Plymouth’s Brent Hicks received a dirt bike from his father (Royce) for his 10th birthday.

The passion was instantaneous.

The 24-year-old Hicks has been a motocross racer for 13 years and he dreams of the day he can quit his job as a dry waller to pursue the sport full time.

“I’d love to be able to quit my job and run in the national series against the best of them all,” said Hicks about his eventual goal.

But, for the time being, he intends to take a step toward that goal by running in the New England Sports Committee series, which gets underway in July.

The NESC has a fall and spring series and July initiates the fall series.

It will be the first time he can afford to run the entire tour and compete for the points titles in his two classes: open expert and 250 cc expert.

For the time being, he is racing at tracks in Minot and Skowhegan. They have a combined points series and he is leading the three classes in which he competes.

In addition to the open expert and 250 cc expert class, he also races in the 125 cc expert class in Minot and Skowhegan.

The races are alternated between Minot and Skowhegan on Sunday afternoons.

He is using the local races to “keep in shape” and prepare for the New England Sports Committee series.

“I ran some NESC races last year but I couldn’t afford to run every week [for points],” said Hicks. “So I put a bunch of money away so I could race for points this season.”

He has high expectations for his debut in the NESC tour.

“I’d like to finish in the top five [in both classes]. I know I can get in the top 10,” said Hicks, a 1997 graduate of Newport’s Nokomis High School.

He won six points championships a year ago between the Skowhegan and Minot tracks but won’t repeat because of his NESC commitment.

A motocross race involves dirt bikes maneuvering around a course complete with jumps, bumps, corners and straighaways.

“It’s exciting. There’s nothing better than being one of 40 riders at the [starting] gate heading for a corner that’s [only] 20 feet wide. It’s an adrenaline rush. There are 40 bikes who all want to be in front. And you have big jumps,” added Hicks. “It’s one of the hardest sports on the body. You’ve got to be very fit.”

He stays in shape by running and riding his motor bike around a pit in Dixmont.

He said in-state races usually last nine laps for the expert classes and the NESC expert class races go for 20 minutes followed by a two-lap sprint to the finish.

Bikes can reach speeds up to 70 miles an hour.

The track, based on their finish pays riders, and they also earn money from the bike manufacturer. Hicks has two Yamahas, a 125 cc and a 450.

The NESC pays the top 15 finishers in each race, according to Hicks, and there is also a points fund that rewards the top 20 finishers in points in each class at the end of the season.

It isn’t unusual to have 16 classes and he said the youngest riders are four-years-old.

He hopes to have enough success on the NESC tour to gain sponsorship so he can race on a tour in Florida in the winter.

“That way I won’t lose the edge,” said Hicks. “Most of the NESC guys spend their winters in Florida so they’re in shape for the spring series. Some of them race for a living.”

Hicks said the sport is growing. There are six tracks in Maine now including two in Skowhegan.

The others are in Greene, Howland, Minot and St. Agatha.

“The sport is doing very well. A few years ago, Skowhegan (one of the Skowhegan tracks) and Greene were the only tracks around,” said Hicks. “My favorite track is the one in St. Agatha. It’s incredible. It’s a lot of fun. The jumps are huge. And it’s usually a two-day event.”

Coastal 200 tries again Sunday

The Coastal 200 Pro All-Stars Series race, postponed from last Sunday due to rain and four inches of standing water around the infield area at Wiscasset Raceway, will be held on Sunday.

Time trials will begin at 12:30.

There have been three different winners at the PASS races so far, Scarborough’s Joe Bessey and Ben and Mike Rowe of Turner.