Welcome to Racerhead. Another week down in the off-season, and now time to await that “December surprise” that will no doubt shake up the supercross world as we all count down the days to Anaheim. We did see a couple of unfortunate injury social media reports on Carson Mumford (wrist) and Justin Rodbell Ray (Achilles tendon), so get well soon to both riders. But everything among the factory guys and 450 title contenders has been relatively quiet. Er, well, with the exception of the online kerfuffle involving Ken Roczen in Australia involving the FIM, WADA, USADA, the WSX, KTM, and whatever other letters of the alphabet we left out. Oh, and the ongoing rumor that Chase Sexton won’t be on red come 2024, which Matthes has mentioned before. He will have more on that below, but first here’s Weege.
Fast News Week (Jason Weigandt)
December is often quiet for news, as riders and teams start to run out of time before Anaheim and it’s all about work, work, work. As the race comes closer, nerves kick in and people would rather not talk. This week was different, though, as stuff was coming in hot and heavy. Check out some of our coverage this week, including a podcast with Caden Braswell, now of the Phoenix Racing Honda team and the winner of the Nicky Hayden AMA Motocross Horizon Award from the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. Braswell is a unique personality, and I’m here for it. I tell many, many riders that I don’t care what you act like, but just act like something. Fans come in all kinds, and any rider who shows a unique angle is going to resonate hardcore with someone. Braswell is certainly different than others, and I think different is good, because cookie-cutter is boring. He’s not afraid to speak of his faith, he sounds like the most polite person on earth, and he gives real answers to questions. Give it a listen.
The next day we saw a report on the Whiskey Throttle Media Instagram saying Ken Roczen had refused to take an anti-doping test in Australia, and KTM would not hire him because of it. Roczen’s agent Steve Astephen commented to say these are not facts and the media should call him if they want to know the real story. So I asked Astephen if he wanted to talk, and he did! He had a lot of things he wanted to say about how testing works or should work, and the overall organization of the drug testing in supercross and motocross. My goal wasn’t to exploit Astephen but to just find out if Ken had taken the test. Ken did take the test. The other things, well, Astephen had a lot of things to get off his chest. Check out the interview.
At the same time I was working on that, news broke about Zach Osborne in the woods, and we also posted an interview I did with Cameron McAdoo. All good stuff. Hope you enjoy it. More than a month to Anaheim but still plenty to report!
KR (Matthes)
I had heard that Ken Roczen didn't take the required WADA test after his Austrailian round of the FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) race until maybe three or four days afterwards. It didn't make a lot of sense to me because, yeah you just can't refuse a test—it's the same as failing and as we've learned when FIM/WADA was in our SX series, they don't seem like the type of organization to just be like "Okay, cool don't take the test". That's not how these things work, refusing a test is the same as failing it and sanctions would be imposed including not awarding Kenny the FIM World SX title.
So I reached out to a couple of people close to the situation that week and was assured that although Ken's agent Steve Astephen wasn't happy and maybe didn't act the most professionally about it, Kenny did take the test. In fact, one person told me Roczen was laughing about it and didn't seem angry or put off by this request. So knowing that you can't really refuse a test, knowing that two people I trust that are really close to the situation told me he did take the test, there was no story there in my opinion and I moved on. Was I in the room when Roczen peed into a bottle? No, but neither were the people saying he didn't take the test and also, use the logic of you just can't refuse an FIM drug test.
I like Steve Astephen, also, but my people over there definitely didn't think he handled himself well and it reflected on Roczen which is where this whole story came from. Unfortunate really because his actions and the delay in testing Roczen is why this whole story came out!
Because of Kenny's many surgeries on his arms over the years, we've seen him have immune system reactions in the course of a year. Ken Roczen does seem to get run down, sick, or whatever a lot—this is a fact. And it's an immune system thing, unfortunate for him for sure but to even win races and come back is remarkable. So when Steve is talking in his Weege interview about pill bottles with no labels, I've been told it's basically cancer drugs for people with low immune systems and it's all prescribed by a doctor and that yes, there was a label on it.
Also, look for Roczen to sign a deal Monday with the HEP Motorsports Suzuki guys where he'll ride out of a truck with Progressive insurance and the teams 250 guys and then the other truck will be Kyle “Chizz” Chisholm and whomever they get to replace the injured Brandon Hartranft, who looks to be out for a while due to a bad crash that he'll fully recover from.
