Boise, Idaho's Ben Evans

Interview and photos by Brett Dailey

Each year in the Canadian MX2 West series, it seems like we have one or two American riders who just show up on their own dime and find themselves on the podium. This year, Ben Evans has done an excellent job of making all of the fans flip through the program—well, okay, he’s not in the program so that won’t help much but after winning the opener and finishing 8-2 in Regina, a lot of people are asking, “Who the heck is Ben Evans?!” I had the opportunity to watch Ben ride at Ryan Millar’s private track and I can attest that we have not yet seen the true speed of Ben Evans. His fluid style reminds me of a skilled veteran rather than a young up-and-comer. He’s currently five points behind reigning champ Jimmy Nelson and I have a hunch that Calgary’s jump-filled layout will suit his style.

RXC: Ben, tell us a bit about yourself.
Ben Evans: Well, I’m from Boise, Idaho [Ed. Note: Scott Wallenberg’s current hometown], I’m 17 years old and I’m up here to have some fun and race the Canadian nationals and tear it up.

When did you start riding?
I started riding when I was about six years old. I raced locally a lot and some amateur nationals. The last couple of years, I got pretty serious about it. I turned pro just a few weeks ago and I’m feeling really good.

Can you recap your amateur history for us?
I did pretty well at some amateur nationals last year. I won some titles—the amateur open in Phoenix, Arizona and the nationals in Hangtown in California at the World Minis in Las Vegas I got a bunch of seconds, and some top threes. At Oak Hill, I got another second there so I’ve done pretty well. I felt like I could have done better in some spots but that’s the way it goes, that’s racing.

When did you decide to come up to Canada?
Well, this summer, when I decided to turn pro, we thought it would be a good series to try out, to see where I was at. The tracks always look rough and gnarly and fun, so I decided to come up and just live the dream.

What were your expectations for the first round?
I knew I could do pretty well; I thought I could get a top three. I felt really good in practice. Jimmy Nelson has come down to our area and I rode with him at Ogden once. He was pro at the time and I was still Intermediate but we had really close lap times and last year, on TV, I watched him pretty much tear it up and win almost every moto, so I knew I had a pretty good pace going then. It’s also been a year since then but I’m feeling really good.

Anyone surprise you up here, like Kyle Beaton or anyone?
Yeah I saw Kyle last year, he was usually in the top three as well. I have raced against Gray Davenport—I just raced against him at a four-stroke national—he’s a good rider. So I knew some of the competition, I knew there would be some surprises but I’m just looking to go out and be consistent and I definitely have a good chance of winning [the title].

Evans rips up the loam at Ryan Millar's track.

Nelson and Beaton were both docked five spots at Morden for jumping on a yellow. You didn’t jump and took the win and gained a lot of valuable points. Describe the moto.
Well, first off, we were late coming up to the gate, which was not a good start [laughs]. I missed my good gate pick and had to start way out on the right. I actually got an awesome jump and came out about third or fourth. I passed to second and was trying to catch Nelson and a couple of laps later, that’s when the yellow flag incident happened when Nelson and Beaton jumped it and I didn’t. Nelson kind of got away from me there and I made a few mistakes. After it started pouring, I was just trying to stay strong and keep it up. Beaton got around me though and I later switched goggles so I could see better and I started catching Beaton again but he ended up falling on the last lap and gave me second which ended up giving me the overall [after Nelson was docked].

When the yellow flag happened, were you guys all in a group together?
We were all spaced out a little bit. Nelson wasn’t too far ahead of me and I wasn’t sure how far Beaton was behind me but there were probably five sets of those doubles so when I decided to roll them, I lost a bunch of time and Beaton almost passed me by the end of them.

So you saw the flagger?
Yeah, the flagger was on the lip and I heard the rules that you’re not supposed to double on yellow and they were pretty serious about it. I saw the flagger waving it pretty hard on top of the lip and there was an official standing right there and I was kind of bummed because I saw Nelson jump it and I was debating whether to keep riding hard or whether to roll it. It was a tough decision but I decided to roll it. In the end it was the right choice, definitely.

What’s your strategy for the balance of the season?
I’m not going to hold back. I’m going to go for the win because you know Nelson will be up there and you never know what will happen, if there will be another mud race or if I have a bad moto. You never know so you just have to go out there and give it 110 percent every moto.

Who would you like to thank for getting you this far?
I’d like to thank American Honda, Fly, Doctor D, Enzo, Scott USA, Ogio, Step One Graphics, Renthal, Alpina Wheels, the Lord Jesus Christ, my mechanic, my family and all of my supporters, thank you.