APRIL 29, 2008
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Monster Energy Kawasaki's Mike Fisher has been in--and seen--more than his fair share of races. Did you know Fisher's responsible for wide footpegs? |
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photo: Simon Cudby |
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s team manager, Mike Fisher
Unadilla 500 support class 1985: “The track was just epic; it was so good. Fresh green grass, super tall, and the dirt was perfect. I won the 500 support class and it was fun as hell for me. It had rained a bit and the track was so good, it was ridiculous. I’ll always remember that day.”
Toronto WSXGP 2005: “The first one we won on our brand new 450. It was huge for us; all the Japanese were there and they supported us in bringing that bike over. James really showed a lot that race. RC was there, and he was on James, but he showed that him—and also—the bike were ready.”
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Jeff Williams remembers more from the night before a race, then the day of, but they're no less entertaining! |
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photo courtesy of Williams |
Ogio’s brand manager, Jeff Williams
“Well, being that I’ve only ‘officially’ been in the moto industry for about seven years, I don’t have the stories that everyone else seems to have from the past.
I’ve been lucky enough to have heard all about the great battles in supercross and outdoors, walked Glen Helen in 110-degree weather, been to the past six Las Vegas SX finals, and accompanied Andy and Erin Bell to many races and events. However, I can definitely think of a few memorable races that have had a lasting impact on my psyche, confidence, and love for the sport over race days.
“Early in my Ogio days when I was getting familiarized with the brand, I attended their inaugural mini race which was put on by Andy Bell when the SX had a stop in Salt Lake City. Being that my flight was on mini race day, I was late to the party/race that took place inside and out of Ogio’s massive warehouse, weaving in between aisles full of bags and boxes. To make a long story a bit shorter, I was in the first heat with the likes of Guy Cooper, Kenny Bartram, Renner, Hansen, Bell, Godfrey, Millsaps, and a few others. Needless to say, I was way out of my league. As they were pushing, shoving, and fighting each other even before the flag dropped, I was trying to figure out how I was going to stay on two wheels with the obvious aggression and testosterone going into this heat. On the third or fourth lap, I accidentally popped it into second at the base of the jump going into the warehouse and proceeded to gun it into the fence and through the boxes of product. I watched the rest of the days’ racing from the bleachers with the wives, kids and fans. That was a pretty memorable and humbling race.
“I remember weaseling Steve Crevier’s RV for the week so that Brandon Gibson and I could create an Ogio corner at the top of the Wastelands. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the wettest weekends I can ever remember to date. Not having much experience in the RV world, we had rivers going through our ‘camp,’ water falls coming down from our pop up tents, and general debauchery all around. We basically made the best of an extremely tough and challenging weekend! We actually had a blast though as Camp Ogio ended up filling up with a ton of friends and industry folk who joined us in numerous outdoor covered poker tourneys, wet BBQs, cheering sections, and, overall, good times! The toughest part was ‘rubbing’ another trailer in the hotel parking lot in Nanaimo on the Sunday night. I literally tore a strip off the side of Crevier’s trailer and thus Crevier now holds Ogio’s first lifetime sponsorship. We’re still friends…. With regards to the racing, I do remember that was the weekend that Darcy [Lange] decided to wrap his forehead around the finish line banner and take himself out of the season’s racing.
“This would be a toss up between throwing the “Ride with the Pros” day on the hottest day of the year in dusty Penticton, or maybe my first Walton experience. I’ll go with Walton. I think it was 2002 or 2003, when my sales rep, Eric Sum, and I borrowed a big trailer that we decided to camo spray paint the day before making the trek to Walton.
“The idea was to have the trailer as base camp for the shop we were setting up in the infield, which is now where the mini track is. Being that I didn’t know where I was staying, or what I was getting into, I ended up sleeping in the trailer for a week on all the stacked Ogio bags we were trying to sell. This may not have been the hottest Walton ever, but was definitely the hottest and wettest I’ve been to, as there were no windows or open doors in the trailer. The ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’ and Dave Bell’s six o’clock voice will never be removed from my head since the speaker was 10 feet from the trailer.
“I think I still have nightmares about waking up in a hot sweat thinking that there was this booming voice at the door screaming for me to wake up. And if that didn’t work, the sound of two strokes going by twenty feet away a half an hour later definitely gives me the cold shakes now [laughs]. A special thanks to the Grey’s that welcomed me with open arms and medium-rare steaks! I’ll never forget their generosity.”
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Ron Ashley won five Canadian National championships with Blair Morgan (4) and Josh Woods (1) in his Two Wheel Kawasaki days. |
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photo: Jason T. Griffiths |
Two Wheel Motorsports’ Ron Ashley
Blair Morgan, Toronto SX 1996: “[Jean-Sébastien] Roy was the guy to beat and Blair ended up winning it with a dismal crowd coming out to watch; it was too bad, the racing was great but the event didn't take off. I was so mad at Cycle Canada; the only thing reported that they had on the event was about how there were so many empty seats. They didn't talk about Blair winning it or anything about the results. Needless to say, the publisher and I have not spoken since!”
“Blair Morgan's inaugural national race in 1997 at Round 1, where he got a dead last start, passed everyone, and won by 35 seconds! [Marco] Dubé was choked and no one came even close that year to catching Blair. He simply decided he was going to win; we had the bikes dialed, and we conquered.”
Sean Hamblin, Moncton, NB 2001: “The first moto had like five different leaders. When Sean was out front, I was on the radio telling his mechanic, Frenchie, not to let Sean know he was in the lead. I knew it would mess up his head so we kept telling him to push and move forward. He ended up winning the moto in surprise and couldn't help from smiling!”
“Another would be the Listowel Arenacross that Chris Lee put on. It was the best racing, the rowdiest crowd, and the most relaxing time was had by all. Mez, Newf, Hamblin, and Cooke were all there; it was tight, action packed and a riot to watch.”
