(Main) The view from the bottom of Gatorback Cycle Park’s fabled Gator Pit, around which fast young riders in American motocross have raced as part of the MX portion of the THOR Mini O’s. (Below, from top to bottom) Dayton Shirah goes full vintage on a Honda CR500 in the College Boy (16-24) class; Nick Romano got three moto wins, three overall podiums, and this holeshot in his Star Racing Yamaha debut; Florida’s own Hannah Hodges ended up third in Women’s 12+ behind Jordan Jarvis and Taylor Allred.

ast-forward nearly five decades, and that novel idea has become a massive success beyond anything the original promoter, a man named Pat Ray, could have possibly imagined. The event has moved, the format has changed, and even the name is different now, but the THOR Mini O’s at Gatorback Cycle Park in Gainesville, Florida, are still held over Thanksgiving and still consist of multiple disciplines—supercross and motocross—to determine overall champions. And this time around, the 49th running of this hybrid race attracted a record 5,300 entries from all over the world, making the Mini O’s the biggest stand-alone event in the entire sport.

Not only has the event grown in size, it’s grown in stature as well. The timing of the race, during what is usually a transitional period in American motocross, gives it a dual identity as the last big race of one calendar year and the first big preview of what’s to come the next year. As a result, the Mini O’s have long been an important stop on the ascendency of top youth and amateur prospects, as well as industry scouts and team managers eager to sign the next big things. Ever since SoCal minicycle prodigy Jeff Ward’s parents drove him across the country for the 1973 race, this event has been a mainstay on the national moto calendar.

The Mini O’s gained even more importance after their early-eighties move from their second home, at a humble track north of Tampa called Chicken Farm, to their permanent location at Gatorback Cycle Park. At the time, Gatorback was just coming on as a national-caliber track, having hosted its first AMA Pro Motocross National in 1983. With its challenging mix of sand and hard-pack, it proved to be an excellent test for aspiring young motocross riders. However, it lacked a flat track oval for that portion of that event, so then-promoter Bill West went a different route: he built a supercross track next door and told everyone to just leave their slicks and steel shoes at home.

As for the hare scrambles component of the Olympiad, it lasted a few years longer, but as the Mini O’s grew, the parking lots seemed to shrink. What started as a weekend race had grown into a full week of racing, which in turn led to an increase in the size and number of personal vehicles. Pickup trucks and vans gave way to box vans and campers, which were then squeezed by toy haulers, motor homes pulling giant bike trailers, and even tractor trailers. As a result, the off-road portion of the event was soon downgraded from full-on hare scrambles to an off-road Grand Prix before they ran out of space for even that in 2002—the same year that Wyn Kern’s Unlimited Sports MX took over the organization of the event.

(Main) Kawasaki Team Green’s Drew Adams took two Olympiad titles, which combine the points from both SX and MX, in 85cc racing. (Above, top to bottom, left to right) This fan was all-in with his custom Mini O’s hardhat; three Renners together: Robby, Ronnie, and Rick; Levi Kitchen wheelies out of the gate on his way to winning one MX title and two SX championships in the highly competitive B classes; Jesse Flock (67) celebrates a moto win in A/Pro Sport actiony; Gavin Towers (15) drops into the Gator Pit on his Kawasaki super mini against a field of 125s in Schoolboy 1 racing.

(Main) New Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider Evan Ferry won the Super Mini 1 class in MX, adding a Mini O’s win to the SX Futures title in Las Vegas in October. (Below, top to bottom, left to right) Wisconsin’s Wyatt Liebeck (411) and Joel Rizzi (912) enjoy a two-stroke battle in 125 (12-17) B/C racing; Marcus Trujillo (125) from Texas airs one out in a 51cc division; among the big winners at the 49th THOR Mini O’s were Pennsylvania’s Gavin Towers, Florida’s Evan Ferry (with his father, Tim), Cullin Park, and North Carolina’s Jordan Jarvis; Pennsylvania’s Cole Jones (94) leads a pack of B-classers.

What hasn’t changed over the years is the event’s unique status as both a major competition and a family vacation. The Mini O’s have become a rite of passage for motocross families ever since the Wards drove their “Flying Freckle” across the country to race his Honda XR75s. They spend their Thanksgiving weeks gathered outside Gainesville to see how much they’ve improved over the past season and what their competition can expect from them in the year to come. Damon Bradshaw, Jeff Stanton, Jeremy McGrath, Robbie Reynard, Kevin Windham, Ricky Carmichael, Travis Pastrana, James Stewart, Mike Alessi, Ryan Villopoto, Ryan Dungey, Justin Barcia, Eli Tomac, Zach Osborne, Jason Anderson, Cooper Webb—all are part of the success story that is the THOR Mini O’s. As kids, they all made multiple journeys to the Sunshine State to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and moto friends, while also seeing where they stacked up against one another—first on a purpose-built supercross track and then on a national-caliber outdoor motocross course. That’s what makes the THOR Mini O’s a holiday tradition unlike any other in American motocross, now 49 years in the making.