Ask Ping

Stephan,

I don’t know who this training facility owner is, but they don’t know their ass from their elbow. First of all, you can’t get better practice than actually going racing. You can simulate it all you want on practice days, but there is nothing like competing to prepare you for competing. This is true at all levels but particularly for novice/intermediate riders.

Also, it is important to keep sight of why you started racing motocross in the first place. I hate to break it to you, but the odds are not in your son’s favor of becoming the next national champion. But you said yourself that you genuinely enjoyed going racing as a family and that is what’s important. Go racing and have fun as a family because regardless of your son’s accomplishments, you’ll have memories that you’ll never forget.

Good luck to you guys and I hope to see you at a local race soon.

PING

Ping,

I can’t wait for the start of Lucas Oil MX Championship and the 125 All Star Series. I believe the introduction of the 125s is going to be a home-run for our sport and hopefully we will see it spread to the SX series.

With that being said, I have to ask. Is the All Star series sanctioned by the AMA and FIM? If so will riders be subject to drug testing?

Also, with Dean Wilson out for the summer, I think his chances of staying with Bobby’s team are 50/50 at best. Could you see Dean going to MCR to ride along with Brayton for SX? I think those two would be a powerful 1-2 punch and have a good chance of being on the box.

Looking forward to watching you pull the holeshot in your TLD gear! 

Jeff / Irvine  

Jeff,

Thanks for the letter and the excitement, Jeff, but let’s not put the cart before the horse. No, the All Star Series is NOT sanctioned by anybody and there is no purse or national championship that accompanies it. This is a support race that is meant to entertain during the down time between having the current stars of the sport on the track. By keeping money and titles out of it, the All Star Series should remain fun and continue to draw former pros and future stars back onto the track. You hear that, Budman, Denny, Chicken, Factory Phil, Emig, etc.?

That said, I’m excited too! With Ryan Villopoto, Wil Hahn, Jimmy Albertson, and other fast riders attending, it should be a great show and a great thing for the sport. Taking it to supercross? Meh…. As a 43-year-old, I know I have zero interest in getting back on a supercross track at this point. Riding those tracks takes so much practice and is so dangerous that you won’t be able to get former pros to come out of hiding and race.

I don’t have any idea where Dean will end up in 2019, but he’s a good kid and he’s one of a handful of riders capable of landing on the podium indoors and out. That is valuable, and I can’t see him entering next year without a ride again.

See you at Hangtown, and don’t expect a holeshot. These days I have the reflexes of a circus bear on ketamine mid-winter. I’ll be happy to finish inside the top 40. See you there.

PING

Hello Ping,

I'd like to push my luck a little by asking two questions, let's see how I go....

With all your experience riding a huge range of bikes, what stock bike in your riding history had impressed you the most?

As a professional rider, when have you been most impressed by watching someone ride a motorcycle?

Thanks for your insight and all your efforts to further our sport.

Gruß aus München.

Samuel