In a fiercely competitive classification overflowing with talent, Joey Savatgy did both himself and the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team proud this past summer by racing to third overall in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. The native Californian hit the podium in six motos and used two runner-up finishes to win the overall at Unadilla—the first victory of his career.
Now Savatgy is looking to the 2016 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship. Having placed third in four out of the eight main events run in the 2015 250SX East Region, Savatgy finished fourth overall in the series point standings. The 21-year-old is looking for not only wins come the drop of the gate in ’16, but a championship as well. As he headed home after a long day of bashing out laps at the Carmichael Farm in Florida, we checked in with him to see how the off-season has shaped up.
Racer X: Joey, what are you up to this Thanksgiving week?
Joey Savatgy: I’m in Florida right now and just driving back to the house from the Farm. I just finished up riding for the day so I’m headed home to get a little bit of dinner and to relax.
So you you’re still working out of the Carmichael Farm?
Yep, I’m sticking with the Farm for 2016 and here’s where I hopefully remain for the rest of the time that I ride a dirt bike. I think with the people in my corner and with everything Ricky [Carmichael] brings, or has brought to the sport, he’s never a bad person to have in your corner. And with his mom also there, I think those two together are a pretty deadly weapon. I think as long as they want me around, that’s where I plan on staying.
How are things going for you as far as your riding and training?
We’ve got things going, man. We’ve been making some pretty good progress down here. We’re in the middle of our training camp right now. I’m doing a lot more this year both off and on the bike. I’m doing more than I’ve ever done. I think this is going to be a good year. Obviously, everyone heads into the new season saying the same thing, but I know what I’ve been doing in the off-season and where I’ve been in previous off-seasons and I’m really excited just for the new season to get there. We obviously still have a little ways to go and there are always improvements to be made, but as of right now, I’m feeling a lot better than I was last year. There’s still over a month before the new season, so that’s still four weeks of riding and four weeks of time to improve on and off the bike, so I’m excited, man.
Will you be coming back to California to test your equipment and to check in with Kawasaki and Mitch Payton and the team?
That’s actually funny you say that because I was just talking to Ricky and Jeannie [Carmichael] about that and about trying to get another test session in, so after I get off the phone with you, I think I’m going to give Mitch [Payton] a call. I actually fly out next week on Monday as we have a photo shoot on Tuesday and Wednesday. I’ll be out there for those two days and getting all the photo shoots dialed-in for pictures and what-not. As far as testing, I’m assuming the team is going to want to get another test in before the season starts and I think it’s always a good idea if we can fit that into the schedule and make it productive. The bike can always be better. The bike is great right now. Obviously, everyone at Pro Circuit—Bones and Adam and Mitch—they’re hungry, man. We got the overall win last year, but unfortunately no moto wins, so that’s rare for Mitch, and I’ve talked to Mitch plenty of times and he’s hungry for another win, so they’re doing whatever they’ve got to do to get back to the winning Pro Circuit ways that everyone remembers.
Well, I was going to mention that. Your results, as well as the rides you put in during the Nationals, kind of kept everyone’s chins up. No matter how bad things got with injuries and whatever else it might have been, you weren’t going to give up and the team wasn’t going to give up.
Yeah, supercross was one thing. I got hurt before supercross and I think I only had, maybe, two weeks on the bike before the season opener and I ended up on the box. To say that I was prepared for last year for supercross would be a lie. For sure, I was not prepared—not mentally, not physically. When you get an injury and you’re forced into a time limit, it kind of puts the pressure and stress on you, but we made do and I did what I could with what I had and we were on the podium in four out of eight rounds. Going into outdoors, I was a lot better.
