Privateer Profile Brandon Ray

Sounds like your dad, John “Poppy” Ray, was a great role model.
Yeah, he got me on a bike the day before I turned three. I rode on our front lawn in a circle. He had a strap to my bike so that if I got whiskey throttle he could hold me back. [Laughs] At five years old I asked him if we could start racing. He had raced Expert up until 1996 when he had a bad accident on his Harley. I heard stories about him being fast. [Laughs] He told me if I was going to race there were three rules. One, I had to do well in school. I wasn't the best kid in school, but I did graduate. If I did bad, he didn't let me race. Two, we both had to give it our best. I had to give it 120 percent because anyone else could give it a 100 percent. And three, we both had to be having fun.

How was racing for you in those early years?
My dad didn't push me into racing. He wanted me to, but he didn't want to be "that dad." I watched a lot of videos on YouTube and one day I told him, "I want to race." He told me later that was music to his ears. I remember either my first or second race, I was so intimidated by the track I told my dad I didn't want to race. I quit and we left. On the way home my dad told me I was a quitter. When I got home my family and friends asked how I did. I said, "Poppy called me a quitter." It was the only time I quit a race.

When did things start clicking? When did it become serious?
I was a pretty fast amateur racer, I just didn't have the backing. I rode on natural ability until really last year. That's when I started training full-time and treating it as a job instead of a hobby. I didn't take it as seriously as I should have. I raced for JMC Motorsports and won some championships. On 50s and 65s we didn't really go to the big races. In 2013 on 85s I was racing a 10-year-old CR80 and I got top 10. Mitch Payton actually came up to me and gave me a new pipe. He said, "We'll be talking to you," but we weren't able to make it to the rest of the races that year. That year I actually got my first sponsors. Dano Legere and Pat Lopez at Von Zipper and DVS shoes helped me out big time. They got me hooked up with other sponsors as well.

You talked about not having a lot of funding. How did your first Loretta Lynn's trip come about in 2015?
For that we did a carwash fundraiser. We made enough money to go and I believe I got a top 10. Then in 2016 I broke my arm in the very first moto. I was right with Jett Reynolds who was in second. Max Vohland was in first. My chain seized up and it pitched me down. In 2017 I went back and won Yamaha Youth Rider of the Year. I skipped again in 2018 because I hurt my wrist. In 2019 and 2020 I was with JMC and got a second in a moto.

Tell me about racing the 125 Allstar Race at Hangtown in 2019.
Dude, that was sick! That was awesome. It was crazy just being on the same gate as [Ryan] Villopoto. I almost got the holeshot. I would have if he didn't cut me off. It was smart. I learned from him. I looked up to Ryan. I tried latching on to him. He pulled a gap but I was still right there. I couldn't believe it. I got to go up on the podium and me and Ryan were talking. It was so cool!

Did you get much interest from any teams or OEM's?
Not really. Just local support and family. We thought we might get something after the Yamaha Youth Rider of the Year Award, but we just got a pressure washer. We switched brands after that. Then I picked up a sponsor from a guy that just wanted to help. His name was Paul Bahr and he supported most of my supermini program.

You went pro this year and are currently on Julien Perrier's Partzilla PRMX Racing Team. How did that come about?
My dad and I decided in 2021 we'd give it one last shot. We reached out to a bunch of people. We told them we need to race the A class so we could start making money. The NorCal community came together to help. I didn't do great at Loretta's and I was bummed. It took a lot out of me. I found Julien and PRMX on Instagram and started following them. He followed me back and I started freaking out. I was talking to my friend when it happened. We hung up and a couple hours later he called me back and told me he just got off the phone with Julien. I kind of got mad because I didn't know what he said. The next morning I got a DM from Julien. He asked if we could hop on a phone call. He wanted me to come to SOB [South of the Border, training facility] and get to know me. We got the call from Julien and my dad and I said, "Let's do it."

How much time did you have riding supercross before A1?
I got out to South of the Border in early November. I basically had a couple months at the most of actual supercross riding. I went to A1 and it was way different than I expected.