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Community mourns the loss of teen motocross star who left a legacy beyond the track

<i>WLOS</i><br/>It's been a week since Clayton Sain
WLOS
WLOS
It's been a week since Clayton Sain

By Caitlyn Penter

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    POLK COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — The foothills community is remembering one of their own.

Community mourns the loss of teen motocross star who left a legacy beyond the track

It’s been a week since Clayton Sain, an up-and-coming motocross rider, died from injuries sustained during practice for a race in Tennessee.

His dad and aunt said he was chasing his dream of becoming a professional in motocross.

No matter what he had to do, Clayton’s family said he was ready to jump right in and do it. “Definitely not ordinary,” said Julie Justice, Clayton’s aunt.

The Polk County native was one of six siblings. He started riding dirt bikes when he was four, got more competitive at age seven, and by 12 he was chasing his big dream.

“He could draw a crowd at the track, not from a standpoint of being arrogant or anything like that, it was more all the guys wanted to hang out with him,” said Jason Sain, Clayton’s dad.

Two weekends ago, Clayton was practicing in the Suzuki Top Gun Showdown in Tennessee. It would end up being his last racing event.

“Normal day, go out for practice, come back, look over the bike and then go racing and it didn’t happen that way,” Jason said.

Over the weekend, the community did a memorial lap on the track on their dirt bikes in Clayton’s honor.

“To see all of the people in our community, everybody around supporting us, helping us through this; it’s been amazing,” Jason said.

Jason said his son had strong faith.

“Most important quality I could say about my son was his personal relationship with the lord Jesus Christ,” Jason said.

Coty Flynn, Clayton’s youth pastor, told News 13 that Clayton was an inspiration to his family, friends and his while church family.

Before the race in Tennessee, Clayton took home an overall award at a race in Simpsonville.

“My son asked me the other night, as serious as he could have meant it with his whole heart, ‘mama,’ he said, ‘was Clayton a celebrity?'” Justice said. “And it took me a moment, but honestly I stepped back and said, ‘yes, Clayton was a celebrity.'”

Clayton would be turning 17 on Nov. 4

His family said he’s a role model whose legacy goes far beyond the track.

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