CHASING ORANGE (Matthes)
There's high belief in the industry that Chase Sexton will be going over to the Red Bull KTM team for 2024, we've been saying this on the PulpMX Show for months and although the people I talk to say nothing is signed yet (because legally nothing can be signed), it's going to happen as soon as it possibly can. I don't believe it's a money thing, I think it was Chase being unsatisfied during 450SX with his bike’s performance and the belief that Jett Lawrence will soon be the "top guy" on the Red Riders. Our sport is funny like that, used to be the greatest riders were all on the same team (Honda in mid-‘80s for example) and heck, even when I was at Yamaha, before Chad Reed put it on another level, the team of Tim Ferry, David Vuillemin, and Reed were all considered on the same level.
But riders like to be "the guys" on their teams and I think Sexton's move to KTM was because of wanting to be the guy and also a bike performance thing. I do wonder though, once Honda got his bike better, if during the 450 championship this season he was doubting himself a bit about the decision. It also lines up with KTM committing to Cooper Webb for just one more season where most of us expect him to head to Star Yamaha for 2024.
Roczen's deal to go from RCH Suzuki to factory Honda HRC was done before Anaheim 1 that season and this one tops that for sure! Chase himself will have lots of incentive to keep winning in 2023, he'll have kickers built into his deal for wins and titles so it's not like he'll mail it in. The Honda guys want to keep winning for obvious reasons so I wouldn't look for much to change on the Sexton/Honda relationship really.
Zach is Back! (DC)
Although it wasn't a great big surprise, the news that Zach Osborne is returning to professional racing was welcome news. No, Osborne is not coming back to SX/MX, but the former 250 and 450 Pro Motocross Champion is headed into the woods with the AmPro Yamaha team, competing in the GNCC XC2 class and select U.S. Sprint Enduro races. Osborne, who grew up in Virginia doing the occasional woods race, has dabbled in GNCC before, entering an event during the 2020 season, shortly after winning the last 450SX main event of Monster Energy AMA Supercross season at Salt Lake City, and before the delayed start of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn's—which Zach also won aboard the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna FC 450. While it would have been amazing to see him go 1-1-1 in SX, then GNCC, then MX, he was only riding the GNCC in West Virginia that summer for fun, but it did give him an idea for a second career once his SX/MX days were over.
Osborne is the last MXer-turned-off-roader in a long history of American off-road. Going back to 1970, before he became "King Richard" of enduro fame, Dick Burleson was the de facto 500 National Motocross Champion based on his "top American" status in that fall's Trans-AMA Series. Burleson, a college student at the time, finished fourth overall. Then he went into the woods and won seven straight AMA National Enduro titles.
The early 1990s saw several crossover stars. Ty Davis, the 1990 AMA 125 West Region Supercross Champion, went into off-road and became an AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer with titles in several different series. And 1990 AMA 125 Pro Motocross Champion Guy Cooper did likewise, joining the GNCC Series. And the man who won the 125 Pro Motocross titles before ('89) and after ('91) Cooper, Mike Kiedrowski, also went into off-road. Longtime "top privateer" Fred Andrews of Ohio left SX/MX behind and going the GNCC Series for the first time, winning a title there as well as two AMA National Hare Scrambles Championships.
More recently, we've seen riders like Doug Henry, Ryan Hughes, and even Travis Pastrana check out woods racing. And the all-around Ryan Sipes even spent some full seasons in GNCC and Full Gas Sprint Enduro, then became the first American to ever win the individual overall in the International Six Days Enduro.
Finally, and maybe most successful since Dick Burleson, was Rodney Smith. The Californian won a 250 Grand Prix in the late 1980s in the FIM World Motocross Championships, then decided to head into the woods in the '90s. Smith ended up winning five GNCC titles and, like Burleson and Davis, went into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame for his off-road accomplishments, not his SX/MX years, which were decent, but not nearly HOF caliber.
Honda Honors Johnny Campbell (Keefer)
I grew up in an off-road house divided. On one side of the family you had my dad who was a big Team Green/Kawasaki off-road fan and the other side was me, a Honda off-road fan that rooted for the little guy (at least at that time). Factory Honda didn't have a huge presence in off-road racing back in the ‘80s and ‘90s and the guys they did have were getting beat by the Team Green riders at that time on a regular basis in Baja. So when Johnny Campbell started getting more support from Honda and winning, there was this sense of pride that I walked around in my house with. I rubbed it in my dad's face and loved every minute of it.
Tuesday, I got the honor of being at Johnny Campbell's 30-year Honda Honoree Presentation, and it was quite an experience for me to listen to Johnny speak about his time at Honda started/unfolded and how his 30-year career (so far) in the desert has been.
