Submitted Photo Cash Petersen recently took second place in the opening round of a Texas Winter Series amateur event. The 11-year-old North Shore Plaza Elementary student continues to perfect his craft in the hopes of one day becoming a professional dirt bike racer.

Cash Petersen is an 11-year-old from Ryder who has a passion for dirt bike racing. The North Shore Plaza Elementary student was able to parlay that passion into a second place finish in the opening round of an amateur tournament.

Over the weekend, Petersen competed in the first round Texas Winter Series, a motocross event which was held at the Freestone Raceway in Wortham, Texas. There, Peterson earned second in the 65 CC (cubic capacity) youth class, a division which was comprised of 60 children between 10 and 11 years of age.

Meanwhile, Petersen also competed in two other classes. In the 65 CC modified race, he finished fifth out of a class of 62 youth competitors, and the 85 CC race, Petersen took eighth among a group of 38 riders.

On Jan. 23 and 24, Petersen will head back to Texas for the second round of the tournament, which will be held in Fort Worth. After that, the next two rounds of the Texas Winter Series will be held in Tyler on Jan. 30 and 31, and Decatur on Feb. 6 and 7.

Helping Petersen along the amateur racing circuit, his father Tony regularly drives his son to each event in various cities located across the country. Although the prospect of driving back and forth from North Dakota to Texas for four consecutive weekends seems like a daunting proposition, Petersen’s father Tony, who works for an oil company, says it is a sacrifice he is willing to make for his son.

“I believe in Cash so much, and I really feel that he can make something out of this,” Petersen tells The Minot Daily News. “He is a real student of the game, and he studies other professional riders on YouTube, so he is heavily invested in racing, and that is why I’m willing to go the extra mile for him.”