NILES Teen to see racing idol

The family will meet the supercross champion this weekend.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- Many people outside of the motorcycle racing world likely never heard of Jeremy McGrath, but Ricky Claar selected a meeting with the racing champion as his special wish.
Make-A-Wish Foundation is sending the city youth to St. Louis today to meet the motocross rider. A limousine is to pick up Ricky, 18; his parents, Richard and Darlene; and younger brother, Jeff, 16, and take them to the airport.
They'll meet McGrath, seven-time supercross champion, Saturday and watch him compete in a race that evening. They'll visit some of the city's sites before returning home.
"He hasn't won any races this year yet, so we're hoping he wins while we're there," Mrs. Claar said.
His affliction: Ricky, 18, was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was 5. Brain surgery performed last year at the Cleveland Clinic alleviated the severity of the seizures, but he continues to experience them daily.
When Make-A-Wish contacted the family last summer, saying the organization would grant a wish, Ricky wasn't sure which champion he wanted to meet.
The family thought of the NFL's Jerry Rice, a wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders.
"We thought, 'You have a lot more in common with Jeremy McGrath,'" Mrs. Claar said.
Ricky, a junior at Niles McKinley High School, saved his money and bought a dirt bike a few years ago. Nearly every day he rides the 1999 Suzuki 350 in the woods near his home with his friends or alone.
His mother points out that he always wears appropriate safety gear.
"It's thrilling," he said of the motorcycle races he watches on television each week. "It's exciting."
Ricky hasn't figured out exactly what to say to his motocross idol.
"I guess I'll ask him how he's gotten this far and how he wins so many races," said the soft-spoken teen-ager.
Record holder: McGrath, 30, has the most supercross wins of any motorcycle racer and holds the record for most wins in a season. Saturday's race will be at the Trans World Dome in St. Louis.
Ricky's illness prohibits him from driving a car, so his parents have tried to steer him to activities where the epilepsy isn't an issue. Ricky's also on the school bowling team.
"He's a really good bowler," he mother said.
Make-A-Wish organizers have told the family that McGrath is excited about the meeting too, flattered that someone asked to meet him as a special wish.
Make-A-Wish grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses. The illness may be terminal or chronic.
Local volunteers, Bill Sasse of Cortland and Patty Negro of Niles, coordinated the Claars' trip. The organization prohibits requests for vehicles, weapons and building additions.
"Other than that, the sky's pretty much the limit," Sasse said.
Mrs. Claar, a bus driver at Fairhaven, thinks Ricky was referred to Make-A-Wish by someone at Easter Seals. She took off some time last year for Ricky's surgery.
"I'd like to do something to thank them when we get back because it wouldn't have happened without them," she said.
dick@vindy.com