Colton Haaker is as ambitious as any rider out there. From the ground up, he’s gone from obscure young trials rider to a factory Rockstar Husqvarna rider in EnduroCross, and with four wins in the first five rounds of 2016, he might be closing on the title for the first time—a compliment to his FIM Super Enduro (that’s EnduroCross in Europe) title from late last year.
He’s also launching a media company, Plaeco, via a new video that debuts on October 10 (that’s 10/10, matching Haaker’s number). The trailer was released today, which you can watch below.
The video is ridiculous. Here’s Haaker to talk about what’s next.
Racer X: Okay, so you keep rolling in Endurocross, four wins in five races, and that’s even while riding with an injury. What’s the deal here?
Colton Haaker: Yeah, so the last time we talked was after I had just won the FIM SuperEnduro title in Europe, and with the pressure mounting for that title, it coming down to the final lap of the final round, and me winning it, I feel like it all came at the right time. I’ve been striving for a championship for a long time, but just never really came through, and finally getting that one just gave me this shot of confidence. Just a whole new life.
Wow. A lot of times we theorize or guess about these things, but it really did make a difference to you.
I definitely believe so. I needed it, and now I know I can do it. It’s the difference between thinking it and knowing it. Now out of five races, like you said, I’ve won four, and the only one I lost was when I had an injury, and that one was still pretty close. So winning that championship in Europe helped, and also having the new bike with Husqvarna, it’s just all perfect timing.
You hurt your thumb a few weeks ago. That would seem to be really bad for EnduroCross. Were you worried about that?
I was definitely worried. For normal day to day stuff, my thumb is pretty much useless. Good luck grabbing anything with my left hand at this point. But riding a motorcycle, you can tape it, and adrenaline takes over. I was actually considering getting surgery on it, because I don’t want to go out there and not ride at the level I’ve been riding. I also want to be ready to wear the number-one plate in SuperEnduro. I had a game plan going into the fourth race. If I couldn’t hold on and ride near 100 percent, I wasn’t going to do it. [Haaker would win Round 4 in Phoenix.]
When I got done with the race in Salt Lake City [where the injury occurred] I did all of my podium stuff, then my buddy drove me straight to the ER. The thing was already turning black and was puffed up. I didn’t know what to think, I was worried it was broken. Luckily it wasn’t broken, but I dislocated it, I actually put it back in on the podium, and I tore the ligaments on each side. So it was straight to physical therapy every day when I got home. The doctor said there’s not much he can do for it, you can get surgery to fix it, or you can tape it and suck it up. So I decided to give it my best and try it, and so far it’s working out.
You’ve won the last two races since the injury, but are you able to ride during the week?
[Laughs] Not really. I rode Thursday before the first race back just to see if I could hold on, and to test different tape jobs and braces. Maybe rode for 30 minutes. Then before the last race I maybe rode for an hour. Doing a lot of cycling but not much riding.
Does it matter or had you done so much prep before the season that you’re still okay?
I had a lot of pre-season prep. I look back at things that Bob Hannah used to say, he’d say: “Everyone on the starting line wants to win, but the guy who wins is the guy who was doing the work six months ago.” It’s all settled months in advance depending on who put that work in. So I’m just riding off of that, and also using the desire. It might hurt but I’ll just dig that much deeper.
You’ve also become so much more consistent the last few years. What changed there?
Yeah, you’re not seeing me make as many mistakes as I used to. I’ve thrown a lot of races away when I was fast but I’d push that extra bit and crash. Now I’ll take that extra second and be patient, instead of pushing it and washing the front end out, or tipping over. I also would say that, for years I was just a privateer kid out there on my own. I would drive myself to the races, work on my own bikes, be my own mechanic. You’re talking about a 20-year-old kid doing it by himself trying to figure out how to beat the factory riders. Then in 2013 I got a deal with JCR Honda, and that was the difference. I had a mechanic, I didn’t have to drive to the races, I had the time to work on myself and my craft. That year I finished fourth, then next year I finished third, and last year I finished second, then the next series was this SuperEnduro that I won. Now I have the points lead again. I’ve been evolving through the years by working on the craft.
You’ve got a gnarly track of your own?
