Steve Matthes’ Observations from Toronto
APRIL 3, 2008By Steve Matthes
Photos by James Lissimore


The Monster Energy Supercross series, a FIM world Championship visited America’s attic (or America’s hat, which is the preference of RXI’s Steve Cox). It was cool to go back to my homeland and the country that I am proud to represent and proud to educate my American buddies on. Of course, for 13 years I’ve done nothing but inform said American buddies of everything that Canada has done well. The downside to this, is that anytime something is jacked up about Canada (coins for money, cold weather, riders not riding in the mud) I hear about it from Americans. I suppose with the good comes the bad.

In the continuing, “Hey, riders, bitching about the track? You design it then!” theme, Timmy Ferry designed the Canadian track. When I had dinner with him after the race, he implored that “I don’t want my name and that track ever mentioned in the same breath.”

Why? Because it was one of the gnarliest, ruttiest, hardest-to–find-your-rhythm tracks ever! The Dirt Wurx boys brought in new dirt to replace the rock strewn soil of past years. I’m not sure if the stuff was sitting on the bottom of Lake Michigan but it was soft. Really, really soft. Like fresh out of the oven Toll House cookie soft. It caused the riders to just try and survive more than race the track; it caused Dirt Wurx to remove obstacles and flatten things down to make it easier. It was crazy to watch the best riders in the world make mistake after mistake in trying to complete twenty laps.

For the people that want longer main events, this was a prime example of a reason to not do it. The guys were so tired and beat that the passing came from mistakes, and the actual racing was complete by the end of the first lap after the track got bad. It was actually kind of boring by the mid point of the mains. I can’t stress how gnarly it was.

Chad Reed (22) leads Josh Hill (40). Hill was showing speed in Toronto, but was trying a little too hard and went down twice in the main event.  Reed kept it on two wheels, however, for his seventh main event win of the year.

As I correctly predicted on Friday night after walking the track, Chad Reed would win the main event. When it comes down to he who makes the least mistakes, bet the house on Reed. Think of Indianapolis a few weeks back and its ruts and difficult sections and how he dominated. It was the same thing here as he led wire to wire. He’s a very technical rider that can lay down the laps without making too many mistakes.

One mistake he did make was in the heat when he tried to force it by Kevin Windham and touched the 24’s rear wheel, causing him to go down pretty good. He also stopped later on for some in-race bike repairs and finished fifth in his heat.

Kevin Windham and Davi Millsaps battled for second all night long, and, like I said, it was mistake after mistake before KW decided that he wanted it a little more to grabbed second-place. At one point, Millsaps jumped off the side of the track right onto the concrete!

Josh Hill rode well; he was up there early on and made a couple mistakes, including a fall to drop back. He was 12th for a good portion of the race before putting on a charge and getting Nick Wey on the last lap for fifth-place. Very impressive ride coming on the heels of his main event win in Minneapolis two weeks ago. Man, what a turn around for Josh from last year, he looks confident, controlled and just plain fast this year.

Speaking of Nick Wey, he had his best race since the opener getting sixth-place. Maybe the crazy endurocross-type track made his KTM feel like it was in its natural elements and worked with him to this good finish. Finally something to build on for this former podium threat from nearby Michigan. It was a legit sixth for the two-seven.

I’m still trying to get Wey on a podcast this year. I asked again this weekend and he told me “To stop sweatin’ him,” whatever the hell that means. I’m going to ask Momma B to make him do it.

MDK/KTM's Nick Wey used a good start in Toronto to finish sixth.

This is what I wrote in my Obs from Minneapolis: “A few weeks back on my podcast, Larry Brooks and I were talking about the Privateer Rule and how it needs to change. He didn’t know that Josh Hansen and Charles Summey were privateers and asked why his rider Nathan Ramsey wasn’t? I said ‘Good question, Larry, you should look into it.’

Well, LB did and now Nathan Ramsey is leading the privateer points’ challenge! This is a good move as Nathan’s bike is probably not as good as the Gibb’s guys anyways. I’d like to think I had a little something to do with this and I only want 2 percent from Ol’Nate Dog.”

Well, forget that two-percent, Nate, because you were only a privateer for a few days! After deciding that he was, Live Nation correctly reversed their decision and took away Ramsey’s privateer status. While they were at it, they decided that Gibbs Yamaha riders’ were also NOT privateers. Good move on LN’s part! Let’s hope that we see some kind of clear-cut rule next year, say a committee of industry people to decide.

So who is now the top privateer? Atomic Racing’s Paul Carpenter! Just please don’t go and look at his KYB suspension on his usually Showa-equipped Honda. Look away, nothing to see here….

