RedBud founder Gene Ritchie passes away

The video above is from a July, 2014 feature we did on RedBud founder Gene Ritchie, who passed away Saturday at the age of 79. A good portion of that written story is below as well

This photo is from 2014 of RedBud found Gene Ritchie (right), his daughter Amy (middle) and his son Tim (left). Amy and Tim have taken over the family legacy of running RedBud, now the nation's biggest motocross race. Gene passed away Saturday at the age of 79.

The motocross world has lost one of its all-time greats.

RedBud founder Gene Ritchie died Saturday at the age of 79 at home in Buchanan. His family tells us it was from complications of a head injury he suffered three weeks ago.

"We're so thankful that he left this earth just the way he wanted to: peacefully, at home with his dogs and family," his family said. "RedBud was his vision, his dream. To everyone who ever threw a leg over their bike or set foot there, he was so very grateful. He often said, "if you get to do something you love for a living, you're truly blessed". He was blessed. Godspeed, Geno. We love you."

A native of Valparaiso, Ritchie created RedBud in 1972. More than 40 years later, it is the single biggest motocross race in the nation attracting around 30,000 fans every 4th of July weekend to Southwest Michigan.

"It's hard to explain really," Gene Ritchie told NewsCenter 16 days before the 2014 RedBud National. "It's hard to understand. You never would have dreamt anything like this when you get started to what it is now to thousands of people."

Ritchie is a motocross legend--beloved by legends.

"The 1st time I saw him, I was like this guy's real mean," 7-time RedBud champion Ricky Carmichael said in 2014. "And really he's just a big teddy bear."

Ritchie just loved to ride in the 1960s. As he went through some old photos, he comes across one of him with the front wheel up.

"I won a wheelie contest and got [my daughter] Amy a teddy bear," Ritchie says with a smile looking at the photo. "I raced for quite a few years, I just fell in love with it," Ritchie explains. "I knew I couldn't make money racing because I wasn't fast enough."

So he realized he had to take a different path. One day in the early 1970s, he was in Buchanan for a snowmobile race.

"I came up here right where the announcers tower now is and I said 'boy what a place for a motocross track,'" Ritchie explained. "I talked to the owner and he said, 'I've been thinking about selling the place.'"

Gene and some partners bought the place and RedBud was born in 1972. He eventually bought his partners out. But growing his business wasn't easy at first.

"We weren't well liked when we first got here," Richie said with a laugh.

He remembered the bank not wanting to give him a loan and his neighbors just not being fond of him. "Kill Ritchie," is what Gene remembered some neighbors proclaiming.

But over time, Ritchie and his track won the community over. He says it took about ten years to gain traction and then they were off and running.

"Since then it's become quite the spectacle," Gene said. "We quadruple the size of Buchanan.

Gene credited RedBud's growth to his kids--Amy and Tim, who now run the track.

"They've made it what it is," Gene said of Amy and Tim. "I got it started when it was on the ground floor. Now that I got old and retired, they took over and do all the hard work and my son says my main job is to go around kissing babies. That's what I try to do mostly."

"This is his other child so this is kind of one of our siblings I guess," Amy says with a smile back in 2014. "This is his baby and he looks out for it."

Tim says it always helped having his dad as a resource to get feedback on how the track is operating. He remembers the time when he really took over the reigns from his dad. It happened when Tim pushed for the building of a 120 foot jump.

"He didn't want to do it, didn't want to do it," Tim explained in 2014. "And finally he let me do it and now that's the first place he takes people is to LaRocco's Leap."

Tim was right. LaRocco's Leap is now the signature spot at the RedBud track.

On race days, Gene would stand high above the track on a giant scissor lift. Those moments were special for him.

"Oh certainly, especially when they start screaming RedBud," Gene said in 2014 with a crack in his voice before he stops himself before getting emotional.

Who doesn't love saying----"ReddddddBudddddddd." It's the signature yell of any motocross fan that will be at RedBud each 4th of July.

And it's all thanks to that fateful day when Gene took his snowmobile up a hill and had a vision. His vision grew into the nation's biggest motocross race.