufficiently convinced to hold off a few months before attempting any other death defying stunts (that is death-defying to the audience... not the rider).

By the time Dana was 4 years old he had completed that all important first race. Using the term 'completed' may be a bit of a stretch since he was really busy watching his roost the second lap and crashed into a haybale. Needless to say that day marked the first of many 'oops' while on a quad.

Our family and friends settled into a lifestyle of riding at the beach nearly every weekend, and after work until bedtime most evenings. We would just pack up dinner and cook over the bonfire, have good company with a group of 20 or so friends and our combined 20 or so kids. The kids made a track and the adults took turns watching/yelling at kids while the other adults went on day and night rides on the 20 mile stretch of beach that we called home. The days of open beach riding came to a screeching halt in 2001 when our local environmentally obsessed community in all their wisdom chose to make it their personal mission, and earn college credits as well for their efforts, to prohibit any gas powered vehicle from ever touching our precious sand. The good and bad outcome is that the majority of our beaches were closed for ATV use, but their efforts for complete closure was in vain.

The racing and riding community in NorCal (Northern California) is huge. By the time that Dana was 8 he was blowing up the Tri-Zinger nearly every time he rode it. He was dominating the youth classes in the area and still tearing up the sand-dunes for fun. Mom had to loosen those apron strings a bit and let him ride something that would accommodate his growing body and skills. He moved up to a Blaster and dominated that class in nearly every race he entered. By fifth grade he was racing indoor arenacross on his Blaster in the 250 class. I still remember this one rider who had showed up a bit late and was concerned he was in the wrong class since Dana was heading out to practice with him. At the end of the race, when the other rider finally made it across the checkers, he came up to Dana and said, 'How old are you really?' The 250Rs would pull Dana on the straights but with the tighter indoor tracks and all the tricking out Dad had done, Dana's short little Blaster could out maneuver the longer bodied Rs. I'm still not sure how it happened but Dad and Dana were finally able to convince me that a 250R made sense for my sixth grader to have. The argument had something to do with the fact he was already racing with the bigger bikes, was at a disadvantage because he was underpowered, and the clincher, for me anyway, was that the 250R was potentially 'safer' since it had suspension, better brakes, etc. It sounded important to me, so we all agreed that it would happen. Turns out it had already happened and they were just trying to get endorsement from Mom before they brought it home.

About the time that the 250R showed up there was a great series on a great track up here deep behind the Redwood Curtain. Phillipsville Motocross track is where Dana really 'cut his teeth' racing. P-Ville's MX track looks very much like the Loretta Lynn track in Hurricane Mills. We had a tight group of kids that raced and hung together, Jason Goslin, Tavis Cain, Eric Mendes, Lance Bravo, Paul and Jeremy Harr were always on the line with Dana. Before Tavis came on the scene it was always Dana and Jason struggling for position. Jason's mom and I would panic together because we knew these two good friends would not let the other get in front of him and if there was going to be a crash, it would probably be one or both of our kids. Jason was an insane fast rider who passed away too early to have really had a chance to make a mark in the racing arena. When Tavis first showed up at the races we didn't know who he was. Early races just showed this 'mystery' kid that was pretty fast. Dana had his 'pit crew' of family members, school friends, the rest of the 250 Intermediate class that we all pitted with, as well as all those friends that we went to the beach with every weeknight in our little camping group, and Tavis had nearly as many people over in his camp. It took some time but Tavis and Dana were to become lifelong good friends on and off the track. Their friendship extends to the fact that if one is in front of the other they won't take any chances when passing the other; possibly because they have had the oh-so-wonderful experience of mixing it up and both of them going down in a jumble of arms, legs, and quads. Don't get me wrong, they will pass each other, but not in places where the potential to take out the other guy exists.

