Catching Up With Andrew Short

Andrew Short had a fantastic career in the sport of motocross, winning races in a variety of classes, garnering countless podium finishes and consistent rankings in the standings, riding for factory Honda for many years, and racing for Team USA in a victorious Motocross of Nations appearance in his home state of Colorado. Shorty, one of the nicest guys around, then moved into the rally world with Husqvarna and Yamaha after his motocross and supercross days came to a close. After retiring from that, Andrew had settled into life in Texas, and what you’d expect to be less physical stress. Sadly, that ended up not to be the case, as he recently had a bad crash and a scary moment, arguably worse than anything he suffered when he was racing professionally!

Now on the mend, we called Andrew on the PulpMX Show to catch up and get his thoughts on the SX season this year as well.

Racer X Online: You went and did your rally racing, and it was super dangerous and scary. You quit doing that because it was scary and dangerous. Then you go and do that on a dirt bike, break your back!
Andrew Short: Yeah, right? It’s crazy. In all that, there’s some silver lining. I’m super thankful. It could have been a lot worse, looking at the scans and whatnot and x-rays. I’m just super thankful to be walking and not in a chair and be respectful of that. So, I have a lot to be thankful for. It’s been miserable in terms of pain, but I can move pretty good. Overall, the biggest disappointment for me, I love to ride. Riding is my life. I was riding four or five times a week still with my kid. I just love it. So, I’m not sure how that’s going to look in the future, but that’s kind of difficult for me to wrap my head around. At least I’m at the races right now with my little dude, so that’s cool. But it’s been a challenge.

So, you’re in a turtle shell [body brace]?
I’m supposed to be for three months, but that things hurts so bad with all the nerve pain. I can’t really feel my stomach and I have bad nerve pain, so I don’t really wear it.

I heard it was kind of an innocent crash.
Yeah. Nothing crazy. Like you said, I’ve raced across the desert doing crazy stuff and crashed much harder than this. I was just going down the start straightaway coming onto a turn, lost the front, and next thing I knew I couldn’t breathe and needed to go to the hospital. So, nothing crazy.

Like you said, you were probably fifth gear wide open in the desert probably cartwheeling at some different times, right?
Exactly.

Andrew Short had a successful rally career after retiring from supercross and motocross. Courtesy of Yamaha

You’re big buddies with Ken (Roczen). How about that win in Indy? I think I counted him out. I’ve got to put my hand up. I think I counted the guy out. Look at what he did at Indy, though.
Yeah, it’s unreal. (Justin) Barcia, you could kind of see him coming on after Daytona, but Daytona wasn’t pretty for Kenny. So, I was really surprised. I’m a big fan. Just racing in general, it seems like all year it’s been really good. Amazing to have those top three [Webb, Tomac, Sexton], and then with them kind of struggling this week it just had some excitement in it. So, it’s really cool for racing and for supercross. For many years it was really clear who was going to win. You kind of already knew before the gate dropped, but now it’s awesome. Stoked for Kenny.

Are you surprised at Kenny? You know him well. Did you think he’s got the ability to rip off a few?
I did at the beginning of the series, but not after the last few weeks. I know he has the talent and all those things. It just seems like his attitude…or you can see it almost in his eyes. I don't know if he was struggling or what was going on. I don’t talk to him frequently enough to know what he’s feeling, what he’s going through. But he definitely had some internal motivation to stay strong like that for twenty minutes and to win like that. That had to take some heart and some drive with those conditions.

Especially Barcia’s behind him. He knows what’s kind of coming for him.
Those guys have some history, and all the look-backs and all the ego. There’s more to it than that. So, I think for both of those guys it was a big night and a lot to gain, and they knew what was at stake. For it to finish like that was pretty cool.

Even after moving on from rally on bikes, Shorty co-piloted for Molly Taylor at this year's Dakar in a Can-Am side-by-side. A.S.O./F.Gooden/DPPI

Chase Sexton crashed at Indy. If you’re coaching him, I guess you don’t say anything but be like, “We’ll get them next week?” The speed and the skill and the bike are all there. Just what do you say? You can’t read him the riot act.
No. Exactly what you just said. I think even how you said it with that tone is the wrong way. He’s Chase Sexton. He needs to believe in himself. All these people are saying, “Oh, he needs to be more mindful and manage the race better,” and all these things. No. That’s not him. He needs to go fast like he always does and push all the way to the finish and maximize everything and be who he is. Don’t be who somebody else is. He has everything that it takes to win. I think he’s shown that. The more he does it, the more it will become second nature and he’ll get the momentum and confidence and it will just come. But the more he thinks about it or tries to manage it, I don't think that’s the right way for Chase Sexton to race. Everybody’s different.

Do you want a job once you get healthy? I know you said this before, but if you can’t ride because of your back or whatever, would you do something like what Davi Millsaps is doing? He’s training some riders.
I don't know about that. I’d definitely like to be involved with racing because that’s what I love to do. I don't know. So much stuff has happened to me so quickly. It’s been really fun to hang out at these amateur races. I love that. Even Canada’s own, Ryder McNabb, very impressive.

Shorty at the 2011 Highpoint national. Cudby

What about (your son) Hudson? How’s he riding?
His goal is to not get lapped, so that just kind of tells you mindset.

Did he?
No. Actually, one he got lapped and he only made one moto of the three classes. So, he was super stoked on that. But last year he got lapped during every moto. He’d never really been to a big amateur race. So, he’s loving it. To have two of these spring nationals during his spring break, it's like moto kid vacation heaven. For me, I love being at the races and to hang out and to see him. I have great memories being a 12-year-old hanging out with other kids racing and trying to live that dream. So, for me to see him really enjoying it is cool. I stood in line for registration for an hour today. We had to wait in line. All these little things drive me nuts, but at the same time it’s cool just to see the environment for these kids having fun, riding pit bikes, wheelies, and everything else that goes with it. It's really cool.

What was your favorite amateur track?
Whitney was awesome, but my favorite was Mammoth. I would melt when I would go to Loretta’s. It was so hot for me. Being a Colorado kid, when I’d go to Mammoth, we didn’t even have to re-jet our bike. I got to ride a week’s worth of practice with my hero that I saw in the magazines and on TV. You’d be on practice week and McGrath would be out there or whoever, the Pro Circuit guys. To me, that was really cool because I never got to see those guys, let alone on the same track with them. So, I have good memories with that. Especially with all the New Mexico kids, like the Johnson family and just hanging out. Those were my favorite races. Definitely not Loretta’s. I felt the pressure. It was a hot environment. It just was really foreign and a lot of pressure. I didn’t like it. For me, it was just riding with people I looked up to. That was a big deal.

Where Are They Now: Andrew Short