By MARY JANE PITT
You may recall reading about Pat Mahan and Gina Bonacci in The News and The Local back in the Spring. The young couple was on a quest to get Pat, riding his motocross bike, into this summer’s Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn Ranch, in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.
Well, here’s an update:
They made it!
And, along the path of making this dream come true, they also got married.
It’s been a busy Summer!
“We were married on Saturday, July 13 at Pleasantly Devine Stables in Rock Tavern,” Gina said this week. “Just one day before the wedding we found out that we made the roster for Loretta’s -- a perfect pre-wedding gift!”
While Pat, a Highland Falls native, rides the bike, Gina serves as his manager and accompanies him on every racing trip. In ‘real life’, you may also recall, the couple owns Digital Musicians, a busy entertainment company (that, by the way, also served as the entertainment at their wedding, with both of them spending time ‘at work’ that evening).
Back to the future, though.
“We will be attending the Monster Energy Amateur National Motocross Championship from July 29-August 3,” they said. “We officially made the Loretta Lynn’s Roster in the Plus 45 Class!”
The race brings together the top 42 riders in the country for one big race. The week consists of a 3 Moto format that takes place throughout the week. Riders will get a chance to be on the podium at each Moto, all leading up to an overall winner.
Pat will be racing on:
-- Wednesday, July 31 at 10:30 a.m. - Moto 1 Plus 45 Class
-- Thursday, August 1 at 4:30 p.m - Moto 2 Plus 45 Class
-- Saturday, August 3 at 1:30 p.m. - Moto 3 Plus 45 Class
Gina is proud of her new husband.
“Pat never stopped training even when we weren’t sure that we made the roster,” she said this week. “We focused on getting podiums at our local MSC district races and put in some practice days at Orange County MX in Middletown and The Compound MX in Fulton.”
The Mahans said this week they want to thank the sponsors that are supporting them in the 2024 season: Maroney’s Motorsports, Valley Moto Shop, Reckless Goggles, Guts Racing, Dunlop Tires, Waxed Racing, and DCIII Suspension.
To watch the races live, fans can tune in to Racer TV (https://racertv.com/category/loretta-lynns).
The two have recently started a YouTube channel -- @MahansRacing -- and are also on Instagram, @the_mahans_racing.
If you’d like to support their racing efforts for the 2024 season, you can visit patreon.com/MahansRacing for monthly support, or through one time support on Venmo @MahansRacing.