250 Words: Star Factory

LeBlanc wasn’t satisfied with his results through the first four motos, but he showed enough potential for the team to keep him at the top level.

“Not good!” he joked about his results, which were 20-17-14-12 moto scores through the first four motos at Fox Raceway and Hangtown.

“Riding wise, besides qualifying, it’s been good,” he added. “Starts have been bad. Second moto last week [Hangtown] was actually good though. [I finished] 12th, but just bad starts. Riding is good.”

What got the team to change its mind?

“Um…pretty much that last moto [at Hangtown]. It just showed potential and then you earn the right to be there. That’s kinda what did it. We talked about it and even I said, I don’t really see any point in going back. I feel like I’m learning a lot each weekend and I’m progressing so much each weekend. After that last one we’ve got a lot more confidence, and we worked on starts all week. I think this weekend we search for that top then.”

That’s exactly what LeBlanc did, going 10-9 for eighth overall at Lakewood, Colorado’s Thunder Valley.

“It was a good day and a big step in the right direction,” he said. “It was kind of my goal to prove that I should be here for all 12 rounds. I accomplished that, and now it’s time to keep this thing going. I’m looking forward to High Point next weekend.”

“Our rookies are also making a lot of progress,” explained 250 team manager Jensen Hendler. “Matt LeBlanc ended up going 10-9 for eighth overall, which is awesome. We’re three races into the championship, and it just shows that his heart is in it. He’s doing everything he needs to do to be a frontrunner, and with a little bit of time, he’ll be there. We’re happy with his performance and the progress he has made and will be keeping him in the Pro Motocross Championship for the rest of the season.”

Romano has already shown his potential by holeshotting and leading the second moto at Fox Raceway. He faded back, but was better at Hangtown, hanging in there for a 10-9 and 10th overall. He wasn’t quite as happy with Thunder Valley, but it was part of the learning process.

“Day was up and down, 9-13 on the day,” he said. “Happy with the first moto but not happy with the second moto. Practice, I was struggling with the track with the altitude. It was all coming at me quick, the bike was slow…it all kind of caught me off guard. I just put practice behind me. The first moto, I was fifth, and I was going for a little bit, there. I was making everyone fight to get by me, and I ended up P9 which I was happy about. Then I just made a pretty big, dumb bike change. That’s on me. I’m searching for everything and unfortunately it doesn’t go my way some times. It’s just my third race, so I’m happy, taking the positives moving to round four.”

“This weekend they flopped the order, so we had the fourth moto of the day, and the track conditions were really rough,” added Hendler. “He just wasn’t gelling with the bike, so we’ll continue to work hard to get him comfortable and be able to fight up front in these second motos. We’re excited about the future.”

Those are the key words right there, as just a few weeks ago there was no way to truly predict the adaptation of Kitchen, Romano, and LeBlanc. With both rookies showing potential and Kitchen taking a moto win, the rebuild is underway.

“I’m having such a blast, I’ve been dreaming of this since I started riding and racing,” added Romano. “Just being out here with the big dogs. Just bad ass guys. It’s definitely surreal. Traveling the country doing what you love? You can’t beat it.”