Next: Patrick Murphy

Talk about the track a little bit. Whoops and stuff, kind of was a difficult track. How was it shaping up there by the end of the last race?
Yeah, I was surprised they actually had whoops this year because usually they don’t for the amateurs. They were pretty big, to be honest with you. I rode some pro supercross at ClubMX and these whoops weren’t like those, but they were still pretty big. So, I was surprised they left them. The track was getting really rough at the end, but they kept it in good condition.

This is like your first big event for the season, for the spring. What’s the next couple of weeks and throughout the rest of the summer look like for you? Where do you go from here?
We’re going to go back to ClubMX for the next couple days, then we’re going to go on to Spring-a-Ding at Underground in Texas. We’ll do that and then do some qualifiers and regionals, Loretta’s, and then hopefully the last four nationals.

[Note: Murphy finished fifth overall in 250 Pro and fourth in Open Pro at Spring-a-Ding-Ding].

So, no Supercross Futures just yet?
No, not this year.

You did the MX Sports Scouting Moto Combine events in 2022. What was that experience like? And do you plan on doing this again this summer?
Yes, I did two of the combines, RedBud and Ironman. They honestly did not go how I wanted. I had a couple things out of my control at RedBud that happened on the day before that set me behind the whole weekend. I feel it was a great experience though getting to race in front of a decent crowd for 25 mins. I live about four hours from RedBud so I've ridden it quite a bit growing up. It's my favorite track. Ironman started off decent in qualifying, I believe P5 in the first session and P7 in the second. I had a bike failure in the first moto while in fifth which caused me to DNF which ultimately killed my day. I do not plan on the combines again as I'm planning on racing the national for RedBud and Millville.

You moved to the ClubMX training facility last year. You’re living there, training there, they have a lot going on there. What is it like being there at ClubMX? How has it impacted your journey as a racer and also as an individual off the bike?
Club is a grind. I ride four days a week and train in the gym six days a week. I take the midweek day and weekends off from riding if I'm not racing. I stay there in my camper with my uncle Scott, my full-time mechanic. He probably plays one of the biggest roles in my career and progress. He works just as hard as I do. We have a garage that used to be Justin Brayton's that we rent out for shop space and that's where we work on the bikes out of. Club as a facility is huge, it's almost like a little town. They have hook ups and houses/cabins all over. There is a training facility side on the one side of the street with the main track and OG sand track which is incredibly rough. On the other side of the street is the practice facility as it also has two tracks, the practice track which holds public practices on select weekends and another fun sand track called the GP. Plus, all the SX tracks.

I really try and grind as hard as I can while I'm at club because a lot of people would love to have the opportunity to be there, and I don't want to take what I have for granted as nothing lasts forever. There are quite a few kids there that are full-time so it's nice to socialize and talk after a day of riding. Club has introduced me to a ton of people in the past year that have helped me hugely in my progress of trying to become a professional racer.