Teenage motocross racer dies

Ashlee Sokalski, 19, poses for a photo in her motocross gear. Ashlee died Aug. 11 from injuries she sustained in a motorcycle accident while competing in the 29th annual AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships, the largest amateur motocross race in the world.

Friends and family

ride in her memory

By Krista Browning and Sara Kandel

C & G Staff Writers

CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP — She was a motocross fanatic with dreams of becoming a professional rider, but what her sister will miss most is their long talks in the family garage, shopping trips to Walmart and her passion to live life to the fullest.

“She was really crazy,” said Amanda Sokalski, 17, wiping tears away from her cheeks. “She loved to make random dirt bike noises. She would rather sit out in the garage and talk for hours about bikes or work on her bike instead of watching TV. She didn’t really care about what people thought of her.”

Ashlee Sokalski, 19, died Aug. 10 from injuries sustained in a motocross accident several days earlier.

Amanda described her sister as funny and quick-witted, a petite girl with a big appetite for life and bacon-topped Hungry Howies pizza.

“We always had a good time,” said Amanda. “She was one of those people that joked around about everything. I never had a dull moment with her.”

Ashlee, a L’Anse Creuse High School North graduate and avid motocross racer, had been riding dirt bikes and motorcycles since the age of 3, when her dad, Mike Sokalski, would put her and Amanda on his bike and ride around with them in the backyard. Ashlee was given her first bike when she was 12 years old.

Motocross is a form of motorcycle sport performed on enclosed off-road racetracks. Ashlee was recently named the only female from Michigan to qualify for the 29th annual AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships, the largest amateur motocross race in the world.

The race took place from Aug. 2-7 in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., on country music singer Loretta Lynn’s ranch.

Her qualification to the national competition was a dream come true, according to Amanda, but her dream was ended by an accident on the course that left her in critical condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.

Michael Sokalski, Ashlee’s 48-year-old father, said it’s unknown what actually caused the accident, but after talking to two witnesses, he said, he thinks she didn’t clear the second hill on the track and was hit in the head by another ride coming in behind her. The tire of the other rider’s bike clipped Ashlee’s head, knocking her unconscious and throwing her from her bike.

“She didn’t see the other rider,” said Tanya Burgess, Ashlee’s mom. “I talked to one of the witnesses, and she doesn’t think Ashlee ever saw her coming. She didn’t have a chance to protect herself”

She died after sustaining six broken ribs, a broken back, injuries to her neck and head, and a damaged right lung.

“Ashlee was never pulled from life support,” said Burgess, 41.  “Her heart gave out after a hard fight. Thank God we did not have to make that decision. Typical of Ash, it was all or nothing. The final cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma.”

Mike said Ashlee is the first girl to die from motocross injuries or an accident while on the course.

Amanda, who has been riding since she was 10, said Ashlee wouldn’t want her to stop racing.

“She wouldn’t want me to give it up, because it was something we did together,” said Amanda. “We both loved it, so I’m going to keep riding. She’s pushing me to do that, even though she’s not here. We raced in the same class, so we raced against each other. She knew she could always beat me because she was always a bit faster than me, but she never really gloated about it. She was very humble.”

Ashlee was also a high school and collegiate athlete. She played basketball at LCN and during her freshman year at Macomb Community College.

Her teammate and friend, Stephanie Garland, said Ashlee was like an older sister to her.

“She was just so crazy, loud and funny,” said Garland. “She was a super driven person. We always competed for sprints at practice. I respected her so much, and that’s how I became a better (basketball) player, because she was so driven. She never gave up on anything.”

Ashlee dreamed of “going pro,” and according to Amanda, she wanted nothing more than to race against Ashley Fiolek, a well-known professional rider.

“She wanted to prove to everybody that she knew what she was doing,” said Amanda. “We were privateers, meaning we paid for everything ourselves. Ashlee and I pulled strings to pay for everything all the time. She didn’t care. She was out there (racing) every weekend whether she had the money or not. I don’t know how, but she was. She’d sell stuff on Craigslist. She’d do whatever she had to do to make the money.”

Ashlee worked three jobs — at a doctor’s office, a cleaning company and a gym — to pay to race and attend college.

Mourners filed in to pay respects at her funeral in mid-August, sporting T-shirts dedicated to Ashlee. She was laid to rest in full motocross gear at Christian Memorial Cemetery in Rochester Hills.

“It was a casual funeral because Ashlee was always in basketball shorts and a T-shirt,” said Amanda. “Each racer that came also got a number plate with their numbers on it and stuck those to her casket just before she was buried. The funeral home said they’d never seen anything like it.”

Donations are being accepted to benefit a new foundation created in Ashlee’s name to help injured riders. Family, friends and fellow racers will ride in her honor at the ninth annual Baha Brawl at Baha MX, located in Millington. T-shirts, finger cozies and wristbands will also be for sale.

For more information, visit www.ashleesokalski316.webs.com.