Todd Armstrong revs his way to moto-cross podium

Ken Johnston
Editor

The roar of the engines, the altitude of the jumps and a whole lot of adrenaline kept Todd Armstrong, formerly of Rainy River, right at the top of the Manitoba Moto Cross racing circuit this past summer.
Armstrong, who now lives in Winnipeg, had never raced anything before and according to his dad, Ralph Armstrong, had not even thought about it before this year. A coworker of Todd’s (at Cloverdale Paint), Carl Baker, used to race off-road bikes and talked to Todd about it quite a bit. Before he knew it he was hooked.
Baker mentored Todd and it was not long and he had purchased a Yamaha bike to race in the GP 125 cc class. Off the track Armstrong continued to work out and build what every driver needs, a tough body.
At the beginning of the season he had no idea that it would be not just fun but rewarding. He quickly rose to the top of the pack getting as high as second overall. He won four individual race trophies and accumulated enough points that with one weekend of racing left in the season he was 2nd. However, he chose to attend the Rainy River Walleye Tournament rather than race. By missing that weekend he fell to 4th overall on the season.
Ralph said that the entire family has been following Todd all season and find it very exciting to attend the races. His fan club included his mom (Deb) and dad, his sister Stacy, Grandma Nordin and many aunts and cousins. Ralph said there are many times in the race where everyone holds their breath. “They go way up there on jumps and those whoops... very exciting!”
With such a successful season under his belt this year he plans to go back at it full force next year.