Five Minutes with … Paul Carpenter
JANUARY 7, 2008

Atomic Racing's Paul Carpenter

photo: Allison Kennedy

By Danny Brault

New York’s Paul Carpenter probably had more on his mind heading into Anaheim than Chad Reed or James Stewart. Not only did he have to train, practice, test, and rest, he also had to look after stocking the Atomic Racing hauler, book plane tickets for the team, organize rental cars, decide where they would eat, and the list just goes on. You see, Carpenter is doing the racer/manager deal for Atomic in supercross and the outdoors, but he’s not using the extra workload as an excuse by any means. In fact, despite struggling with starts and the slippery conditions inside Angel Stadium, Carpenter worked his way from pretty much last to 13th in the 450 main event. We caught up with the 2008 Canadian National champ to see how things went at the grand opening of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series.


RXC: Hey, Paul, what’s going on? Are you still in California or are you back in Texas?
Paul Carpenter: No, I’m back in Texas.

I see things got a little wet on the weekend at A1.
Yeah, they definitely did. I struggled with it on the weekend.

It looked like you struggled with your starts in the heats and the main event, but you were able to work your way up to 13th in the final.
I actually rode pretty decent in the main, considering how my weekend had started. I had to actually use my provisional to get into the main, but I can’t say much. I didn’t ride very comfortable; the track was rutted and I was fighting it all day. In the main I turned it around and rode pretty decent. I was able to salvage a 13th. I hate to say that was a decent result or what I was looking for, but at least I salvaged some points.

Yes, I’m sure you—and a lot of other people, myself included—expected to see you in the top 10.
Yes. I was stuck all the way on the outside of the start and each gate was either muddy or slippery and mine had a really big hump in it. I really wanted to explode out of the gate and I think I revved it a little too high and spun. I just sat there while everyone else just took off. And I was lined up next to [Mike] Alessi so I knew I had to get a good jump [laughs].

With your success on the rutty, wet tracks in Canada, I thought you would favour the conditions at Anaheim.
It’s different, man. Supercross mud and outdoor mud are two totally different things. Every muddy outdoor race I’ve done, I’ve done well in. Every muddy supercross I’ve done, I’ve sucked in. I don’t know what it is. For one, each muddy supercross has been in California and that slick, rutted clay doesn’t mesh for me. I always crash; I can’t ride comfortable in it, but outdoors I never have problem with it.

I can't imagine trying to ride an AMA Supercross track, let alone in the conditions witnessed at A1!

photo: Simon Cudby

Does it get pretty slick on the jump faces?
Oh, everywhere! It’s slippery in between the jumps. In my LCQ, I was going pretty good and probably would have made it out of that, but I landed from a jump—and I swear to you—I landed on my head before I knew what happened. I must have landed with the front tire first, and I fell so fast I didn’t know what happened.

Considering the elements and your start, a 13th really isn’t too bad for the first race.
For sure. Another thing too is that there were a lot of nerves. It was our first time working together as a team. There was a lot going on and we were busy throughout the day. It took my head out of it a little bit. It was tough; it was the first time for everything, but now we know everything we need to do and I know my physically conditioning is in place. I just need to put the pieces together and I think there will be good things in the future.

I was going to ask that, how things went at the first race for Atomic Racing. I would imagine you had more than just racing on your mind.
It was tough because there were so many sponsors there, and Anaheim 1 is so big. There were so many people, introducing themselves, and in and out of the trailer all day. It wasn’t a problem; it just wasn’t something I’m used to doing so it took a lot of my time. I was a little focused too much on putting the team together and making sure everything was good. I think I have that figured out now and all of my guys worked really well together—I can’t say enough about that.

So you’ll be in Texas this week until Phoenix?
Yeah. I’m going to keep coming back to Texas. I will fly back and forth.

You’re not getting bored down there? The track is still fun?
No, my guy is here rebuilding it right now. We’re getting in a whole new track.

What’s your mindset heading into Phoenix?
Well, I mean, honestly, I’m trying to forget that Anaheim even happened. I realize, no one made the track look easy. [James] Stewart, he rode awesome, but no one made the track look easy; Reed was crashing and Stewart was crashing. Everyone was having problems. For first round jitters, I think that was washing them all out and Phoenix is going to be the new first round. The track is going to be good and everyone’s going to see what everyone has.

For the throwback at A2, do you have anything planned?
The retro night? I don’t think we’re doing anything special. I actually looked at the track design and can’t believe we’re going to race on something like that.

No open face helmet [laughs]?
I might throw on the handlebars or something like that [laughs]!