Remember Cole Martinez? He was a journeyman pro making mains in both 250SX and 450SX classes of Monster Energy AMA Supercross for a number of years before giving that up to go off-roading where he proved to be pretty successful. Well, Martinez decided to come back to moto one more time at this year’s Loretta Lynn’s and captured one very unlikely title [Open Pro Sport] and one 25+ one as well. A big surprise down at the ranch, Steve Matthes and Paul Perijbinos caught up to Cole on the PulpMX Show to talk to him about his week and more.
Steve Matthes/Racer X: Good job to you, man. That’s awesome. Taking the plus 25 and then the Open Pro Sport. Did you have any idea what was going on behind you in open pro sport, to give you that title?
Cole Martinez: Yeah. I knew those guys were battling pretty hard. I could hear them, and then going on different parts of the track you could see it. It just looked like there was a pack of guys at one point. I was like, “Oh, man, they’re going to be pushing hard.” It looked like Heath [Harrison] hung in there for quite a while, which probably saved my ass a little bit. Then 77 [Caden Braswell] got around and pretty much we stayed the same the rest of the moto, which was pretty cool.
Did you know you were in position to win it?
No. When I saw him in second, I honestly thought that he had the overall and I was like, gosh dang it, two laps to go. Then I got off the track and they were like, “Hey, you won it!” I was like, “Are you sure?” I had him and [Ryder] DiFrancesco mixed up a little bit. It’s pretty cool.
That’s awesome. Obviously, you used to race pro, and you had a nice little career. Took some time off to race some off-road, which you’re doing now. What made you want to go back to the ranch? You raced there back in the day, obviously, but did you have a goal in mind? Did someone make a bet with you?
I race Mammoth last year in the plus 25 and I had a blast. Then I watched plus 25 at Loretta’s and Heath was in it. There were some other good guys – [Robby] Marshall and all those guys. It looked pretty fun. I always thought it would be cool to go back at some point. I mentioned it to a few people, and they jumped on. Next thing I know, we were headed back to the ranch.
How did you do when you were a kid there the first time? Did you have any good results?
My first time I probably got lapped, honestly. [Eli] Tomac was unreal. Those guys were shredding. So, when you’re in that class there are some heavy hitters. My first time I had no idea what we were getting into. My friend Taylor Robert actually messaged me while we were there and he was like, “A lot different than when we first went there when we were little.” I was like, holy shit. You’re telling me?
Did you think you could win? Obviously, Open Pro Sport, maybe not that one, but were you like, “I feel good? I think I can get plus 25?” Did the practice time on Monday surprise you, or did you go in thinking you could do this?
I raced Mike [Alessi] at the regional and beat him in one moto there. Then when I realized he was all in, I was already racing Mammoth. So, I already got to race Mike at this point at the regional. Mammoth I raced Josh Grant and [Trey] Canard. I just raced a bunch of legends in a few weeks. It was pretty crazy. Then everyone was like, “You got to race Mike!” Obviously, when he lines up, that’s no easy task. I needed to train anyway for the next half of the season, so I kind of just chose to do something different and ride somewhere different and change it up before we have to get back to the grind. Obviously, I wanted to win. The Pro Sport class, I had no idea where I would sit. That’s a totally different track than Mammoth. I’ve barely rode any motos since I started racing off-road, other than Glen Helen. It’s been crazy. It’s pretty cool to win both.
You should try out this supercross stuff. You look like you’ve got a good future!
I’m out!
Pulp Co-Host Paul Perijbinos: I think you’re a cool story in that you’ve been a professional for a while, and then for a while there it wasn’t going great. You didn’t know what you were going to do next. I was actually watching one of your motos – I don't know if it was Pro Sport or 25+ or what – but I was standing with Mark Samuels (owner of Cole's current team). I was like, “Mark, look at you. You’re changing Cole’s life here, right?” He kind of pulled Zach Bell out of nowhere, and he pulled you out, frankly out of nowhere. Then you started doing off-road. You have this whole new career and life in front of you, and now you’ve just won Pro Sport at Loretta’s and you’re making a bunch more noise there. I really think people would be interested to hear how that happened and what Mark Samuels has done for you.
Yeah, for sure. I got hurt the last two years I raced supercross, almost a year apart. They were both pretty good ones. The first injury I was already like, “Man, I need to race off-road, or I need to do something different.” Then I got sucked into racing in Europe for some supercross, and then I was all into it again. At that point, I had already talked to Mark the year before. Then I was like, “I’m not ready to do it.” Then when the second injury, I was like, I need to change something in my life. I’m sick of being hurt. This is too gnarly. I have a family now. I was sick of getting my butt kicked on the track. I know I can win, I just needed to be somewhere. Then Mark jumped on and next thing I know, now the team is growing and it’s cool to be a part of it. It’s unreal.
You made supercross main events. You got a couple of top tens. But all of that doesn’t mean you can be successful to me in Big Six or WORCS or whatever, stuff you’re doing now. Great on a motorcycle, sure, but there’ still the crashing, there’s still being in shape, there’s all that stuff that requires you to be successful outside of moto and supercross. I don't know what this Mark guy saw in you. How have you been able to adapt to this so well? Are you in great shape? Do you love to ride? Do you not push it anymore? What’s made you be a successful off-road guy?