Butler Brothers Motocross Racing team had what I can confidently say was their best night in the history of its team with the top three spots in the Lites class. Shaun Skinner, Matt Boni and a very fast, but unlucky, Kyle Cunningham, were the on the podium. Great to see them so happy after the race, and, to be honest, I was a bit bummed that no Canadians stepped up on the box to make the very subdued crowd happy. You can’t say that Canadian riders didn’t have their chance.

Brady Sheren was one of those that had the brass ring and dropped it. Sheren moved into second and should’ve, could’ve got at least third, but got tired (well, everybody got tired at this race, I should say MORE tired than other dudes) and gave it away. I guess he got some stomach cramps along the way, probably from being exhausted trying to squeeze the bike to make it stay somewhat straight. Still a great ride by Brady and he eventually finished as top Canadian in fourth-place. No matter what, fourth in a supercross is legit and something to be proud of.

Kyle Beaton also should’ve been thinking about which order to thank sponsors while standing on the podium, but he too gave it away. KD Beets had just moved past Sheren into second when he crashed in the whoops and hurt his already badly swollen finger. I don’t think his finger was bothering him during the race as he came from almost dead last in the first turn to second. He was riding great and it could’ve been a storybook ride. Instead it sucked as he was obviously laboring after the crash and pulled out and credited with a 14th.

Main event makers: Kyle Beaton (134) and Levi Kilbarger (412) have both made AMA SX main events this year. Kilbarger went to on finish fifth in Toronto, while Beets crashed and fell from second to 14th.

You know the Canadian that I was impressed with most? Probably number 38, Kyle Keast. He looked so bad last year that I felt somebody should’ve pulled his entry, but he obviously has been practicing his skills as he looked way better in 2008. Keep in mind that Brady and Beets have been jumping and riding indoors for years now, while Keast has been pounding laps at Gopher Dunes and welding things. Anyways, while still not as fast as a lot of riders out there, “Kyle the Welder” rode a steady and strong race to get ninth.

Speaking of Welderboy, I sat next to his main sponsor, Machine Racing’s John Nelson, the whole night. That’s all I can print about our conversation but it was nice to catch up with him. When I asked him when he’s getting a race team, I thought he was going to hit me.

I also thought Davey Fraser showed a lot of heart and gumption out there, btw.

On the Canadian MX front, I’m still sorting out what the Canadian Motorcycle MCC we’re-all-getting-together-and-singing-kumbaya announcement was all about. But I think anytime you can get a bunch of groups together to form a big, serious group with the goal of getting Canadian motorcycle racing some HP in the world, that’s never a bad thing. Now about that FIM recognition….

Toronto marked the return of everybody’s favorite rider, Tim Ferry. He shocked the world by recording the fastest time of the day in practice but chose a curious gate for the heat race that didn’t help when he got a bad start. In the main, he again didn’t get the jump and was charging hard to what I thought would be fifth but a combination of the first-race-back-lung exhaustion and a really bad lap got him a seventh.

You know, Butler Brothers should be pumped with their podium sweep of the Lites class, and it makes me shake my head at all the other Lites teams. If you’re Pro Circuit, YoT or Factory Connection, then you’re excused for not showing up. All you other teams should be punching each other in the face for not coming up and grabbing a chance at a win. Doesn’t matter the competition; you’re telling me that a rider can’t use any kind of good showing as a springboard to better his results? This was a fantastic opportunity for a Justin Brayton, Nico Izzi, Matt Georke or Will Hahn to get a win. I bet Live Nation feels the same way and I know money’s tight but more teams should’ve been there, period.

The guy who got fifth-place (Levi Kilbarger) has raced every East Coast Supercross so far and qualified once, finishing last in that main event. Let’s just remember that before we start freaking out over everybody’s Lites finishes.

This race made me appreciate Canada’s finest SX racer to date, Darcy Lange. Remember him? Finishing top three in the Lites series last year and coming so so close to winning a race. Us in the Canadian media forget about him in our rush to talk about Canadian riders in SX, but he’s a bad dude.

The Campbell River Crusher Dusty Klatt made the main. That’s about all I can say about DK as he went down in the first turn, and, somehow, completed the race and finished last. It’s amazing with all the riders that were down and jumping off the track he couldn’t manage to pass anybody. It’s a good thing that team manager Derek Sorenson wasn’t here after last week’s RXC interview; Klatt and Jeff Gibson’s 16th might’ve made him jump from the press box.

If it wasn't sure Merge Racing products, Troy Adams wouldn't have rode as well as he did in Toronto. At least that's what Matthes says.

Troy Adams had a good ride and ran up front for a while before settling on eighth. Him and training partner Ferry had a little battle going on at one point. He looked pretty good with his Merge Racing Technologies motor and suspension handling the track with ease. Now that I mention it, did you know that five out of the top ten riders were using Merge Racing Technologies’ Adjustable Leak Jet? Now you do.

