SEPTEMBER 19, 2006
By Brett Dailey
The entire motocross community in Canada is waiting with bated breath for some news on Dusty Klatt and who he will race for next season in the U.S. There has been plenty of rumour and speculation surrounding teams, bikes, potential opportunities and interest. We decided to check in with Dusty’s new agent, Tony Gardea, to get the official scoop. Oddly enough, he was interrupted early in the conversation to answer an inquiry regarding Dusty!
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Campbell River, British Columbia's Dusty Klatt |
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photo: Allison Kennedy |
RXC: First off Tony, how did you get into the agency business?
Tony Gardea: Basically, I have been involved in this sport since 1991 when I was with Micky Thompson. I did the PR for their truck series and four or five supercross events a year and that’s how I got involved in the motorcycle industry. I then went and did Jet Ski racing when that was in its heyday in the mid to late ‘90s. After that, I worked with Bruce Stjernstrom, who was a Kawasaki manager, when they put the Chevy Trucks deal together. Bruce brought me in because I was involved with the Budweiser sponsorship and Jet Ski and I had a good sponsor working relationship. When he signed Chevy, I trickled over to help him with his PR, marketing and sponsorship for the Kawasaki program.
I got to know [Ricky] Carmichael and when [James] Stewart came up, I was there and kind of helped him make the transition and got really close with him. He and I discussed some opportunities and next thing you know, I’m representing James Stewart. Having been involved with this sport from the sponsor side, from the promoter side, and also from the team and rider side, I felt like I had the background to transition over myself. Since then, James and I have parted ways—I’m now working with [Ernesto] Fonseca, I added Ryan Dungey, I work with Travis Preston and now Dusty and I feel like I have a good group of guys that not only do well on the track but are people that I can relate to as well, and that’s important.
How did your relationships with the AMA and Live Nation develop?
That is another side of the business that I want to grow which is the sports marketing and PR side. Having done series PR as well as team PR, I felt that was probably the easiest part for me to handle because it’s almost second nature. I had a contract with Live Nation last year to do the World and U.S. Supercross rounds and that went well. Once I did that, it kind of made it an easy decision for me to work with the AMA and NPG to handle the 12 races this summer. It really worked out well and I think it helps to have some consistency from one series to the next as far as the media is concerned. Having known a lot of the newspapers in those markets as well as the magazine and industry media, I think it made for a pretty quick learning curve for me.
I’m sure you are approached by quite a few riders and parents of riders to represent them. What do you look for in a rider before you agree to work with them?
Well, I look for the qualities of building a good relationship. It may sound corny but I like to connect with the rider as opposed to connect decimal points and dollar signs. So, the relationship with the rider and the trust is paramount for me. And then, moving forward, it’s establishing the landscape: what do we have to do and how much time do I have or do they have to build that relationship.
Regarding Dusty Klatt, everyone here in Canada is very excited about potential opportunities in the United States. How did you get involved with him?
Actually, I have a pretty good relationship with Honda and Eric Kehoe and those guys. They were speaking to Jason [Mitchell] from Blackfoot and Jason informed Honda that Dusty was looking to come to the States and needed as much help as he could get. Honda and Eric gave them my number and a good reference. From there, it took us a couple of weeks because, having him racing in Canada and not able to come down here, it took us a while over the phone to build that relationship. We did and it was a late in the silly season but it wasn’t too late. The biggest challenge that Dusty has down here is that, while he did accomplish something great this year in Canada, not many people get to see it or get to hear about it. Not much of it leaks down here, especially that quickly. In some cases, people had heard something about a kid up there that beat JSR and others had known about it but still hadn’t seen him race much, even though he raced here during the last supercross season. Some of it is a learning process but he is in a very good position right now—he’s 21-years-old and this is probably the best time for him to make the jump over here. Especially, having won the [MX1] championship, he has the momentum, he’s on a roll, he’s matured, he has a full season of supercross under his belt and I think he’s in a very good position.
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The ever-stylish Dusty Klatt holeshot seven motos and won 13 of 18 motos on his way to the MX1 title in his rookie year. He bacame the only rider able to defeat Jean-Sebastein Roy since his five year championship streak began in 2001. |
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photo: Allison Kennedy |
How do you try to prove his value to a potential sponsor?
Well, I think the fact that he did win an outdoor series almost makes it so that a team can look at it and say, Well, he’s going to have three or four months leading into the supercross season to get ready. He might be green but maybe not as green as others, like a 16-year-old kid coming up out of the amateur ranks, for an example. But for sure, the team can count on him for the outdoor series because the difference is not as great between your outdoor series and our outdoor series. So, the risk that some of these teams are looking at is supercross and, quite frankly, I firmly believe that the largest hurdle to overcome when transitioning to supercross is staying healthy. These guys will put in three, four, five days of riding at a test track that is equally as demanding as the Anaheim supercross. To put in three or four days a week for three months, that’s 50 or 60 times on a track and it’s not an easy task so to stay healthy is the key and to stay healthy while you are learning is sometimes difficult. So, what Dusty is going to be looking to do is to hone his skills, get his supercross skills up to speed as fast as possible, keep himself healthy and, in the meantime, we are on this end, finding him a ride, putting his program together, and by January, I really think that he will be there.
