It's said that the soil along Spring Creek, in the Mississippi River valley near Millville, Minn., is unusually rich. While that makes it prized by farmers, it's also become known for producing something other than bumper crops.
The Martin brothers, Alex and Jeremy, grew up riding dirt bikes over a course cut from that land. Saturday, they return to Spring Creek MX Park — owned by their parents — as two of the favorites in the Spring Creek National, part of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship series. Jeremy Martin sits atop the standings in the 250cc class, while elder sibling Alex has risen to fifth place during the most successful season of his career.
The races also are a homecoming of sorts for Ryan Dungey of Belle Plaine, a frequent winner at Spring Creek who leads the 450 class with five events left in the season. The Martins, though, are coming back to the place where a sibling rivalry was born, one that has played a vital part in driving both to the highest levels of motocross.
"There is definitely a brotherly competition there,'' said Jeremy, 22, the defending series champion in the 250 class. "Every day, we're talking smack, and we're always trying to outdo each other, whether it be on the dirt bike or on a mountain bike or a road bike.
"We push each other. We always have. And that just makes it easier on race day for us to hopefully beat the competition.''
Through the first seven events of the 12-event series, Jeremy Martin has 298 points, giving him a seven-point edge over Marvin Musquin for the lead in the 250 class. Alex Martin is fifth with 188 points.
Dungey, who won the Spring Creek National three consecutive times from 2010-2012, tops the 450 class with 303 points and holds a 44-point lead over defending champ Ken Roczen.
Like so many younger brothers, Jeremy Martin idolized his sibling and wanted to do everything Alex did. That included buzzing around the family property on a dirt bike — emulating their father, John, a former pro racer.