We came out pretty good at the first round—we got fourth in the first moto and tipped-over in the second moto. We struggled a little bit through the first half of the year, but then I figured out some things with me and we had some appointments with the doctors and things, and it was like the light bulb went off in my head. Everything that we were dealing with just became little things that we fixed and then everything clicked. Millville was the first weekend where I started feeling good again. I was second in the first moto and fourth in the second moto for third overall. Then we went to Washougal and that wasn’t the best, but we came from dead last in those races. Then we carried it on to Unadilla and went two-two there for the overall. Then we went into the last round and led a lot of the last moto. I would have liked to have led it all the way to the finish line and at least get a moto win for Mitch.
During the summer we had an interview with you where you said, “We led a lot of laps. Honestly, it feels good. Like Mitch told me, it’s one of those feelings that when you get you don’t want to let it go anymore.” To be able to lead races and to lead laps has to make a huge difference to a rider’s confidence.
Yeah, exactly. It’s something Ricky and I have even talked about away from the track. He goes on a lot of bike rides with me and we do a lot of talking off the track. I ask him questions and he kind of gives me advice and his whole thing is, “I’m telling you, man, once you lead some laps and you feel like you belong there, and you know that you can run the speed, things will start to change.” Man, and that happened! We led at Unadilla and just that confidence of actually doing it… It’s one thing to tell yourself that you can do it, but until you actually you do it, it’s two totally different things. When I led the laps and I knew that I had the speed, I told myself in my mind, “Yeah, now I did it and now I know I’m one of the guys.” I was starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The starts for me got better, the speed was better, the endurance started getting better, the motos started getting better. Like I said, everything started to click right around the halfway mark. When you start doing good, it becomes fun again. When you do the hard work during the week and then you get to spray champagne on the podium at the end of the weekend, it makes all the suffering during the week and all the bad days all that much better.
I have to ask you: East or West Region in ‘16? Do you have a preference?
Yeah, obviously, I’d love to race East. My family is back here and Jeannie could go to some of the races. She could be at Atlanta and she could be at Daytona and all the close ones. Obviously, if I’m on the West Coast, it’s a little bit different. East Coast is ideal. I live back here, I train back here and I’m located back here, but what I end up racing, that’s a mystery to me. I’m not sure if the boss man even knows yet. It’s always a million things going on in his mind in trying to get the bike better and everything else he is thinking about. When we get closer to A1, it’s just going to be one of those deals where Mitch will then make the decision and he’ll let us know. As of right now, it’s definitely a guessing game.
What’s a typical riding and training day with Jeannie Carmichael like? Does she keep a tight leash on you?
Yeah, I think Jeannie is a little bit tighter on the leash than Ricky. It all depends on the day. On the bike, it can be something as easy at two twenties for the day or it can be a day where we have a lot more sprints—or as Jeannie calls it, accountability. Some days, if I get Ricky, the slack on the leash is a little bit looser. Some days Jeannie comes out there and lays the hammer down and doesn’t cut me any slack. Either way, Ricky has his way, and I think his way is working. And with Jeannie, sometimes it is a little bit different and I think she doesn’t understand it quite as well, just because she wasn’t at the level Ricky was at. When the track conditions change and the times start to get a little bit slower, he’s more understanding and knows why they’re getting slower. He knows that the track is getting worse. Jeanie has that mindset of, “We’re getting it done and we can get it done in ten laps or we can get it done in a hundred, but I’m not going home until you get it.” It’s not too serious, but we get the work done and at the end of the day we want to make sure we leave nothing on the table and just get ready for another day.
So jumping ahead into 2016, what’s going to make you happy in supercross?
I think sitting here, I think if I told you anything besides a win, or winning, would be lying. You know I get paid to win and that’s what Mitch expects of me. We got an overall win outdoors this year. It was only one and there are twelve rounds in the series, but the amount of improvement that we made from round one to round twelve was night and day. Going into the new season, I definitely don’t want to throw it away at the first round, but I want to be on that box a lot and be battling for wins. I know I have the speed and I know right now I’m putting in the work to be there. I definitely think, deep down, that we have the speed to win. The bike is there and the team is there and I’ve got the right people in my corner. I’m just excited.
