Billy Hartle on Returning as Supercross Race Mechanic for Ken Roczen in 2024

Birmingham, AL BirminghamMonster Energy AMA Supercross Championship

Ken Roczen got a new mechanic this year but it’s someone that’s very familiar with the sport. Billy Hartle has wrenched for Aaron Plessinger, Justin Barcia, and others, he started back in the day with the Eleven-10 Mods team even! I caught up to Billy recently to talk about where he went for a couple of years and what got him back into the sport.

Racer X: Billy Hartle, you are back wrenching. We last saw you with Barcia, and you’re back now. What have you been doing in the meantime?
Billy Hartle: I opened up a shop in San Angelo, Texas. Just do a little bit of everything there. Service work on motorcycles, suspension, engines, whatever we need to get done. Just been trying to get that up and going. Got a call to come back and it’s been working out really good.

Why’d you hang up the first time? Was it just the travel and the workload and stuff like that?
No. It was kind of a weird deal. I kind of had a situation where I had to move my wife back into Texas and helping out with her family and all that kind of stuff. A place to live in California didn’t really pan out, so I obviously financially couldn’t afford to have a place here and there and all that stuff. So, things didn’t really work out that way.

So, if it wasn’t for the personal stuff, you would have kept wrenching? It wasn’t a case of you being burnt out?
No. I wasn’t quite at the point of hanging up yet. At that point, just kind of the way the chips fell.

So, how does this deal come together for you?
Actually, Travis Soules [Roczen’s mechanic last year] he’s a good friend of mine, ever since he filled in at Yamaha for a while. He had a better opportunity that came up that he had to do. It was better for him and his family. He gave me a call and he was like, “I told Kenny I’d find the best guy I could find him, and I think you’re it. You want the job?” I said, “If it’s the same schedule as you got going on right now, I’m in.” He was like, “Yeah.”

So, you’re coming back and forth from Texas?
Yes.

I was talking to Ken about you, and he didn’t meet you until Anaheim?
Yeah, it was kind of funny. We were trying to get a hold of each other but both of us were pretty busy, obviously. He raced late into the year and everything. I tried to put something together for us to meet up beforehand, go have some dinner or something at least and talk a little bit, but it just didn’t work out until then.

Billy Hartle, Ken Roczen, and team after Roczen won in Glendale. Align Media

So, how has it been?
It’s been awesome. Ken is awesome. He’s a great dude to work with. It’s been a really great time. We’ve been having some success, so he’s happy and comfortable. It’s been pretty good.

Did you win with Barcia?
I did. [The 2021 opener in] Houston, that year that we did the residency there, he won the opener. Then I can’t remember if there was another one that year or not, but I know plenty of podiums.

Now you’re seeing those guys and racing them. What was it like for those guys, AP and Barcia, to see you back? Were they giving you shit?
No. They were good. Everyone just said they were happy to see me back. Everyone was cool about it. AP, he’s a character. He’s always a good time.

You’ve got to be happy for him right now. He’s taking it to a new level. He won. He’s a consistent podium guy. You’ve got to be happy.
Absolutely. I love to see that for AP. He deserves every bit of it.

So, if this deal wasn’t, “Come from Texas, build your bike,” you wouldn’t do it? If it involved a traditional factory role, you wouldn’t have probably done it?
It would have been pretty tough. It would have been tough to do. I got some things lined up where my father-in-law helps me out with my shop and stuff while I’m gone. It’s kind of working out pretty well, because he had his own business too, but he’s kind of towards retirement on that. So, him helping me out is working out really good. Just to do it full-time, I don't know. It would have been tough. I’d like to say that it would have been too good of an opportunity to pass up, but I don't know.

Team manager Larry Brooks (far left) and Billy Hartle are all smiles after winning in Glendale. Align Media

So, did you watch the sport and miss it during that time?
For sure. Of course. Probably the first year wasn’t that bad. I didn’t miss it too bad. Then especially any mud races, stuff like that, I was like, “I’m glad to be sitting on a couch right now.” But then the second year it was like kind of itching for it. Whenever I got the call, I was like, “Yeah, I’m in.”

We talked for an Eleven-10 story years ago. That’s where you came from. That’s your roots. Phil [Nicoletti] is still out there grinding way, Eleven-10. You guys are keeping it alive.
Yeah. It’s funny. Every time I see Phil, we always got to say hi. Just the camaraderie of being together at that time. Him and [Alex] Martin. Whenever I see Big Al around, we always reminisce.

I always laugh because you guys survived it. It was a pretty crazy time.
Yeah, it was insane. That’s what I always tell people. It was some crazy freaking times, but honestly that’s probably the best way to get into it because we learned a ton of stuff.

450 Words: Billy Hartle