Chris Canning is the kind of grizzled, no-frills, blue-collar, tough SOB you picture when you think New England motocross. They build work horses up there, and at one of New England’s biggest races—our Racer X Maine Event presented by TCX over the weekend—Canning repped the home folks well by winning the 450 A class and finishing second in 250 A. It was would really be a toss-up between Canning and Florida’s Ramyller Alves if you were trying to decide who was the fastest rider throughout the weekend. 

Where Alves is all youth and scrubs and style, Canning is just all grit. He practically lives out of his haggard, old Sprinter van; he was riding through pain after a major shoulder injury last winter; and his bikes were basically stock. He does not care. Canning races the local NESC series, which routinely packs full gates for long, gnarly motos for what feels like a 100-race series. They just race all the time up there—no practice facilities or “waiting to just race the major amateur races” up there.

Canning has done his share of major races, chasing Lucas Oil Pro Motocross for a while, and doing it the hard way. He spent two years straight up living out of his van—for real. One year his van broke down in Utah, and he was so broke he didn’t have the money to fix it. So he called U-Haul and rented a box van for the weekend (which was cheaper than fixing his van) so he could race the Thunder Valley National. He also told the U-Haul guy he would take a few hundred bucks for the left over carcass of his old van. The U-Haul guy took the deal, so Canning had enough money to make it all the way home. Then he bought a new (used) Sprinter, but it had been previously used by a medical supply company, and he got pulled over once for not having a license to carry hazardous materials—even though he wasn’t actually carry medical supplies. The solution? He spray painted the van flat black, covering the old logos.

Canning also chased Road to Supercross points in Amsoil Arenacross, even racing with a broken wrist to make mains and get the points he needed. He earned his supercross points, but got hurt the day before he was going to head out for the races. Also, one time he was racing the Millville National and busted the transmission on his bike. He drove all the way back to his base in Coventry, Connecticut, got the bike working, then drove all the way back out to Washougal. Then he drove to Loretta’s to help coach some kids down there, and then back up to New York for the Unadilla National. That’s one lap of America in about three weeks. 

“I do a lot of driving,” says Canning.

He explains all this with a smile—broken and stock bikes, no money, no home, injuries, and bad luck, it does not faze him. He’s a motocross racer’s motocross racer. This is what he does.