By Dave Hewitson

Johnny Montes has been a pro motocross racer in the Atlantic Region since 1993. He has held national numbers in Canada as far back as the late nineties and remains one of the winningest riders in Atlantic Canada’s history, winning at least one title in 12 of his last 13 years. In the past three years however, he has stepped up his program. In 2003 and 2004, he earned national numbers 67 and 44, respectively while racing the eastern nationals as a privateer. This past summer, Johnny joined the Morgan Racing Yamaha team with support from Atlantic Yamaha and came away with number 27 which he will wear proudly in 2006. Dave Hewitson recently caught up with Johnny and brings us this excellent 5 Minutes. 

RXC: For a guy that likes indoor racing, you haven’t been to a race in Canada since Montreal. What gives?
Johnny Montes: The team, Morgan Racing, didn’t want to do the Canadian Arenacross series. It’s expensive for a guy to do it on his own.  I did it last year for the experience but for this year, I decided to go to Florida and start training early.

What have you been doing?
I have been doing a lot of motos in Florida, just trying to get in shape for the spring.

But you also rode the Mini O’s?
Yeah. I rode them too.

How did you make out down there? 
It was a very last minute thing. I didn’t have any time on the bike, so I decided to ride the +25 class instead of the pro or A classes. In the first race, I got a sixth place start and caught the leader but just ran out of time.  In the main event, I got another sixth place start and worked my way to second and was passing for the lead when I crashed and the race was over.  I feel like I could have won, but sometimes that happens, that’s racing. 

What color numbers did you have on the bike?
[Laughs]  Red with white backgrounds.  They were actually Brandon Wyman’s bikes. He broke his wrist the day before and convinced me to ride his bikes. It was all last minute.

Have you got a deal worked out yet for the Canadian Nationals?
Yes, I’m going to ride for Team ALDO KTM for MX2 East and we’re still talking. We will see how things go for the first two rounds and there’s a possibility I might be able to go out west with the team.

So you are back in Florida now?
Yeah, back in Florida, staying at the Thompson’s, training pretty hard now. I was down before Christmas, just riding. Now I bicycle four times a week, and ride every day with the family to get ready for the springtime when I go back home.

Are you going to try your hand at any more races while you are down there?
There’s a vet national in Florida that I’m going to try to go win. I think I’ve got a real good shot of winning it, so I’m gonna do that in the +25 class.

Where is it?
It’s in Reddick Florida. [Ed note: February 18-19 National Vet Motocross Championship] I’m going to try and race that and then I’ll try and do some arenacrosses around the area and that’s basically it right now. I haven’t had any time on supercross tracks, so that’s basically out of the question right now. But it’s still an option.

Have you been doing any other racing other than the Mini O’s?
No. When I went home for Christmas, I basically took a two-week vacation. I didn’t train or do a thing, just took two weeks off. When I came back down, I definitely felt it and it took a couple of weeks to get back into the swing of things.  I train a guy [in Florida] and he came down, so I just decided to go and help him and focus on him for the weekend.

Will you race the Atlantic series? 
So far I’m going to ride for Action Cycles out of Nova Scotia. That’s where I’m getting my bikes from, and I’m going to ride for Base Racing again and do as many races in the Atlantic as I can. I’m going to commit fully to the fall series. For the spring, I have a lot of races. I have to race the arenacross series for the team, so that cuts into a couple of Atlantic races, and the nationals conflict with races. I’ll just try and do as many as I can at home and that will help me [for the national series].

Thanks for your time, and stay out of trouble down there.
[Laughs]  Thanks a lot, I appreciate it.  Hey, I want to thank Base Racing, Mike’s Transport, the Thompson family and the Wyman family for getting me to Florida. I also want to thank M2R helmets, Sunstar sprockets, OGIO, Team ALDO KTM, Action Cycles, VP Fuels, Utopia Optics, Creative Graphics, Michelin Tires and Andy White.