It’s exceedingly rare for rider with the ability to win races to be available for a fill-in ride, but such has been the curious case of Ty Masterpool, always fast but never…actually we don’t know. His team/ride situation has always been odd. Ty and his family have always said they would welcome any ride on any team, but finding solid employment hasn’t been easy. In 2023, after parting with Toyota of Redlands/Bar X Suzuki after a very brief and unsuccessful stint in Monster Energy AMA Supercross, he was practically on his own to start the 2024 AMA Pro Motocross Championship campaign before the HBI Racing team picked him up by round three. Ty was a revelation on a 450 outdoors, flirting with podium spots. Actually, maybe there isn’t that much mystery to Ty’s ride situation. He crushes it in motocross, but supercross continues to be a struggle. Thus, he found himself still at privateer status until Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki, missing Cameron McAdoo, Maximus Vohland, Austin Forkner, and Seth Hammaker with injury, called him on Thursday, after press day at Fox Raceway. Ty rode his HBI Kawasaki KX450 that day. On Friday, he was trying the Pro Circuit KX250 at Perris Raceway, and on Saturday, he was racing for the team.
“Yeah, big shoutout to Matt and Darla [Bell], the owners of HBI, I was with them for a year, I started with them right after Thunder Valley last year,” Masterpool says. “It’s great to see a team that’s really interested in what’s best for the riders. When I told them the news that Mitch called and I wanted to see if it was okay with them, they were happy. They just want what’s best for the riders. I can’t thank them enough.”
Transitioning to a new bike in one day is certainly not easy, but Ty loved the PC machine from the start. Transitioning from a 450 back to a 250 was a bigger adjustment. In qualifying for this year’s opener, you could hear Ty lugging the 250, struggling to keep the revs up. He loved the bike, though and after Hangtown, they made a key change. Pro Circuit tried a Seth Hammaker setup for Masterpool. Then he tried Levi Kitchen’s bike balance and loved it. Since then, he’s been so happy with the machine that he doesn’t even need further testing, so he headed back to his family’s track in Texas and went to work.
“Dude, the bike handles with the rear tire on the ground, I felt like Ryan Villopoto out there. My rear tire was just glued to the ground,” said Masterpool.
By High Point, it all worked. On a wild race day with crashes for nearly every front runner, plus tough, gnarly ruts breeding plenty of mistakes and ups and downs, Masterpool pulled through. Tom Vialle tossed the lead away in moto one, then Masterpool out dueled Chance Hymas and Jo Shimoda in a fight for the lead. Then came Haiden Deegan, absolutely flying on a run to the front, overhauled Masterpool late to mark an epic comeback.
Masterpool kept his head up heading into the second moto.
“I think it’s just focusing on myself, me versus me, me versus the track and let the results fall where they fall,” he said. “I felt like [irst moto] I could have pushed a little harder and tried to get him back but looking at the big picture, I didn’t want to risk it and do something stupid and go down. Obviously that hurt a little bit, I wanted to win that first one, but I kept my head screwed on and rode solid.”
Masterpool’s result was good, but his body was hurting after that one.
“My lower back was fried between motos,” he says. “It was hindering my riding a little bit, I couldn’t get my hips back as far as I wanted. But I pushed through it. I felt like my stamina was pretty good, but my lower back was on fire.”
“I haven’t really had an off-season boot camp,” he added. “I had my appendix removed and a whole bunch of random stuff. I tore my calf going up a jump just because all the anti-biotics I was on, weakens tissue. So, I’m still starting to race my way into shape.”
No matter, he was up front again in the second moto. Deegan fell early and he had another battle at the front. Masterpool and Hymas went at it the whole way before Masterpool locked the lead for good with about four minutes and two laps left. The win seemed assured, but Masterpool perhaps started thinking about it too much and lost a little pace, and meanwhile Deegan was absolutely flying, with 2:10 lap times when the rest of the field was in the 2:14-2:16 range!
Masterpool was getting the message…here and there!
“Yeah he was [mechanic Ryan Hughes was telling him] but I have to get a little better at reading the board every lap!” said Masterpool. “I was missing it quite a bit. I was trying to keep my head down and just make it me versus me out there and race the track. Then a few laps to go it started sinking in a little bit, but I was like, ‘I’m after titles and all that, I better get used to it.’ So I just focused on myself and rode.”
Masterpool went 2:16 on the next-to-last lap, then ran a 2:14 on the final lap to barely, just barely hold Deegan at bay at the line. His 2-1 gave him the overall win, an amazing turn in a short time. A month ago, he wasn’t even on this team!
“It’s been a rough three or four years,” Masterpool said. “I believed in the team of people I had around me and kept my head down and believed in God’s timing. Just a big shoutout to my physical trainer Peter Park, my mom and dad, and Dylan Walker, kept my head above water for the last three years. It’s been a rough few years, that’s for sure.”
Masterpool had delivered Pro Circuit’s 300th win as a team. A few months ago, the squad was absolutely rolling in supercross and win 300 seemed en route, quickly. Then the luck turned, and it took a rider who wasn’t even on the team when it recorded victory 299 to get it done.
“I actually didn’t know it until right after the race, and that’s awesome!” said Masterpool. “Just an honor. Thanks to the whole team, Mitch [Payton, Pro Circuit owner], Ian [Southwell, Team Manager] Dave [Cruz, suspension tech] all of them.”
Payton was in tears after the win, dedicating the Father’s Day Weekend victory to his own dad, who had recently passed.
![Ty Masterpool with his dad, Jerry.]()
Ty Masterpool with his dad, Jerry. Mitch Kendra ![Masterpool, Mitch Payton, and the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team.]()
Masterpool, Mitch Payton, and the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team. Mitch Kendra
As for Ty, he’s just as excited about working on win 301, with an off weekend to ramp up his fitness and speed even more.
“The biggest thing is I’m looking forward to getting right back to work Monday,” he says. “I’ve never ridden a bike like this where I have some much room for improvement. That’s why I’m so excited to get back to work. It’s gonna be a good little off weekend.”
Ty Masterpool lost his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing ride a few years ago. The lack of supercross results has been tough. He never gave up hope he could climb back into the right spot.
“Yeah, I’m not here to participate, I want to be the best and all that,” Masterpool says. “I believe in my team and the people around me, I’m based in Texas and that’s because it’s best for my training. Obviously, it was a rough few years, I’m repeating myself a lot, but it was a lot of ups and downs, but hard work pays off.”
Main image by Mitch Kendra