Yeah, I invested in my future in EnduroCross and bought some land and built a track. I call it the Hacienda. It’s in Perris, not too far from the motocross track. It’s a super gnarly EnduroCross track and every year I just try to make it gnarlier. I built an over-under section using a shipping container, and I built a rock wall going over it. Every year I’ve just added more. I’ve just said, “Let’s just do it. Let’s make the gnarliest track ever and do it in the backyard.”
So talk about your new venture.
I’ve always had a lot of ideas for videos and projects I wanted to do. For a long time I thought I would do the videos for a sponsor. I did some Lucas Oil commercials, you probably saw those because they ran them all the time during the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Nationals. Those were all my ideas that I brought to Lucas Oil, and I made a longer video for them that year. I had a lot of ideas about promotion and marketing for it, but in the end, it all got edited, music got cut, no one wanted to market it or anything, and in the end this project that I really wanted to have a lot of fun with didn’t even get released until a year later, and it was nitpicked into something I wasn’t even proud of anymore. That was 2012, and it’s taken a few years for me to figure out how to make sure that doesn’t happen again. So, I knew I needed to do it for myself and no one else. Then I met a buddy of mine, Jimmy Byron, he’s done a lot of video stuff for Vurb, Motosport, and we kind of came up with a brand idea together. It’s called Plaeco, which pretty much stands for Play Company. Plaeco was a name he had, like a media company of his. I have all of these video ideas and wanted to figure out how to make it happen. I had all these name ideas and he kept shooting them down, so I said, “Well, then you come up with one!” And he said he already had one, Pleaco! So we went with that. The idea is, basically, everyone has the ability to go out and do rad things. They don’t have to sit there on their phones and play Pokemon. Create rad things, do rad things, create your own fun in this big world. This is a brand for people who go out and make things happen for themselves. That’s kind of what I did. My parents helped me with racing, but they never handed it to me. Racing motorcycles was never in my parents’ plans; it was just a dream I had. Everyone has the ability to go out and live those dreams, and that’s kind of what Plaeco is. My first vision is this video that we shot that’s just me in my backyard.
But Plaeco isn’t going to be a series of Colton Haaker videos.
No! I definitely have plans to expand to other riders and create things for sponsors. If I can come up with ideas to help other riders chase their dreams, I want to do that, too. But I also have plenty of video ideas for myself, beyond this video. You know, I did a 360 once on Instagram, and it was great for my Instagram, but I’d much rather use that to create a brand that can live well beyond my racing days, and also help others. When you do something amazing on Instagram, you think you’re going to get all of these new followers and sponsors, but when you go to the sponsors, they think it’s cool, but they don’t end up giving you a massive raise because of it. This is not to be negative about it, I’ve just realized this would be more effective as a video for this brand than just something on Instagram.
You’ve always had this promotional spirit. First time I met you, you asked me if your interviews were any good, because you were trying to be like a Travis Pastrana of off-road.
Yeah, that promotional spirit is in me. I look at one of my heroes, Geoff Aaron [10-time AMA National Trials Champion], he figured out a way to make money in trials, which no one makes money in trials. Then he started doing shows, and he still does shows, and he does an incredible job promoting himself, his sponsors and his sport. I’ve always looked up to guys like that.
A few years ago, EnduroCross didn’t even exist. You were a trials rider. Did you ever expect to make a living on bikes?
No! You know what it’s like, you love dirt bikes growing up, your dream is probably motocross and supercross, because they’re the biggest. As a kid, you crash, you get a concussion, your parents ask you to sell your bike, play basketball, go to college. But I just never gave up on my dream. Whether it was supercross, endurocross, whatever it is, I knew I just wanted to be part of this. So, in a way I did see it happening, because I had this dream for so long. That’s another thing this company is all about—just taking it step by step.
But the topper will be if you can get this title finally.
Yeah, then I’ll be stoked. I’ve got three more years now on my deal with Rockstar Husqvarna, and I just recently bought a house in Idaho. I went to Erzberg this year and got my ass kicked, so I realized if I ever want to win these extreme enduros I need to ride in the woods and mountains in Idaho, Montana, Canada, conditions that are totally different than Southern California. So as soon as SuperEnduro ends, I’ll spend six months living in Idaho and practicing that. For my career and my future, that’s what I feel like I need to do. Maybe I can become the first American to win those types of events. Just keep taking more steps.