Frid'Eh Update:Presented by Royal Distributing
DECEMBER 14, 2007By Danny Brault

I think in my first life I was a cowboy. Seriously. I love country music, being away from the city, tucked away in the woods, and taking life a little slower than most. (Although, horses make me nervous so we’ll replace the horse with a dirt bike.) I wasn’t totally sold on my belief until I stopped by Billy Whitley’s home in Huntington, Texas last week. The Monster Energy/ Cernic’s Kawasaki team owner was born and bred in the Lonestar state; he hunts, fishes, chews tobacco, owns two horses, goes to church, and enjoys off-roading in his Bronco at his hunting club. Other than operating his race team, Whitley’s life is fairly simple and his biggest pleasure comes from just being with his family. Whitley could be considered the modern day cowboy of motocross.

Some might think Whitley is somewhat of a redneck, but I enjoyed the brief taste of his lifestyle while in Huntington. He’s very close to his 18-year-old son, Hunter, and while he was deeply affected by Hunter’s injury suffered two years ago, Billy says it’s actually brought the family closer together. I witnessed first hand Hunter’s wonderful attitude as I barely saw him! He was always out with his buddies, working out, or hanging out with his girlfriend. “In the summer, he and his buddies ride their jet-skis three days a week,” says Billy.

Billy’s youngest boy, Parker Dean, is quite the kid. He’s very intelligent for an 8-year-old and knows exactly what adults are talking about even when they’re trying to be secretive. Even though he isn’t taking motocross too seriously, Parker owns a KTM 50 SX, and shows great balance on skateboards and bicycles. Angie, Billy’s wife, is the one who keeps it all together, of course. Yes, Billy Whitley has created himself and his family a little piece of paradise down south.

I’m very thankful to Billy for inviting me down to his home and I hope to make a trip down again. (He promised us we could go gar fishing; it’s like shooting these alligator-looking fish with bows at night. Sign me up!)

Speaking of Texas, it was home to the third running of the Red Bull Last Man Standing last weekend. The ironman off-road event took place in Bulcher, where 25 Canadians made the long haul, six of whom were racing. Marty Halmazna and Cory Graffunder were ready for a podium after finishing top 10 overall in last year’s event. However, it was first timer to event, 2007 Canadian National Off-Road champ, Shane Cuthbertson, who was the top Canuck with a sixth-place on the Day Lap. (Only three riders qualified for the Night Lap.)

Marty Halmazna (25) fights his way through the pack at the LMS in Texas.

photo: George Halmazna

Canada was represented well, with everyone finishing inside the top 40: Graffunder (10th), Bobby Prochnau (11th), Marty Halmazna (12th), Jason Schrage (17), and Noel Bolso (37). Polish rider, Taddy Blazusiak, the winner of the Las Vegas Endurocross, won the event, with trials rider Geoff Aaron finishing second, and David Knight finishing third. The king of all things tough, Knight, didn’t finish the Nigh Lap after pulling off because of a respiratory illness. So out of 100 riders entered, only three finished.

We received this note from Halmazna on his ride at the LMS:

Well, it was HARD. If last year was a 10 out of 10 for difficulty then this year was a 16! Hats off to Taddy—he is a machine.

I am a little disappointed with my results and I think that the other Canadian riders are as well. When you have multi-champion riders like Shane, Jason, Noel, Cory and Bobby and myself, not finishing or even not making it to the night loop, it hurts and hurts deep. My goals were to make the front row and I did by shaving almost a minute off my qualifying time. Goal number two was get a good start and I did okay there. By the eighth mile I was about 10th. My third goal was to make the night loop and finish. No, didn't happen.

How hard was it?  Shane caught up with me and we rode almost the whole day loop together. We would enter sections and just look at each other and shake our heads. We would then lift and lift and lift for what seemed hours, oh ya, it was hours! Jason Schrage told me it was the hardest thing that he has ever done. Noel was all smiles. He said that he never got a chance to ride up triple threat, a famous section. His smile would have flipped over, for sure. Cory and Bobby were leading the charge until Bobby had brake problems that would slow anyone down.

The support crews where bloody amazing. They are the heart and soul of team Canada. The efforts and organization that I had was better than any factory team out there. Jared Thomas and Jocko (Chad Bailey)—wow! Christine Roy, team nurse and food organizer (girlfriend). Wow! Lisa and Doug Raffan, filming crew. (Dirt TV) Wow! George Halmazna, photographer (Racer X Canada) and family supporter. Wow! Everyone that saw this was very impressed and knew we were not to be taken lightly. Chip Munn and BIG Dan of Munn Racing from Waco, Texas took a chance in helping out a Canadian rider and ended up helping out all the Canadians in parts and knowledge. At the end of the event Chip had a speech to give us all: “The camraderie and organization and the love of the sport that you all have is one of the best I have ever seen. You all should be proud of yourself and your riders and I am honoured to be a part of this!” Thanks, Munn Racing, for you help!

