MXSponsor.com is a new privateer outfit started by some
moto-loving guys, including Rich Maychrich of New Jersey. He was on
hand last weekend at the San Diego SX when one of the top riders in the
program, James Marshall, crashed and suffered a spinal injury.
Maychrich and friends went right to work, doing their best to assist
this privateer in the time of his deepest need. We caught up with Rich
yesterday to see how things were going with James.
| James Marshall | photo: Steve "TFS" Bruhn |
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Racer X:
First of all, let’s start with the heavy news. You’ve been doing
MXSponsor.com for less than a year now, but unfortunately, one of your
riders is on everyone’s mind this week, and that is James Marshall.
Rich Maychrich: Yes, he is. What we had decided to do about a month
before supercross is help guys like James. There are a lot of riders
driving their own vans around—the really hard-core privateers—and we
tried to get as many as possible together in one truck and drive them
around to the supercross races. James was one of the guys we picked
right away, just because of his outgoing personality and the manners he
had on the phone. He just seemed like a good, hardworking kid. The
first time I met him it was exactly true.
I can remember the first time I met James; it was under the Honda of
Houston tent at Loretta Lynn’s tent a couple years back. And he was
sitting there and came over and introduced himself and seemed like a
really great kid, and from that moment on, I kept an eye on him. So,
were you in San Diego this weekend?
Yeah, I’ve been staying out there and been seeing James for the past
month and a half. We’ve been traveling together, and although we didn’t
get our shuttle truck yet, we’ve been helping him out with gas bills
and just supporting him as much as possible. He’s definitely one that
deserves it. We just wanted to associate MXSponsor.com with helping out
riders like James.
You’ve really jumped right out to tried and launch a site to help
with James’ recovery and all. I think that’s a really commendable thing
that you’re doing, but I’m sure this isn’t what you had planned when
you arrived at Qualcomm last Saturday morning.
No. I mean, he’s been getting faster each week, and him and his
mechanic, Dave, instead of going surfing one day or doing this, James
would train and he would work on the bike. James lives motocross. He’s
the guy who’ll take the time in between practice to sign autographs for
little kids. He doesn’t have the factory deal where he has eight sets
of gear, yet he manages to give away that one jersey he was wearing to
a little kid. He’s just a good kid. And going into Qualcomm, he had one
of the fastest practice laps out of unseeded riders, and all year it’s
been him and Tim Ferry in that practice with the fastest lap times.
Everyone wants to help him because he’s just a nice kid. That’s why so
many people are supporting him right now.
So people can go to .HelpJames.org, right?
Yes, and instead of people going to different message boards, we’re
trying to put all the facts there and keep all of the different message
boards and donations. Road 2 Recovery is doing an awesome job.
| James' mechanic, Dave Galer (left), and Rich Maychrich | photo courtesy of Maychrich |
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Yeah,
I got that e-mail from Jenny Coombs, and we also heard from Kristin
Oehlhof from the Women’s Motocross Foundation – they’re also doing what
they can. And I saw that Mark Kwame from MDK Motorsports laid down
$5,000 to match any funds raised.
Yeah, Mark put down $5,000 and Fox Racing donated $1,000. Ryan Clark
and Team Solitaire donated $500 ... the list just goes on. It just goes
to show how good of a kid he is.
When Eric Johnson interviewed Josh Grant on Monday, he was just
coming back from the hospital down there and visiting James. Have you
heard any updates from the family today?
The surgery was all day yesterday and I was on a flight all day. But it
was like an eight or ten-hour surgery, but I haven’t heard any updates
today or anything like that. His family is there with him and the
people he’s staying with are there.
I wasn’t at the event either, but I heard that the whole Asterisk
Medic’s crew and Live Nation track crew really did a commendable job of
doing everything the could to immediately assist James. San Diego is
maybe the single biggest race of the year now, but it has a really
unlucky streak going back to Jimmy Button and, of course, Jason
Ciarletta. In all three cases, things just happen sometimes in this
sport.
Yeah, and that’s the sport we’re in. I think they did an awesome job
not wasting any time red-flagging the race. They were out there on the
track right away and the ambulance was in the tunnel waiting already.
I’d really like to thank Asterisk for being out there. They do an
unbelievable job out there.
As bad as it is, it could’ve been worse.
Yeah, and that’s why James is in good spirits. His personality is just
great—Dave told me he was flirting with the nurses in the hospital, and
that’s a good thing to hear.
The crash itself was hard to watch on TV, and it looked like he was out, but he wasn’t, was he?
No. Me and his mechanic got to him, and like you’ve heard, he never
lost consciousness. He was running in fourth and then Ernie had no
place to go. It’s just something that happens out there.
Well, he’s a fighter, that’s for sure. Getting back to the website,
I see everything from an RC jersey to something from Denny Stephenson,
Moto XXX, and a SoBe guitar.
The auctions are actually from Road 2 Recovery, but we’re just trying
to get everything together. Last night I got in really late from my
flight, but that’s the first thing I sat down and saw, which was the
eBay auction with a guy sitting down with his three kids and an
autographed James and RC jersey. It was hard to hold tears back, seeing
that a guy will give up an autographed RC jersey for James Marshall.
People would kill to have an RC jersey like that and this guy is giving
it away to help James. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot more stuff
going on, but we want to thank everyone for all of their contributions.
Well, for what it’s worth, we all thank you for helping to get the
word out for not only what you’re doing, but also for Road 2 Recovery,
the WMXF, and Wonder Warthog. As far as Mxsponsor goes, I see a photo
of Josh Woods on the site. Who are some of the other guys you work with?
Scotty Metz, Willy Browning, Greg Crater, and Ty Morrow – and that’s
just on the West Coast. I’m still looking at a couple more guys on the
East. It’s tough for a new company because we’ve only been out there
for about eight months, but we’re up around 2,500 riders already on our
site. But hopefully, we’ll pick up some more support for the outdoors.
We’re going to keep growing. We don’t charge our riders up front for
sponsorship. They have a list of 10 sponsors there and still don't pay
until they really think they got the deal they deserve. I think people
are liking it and seeing that we’re there to help privateers. I’m a
rider myself in New Jersey, and I traveled with a lot of different
people and saw the struggles firsthand. That’s why we started MX
Sponsor, and I think we’re going to keep growing and moving forward. I
know James will want us to keep going this year.
Well, we’re real impressed by the program, Rich, and how you guys stepped up so fast. Keep doing what you’re doing!
Thank you, DC. And thanks to everyone for helping James.