Between the Motos: David Clabaugh
December 23, 2009, 4:23pm
Next year will be a busy year for Thunder Valley MX’s David Clabaugh. Not only will he be hosting the fifth round of the 2010 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship June 26, his Denver-area track will be hosting the 2010 Red Bull Motocross of Nations. This will mark only the third time in the event’s 63-year history that its been held in the United States, and Team USA will be trying to extend its current winning streak to six in a row, second only to Team USA’s previous record streak of 13 in a row (1981-’94), though it should be noted that Belgium won the old Trophee des Nations ten years in a row (1969-’78).
Knowing that he’s about to get very busy, we called Clabaugh this afternoon to see how preparation was going on both of his events, as well as how people can order tickets to the MXoN as last-minute gift ideas, which can be purchased at www.mxthundervalley.com.
David Clabaugh: You know, it’s actually been a cold, snowy winter. It’s snowing right now and we’ve had a week straight of either being 14 degrees (F) or -14 degrees, so it’s definitely cold. We’re going to have a white Christmas too, I can tell you for sure.
This might be your last calm week too, because 2010 is shaping up as a very busy year for you and your team.
Yes, we have the national in June and the Motocross of Nations in September, so it should be a busy year for sure.
Well now would be a good time to put the rumor to rest once and for all: The Motocross of Nations will NOT be run at night, correct?
[Laughs] Yes, that is correct! As for the national being at night, we’re still working on some sponsors for that, so we’ll know more the first of January. The economy being what it is, we’re still a little bit nervous.
People probably don’t realize how much it costs to bring all of those lights in, flip the switches and light up the side of the mountain…
Exactly. It’s very expensive, so we just need to be careful about whether we do it again or not.
Looking forward to the MXoN in September, are you starting to get a lot of inquiries about it already?
Yes we are. The responsive has been pretty overwhelming. Ticket sales are going real well, and there is a lot of interest building.
And it’s not too late to get tickets as a stocking stuffer, is it?
Not at all. If you live in a motocross household, or know some real fans, it would make an awesome Christmas gift. They are available on our website, which is HYPERLINK "http://www.mxthundervalley.com" www.mxthundervalley.com. We have VIP packages, general admission tickets, even the upper-end VIP tickets, which we call VIP Gold. With those you get things like a meet-and-greet with Team USA, Team Italy, Australia…
Wait, what about the French? They’ve finished second the last three years.
[Laughs] That’s right, I was just going off the top of my head with a bunch of different teams, I am sure the French will be in there!
Yes, the whole atmosphere is like, it’s my country against yours, and the riders all come together, no matter what brands they are on, and it’s kind of like the Olympics of motocross.
Let me put you on the spot here: Did you think that we were actually going to win in Italy?
Wow. Let me think about that…. I hoped Team USA would win, but I wasn’t sure until it was all over.
What about 2010? Regardless of which top riders are on the team—and I still hope James Stewart changes his mind—but what if it’s, say, Ryan Villopoto, Mike Alessi, Josh Grant, or Andrew Short, Davi Millsaps, any combination of three like that?
Yes, we’re going to win!
Is the local community starting to get behind you?
Absolutely, we’ve been working with the Colorado Tourism Board, and they are very excited for the event. It will be good for Lakewood, it will be good for Colorado, and it will be good for the economy.
Will we see any real changes to the track as far as the national or the MXoN goes?
No, I think the track will basically stay the same, but we’ll do a few tweaks here and there. We may add or change a few obstacles here and there.
Remember my suggestion: After seeing Christophe Pourcel wheelie up over those whoops out of the bottom corner in front of the Parts Unlimited set-up on YouTube, I suggested you build a section like that right before the mechanic’s area.
That’s right, and I saw that video too and that is in my notes. It was really cool to see him do that, so we need to get that to where people can see it.
Right on, well Merry Christmas to you and your family David, and I hope you get some good weather next year under your tree!
Thanks, I appreciate that and you too.
(To order your tickets online as stocking stuffers or Christmas gifts, check out www.mxthundervalley.com)
Knowing that he’s about to get very busy, we called Clabaugh this afternoon to see how preparation was going on both of his events, as well as how people can order tickets to the MXoN as last-minute gift ideas, which can be purchased at www.mxthundervalley.com.
David Clabaugh: You know, it’s actually been a cold, snowy winter. It’s snowing right now and we’ve had a week straight of either being 14 degrees (F) or -14 degrees, so it’s definitely cold. We’re going to have a white Christmas too, I can tell you for sure.
This might be your last calm week too, because 2010 is shaping up as a very busy year for you and your team.
Yes, we have the national in June and the Motocross of Nations in September, so it should be a busy year for sure.
Well now would be a good time to put the rumor to rest once and for all: The Motocross of Nations will NOT be run at night, correct?
[Laughs] Yes, that is correct! As for the national being at night, we’re still working on some sponsors for that, so we’ll know more the first of January. The economy being what it is, we’re still a little bit nervous.
People probably don’t realize how much it costs to bring all of those lights in, flip the switches and light up the side of the mountain…
Exactly. It’s very expensive, so we just need to be careful about whether we do it again or not.
Looking forward to the MXoN in September, are you starting to get a lot of inquiries about it already?
Yes we are. The responsive has been pretty overwhelming. Ticket sales are going real well, and there is a lot of interest building.
And it’s not too late to get tickets as a stocking stuffer, is it?
Not at all. If you live in a motocross household, or know some real fans, it would make an awesome Christmas gift. They are available on our website, which is HYPERLINK "http://www.mxthundervalley.com" www.mxthundervalley.com. We have VIP packages, general admission tickets, even the upper-end VIP tickets, which we call VIP Gold. With those you get things like a meet-and-greet with Team USA, Team Italy, Australia…
Wait, what about the French? They’ve finished second the last three years.
[Laughs] That’s right, I was just going off the top of my head with a bunch of different teams, I am sure the French will be in there!
Yes, the whole atmosphere is like, it’s my country against yours, and the riders all come together, no matter what brands they are on, and it’s kind of like the Olympics of motocross.
Let me put you on the spot here: Did you think that we were actually going to win in Italy?
Wow. Let me think about that…. I hoped Team USA would win, but I wasn’t sure until it was all over.
What about 2010? Regardless of which top riders are on the team—and I still hope James Stewart changes his mind—but what if it’s, say, Ryan Villopoto, Mike Alessi, Josh Grant, or Andrew Short, Davi Millsaps, any combination of three like that?
Yes, we’re going to win!
Is the local community starting to get behind you?
Absolutely, we’ve been working with the Colorado Tourism Board, and they are very excited for the event. It will be good for Lakewood, it will be good for Colorado, and it will be good for the economy.
Will we see any real changes to the track as far as the national or the MXoN goes?
No, I think the track will basically stay the same, but we’ll do a few tweaks here and there. We may add or change a few obstacles here and there.
Remember my suggestion: After seeing Christophe Pourcel wheelie up over those whoops out of the bottom corner in front of the Parts Unlimited set-up on YouTube, I suggested you build a section like that right before the mechanic’s area.
That’s right, and I saw that video too and that is in my notes. It was really cool to see him do that, so we need to get that to where people can see it.
Right on, well Merry Christmas to you and your family David, and I hope you get some good weather next year under your tree!
Thanks, I appreciate that and you too.
(To order your tickets online as stocking stuffers or Christmas gifts, check out www.mxthundervalley.com)