I think all of the above. Not having major injuries, major setbacks, and being able to train consistently. I think Mark giving me everything I need to succeed. We’re contending for championships in off-road and then obviously he just gave me a bike that could win Loretta’s, which is unreal in itself. He has really given me everything I need to succeed. It’s been more of me just putting in the work to make it happen. Then I grew up riding off-road, so that’s all we have here. I grew up riding with Taylor Robert. We were with each other all the time, but I chose to really try after moto.
You were saying the motos are 25 minutes in open pro sport, and Cole is one of those guys that goes 25 minutes. Cole is obviously in shape. I don’t ever remember Cole for being that previous to his off-road career, but I think all his off-road racing and the consistency of the program that Mark is bringing to him and the consistency that Mark has brought to everything for Cole, I think it was just him and Ryder and maybe Braswell that could go their full speed the whole moto. When did you first hear that the Pro Sport was going to be 25? That’s new this year, and I didn’t learn about it until I got there.
I didn’t learn about it until after the first moto! [Laughs] No, I literally was on the track! I think at one point I had the lead in the first moto of pro sport. The first two motos of Pro Sport, I was super tight and uncomfortable out there. At one point, I battled the guys for a minute and kind of got dropped and settled in and got fourth. That’s what I could get, which was totally cool. We were ripping. They were shredding. The next one, I was super uncomfortable. The first one, I thought it would be two laps to go and it was another four. I was like, holy crap, this is a long moto for 20 minutes. Pretty crazy!
Did you beat Mike in the first two (25 + motos)? Was it a battle? Did you have it handled, or how did that go? Then in the last one, did you let him go and you were like, I got the overall?
I think I had to pass him in both of them. It was a battle. He shut the door a few times in one of them, and then I got him and tried to run away. I didn’t know what he was going to do. Then the next one… The last moto, we were first moto of the day. I was pretty nervous about the 25+, just because I feel like that’s what I went there for. Mark put all this effort. I just felt like I had some weight on my shoulders for that one. So, I take off the start on the sight lap. Awesome jump off the gate. I was like, sweet. I get back to the starting line and the gate is rock hard, slick, like concrete. I had the paddle on at this point. I spun so bad off the gate and came out outside the top ten the first two turns. So, I was like, “Oh, shit. We got some work to do now.” I don’t ride soft tracks like that, ever. So, I knew going into the week, I had to win the first two motos no matter what if I wanted to be part of the championship. I wasn’t sure how I was going to be in that third moto, knowing it was the first one in the morning. That’s a totally different track than anything we ride.
It’s totally different. I know from first-hand experience. I was at Loretta’s last year. 30 is the class that I really go for, and we were first moto in the morning, very first race. I pulled 40 spoon. All you do is suck roost. There’s no lines. It’s hard to make up time and pass people because you’re just in a mud hole, basically.
Yeah. It’s so deep. I like to think now I do a lot better when the track is rough, because that’s all we ride. I was a little nervous about that moto. I was way back, came through, got to third. I wasn’t making too much time on Jake [Baumert]. Then all of a sudden, one lap I made up a bunch of time and pressured him, and he made a mistake and then I was in second. At that point, I didn’t really want to catch Mike. We kind of were super far away from third, so I just wanted to take it in. The second moto, I think we got into it a little bit and I didn’t want to make him lose it.
There was a lot of blocking going on for a while. You were coming at the end of the moto. Mark even said to me at the tower, “Dude, I don't know why Tony’s (Alessi) being weird to me. We’re friends. We’re Honda. We’re teammates, kind of. We both run a Honda program. He’s usually so cool to me, but because Cole is here racing Mike, he hasn’t said hi to me once.”
I know. But they’re cool. It’s racing. Obviously, knowing that I have to go race Mike Alessi at Loretta’s and he’s trying to break this record, or just win for that matter. Obviously, I want to go and win. I’m still racing. He’s retired.
Where does this rank for you, these wins? You’ve had a good pro career and now you’re doing well off-road. Where does this stuff rank for you?
Pretty awesome, honestly. For starters, I never thought I would even go back to Loretta’s, for that matter. Then getting the opportunity to go back with my family at 30, holy crap. For starters, I’m just super thankful that I can still ride and do this for a living. That’s pretty badass. Then to experience it with my family, my wife, my kid. My brother even raced Loretta’s, so that was sick, and my dad. So, that was pretty cool to go with the whole crew, then to have the whole SLR crew there topped it off.
What teams did you ride for in supercross? What were you on?
I rode for a few Yamaha teams. My first year being on a team was the Slayton team. My second year was maybe on the Barn Pros team. Then I rode for IB Corp the first year they came into it, which was pretty sweet. I rode for that AJE team when they first came into it. That was pretty cool, at the time.
Didn’t you ride Suzuki 450’s your last year?
Yeah, I did that all on my own.
Now that you’ve been through it first as a young guy and then you kind of went and tried your way as a professional, and now you’ve almost rebirthed your career and you’ve gone back to Loretta’s, what is your feeling about how some of these amateurs are leaving Loretta’s and entering the pro scene? What have you learned now that you’re older? Were you not as focused on certain things when you were younger? What’s your take on it?
There’s so much I’ve learned. When you do this, the only thing you’ve done in your life, train and ride and you love dirt bikes – it’s what we’ve all done. You learn so much along the way. I wish I definitely would have known a few things when I was younger. That’s for sure. For all the kids going, they have such big opportunities. They’re all young. That’s the cool thing about racing these amateur races. All these kids, their eyes are just wide open and looking for such bright futures, which they all have. It’s just cool to get the experience and see them. I’m enjoying it.
Main image by Mitch Kendra