Speaking of the ALJ, Butler Bros. 450 rider Jason Thomas is now using the device and he rode pretty steady to tenth. He’s kind of like a faster version of Keast: not real talented but in good shape and always trying his hardest out there. For a guy that has straight up said that he’s not talented, I can’t believe that he’s jumping a rhythm section at Ferry’s and Reed’s that the hosts don’t jump. True story!

On Friday night, the Racer X Canada guys hosted a little get together at the local watering hole called the Loose Moose. It was by all accounts a big hit and much better than any other party thrown that night. Everyone got to keep their sleeves also, which means Danny Brault was in check. Big name riders like Brady Sheren and Ryan Lockhart showed up to support the industry in all the shenanigans. Good to see. I thought that the actual seat from Maple Leaf Gardens in the Moose was cool. I didn’t think that the RXC banner covering the Maple Leafs picture was that cool, but my wife Angie took it down before heads rolled.

To all those people that stopped me at the party, at the hotel and at the race to tell me they liked the podcasts and columns, I thank all of you. It’s pretty amazing to me that this stuff gets the response it does, and even though I’m “Not a responsible journalist,” 99 percent of you don’t seem to care.

The Loose Moose is quickly becoming the new hot spot for supercross!

I ran into Andrew Short and his trainer at Starbucks Saturday morning before the race. He was telling me that he’s no longer writing his Transworld MX magazine column as he’s just too busy with the new baby, training and riding to keep it going. He told me that it takes him a long time for each and everyone he does and was impressed with the amount of words each one of these columns are. Probably the only time Shorty’s ever going to be impressed with anything I do.

After the race I was at East Side Mario’s eating some dinner when none other than Jim “Hollywood” Holley and bajillion-time figure skating champion Elvis Stojko came in. It was cool to meet Elvis and I could tell he was a real moto fan. Of course, Hollywood is friends with a Canadian figure skater—he’s friends with everyone!

Joe “Legend of Ohio” Oehlof has been coming out and riding better and better on his #88 Yamaha, and I’ve been silently pulling for him to make a main. He’s come real close lately and I really hope he does it before the end of the season. Joe’s good, people.

The CMA was back and relevant again! No doubt the dry cleaners around Toronto were very busy getting the white suits ready and raring to go. I spoke with some regular AMA and FIM officials who just had to laugh at all the CMA people running around doing, well, nothing. I went down to get the results as I always do and I guess the whole transponder thing still needs some work in Canada as the Lites results were just listed in order of finish. No numbers beside their finish, no lap times, nothing—just rider name, number, bike brand and hometown. Oh well…

Gibbs Yamaha had the best of times and the worst of times as Charles/Josh Summey rode really well in the main event to finish ninth. He was on it, even passing his buddy Tim Ferry back at one point. After the race he reminded me of this, and despite my warning to never do that again, he said that it felt good and to tell Red sorry. Nice to see the respect given out to his elders.

And on the worst of times, Josh Hansen didn’t qualify for the main event again. To be fair, his shifter was bent in the LCQ, although, he was never in qualifying position. Amid rumors that the team is thinking about getting another rider for the outdoors (maybe at Josh’s expense), another poor showing is the last thing Hansen needed. One member of the team told me that Hansen and new “training” partner Eric Sorby are “on the path to greatness” while trying to keep a straight face. [Ed note: After this was written, it was announced on Tuesday April 1 that Joe Gibbs Racing and Josh Hansen have parted ways.]

Like I said in the beginning, I have to answer to all things Canadian and have to deal with questions from Red Dog:

 “Why don’t you guys get your own Queen instead of using England’s?”

“How come you guys don’t have your own cars? Why do you have to drive ours?”

“How come people look different up here?”

“If you’re going to use the English Queen, how come you guys all speak French?”

I’m not making this up, and I do call this guy my friend.

Ryan Clark had a rough night not qualifying, and it seemed that every time I looked up he was crashing or going off the track. In the last few races, he’s really been a lot better and more of a factor. I’m sure it was just the soil and ruts that jacked with the Arizona desert rider than anything else.

For the first time in … I don’t even know how many years, there was a guy double classing! Seeing how it wasn’t an AMA event, there was no rule for a guy to ride both classes and Willy Browning took the opportunity to get some extra cash and practice. He made the Lites main and missed the 450 final by two spots. This is the kind of thing that I notice that won’t make news anywhere else. Good job, Willy B!!

Thanks for reading my Canadian Supercross report, and thanks again for the nice things all y’all said about my reports! I really appreciate it and I have to thank all the crew at RXC (DanBro, AK, JTG, Stenning, Lissimore, Christa, Dailey, and O’Shea) for helping me out all year.

If you want to complain or praise please email me at matthes@racerxcanada.com