Hey Ping,
I've notice recently that your employer refers to you, at your column heading, as "former pro" David Pingree. What's up with that? Are they afraid that your insight would be less valid without your "former pro" experience? What's next, will they be referring to you as David "couldn't cut the mustard" Pingree? It just seems to be a bit of a demeaning comment to me. I believe yourself and JT need to take a meeting with DC and confront him about the situation. Maybe ask if he would mind referring to you as David "aspiring stand-up comedian" Pingree? C'mon DC, where's the love?
Tee'd off in Tennessee,
Factory Jack
Jack,
While I appreciate you looking out for me on this, I don’t think the boys at Racer X HQ are being demeaning in any way referring to me as a “former pro;” I’ve been called much worse. And, honestly, I’m pretty happy with what I accomplished in the sport. If you scan through all the riders in history who have won more than four 250 supercross races you’ll notice it’s mostly champions and legends of the sport. I made a few good runs at the title and did it in-between some pretty brutal injuries. Three ACL reconstructions, a broken femur, a fractured navicular, and about 10 different fractures in my arms made it difficult to build momentum. I love being a part of the Racer X team and I like to think they are glad to have me as well. I don’t think we have a problem unless they start referring to me as Shea Bentley’s bitch.
PING
Ping,
Big fan! I enjoy your contribution to RacerX and the Pulp MX Show. Anyhoo, I was wondering what ever happened to Braaap Bars? I thought you had some connection or ownership involvement in that venture? I asked because I'm considering launching a product into that nutrition "food bar" space and was looking for any pointers good or bad.
Sincerely,
David S.
David,
Some friends of mine from Colorado started that company and they gave me some shares in return for some marketing help. Before that bar could really take off they created another bar for the Paleo crowd. After grinding for several years they sold to a company called Paleo Ranch Foods. PR Foods makes amazing beef jerky products and they wanted to add a bar to their line, so they used their formula and they call it the Mega Bar. Check them out at www.paleoranch.com. I actually invested in this company because I really believe they are doing good things.
I can tell you that the food industry is cut-throat. The margins are razor thin and competition is fierce. And just because you have a good product doesn’t mean you’ll be successful. I thought the Braaap Bar was amazing, but they didn’t have the money to push it into the market. Good luck and feel free to send some samples.
PING
Ping,
Happy New Year! I've long been a reader of your weekly column and am looking forward to another year full of Friday antics.
With all the talk lately of having too many 450 riders without quality (enough) rides and the deep field of 2017, I have found it to be interesting to see how many guys there are with the talent and experience to be up front, or even fighting for podiums. In his article recently, Jason Weigandt asked "Just How Deep?" (BTW, no one had second thoughts on that title?) and listed out 18 riders expecting to fight for at least top 10 finishes.
With all this talk about podiums and an increasingly stacked field, have you given any thought to the likeliness of high quality talent not qualifying for main events? I can see scenarios with certain heats having overly stacked talent increasing the likeliness of a big name not making it through and LCQs becoming more interesting. What impact do you expect this to have on night to night or season long results?
Thanks for your time and insights!
Tim G in CT
Tim,
The 450 class is stacked with talent and I think Anaheim really drove home the point that my friend Steve Matthes is way off base. He keeps ranting on and on about how we need to change the 250 class so that there are more rides and money in the premier class. While I certainly agree that riders in the 450 main event should all be making a good living for their talent and efforts, you really can’t add more rides or we would have top teams who can’t get their riders in the main event, let alone up on the podium. Jimmy Albertson, Dean Wilson, and Nick Schmidt were the only riders to make the final who don’t have rides. And if you add Justin Barcia back to the mix one of these guys is probably out. If a factory rider had a bad night and some bad luck in the LCQ he could definitely find himself in the stands watching the main event, especially early in the season while everybody is healthy [it already happened to Christophe Pourcel]. The crowded class makes for good racing but there is definitely a point where there are more riders than gates in the final.
PING
Have a question for Ping? Hit him up at ping@racerxonline.com.