As time progressed, our local racing scene seemed to be the Dana and Tavis show on many occasions.  The other riders in this class were/are no slouches; it's just that Dana and Tavis were the ones who could be counted on to do something to generate a 'Kodak Moment.' Either they would jump something crazy, pass each other in an impossible place, pull a freestyle jump during the race, or crash. Both Tavis and Dana would practice and play 'quads' together at various locations. What ended up as being something unusual to the rest of the world was something that had become common place to us: Freestyle. How some kids play 'P I G' on the basketball court was what these two jokers did on a quad. Basically if one guy could make a jump (and land it, with whatever grace they could find) then the other guy had to try it or they would get a P. Quad Freestyle was born in Humboldt County with two 16 year olds playing a game of PIG. The sight of one of the boys pulling No-Footer or a Can-Can during a race, and certainly during practice, parade laps or white flags when leading the pack, became a regular sight. We (Tavis' parents and Dana's parents) didn't think this was an unusual thing. We simply thought that the other guys hadn't caught up yet, even though some of them could bust out tricks as well. Who would have thought where these simple tricks would have launched the freestyle riders of today.

In the winter 1998 we decided to try to race a really 'Big' race at the Seattle King Dome. We chose this location because Dana's grandma lived near there and we could combine a family visit with our racing attempt. Also this was to be the last motorsport event at the King Dome before they tore it down. We pulled into the pits for this event and there were tons of quads in the parking lot. We had our little open trailer squeezed in next to semi's with full on side tents with walls and floors and heaters. HEATERS? The weather in Seattle in the winter time is either wet or snowing, but always cold. All the big names were there and 16 year old Dana was absolutely in heaven not only getting to see all the people in the magazines that he had cut out and taped to his walls in his room, but also getting to pit next to them and practice with them and maybe even race with them. We had hoped he would qualify for the main, but honestly didn't think he had a snowballs chance in, well Seattle, of that happening. We ended up meeting our first 'real' pro and becoming longtime friends with Kory Ellis. Allan Ellis, Kory's dad is the nicest guy you ever want to meet.  He took the time to talk to a nervous Dad and young Dana.  We were such tourists… looking in awe at what real pros looked like and what their pits looked like. During practice, Dana was simply a puppy having fun on the track, there was no audience in the stands (other than rider’s family members and pit crews) until late in the day. He was especially fond of a set of triples that no one was bothering to attempt. Of course he is never one to refuse a challenge so he launched them in practice and nearly overjumped to the flat side. After about the third time over the triples he started doing heel clickers over them. The promoter came up to us in the pits and asked if Dana would do an exhibition 'pretend' race with Johnny Hale during the evening's event. Of course we were thrilled since we honestly didn't think he would qualify, we would at least get to see him do something besides a heat race. He qualified. There was a pit party. This is when all the event riders and drivers bring their equipment on the track and the fans can come down on the track and see the quads, bikes, and trucks and get autographs. They parked everyone in designated places with Mark Earhardt up on a tabletop just next to Dana. A real nice lady came by and gave us a Sharpie. We didn't know what for (truly we were very inexperienced here - not only had we never raced at one of these events, we had never even been to one of these events before). When she said that people would want Dana's autograph, we thought, 'Yeah right, that is a waste of a perfectly good Sharpie.' But it turns out that his grandma did want his autograph, and about 500 pit party autograph seekers got the first of many autographs from Dana as well. Dana did not podium at this event but he did pull an eighth place overall and was one of the few 'jumpers' on the track. We knew we would be coming back for more.