He’s a big guy; he’s taller, bigger, and I think his ultimate talent is on a 450 in the big bike class but I think his first step is going to have to be in the Lites class. The key there, especially with his size, is to find him the best bike or a bike that gives him the best potential to get himself out front early. He will be racing against a Villopoto or a Josh Grant or an Alessi that are 130 or 140 pounds and he’s currently at 175. He knows that he’s going to train hard, he’s going to drop some weight and thinks that he can get down to 170 easily, possibly 165 and every pound counts and each [increment of] horsepower, on the other end, is just as important.
I suppose he’s very lucky that he raced the east coast supercross rounds last winter with Blackfoot so at least he has shown that he has indoor skills and can stay healthy.
Yes, and he had a couple of really good finishes. I think he showed that he’s not far off in supercross by doing that. With a full focus on supercross, you are going to see that he’s going to get better. And, my hats off to Blackfoot—it’s hard to find a sponsor that committed to a person as they are to Dusty. They have been behind him in this push to get a ride over here almost as much as Dusty, if not more. Whether or not they [Blackfoot] are racing next year, I don’t know, but let’s assume that they are, typically a team wants to keep a guy and do whatever they can to not let him go. But they say, This is Dusty’s dream, this is what he wants to do and we are going to be behind him 100%. That’s kind of rare in this sport.
Yes, we are very lucky to have Blackfoot and their gang here in Canada. What’s it been like to deal with Dusty as a person?
I like him; he’s super laid back. To get a rise out of him is sometimes challenging [laughs]. I like to be kind of loose and free. A good laugh to me is worth a lot and to get him to laugh has been the hardest thing for me. You know, I think he’s excited about his opportunities and fortunately there are a couple of good rides and we are close to figuring something out for him. I think his heart rate went from 42 to 45 when I told him about a couple of them and I would assume that’s pretty happy for him [laughs]. Fortunately, he is in a good position, it’s not too late and there are a couple very good rides available and we hope to have something nailed down within the next couple of weeks—by the Montreal supercross, for sure.
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Teammates, Klatt and JSR, maintained an excellent relationship all season despite the championship pressure. Here, they bench race after the first moto in Walton, Ontario where Dusty clinched the title. |
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photo: Allison Kennedy |
Wow. That’s very exciting. Are you at the stage where you can mention any names?
It sometimes gets a little sensitive when it comes to this time of year and I like to lock it down and let things happen without too many words in the press because sometimes it turns people off and I also have a superstition that if I don’t talk about something, it usually happens, and when I start running my mouth, the next thing you know, it all unravels.
Has anyone invited him up for a test ride or suggested that he will need to do that?
I don’t think that’s necessary. The teams that we are talking to have very solid bikes and he’s only looking at a couple of weeks off the bike this year and he will probably train during this off-season harder than he ever has in his career. He’s already back on the bike, preparing for the Montreal supercross so if we had him on a bike last week, or the week before, he would have lost any rest that he was due. With our season being as crazy as it is, with off-season events like Montreal, or the U.S. Open or the Jeremy McGrath invitational, or overseas racing, I think recovery time and relax time is really, really important. His desire would be to race the World supercross rounds in Canada—that makes too much sense, obviously—but without knowing what the team is doing, that’s a little premature. But I think that would be an unbelievable thing for him to go up and race those events. Dusty has family in Southern California that he is going to stay with so that will make it easier and more comfortable and he plans to jump down here right after Montreal and spend just about every waking hour getting ready for ’07.
What can other Canadian riders do to get noticed in the U.S.?
I would say to follow Dusty’s path. I think it’s difficult to get noticed up there, number one, even though it’s so close and there’s even a World round in Canada. But, obviously, race the World supercross events up there if it’s possible and communication is key. While it sounds intimidating at times, DeCoster, Kehoe, Fisher, McCarty, they are all approachable and sometimes it just comes down to communication to those guys and the gear sponsors and the aftermarket people. It’s amazing how tightly knit this industry is and people have supported Dusty down here from several angles and I believe some of the people haven’t even seen him ride. It [the referral] comes from someone who is trusted by someone who saw him ride or knows someone else who knows he’s fast or tries hard and then, the next thing you know, the pits are talking about how good of a rider Dusty is and half or three quarters of those guys haven’t even seen him ride. That’s why I think that communication is just as important as seeing someone ride.
Have you been surprised by the interest from Canada as far as what is happening with Dusty?
Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Obviously, it’s an Olympic type of mentality where whoever runs your flag is someone you are going to root for in any event but I think because of Dusty’s personality and what he means to so many people up there it makes it even easier [to root for him]. I think he’s got a ton of potential and just needs the right program on the right bike. And he’s only 21, so he’s the perfect age, and sometimes I think kids come up too early. Sixteen is a tough age to race guys that are 21 and 24. He’s at the perfect age and should have a nice five to ten year career down here.
Well, Dusty is easy to root for because of the way he came through the ranks, earned his ride with Blackfoot and won three championships in three years so I think we would all be behind him no matter what country he was from.
Awesome. Thanks for the opportunity.
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Klatt dons the #1 jersey and shares a championship moment with his mechanic, Peter Keeping. His heart rate was probably up in the low 50s... |
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photo: Allison Kennedy |
