When the starting gate slaps down into the mud tomorrow afternoon at the Prairie City SVRA Park in Rancho Cordova, California, Ty Masterpool will make his professional with Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha. Seventeen years in the making, Masterpool, who certainly hails from a racing family, has put everything he has into both this opportunity and moment in time.
A sensational amateur racer with four individual titles to his name from the Loretta Lynn’s AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship—the final two coming in the Supermini 1 and Supermini 2 classifications—may railbirds present tomorrow at the opening round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will be keeping very close eyes on the Texas born pilot as more than a few major players present in the Hangtown pits tomorrow are quite keen to see what Masterpool is all about.
On Friday afternoon while packing up his gear bag and getting ready to head out to the race circuit based at 13300 White Rock Road in Rancho Cordova, Masterpool spook with us about his big date tomorrow and the 11 nationals that will follow in the next four months to come.
Racer X: Ty, so just what do you have going up in Rancho Cordova, California, this weekend?
Ty Masterpool: Yeah, I’m up here and we’re at the hotel right now and just about to head out to the track. Today is press day and tomorrow will be the race.
The weather in and around Sacramento looks pretty dicey for race day tomorrow. Do you have any sort of read on the weather and the vibe up there?
Yeah, press day was supposed to be yesterday but then it got canceled from all the rain so they moved it to today. Today is pretty nice, but I think tomorrow it’s supposed to rain for sure.
Can you deal with the rain and mud tomorrow if it all comes down to that?
Yeah, anything is fine. I love it all.
You will make your professional debut with the Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha. I don’t want to get too dramatic on you, but you’ve worked most of your life to make this all happen, huh?
Yeah, I’ve definitely been working towards this and I’m excited and just happy to be here. And as far as my debut goes, there has been a lot of talk about it going back over a year and a half. I’ve been ready to go. I think the decision was made pretty firmly last November. So yeah, I’ve been working for this moment my whole career and my whole life. This year, though, we’ve had a few bumps with a couple of broken collarbones. I’m not exactly where I want to be right now, but I’m just going to go out there and try and do my best.
How do you feel about your 2019 Yamaha YZ250F race bike?
I haven’t had much time on the 250 at all. Maybe I’ve had a half of year with that, but I’ve been trying my hardest and doing my best and just mainly looking at the big picture.
So what’s your frame of mind, how do you feel about everything for race day, who are you going to look out for tomorrow? Are you nervous? Excited? What do you think?
I’m not really afraid all that much, I’m just really looking forward to it. There are obviously a lot of competitive guys out there, I guess we’ll get there and see how it goes. I’ve never raced this track. I’ve been here quite a few times, but I’ve never raced it. But it does look really good. I’m very excited to ride it.
Have you been working closely with the race team over the winter months to get ready and be prepared for your debut tomorrow?
Oh yeah. I’m very excited with the team. I’m loving the bike too. The bike feels really quick. I’ve also been training quite a bit too. I’ve had some bumps with the collarbones and all that. It’s a very big group effort. I was just in Texas with my riding coach and doing my physical training. A few people have been helping me out a lot.
What’s the game plan for tomorrow? Have you guys talked about the expectations and realities of what these first two 250 motos will mean to both to you and the entire Star Racing team?
I’m just going to go out there and try my best and just ride my best against all the other guys out there. I just really want to just go out there and ride my best and really open some eyes. I want to do my best and just look at the big picture. That’s the plan.
Do you have a goal in mind for tomorrow? Maybe a result that will send you home happy when you grab your gear bag and all else and begin looking to round two set for next Saturday at Fox Raceway at Pala?
Just to do my best and that’s just the plan. I just want to go out there and ride my best. I just want to do my best and just look at the big picture. There’s going to be a lot of tough guys out there and I have a lot of respect for all of them.
And the 22 motos that will come up following Hangtown during the running of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship this summer?
I don’t know… I’m looking towards the busy schedule and just the big picture. I’m excited for the big schedule and all the races that we’ll compete in week-in and week-out over the summer. I’m just happy for that. I definitely love what I do and I can’t wait to go to the starting gate tomorrow.
