MXP Chatter: Jim Scott

Jim Scott is one of the faces you see at the races every weekend. He loves the sport of motocross and has passed that love to his kids, which is evident every time you see one of the Scotts at the track; they always have a big smile on their face. As the Ontario Amateur MX Director for CMRC, one of Jim’s tasks is to try to make everyone at the races happy with the program. While we all know that this is an impossible task, Jim has done a very good job trying. With the recent release of the 2014 Ontario CMRC MX schedule, we decided to call Jim to see just what exciting things CMRC has planned for this season in Ontario.

Q: Hey Jim, what is going on tonight at the Scott house?

A: Not too much, it’s a rare quiet night here.

Q: Sorry for calling you so late, I hope you’re still awake enough to answer some questions?

A: Of course, go for it.

Q: As seen on MXP first, you released the 2014 Ontario MX schedule. I know I was excited to see it for the first time and I wasn’t disappointed, it looks great.

A: Thanks, I think it’s going to be a great season. We have a couple of new tracks in Gully Mor and Panic Rev, we working in conjunction with the Moto Park Cup that we’re very excited about, and we have the staples of Ontario MX in Gopher Dunes, RJ’s, Walton, and the RAT Track in Paisley, although there will be no Pro class offered at the first Paisley event because there will a conflicting race for Pros at Sand Del Lee. I think we could’ve had a few more races but when all is said and done we think it’s a great schedule. It all begins with a practice at Gopher Dunes on April 6th.

Q: Congratulations on getting the new tracks. It’s been a while since tracks have been added to the schedule so I think everyone should be excited about that. I actually did a race at Gully Mor last fall, and I also went down to Panic Rev to practice twice last year so I can tell you that both tracks are great.

A; Well, I’m glad you said that because we’re looking forward to racing on both tracks. Also, I want to say that despite what some people think, we didn’t bully our way into these new tracks. I’ve had Jim Roberts from Gully Mor ask me a few times why I’ve never ask him to hold a race there. Well, this year I finally did. At the same time, Al Scott from Panic Rev approached us about having races there too so of course we’re going to say yes. I think it’s going to be great to not only race on some new tracks, but to also travel to that part of Ontario again.

Q: A few weeks ago at the CMRC banquet, you and Mark Stallybrass talked about maybe some new sponsors coming into the Ontario Provincial Series for 2014. It sounded like this is going to be a pretty exciting year in this province.

A: Definitely, we’re going to get some help from Rockstar Energy Drink so that is cool. You know, we’ve always been very lucky with sponsors and we’re grateful for that. If we can add a major company like Rockstar Energy then we must been doing something right. Also, we’re working hard on getting bigger trophies for the kids and important things like that.

At the CMRC Banquet a month ago Mark Stallybrass announced the Rockstar Energy will be sponsor of the Ontario Provincial Series.

Q: Funny you should mention the kids because that was my next question. This is obviously a very important group of racers at the track. While there is nothing better than seeing a happy kid at the end of the day, that’s sometimes easier said than done. Is there going to be anything different offered to the kids program this season?

A: I can tell you that one of my goals this year is to make sure the kids get treated right. You’re correct in saying that they’re an important group at the track, but they’re also one of the toughest groups to deal with because what one kid wants might be different from the next. One of things we discussed at the promoters meeting this winter was to try and make all of the mini tracks better. While it’s hard to make the mini tracks good for all levels of riders, there is certainly room for improvement. My goal this year is to give all the kids a great experience when they come to a CMRC race so they can’t wait to come back. I know that’s a hard job, but I’m going to try my best.

Q: That is great news Jim. I think that is the hardest thing in every class at the track, to try and make it good for everyone, whether it’s concerning the track or the daily schedule. There’s always going to be one person or one class that gets the rough track at the end of the day.

A: I agree, you’re never going to make everyone happy but you can try.

Q: You must be excited to be working in conjunction with the Moto Park Cup races in 2014. Those events seem to be growing each year.

A: For sure, I attended the races last year and was very impressed with the vibe. Iain Hayden and I have been friends since 2002 so we work well together. We’ve had numerous discussions about how to make the Moto Park Cup races and how to improve the amateur program so I think everyone is going to be very excited this season.

Q: Well Jim, the 2014 schedule looks great and personally I can’t wait until April. It sounds as though racing in Ontario is going to be very exciting this season.

A: I hope so. I’m very excited for the racing to begin too. When you look outside these days, April seems like a long time from now. We’ll hopefully see everyone at Gopher Dunes in April.

Moto Park will once again being hosting their Moto Park Cup races in 2014.