Ricky Taylor is off to a sizzling start to his second season in BMX.

The Ripon resident, who recently celebrated his 11th birthday, has won three of four races, leveled up to the expert class and surged to the top of the Northern California state rankings.

Taylor earned the benchmark 30th career win for the promotion to expert status on his birthday Sunday, Jan. 29 in the Santa Maria State Championship Qualifier at Metro BMX in Bakersfield. He aged up to the 11-year-old Intermediate division and still took first.

It was a great way to cap off a busy weekend of racing at Metro BMX. On Jan. 27, he coasted to first place in a local race, and the next day he was the runner-up in the Metro BMX State Race Qualifier and Tangent Pro-Am.

Taylor opened the season Jan. 21 at North Bay BMX in Napa, placing first.

The Ripona Elementary fifth grader, who posted perfect scores across the board on his latest report card, is building off an impressive rookie campaign in which he dominated the 10-year-old novice and intermediate classes.

The 2022 season ended in heartbreak, though Taylor did achieve his ultimate goal in earning an invitation to compete in the USA BMX Race of Champions in Tulsa, Okla. this past November.

Leading up to the ROC, he raced in the California State Championship, where a photo finish was required to determine the victor. Taylor came up inches shy of capturing the state No. 1 plate.

In Oklahoma, his run ended in the quarterfinal round when another rider crashed into him.

Taylor has not been deterred, however. Not only does he desire to seize the No. 1 state plate at a higher division and make it back to the Race of Champions, but his big objective now is to compete on the international stage.

Taylor is training five days a week at Spreckels Park BMX in preparation for the Golden State Nationals on March 10-12 back at Metro BMX. A top-eight finish there qualifies him to represent Team USA at the UCI BMX World Challenge in Glasgow, Scotland.