 

This year's course was tougher than ever, and only three riders even made it to the Night Lap.

photo: George Halmazna

Red Bull wanted an event that no one would finish. They almost got it, but I think there's going to be some controversy about all of this. I was told that there was only a handful of spectators at the difficult section where, last year, there were hundreds of screaming fans, cheering all the riders on. These sections required paying spectators to walk about 20 minutes to each area to see three riders only. That is not how it should be. Give fans what they want; they pay the bills. The feeling in the Canadian pit area was,’ Let’s at least be in the 20 or 30 top day loop riders going onto the night loop. It makes for exciting racing and worth the walk and money. There would have been four Canadians in the mix then.

Enough bitching, all your Canadian riders rode with their heads up, throttles pinned and were proud to be there! Time to hit the reset button and make adjustments for next year. I apologize for not putting Canada on top and my sponsors on top. I need to heal up my bruises and my broken toe (suffered in qualifying) and rest a little and start over and plan a new strategy  

You can also check out Cuthbertson’s race report on his website, www.shanecuthbertson.com.

A few weeks ago we asked readers for their favourite Ross “Rollerball” Pederson stories and received some really great tales of The Ross (surprisingly, we didn’t receive anything from Steve Matthes). Unfortunately, we only had limited space in the March issue, so we couldn’t include every submission. This one just missed the deadline. It’s from Bikesmith’s Brien Smith out of Campbell River, BC:

Back in 1983, my job was looking after Steen Hansen's interests in Toronto. Steen, based in Edmonton, was the Canadian Pirelli motorcycle tire importer then. There was a World Championship Motocross 250 round in St. Gabriel De Brandon, Quebec that summer. Pirelli flew in a bunch of special tires to Toronto and Steen and his wife Marion flew into Toronto where we rented a van, filled it up with the tires and drove to the track in Quebec.

At the track, the World Championship contenders were pitted in a long white circus tent. Steen, who was a motocross racer of some note in his time (and still races) peeked into the tent and was awestruck at the sight of his heroes. I was a roadracer and these guys were just dirtbikers to me so Steen sent me in to distribute the special Pirelli tires. I worked my way through the long tent in which there were perhaps 20 international teams offering the special tires for free.

One rider I remember was Georges Jobe. The last team in the tent was the factory Yamaha crew of the reigning World Champion, the fabulous, Danny Laporte. I introduced myself as the representative of the Canadian Pirelli tire importer and offered free tires. Upon hearing this, the fabulous Danny Laporte instructed his mechanic to "Put a Dunlop on it!" Some of the Europeans in that tent I couldn't understand, but I understood the Fabulous Danny Laporte.

I have been going to motocross races since 1966, called scrambles then, in Edmonton. I am a well-schooled race watcher and that day I saw one of the all time classics. At that time, Ross Pederson, from Medicine Hat, Alberta, was the top man in Canadian motocross. I don't know if I had told anyone about my Danny Laporte encounter at that time, but it was bleeding. Ross Pederson rode out of his skin that day on his production RM 250. The bike was on the edge of disaster, which was obvious to the enthusiastic and partisan crowd, as our Champion battled the World Champion for third place. Ross was amazing to watch; Danny Laporte had the best seat in the house, as he was only bike lengths behind, waiting for the inevitable huge crash. Everyone there that day was waiting for Ross Pederson's inevitable huge crash. It didn't happen. That day Ross Pederson, Champion of our Canada, took chances, pushed that poor bike, used up luck, borrowed karma, cashed in Hail Mary's, rode out of his skin, freaked out the Fabulous World Champion chasing him, and stood on the podium for that epic moto.

The crowd on that day was treated, and knew it was treated, to something special. Very special for me. Viva, Ross Pederson!
 
Wow, thanks for the letter, Brien! That last paragraph sums up Rollerball perfectly.

I felt that I was more than cautious in my first Obs report from the Rochester Arenacross. I’ve seen the multitude of “fan” mail sent to Matthes and I really don’t have the time to respond to everyone. However, I did receive one little note from Casondra Green. It turns out two more Canucks tried their hand at AX in New York two weeks ago:

Hey, Danny! Since your disappointed nobody wrote in about your Rochester Obs I thought I would mention that you weren't totally careful, since you forgot about me! [Laughs] You didn't include anything about Zack [Zager] and I who made the trip down there for our first AX races. Zack won the schoolboy class; I did crappy, but you didn't even mention us so there’s your feedback!

My apologies, Casondra. Be sure to tell Zach congrats on his first indoor victory!

It appears that Mitch Cooke is doing well on his second trip to Dubai. JF Trottier, who helped get Cooke set up overseas, posted this on MXforum.com:

Copied from Monday's The Hindu (India's National Newspaper)

BANGALORE: Karan Kadam of Team TVS Racing clinched the MRF National Supercross Championship title after the final round here. The Bangalore-based biker finished second in Moto I and that was enough for him to bag the crown.

It was an action-packed first Moto as C.S. Santosh grabbed the lead early only to see his engine stalling in the third lap. Mitch, a guest rider from Canada, took everyone by surprise as he displayed superior riding skills and won.