It is rare to see one rider/racer with one manufacturer for 30 years but even more rare to see a manufacturer stick around with one rider for that long as well. (I can only think of one other guy who has been with one manufacturer his whole life, Doug Dubach.) This is a testament to what kind of person Johnny is. I talk about being a “good person” to my kid a lot, as we need more of that with our current crop of kids today. Johnny is a prime example of that. You won’t last 30 years being an a-hole (well at least, not all the time).
Another thing I geeked out on was all of Johnny's Honda Baja race machines that Johnny (and his other team members) have raced over the years. Johnny has won Baja 11 times! In a row! Some of you may say, “Well, some of those wins were had because there was lack of other factory presence.” To me that is BS, because there is more to Baja than just your competition. There is that one SOB called: THE DESERT! She will bite and has bitten so many of our off road heroes over the years. Johnny has faced/lived those dangers for years!
You don’t get a 30-year career in our sport without having a solid foundation at home, and it was nice to listen to Johnny talk about his wife, Faye, and all she’s sacrificed in her life and career for Johnny to be successful. Dirt bike racers are selfish humans, and you need a stronger woman behind you if you plan on being successful. The Campbells found a winning blend and it showed in that speech yesterday.
I don’t get moved much, but this event moved me. I live dirt bikes! To see another guy who has done that tenfold and get honored for it was pretty freaking cool. Congrats to Honda (as well as the late Bruce Ogilvie) and Johnny for finding each other back in the day in that dusty ol’ Baja desert. Off road racing is better for it.
Johnny finally got to bring his first Baja-winning 1997 628 home yesterday, where it belonged. It was really special for me (being that I was a Honda off-road fan since I was eight) to see Johnny get the accolades from all his work over the years from his peers.
Off Road Week (Keefer)
This week (December 1–2) are the big announcements for some factory off-road race teams, and for 2023 we have seen some rider lineup changes. Some of the changes that I know of (I am sure Weege knows more): Zacho to AmPro Yamaha. Ricky Russell back to AmPro Yamaha. Thad Duvall on Coastal GasGas. Johnny Girroir to Factory Red Bull KTM. Stu Baylor on KTM again? Usually around this time the manufacturers will have their riders come out for poster shoots and to hang out with the team for a little, to have some bonding time. I was asked by Timmy Weigand (KTM Off-Road Team Manager) and Anthony DiBasilio (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Off-Road Team Manager) if I would take all of their riders and mechanics on a trail ride from the high dez, and being the good desert rat that I am, I obliged.
It's always cool to see the vibe between each team and to get to know some of the GNCC riders I normally don't get to hang out with. Thursday was spent with KTM/GasGas team and their riders. Being that I haven't trail rode in a while (busy testing moto), I went out and laid out a fun single-track loop through my backyard of the high dez. Having 12-15 guys trail riding is not always easy to keep together, but it was super fun watching the "racers" help the mechanics up some of the tougher sections of the trail. Off-road riders are a different breed, as they still have this “human” side to them when they're on the bikes, unlike most motocross stars. We spent about three and half hours out in the dez and everyone had a great time. Cool to see these team managers give their mechanics some time to enjoy a day of riding on the bikes they build! By the time you're reading this on Friday, I will be out with the Rockstar Husqvarna team doing a separate loop that I laid out for them. I mean, you can't have the same loop for "two completely different brands" right? A blend of turn tracks as well as single track awaits!
I love off-road week!
An Andre Malherbe Moment (DC)
Last week we reported on the passing of multi-time FIM World Motocross Champion Andre Malherbe, the supremely talented and stylish Belgian rider. Malherbe was a true legend in motocross, not only because of his successes on the track—two FIM European 125cc Championships (before the 125 class had world status) and three 500cc Grand Prix titles—but his cool factor off the track. Even after he suffered a paralyzing injury in 1988 while racing in the deserts of Africa in the Paris-Dakar Rally, he remained a giant figure in motocross—in Europe, anyway. Not so much here in the States. Malherbe didn’t have much success here. Over nearly a decade on the 500cc Grand Prix circuit, he didn’t win a single moto at the annual U.S. Grand Prix at Carlsbad Raceway in Southern California.
But then earlier this week I get a text from Tim Ritchie at RedBud that included a photo of a #70 Malherbe jersey from JT Racing. He said he found it in his dad Gene’s archives, but he didn’t really know where or when his dad got the jersey. I mainly remember Malhebe wearing O’Neal gear, and never #70—he was always a single-digit rider at Carlsbad because he was always one of the top GP racers. So I went digging through the CycleNews.com archives (the best $5 I’ve ever spent) and started looking through the old Trans-AMA and Trans-USA articles, which were really before my time. And there he was, riding the #70 Honda RC-450 works Honda, in the October 3, 1979 issue, with the headline “Lone European whips all the Yanks at Mid-Ohio.” Turns out that in his pre-World Champion days Malherbe came to America in the waning moments of what was by then called the Trans-USA Series—he was the only European left in a once-grand series that was absolutely dominated by Europeans for much of the 1970s, and he won the opener at Mid-Ohio! One week later the series headed up the road to the Ritchies’ RedBud in Michigan, and Malherbe placed third and maintained the points lead. But at the third round at Unadilla in New York he crashed and broke his nose in practice and that was it for his season. He went home to Belgium after that.
