34 Matt Goerke

Matt Goerke made a brief professional appearance before he had completely graduated from the amateur ranks at the 2004 Southwick National, where he finished 13th, earning himself the Skoal Top Privateer Award. He returned the next weekend at Budds Creek with a repeat top-20 performance and was given the Skoal Top Privateer award yet again. In 2005, Matt made his full professional debut aboard a Star Racing Yamaha YZ250F, but his premier Supercross display in the East Coast Lites class fell short of expectations. He entered the ’05 outdoor season in the Lites class before moving up to the Motocross class, where he finished in 18th-place for the season.

Matt continued to represent Star Racing in 2006 and finished 18th in the Supercross Lites East Coast class, including two top-five rides. He came out swinging in 2007, finishing a career-best ninth overall in the East Coast Lites class, with podium finishes at both Atlanta and St. Louis. The 2007 AMA National Motocross Series brought ups and downs for Matt. He finished inside the top-10 in six motos and, although he failed to earn points in seven others, he was still able to achieve 14th overall. Matt signed with the MDK KTM Factory Lites Team for 2008 and charged his new ride to eleventh place in the East Coast Supercross Lites series. At the opening round of the ’08 Nationals, a sub-par first moto left Matt outside the top ten. By round four at High Point Raceway, Matt had moved up to ninth in points, but fell backward until he made a choice to move up to a 450 for the last two rounds. In his debut ride on a KTM 450 at Southwick, Matt bested many seasoned big-bike riders to finish fifth. Although a disappointing second moto left him with a score of thirteenth for the day. Matt confirmed that he is a new force to be reckoned with in the premier class. Alyssa Wald