Ashley "Bitchin Barbie" Lynn Best is out to show that even in the Mud, Girls Ride Too!!
Story By: Tyler Tate
Photos Provided By: Ashley Lynn Best
When you walk down the toy aisle in the store, you will find a section plastered in pink with Barbie’s for every type. But if you look hard enough, you won’t find mudding Barbie because there is only one mudding Barbie and that’s Ashley Lynn Best, better known as “Bitchin' Barbie”.
Ashley is newer to the riding scene but her love for the bounty hole of mud is unparalleled and as she says, “I will drive and enter every single bounty hole contest I can.” This Barbie loves her some driving and mud and is always down to show anyone that “Girls Ride Too.”
USM: What got you into driving?
Ashley: I got the love of mud from an ex boyfriend. And now I just cannot find a way to stay out of it. If I am not in a bounty hole, I am driving to one. I love mud. After we broke up, I still wanted to be around the mud, so I got a friend to drive me to Georgia to pick up the RZR I had just bought. On the way home, the motor in the truck exploded and we needed to tow it to the shop. Since the tow truck driver could only take the truck, I ended up sitting in my RZR on the trailer on the side of the road until they came back to get me. There was a point while I was sitting in the RZR that it started raining and it was cold but I was not going to leave it.
USM: How did you come up with the name Bitchin Barbie?
Ashley: All of the kids would tell me that I reminded them of a Barbie. So as I got more into the driving, I put Bitchin, like a cool and awesome, in front of Barbie and it just stuck.
Ashley: I always want to be the one to encourage the younger generation to get behind the wheel. Every time someone asks me to try my ride, I say “go ahead, I can fix it,” My daughter loves to drive it. She can’t touch the gas pedals yet but she loves to drive. I love to see the same joy I had my first time driving in their eyes.
“I am a blonde five foot tall woman who can drive the wheels off that machine. I love it.”
USM: What is it about mud that just draws you to it?
Ashley: Truthfully, there is a big thrill when I go out to show up the guys in the contest. I am a blonde five foot tall woman who can drive the wheels off that machine. I love it. Mud is for everyone. You have to be able to see the line in mud and pick out your spot when you’re mud driving or you won’t make it. There is a massive thrill in that. It is so much more technical. It is a game of who’s machine can outperform or out drive someone else.
USM: When you are not entering every bounty hole contest you can find, what do you do for fun?
Ashley: I love to hunt and fish, but mostly I am an adrenaline junky. I love the thrill of the rush. I do drive locally too. We have a great group that is always out riding. But when I slow down, I spend all my time with my daughter. She loves to be in the machine with me. She has even started to learn how to work on it.
USM: Who has helped you along the way to get to this next level?
Ashley: I want to give a huge shoutout to all those who’ve helped and supported me along the way, especially; my parents and my daughter Cassidy for being my biggest fans and supporters. Kasey Leonard at KC CUSTOMS for all the late night working on bikes. Crystal Clark and James Cross for always willing to be my shotgun riders. Brandon Fox with Monster of the South for always challenging me to do better. Billy Baker with SIDE BY STUFF and David Martin with Dm Photography for the great photos of me. And also to UTV Sports Mag for allowing me to share my story. Also to my sponsors, Off road Hooligunz , for taking a chance on me from day one I started riding and being a great sponsor. SSV Works, for being one of the best sound systems out there. And KC Customs, you are always down to let me work on my bike on the lift and to help me work on it.
You can follow Ashley as she continues to find every mud hole in America on social media @bitchinbarbie_ .
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