BAKERSFIELD - Bakersfield is getting a shoutout thanks to a young motocross star.
Eight-year-old Ryder Difrancesco was featured in a GoPro video called "Tikes on Bikes" taken at a race in Las Vegas in May. In it, he raced his way to first place and the renowned helmet camera maker just recently chose it as its national featured video of the week.
The tiny cameras called GoPros, capture the bird's eye view of tiny riders. One was mounted 49 inches up, on top of Ryder Difrancesco's helmet.
"It was actually a fun day. And, they had a GoPro on me when I was walking around and stuff like that, and that was cool to watch," said Difrancesco.
Ryder was named by his father, a world champion speedway racer.
"He just named me Ryder and I just started racing," said Difrancesco.
He started riding at the age of two and racing when he was four. At six, he became the youngest to win the Loretta Lynn National Championship. And at seven, he was the first ever to win the race two years in a row.
In May, Ryder was chosen among thousands of young riders to compete in the K.T.M. Challenge in Las Vegas, signing autographs for a crowd of half a million. And, for the first time, Ryder was racing with a GoPro attached to his helmet.
"You don't realize how fast they really go until you see the GoPro. He's just really good on a motorcycle," said Lisa Difrancesco, Ryder's mother.
"I was on the gate. I felt nervous. The gate dropped and I was like in fifth. And, one lap it took and I got into first and the white flag came out," recalled Ryder. "I went to the checkered flag and I felt better than I ever have."
Organizers of the race edited clips of the GoPros together and sent the video of Ryder's win to the camera maker.
Last week, out of a world of entries, GoPro chose it to feature.
"Well, we had no idea it made video of the week for GoPro until my friend sent it to me. And, we didn't think it was a really big deal. And, everyone was like, no. That made video of the week. That's a big deal because that's nationwide," said Lisa Difrancesco.
"There's a lot of pros out there that wear GoPros, so I did it. I can't believe they didn't get picked," said Ryder.
Since Ryder won that race, he moves on to compete with about a dozen other regional winners October 19th in Las Vegas for the national championship. And, at that race, he will again be wearing a GoPro.