Austin Forkner took to social media on Tuesday to announce his retirement from professional dirt bike racing.
In his 17-minute long video (posted below), Forkner contributed to his decision to three primary reasons.
Firstly was the difficulty he has been encountering racing without a lot of muscle in his left arm. Despite several surgeries and visits with various top neurosurgeons across the country, Forkner admitted he has been racing without the ability to sufficiently hand on to the handlebars, which has contributed to some of his crashes in recent years.
Secondly was the emotional toll that his crash in Arlington 2024 took on him. Forkner had been on the top of his game in 2019-2020, placing 3rd in 250 Supercross points both seasons. Some rough seasons with injuries followed, but Forkner pushed through to rise back to the top in 2024. Heading into Arlington, Forkner had just won at Detroit, when things went wrong and he found himself sidelined again.
Thirdly, was Forkner, a religious man, believes it was more than just a coincidence that this Dallas crash led to a scan where an AVM was found in his head. Shortly after, his son Atlas was born.
“I fully believe that if my Dallas crash wouldn’t have happened, I would have died before I got to meet my son,” Forkner explains in the video.
Many top riders from the sport have taken to social media to share their best wishes to Forkner going forward.
