Personal History
My name is Nickolas Cooney and I am 14 years old living in Scottsdale, Arizona. I live with my mom, dad, and little sister.
I started riding dirt bikes when I was 5 years old. My first bike was a Honda 50. Our family went camping in the deserts of California for many years as I was growing up. My dad raced in the California District 37 desert and endure series for many years. We were members of the Training Wheels motocross club and I raced many pee wee club events during those years. I grew pretty quickly and have always been tall for my age (6’ 3” today) so I was lucky in upgrading motorcycles quickly. After the Honda 50 I moved to a KTM 50 and at 10 I moved to a CR 85. I rode this for 2 years and at 12 years old I moved to a YZ 125. I loved that bike! When I graduated middle school with all A grades for 2 years my parents surprised me with a 2012 KTM 250 SXF. (Best gift ever and best parents ever) This is my primary practice and race bike. My race number is 43 and this is the number that my dad wore on his high school and college basketball team. I want to keep the number going for him. I just finished my freshman year at Desert Mountain High School with grades of A, A, B, B, B, B. I was hoping for more A grades but some of these were honors classes which were tough. No excuses, next year I will get the A grades! I know that working hard in school is important but sometimes it is tough but my parents give me all the help to be successful and with good grades come rewards.
In 2010 our family moved to Arizona and my dad was finished racing desert/enduro’s so we decided to start racing motocross. When we both started riding motocross it was rough because a good desert rider does not make a good motocross rider. Over time we learned the jumps, how to position on the bike, and increase corner speed. We still work on these things every time we are at the track because you can never practice too much. My dad starting racing in the Arizona Old Timers Club in 2012 and we both started in the Cactus/Copper State MX races at the same time.
I have played basketball and baseball for many years as I was growing up. I like to play video games, go mountain biking, riding our jet ski’s, and going to movies. I want to try and get some sponsors so I can help my parents with the cost of riding and racing. It is expensive and anything I can do to help I will.
Thank you for your time.
Riding Goals
The Cactus State MX Series will start in September 2014 and I will be moved up to the junior class. My goal for this series is to place in the top 5 in points at year end. Right after this series the Copper State Series will begin and my goal is for a top 3 in points. Next year my goal is to win the junior division unless it happens earlier. We will also be racing some SMX series races at certain tracks and my goal is to place in the top 3 of these races. Over the next few years I will push to advance to the expert class of these series and compete.
Competitive Highlights
In the spring of 2014 I was the overall points winner of the 125/250 beginner class Copper State MX Series.