Racer X: Good job tonight Kyle! You ended the night on a pretty good note, what’d you think?
Kyle Chisholm: It was fun. The track wasn’t hard to pass on because you could just go in and take people out. But it was pretty hard to make up time on. There were big jumps, it was a fun track, but it was big jump, turn, big jump, turn. So it was pretty hard to make up time on people. But I had fun. The start was really important and the roost didn’t feel very good. And I wore a chest protector! So I’m good there. But it was a fun race. I was consistent; I didn’t do very good in the heat race. I got like fourth or fifth in the semi. So I had like eighteenth gate pick in the first moto. So I came from way back up to ninth. I had a better gate pick for the next moto, but I think I hit someone in the first turn and didn’t come out that great. I got up to I think ninth again. Then the last one I got a little better start and ended up seventh. So I was consistent, you know. And I think my dad said sixth overall.
Chisholm finished sixth overall at the Monster Energy Cup.
Photo: Simon Cudby
The track was rocky in the back.
Yeah. Like in the stadium, it was like the normal dirt they use, it seemed like. Outside, it’s like they went to a gravel pit. There were huge rocks, like big rocks. There were more rocks than dirt it seemed like. It looked like the Motocross of Nations track. I wasn’t there, but that’s what it seemed like.
Did you like the concept of this event?
Dude, that was tougher than an outdoor race, I thought. You know, minute and a half lap times, ten laps—that’s fifteen-minute motos. And for the three [races], we had ten minutes between each one. So it was like take your helmet off, get a drink, go back to the gate. And that’s almost worse because it makes us be so intense for each of them. So it was forty-five minutes of intense racing. A normal supercross is seventeen minutes and that was forty-five minutes. I know there’s no whoops or anything, but it’s still tight and everything was in your face and quick. So it was a tough one. It showed who was in shape and who wasn’t.
Could this format work at a normal supercross?
A normal supercross would be shorter. But I’m all for it. I think it’d be cool to change it up instead of the 20 laps every weekend and one heat race and the last chance and the main. I think it’d be cool, like the Australia stuff, where they mix it up. I haven’t been down there, but I have followed it. Some of their stuff, how they change it each week seems cool. I’d be all for it. And obviously the good guys still won. The guys that win, win anyways. But you never know. One of them could wash out in the first turn and you only have ten laps. It could make things interesting over a series.
The year started good for you, but it turned into a tough season with lot of injuries. Are you 100 percent?
Yeah, I’m back to 100 percent. I can’t talk 100 percent and I probably will never be able to. But I can breathe again and that’s all that matters to me at this point. The season started out really well; we were top ten every week pretty much, getting up there in speed and lap times and up in the top five. I had a crash out there in Houston and got hurt. I tried to come back in the outdoors but there was a lingering problem from being on the breathing tube with my throat. It was closed up and I couldn’t breathe very well. I went in for surgery towards the end of July or August and was out for about four weeks after that. It wasn’t huge, but they had to cut out some scar tissue in my throat and that’s why I can’t talk very good now. But, like I said, I can breathe. I rode about seven days before Southwick. I tried to race the last couple of races just to ride. I’ve been kind of steadily riding and working on plans for next year in the meantime. So this is a good race to just come out and race with everybody again, not being able to race all summer sucked.
After a horrific crash in SX, Chisholm finally feels 100 percent.
Photo: Simon Cudby
What’s next for you?
I’m doing Bercy in two weeks, I believe. So, I’ll be over there. I’m trying to get you to be my mechanic over there. But you won’t.
Too many bear claws. Not enough time.
Yeah I suppose you’ll be too busy eating the bear claws. Yeah, Bercy’s next and we’ll just kind of see where it goes from there.