Mitch showed that his success was no flash in the pan as he won the second moto also with ease. He was declared the best rider of the day.

With Mitch dominating the motos, there was a scramble between Karan and Santosh for the second spot. Karan, who was in second position for a while, lost control of his bike while taking the tabletop jump and crashed into the barricade and fractured his right hand in the process. Santosh proceeded to take the second slot.

Some bad news regarding Cooke’s former trainer, Georges Jobe, was posted on www.motoverte.com. Apparently, the five-time World champ suffered a spinal injury around his C3/C4 area while riding with some friends in Dubai. Fortunately, Jobe is slowly regaining movement and feeling and it’s expected that he will recover, but it will take time.

The Hoff and his beautiful wife, Erin, enjoy a camel ride in Egypt.

Brady Sheren is back on the track down in SoCal, getting comfortable on his new Fun Center Suzuki RM-Z250. Sheren will be racing the West Coast SX Lites series with Fun Center. Allison Kennedy caught up with him for this week’s 5 mins with …

Sheren shared a little gossip with Allison, mentioning that 2000 Canadian 125 West champ, Sean Hamblin, is seeking employment from Monster Energy/ Pro Circuit, and we probably won’t see Ryan Villopoto on the starting line until the first East round in Atlanta.

The AMA Supercross Series has secured a new title sponsor in Monster Energy. Read the press release here.

Monster is diving right into action sports, especially motocross. They now support the eight rounds of the AMA Nationals and the Triple Crown, the CMRC Canadian Nationals, along with several race teams, including Factory Kawasaki, Pro Circuit, and the Cernic’s Kawasaki Team. Here’s an interesting tidbit: even though Cernic’s is sponsored by Monster Energy, don’t expect to see Dusty Klatt or Jeff Gibson wearing the big green claw on their bikes, their lids, or gear. “Monster wants the elite,” Whitley told me. “So in the U.S., they have Bubba, Ferry and the Pro Circuit team, but when we come to Canada, we’ll be using the Monster logo.” Whitley added that Monster is still a big supporter of his team while racing supercross, but it won’t be visible.

There’s no denying that women’s racing is rapidly growing in Canada. Last year we saw a $10,000 series purse added to the Canadian Women’s National Series, thanks to Suzuki Canada, and for 2008, we’re going to see at least three women on factory teams. Cernic’s Kawasaki is planning to support Heidi Cooke, Rockstar/ Suzuki OTSFF signed Missy Hackett, and I’ve heard that Royal Distributing/ KTM Canada is talking with a rider. Cheers to those teams for stepping up and helping to take women’s motocross to the next level!

Before I forget, happy birthday to Doug DeHaan! Big D turns 31 tomorrow.

The CMRC Ontario Provincial Banquet takes place on Saturday January 12. Dinner, drinks, and awards will again take place at Zeke’s Restaurant in Kitchener. Tickets are $25 and all info can be found here.

An FIM press release was issued out this week, stating that the 2008 Motocross des Nations set for Moneyglass Desmene, Ireland, has been cancelled. No reason was specified, but other venues are being explored currently.

We may see Kyle Keast racing Suzukis next year. After riding Hondas for his entire career, other than 2003 when he switched to a YZ250F, Keast is looking for a bit more support. He says that OTSFF’s team manager Andre Laurin has discussed the possibility of Keast racing for his B team. This would obviously open the door for Keast to move into the big rig if his results are there. Right now, the two parties are just talking, however.

With no actual racing going on, Matthes has been forced to pull out his World’s Greatest Supercross Races DVD collection for his Observations columns. So far, readers seem to really enjoy Matthes’ old school reviews. Check out his Obs from the 1988 Houston SX and 1985 Rose Bowl—they’re pretty funny!

I finally made out to Chesterman’s indoor track in Tillsonburg last Saturday. I was surprised to see more guys preparing to race their pit bikes than their big bikes! The Pitser Pit Bike Race Series is really taking off and guys are pumping more money into their mini-bikes than Britney Spears is into her lips. If you have a pit bike and are looking for some entertainment on Saturday nights, then stop by Chesterman’s. There are six events remaining: January 5 and 19, February 2 and 16, and March 1 and 15. Rider’s meeting begins at 6 PM and racing starts soon after. Check out www.chesterman.ca for more info.

Before I leave you, remember that Canadian readers can now subscribe to Racer X Illustrated and receive 12 digital issues of Racer X and 6 print issues of Racer X Canada for only $19.98 USD! That’s $10 off the regular price and we’ll send you a calendar too! Go here to subscribe or call 877-684-0080.

Say hello to little Magnus McClintock. This cute little fella is the son of our art director, Dawn McClintock, and her husband, Marty.  He's already proved his holeshot abilities by jumping the gate and popping out five weeks early! No worries, Magnus is happy and healthy and waiting for his first visit for Saint Nick! Congrats, Dawn, Marty, and Emmie!