Monday Maniac #8

“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” – Aristotle. I thought I would start the Monday morning off with a motivational quote. Monday’s for 90% of the world seem to be a struggle no matter what you are doing. Whether you are living your dream being an athlete, a movie star, or just somebody with pockets full of cash with little to no worries, or maybe you are just a 9-5’er just trying to get the bills paid. No matter what your roll is on a Monday it’s rarely a very exciting one. Some would say that the job I have is awesome. I would agree. I get to choose my own hours, I get to travel, I get some free items from time to time. But with the good always comes some bad. This time of year is the worst because being motivated is hard right now with dreary weather, no real moto to speak of (in Canada anyways) but never fear because we are just over a month away from riding and the opening of tracks all around. For me or MXP for that matter, we are like a dyno right now and we’re just warming up the bike as we get ready to hit high RPM to make maximum power as the season gets underway. Basically from this Thursday when I’m off to California till first weekend in September it’s just a constant work load. Just like the dyno that climbs from 0 horsepower all the way up to the mid 60’s (for most 450’s). Our entire team, though be it small, is tapped out for the next 7 months. Here’s hoping 2013 is a banner year for all involved in racing or the industry.

 

I had some good chats with a few peeps throughout the Canadian moto world this week and things are really shaping up it seems for the season. First I chatted with Canadian Arenacross champ Spencer Knowles and the young GA Checkpoint Yamaha rider is getting ready to head south to Cali for a few months and prep for the upcoming MX2 campaign. He basically has all the same sponsors and deal as 2012, but now he has that Ax title to bring to the table. Plus, he will be working with Sean Hamblin while down in Cali. Lots of positive things in the Knowles camp right now and as I spoke with him you could tell that this Ax title was planned and his attitude towards racing is different. Spencer showed us podium speed more than once last summer and this summer with the exit of champion Teddy Maier (now Mx1) and  Jeremy Medaglia (MX1), you have to put Spencer right in there for a moto win threat each weekend and a podium spot for the championship come Walton time. He seems to think he can and I’m betting his fan base does as well. Skill and speed have never been an issue but consistency has been that missing component so maybe this AX title will give him that confidence to realize he belongs on top and will help him finish each moto with valuable points to stay in the title hunt for all nine rounds.

The next on my list was Jason Hughes of Monster Energy leading Edge Kawasaki. The huge rumor of a possible deal with Brett Metcalf is inching even closer as Jay has headed down to California to meet with Metcalfe as well as shipped some bikes down there to see if the whole package fits. It’s still not set in stone but all these little coincidences have us thinking it’s looking good. Now the question is where would you put Metcalfe in our series. Obviously he’s a title threat but can he beat Colton Facciotti, Tyler Medaglia and Dusty Klatt when there at their best on home soil? Then other riders like Bobby Kiniry and Jeremy Medaglia…throw me an e-mail gauldy@mxpmag.com with your thoughts.

The other call I had was with Blair Harper of Monster Energy Canada. He also opened up about the Metcalfe deal which again has us thinking it’s a deal about to happen. He also mentioned that Monster Energy will be doing something Friday night in Toronto. Stay tuned for that, though they usually keep it to the very VIP’s of the industry. It’s not like the party at Houston restaurant that’s going on. Either party is going to be the spot to be on the Friday.

The Atlanta Supercross was this past weekend and as per usual it was a sold out stadium of over 70 thousand people. That is purely amazing that so many race fans witness this iconic sport. The racing wasn’t the most entertaining and I have read a few of the PC bench racers share their thoughts on the track and how weak it was for a good race. It’s hard not to agree with them considering in both 250 and 450 the battles were not really blossoming from start to finish. I guess the track and Feld could tip their hats to the fact that nobody was carried away on a stretcher. That’s a bonus after a long weekend of being at the track for the production crew. Even though the racing was boring it was pretty significant for the simple reason of who took the victories. James Stewart finally found what he has been missing and Wil Hahn shocked the series by beating Dean Wilson (though Wilson had some nasty practice crashes during the week, but can’t take anything away from Hahn). I for one am one of those guys that has the “Love/Hate” relationship for James Stewart. Then I got to meet him face to face a month ago at the Oakley release party and he gave me a way better sense of what he’s really about. So it’s safe to say I was pretty happy for the guy after Saturday night. Now James is a tad out of the title chase but we have all witnessed him going a win streak once he finds his mojo. That could be good for the points chase and really mix it up as we count down the second half of the season. The one cool thing we all know is that Toronto is coming fast. March 23rd is the date and if you don’t have tickets already you better get on it. Apparently according to insiders the tickets are selling well this year, really well, which is great to hear all around.

The Canadian racers Jon Jon Pauk, Nicky Beatty and Cole Thompson once again showed us there skills in Atlanta. Both Pauk and Thompson made the night show where Beatty just missed it by a second. Last week he was two seconds and this week he was a second off the pace. So he is making strides closer to that top 40 who make the show. The funny thing is if Nicky finds that second he needs coming in the next rounds he may knock Pauk out of the top 40. Jon Jon both weeks in a row just squeezed in to the show in 39th, a mere second ahead of Beatty. For Cole Thompson making the night show and the main is something he’s not stressing about. This weekend he gave us all a mild heart attack as he didn’t make it smoothly through his qualifier and was sent to the last chance. The race nobody wants to be in for the simple fact it’s like a bumper car race for those final two spots. Luckily Thompson ripped a good start and won with ease. If you follow his twitter he’s not happy with how the main event went after finishing 13th. Thompson has top 5 speed and he will make it happen here soon. You can bet on that.

 

 

Well that’s it for this week folks. Want to give a bog congrats to Ty Shemko for winning the Dubya contest from our last magazine. He should e receiving one hell of a prize pack this week from those guys. Thanks to all that entered. We had a ton of entries and so many of them with the correct answers. A draw was taken place and Ty was the winner. Look for some more amazing contests in our first issue as well as right here on mxpmag.com

“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” – Michael Jordan