Blythe, 1979. A man named Shorty Winkler wants a place for his kid to ride. Not a stadium. Not a fairgrounds contract. Just dirt on the bluff above the Palo Verde Valley — 1650 North Lovekin — where the wind comes off the river and the sand never really leaves. They call it Blythe Raceway. The locals show up anyway.
By the eighties it is a real motocross weekend. NMA qualifiers. The Kyle Flemming Memorial. Local MX that does not need a TV truck. Then the land sells, and the place goes quiet. More than fifteen years of tumbleweed and rumor. A family friend buys it back and puts Shorty’s name on the gate. Not a rebrand. A memorial.
It is not a daily play park. You call before you haul. When the gate is open, it is winter GP country: dirt bikes, ATVs, UTVs, peewees, campers on the same dirt. AZOP runs Blythe Grand Prixs there. The AMA National Grand Prix Championship still sends Prospectors MC’s Gold Rush through the washes — about seven miles of sand and motocross infield when they laid out the 2026 loop. WORCS opens its season on that same ground.
January 23–25, 2026, they called it the Shorty’s Breakout Grand Prix. High-speed hardpack, a canyon, deep rutted sand, a downhill only the Pros were allowed to invent a line on. Tyler Lynn won Pro 450 by jumping the hillside instead of dropping into the ravine. Cole Zeller won Pro 250 after going down early and riding back through the field. Same dirt Shorty graded for a kid. Same name on the flyer.
Follow the park at @shortyssportspark. If you are in the valley on a race weekend, the gate is still Shorty’s. Call before you haul.
