THROUGH THE RANKS: BEN PARSONS

from Florida Trail Riders - August 2020

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Photo by Darrin Chapman

“I was like a gorilla on a tricycle”

Racing runs strong in the Parsons’ family. David Parsons, Ben’s father, raced motocross at a high-level and it is fair to say his talents were passed on to his three boys; Kyle, Luke and Ben. The boys first got their start riding at an early age. Ben, the youngest, began riding just before his fourth birthday on a hand-me-down Yamaha PW50. Soon after, Ben entered his first race at Bithlo (now Orlando MX), he was hooked.

After racing motocross, the Parsons’ family decided to try their hand at FTR Hare Scrambles. Ben immediately had success going from Peewee C to Peewee A in just two races. Ben attributed his success to having two older brothers to compete with, “I was always chasing my older brothers around, my main goal was to beat Kyle and Luke,” says Ben. The competitive nature between the boys obviously helped, all three boys have raced in the AA class in FTR.

Surprisingly, in all his years racing FTR, Ben was only able to grab one FTR Championship, Mini B, although he came close many times. Ben grew up racing some tough competition with the likes of Lewis Dellarco, Dylan Rash, Max Coughlin, Trevor McCabe, Zach Muchard and Cole Barrett. “When it came to Mini A I was like a gorilla on a tricycle, I would always finish behind Dylan (Rash) and Max

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(Coughlin), says Ben. Once Ben got on a big bike he really started to shine as he moved through the A ranks on Sunday’s. After a few years of racing the local Florida GNCC Ben decided to give the entire series a shot.

In 2013, Ben would go on to win the B 250 GNCC title, “I got my first taste of winning at the national level, after that I thought I could make a run at an A title and then go up from there.” It took Ben a little while to get the hang of the different terrains up and down the east coast, stating throttle control as a huge factor in doing well in slick and rooty conditions. “It was a wake-up call, the year I won B 250 at the Powerline Park GNCC I had a guy in a t-shirt in jeans blow by me,” says Ben, “At that point I knew I had to get better in the slick stuff.”

Unfortunately for Ben he would catch the injury bug quite often, he would miss the first round of every season from 2014 to 2016 and then again in 2018.

“I was always chasing my older brothers around, my main goal was to beat Kyle and Luke”

Left to right: Dave (father), Luke (brother), Jenny (mother), and Kyle Parsons (brother) Photo by: Morgan Parsons

Thad Duvall and Ben Parsons training together

“That winter we rode a couple of times together and just became good friends”

In 2017, Ben would win two GNCC A Open races and finished up third in points. He was looking great to take the A Open title in 2018 until an injury caused him to miss the first three rounds. Ben fought hard though and brought the championship down to the wire; he would finish second by two points to FTR’s own Bryce Koster. “It felt cool that both of us were getting top amateurs that year and that we both raced FTR, it was a blast,” says Ben.

Throughout Ben’s GNCC journey he befriended Factory Husqvarna’s own Thad Duvall, who is one of the top XC1 riders. “We had a track at our house with big jumps and I guess Thad saw it on Instagram and sent us a message saying he’d like to come ride while he was in Florida,” says Ben, “That winter we rode a couple of times together and just became good friends.” Ben was lucky enough to learn from Duvall both on and off the track, “He has so much wisdom and race experience, he has been awesome to be around.” Ben now rides at Thad Duvall’s compound in West Virginia during the summer months, which has helped him get to the XC2 Pro level of racing.

For 2019, Ben moved to XC2 and signed with the Coastal Racing Husqvarna team. Being on “Pro Row” and pitted out of a semi did come with some added pressure however, “My first round with the team was very stressful, Craig (Delong) got hurt so I was the only rider on the team racing and I was just nervous going in.”

Ben would finish 11th place in his rookie season of XC2 with a season best of sixth place. So far through eight rounds in 2020 Ben sits 13th in XC2 but is coming off three straight top tens going into the summer break. “So far it’s been disappointing, seems like I’ve had a black cloud following me,” says Ben, “I’m healthy but seems like I’ve had to jump through every hurdle, hoping to get the bugs worked out and end the year strong.”

When Ben isn’t racing his dirt bike he is still out in the woods either hunting or fishing, “I’m a bit of an outdoorsman” says Ben. Although it has been a couple years since we have seen Ben race in FTR he is planning to make his return at some point this season.

Ben would like to thank Coastal Racing Husqvar