Spring of 1999 found our local racing at risk for closure. It turns out that a local environmental extremist group had more money and time to pursue the fact that 'dust on the Redwoods' could potentially hurt the Redwood Trees. Note: our area supplies all the water for the rest of the state... it rains here 12 months a year so any dust would be eliminated within a few days at most. The case was to be heard in San Francisco where the environmental groups have huge support and were able to generate a lot of propaganda about our area. We knew that if we wanted to continue racing we would have to begin looking elsewhere. By this time the Cain family and ours had formed a mutual bond to keep our kids racing, in sports, or any activity that was of a positive nature. Dana was required to maintain a B average to keep racing (in our house) and to stay out of trouble of any kind. He had managed to do this with only a few missteps that took him out of a couple of races. We, the Cain family and ours, decided to try for a GNC Race. The farthest west race that year (that wasn't during the school year), was Loretta Lynn's. It was decided that the Cains would hook up their gasoline powered motorhome (according to Greg Cain, he could have bought a new motorhome for what it took to drive that gas hog across the USA) to our trailer and drive back to Tennessee. Dana and Skip would fly out and meet them there. There was a lot of discussion on what division the kids would race but it was decided to go for the 250A class. Jimmy Elza was working on one of those magical years where only good luck found him and he had already locked down the #1 plate for the 1999 season in the 250A class. We had hoped to qualify and be able to hang with the future pros in this all-star class. Along with Jimmy Elza, Peter Carlitto, Jason Dunkelburger, Johnny Hale and Matt Bartosek were lined up on the gate. Anyone who has followed Dana's career will know that this was the time that the ATV national community noticed that this unknown 16 year old kid on a nearly stock 1985 250R, it had a stock frame with PEP shocks, wearing mismatched gear, duct tape on his seat cover, and zip-ties holding the plastic together, left 1999 250A royalty in his dust. Unfortunately Tavis had some bad luck at his first national; he ended up with a broken spindle. Nac's Racing sent Sean Sermini over to invite Dana and Skip to have celebration cake with Doug Gust who had just locked up the 1999 GNC Championship. An offer was made to 'sponsor' Dana for the next season. Thus began our first year on the GNC circuit. Our first sponsorship was not a factory ride, but it did help take the financial edge off mounting a racing season from the left coast.

The 1999 Pro-Quad series was had a date in late January at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. We headed out with the kids and quads piled in the back of the truck on the way to another event, and chance meeting, that would change many things to come not only in our lives but the face of ATV. Dana was to qualify at this event and once again show off his aerodynamic skills for the sold out Angel stadium. During the main event he was passing like a mad-man, well like he normally rides, and was moving into the 5th position with only 4 laps to go, when his engine blew in a spectacular show of smoke and noise. Although he had to sit on the side of the track and watch his position be reclaimed by slower riders, his efforts were not in vain though. After getting towed into the pits, and looking at the mess that used to be our engine, we were overwhelmed by people coming up to say 'Good job' and industry people offering to fix the problem. We were completely blown away at any offer to 'sponsor' anything. This was something that only happened to 'real' racers in the magazines, not us! But the real icing on the cake, for Dana anyway, was when a skinny young man with a shaved head and goatee wandered over and told Dana he looked good out there and did he want to go play with some go-karts later with some of the other racers. Dana knew that we had planned on driving home (a mere 14 hour drive) that night and so it was kind of a question if he would be able to go hang, until he told us, 'Mom WES MILLER just asked me to go play on go-karts with some Pro-riders - I have to go!!!' Little did we know where this chance meeting would lead us.
Dana began an enduring friendship Wes Miller that was forged during the filming of Huevos 3 and continues to this day. As the 2000 GNC season began, Dana was making a name for himself by being noticed as one of the best jumpers on the circuit; Pro or Amateur. He began to form friendships with guys and gals who had ran the GNC their entire lives. Matt Bartosek was one of them. Jason Luburgh, Greg and Keith Little, Angela Moore and John Natalie were all part of the up and coming riders. Wes ended up with an idea for a road trip beginning on the west coast, heading through Canada and ending at the RedBud National. Harold Goodman, Dave Diver, Keith Little and Wes Miller took off for what was to put a new face on the quickly evolving world of ATV. ATV Freestyle was something that had not been readily seen anywhere before Huevos 3 was released. With the premiere of Huevos 3 the ATV community at large was first exposed to the concept of full-on ATV Freestyle. Who would have thought that something that began as a dare in the backyard would evolve to Jon Guetter pulling backflips like it was the easiest thing to do. And, well as they say 'The rest is history.'