So at some point Malherbe, the last European to ever win a Trans-AMA or Trans-USA race, gave Gene Ritchie that super-rare and historic jersey. For a moment I thought about telling Tim that the “Malherbe #70” jersey he found was probably just a mock-up from JT Racing, or “just another rider named Malherbe,” so the jersey probably wasn’t that big a deal… But he should feel free to send it to down to our office if he wanted to get rid of it, right?!
Of course, Tim’s too much of a motocross student himself to fall for something like that, so I sent him the old Cycle News clippings instead.
Jason Edwards, Godspeed (DC)
We were all saddened to hear the news that Jason Edwards, a fast prospect from Texas back in the day, passed away unexpectedly this week. Edwards hailed from Cleburne, Texas, and grew up competing in all of the major amateur races of the day, including the GNC at Lake Whitney, the NMA Grand Nationals at Ponca City, and of course the AMA Amateur National Championships at Loretta Lynn's. His best finishes at the Ranch were 2nd in 125 A Modified in both 1991 and '92, getting beaten out both times by fellow Kawasaki Team Green rider Tim Ferry. Edwards raced in the professional ranks for three years in the early 1990s. His best finish would be a sixth at the Indianapolis 125 Supercross in 1993. He also found himself on one of the 1992 Hi-Flyer SX/MX trading cards as a "Rising Star."
Besides motocross, Edwards loved making music. He was an accomplished rapper, and he also had affinity for country music. He wrote a song in honor of Jeremy McGrath for his 1993 AMA Supercross Championship and performed it at the awards ceremony. He also was a regular winner in the talent show at Loretta Lynn's, writing a song for that event as well. Jason also played drums and the guitar.
"Jason had a charismatic smile, unconditional love for anyone or anything and the ability to win over anyone’s heart with his compassion and love and for life," according to an obituary posted on Facebook. "Jason was a natural teacher of Motocross and could relate to and inspire the youngest of students with great inspiration. Jason had natural talent with anything from waterskiing, golf or anything sports related."
Godspeed, Jason Edwards.
Hey, Watch It!
1991 125cc Dutch Grand Prix at Markelo, featuring Donny Schmit, Bob Moore, Stefan Everts, and even Willie Surratt!
MOTO MOM MODE INITIATED AT MINI O'S | Paige Craig Takes Jagger Racing Alone at an Amateur National
More on Ken Roczen's side-trip to Barcelona after his Paris SX win to give the Stark Varg a test ride:
Our esteemed colleagues of Team Fried put together a cool behind-the-scenes look Team USA at the 2022 Motocross of Nations, as well as Red Bull Imagination:
Clublife - Beyond The Race ( Episode 1 )
O'Neal: Welcome Colt Nichols
HEAD-SCRATCHING HEADLINE/S OF THE WEEK
“Saudi team offers Ronaldo over $360 million”—ESPN.com
“Thai temple now has no monks after they failed drug tests for meth”—RawStory.com
“'Gas-Lighting' is Merriam-Webster's Dictionary word of the year”—Washington Post
“Mississippi golfer bites off man's nose in argument over game, police say”—Fox 5 New York
RANDOM NOTES
Speed Sport to launch motorsports television channel in 2023
Nick McCabe happened to be driving through Utica, New York, when he spotted this very cool sign. It’s not far from Unadilla, but I had never seen this sign before (and I love neon signs, as you may have heard). So I called up our man in Utica, Danny Nappi, to find out about “The Famous 727 Bar.” Turns out it’s on the west side of town and was named for a fast and popular local kid named Guy Fornino. Unfortunately, Guy was killed in an automobile accident a dozen years ago, and his family, which run the restaurant and bar, wanted to honor him by naming the place for him and putting his likeness on the sign. We will definitely be stopping in next August for Unadilla ’23!
And here in Morgantown our friend Scotty Adkins brought his newest class of future race mechanics to the Racer X office for a visit. Adkins’ Pro SX MX Tech has helped train and place more SX/MX and GNCC mechanics in the past decade than anyone else, and this latest group will certainly soon add more to the mix.
For the latest from Canada, check out DMX Frid’EH Update #48.
Thanks for reading Racerhead. See you at the races!