Well, it's finally here. This weekend Phil Nicoletti, a man so filthy his favorite gesture of affection is scowling and flipping the bird, will enter his final race as a professional dirt bike racer. But if you think we were going to give him the weekend off because of it, you're dead wrong! This week Nicoletti gets into topics like team meetings, awkward moments with other riders, and coming back from injury.
Have a question for Phil as he nears retirement? Send a question to the Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha rider at Phil@racerxonline.com. Do it before he's gone!
Ornery Phil,
From time to time you hear about teams having lengthy post-race meetings in the rig, but nobody ever talks about what’s said in these meetings. Is this a standard, post-race download for teams, or does this type of meeting only occur when shit’s gone sideways? Is it anything like the NFL locker room meetings you see on TV, or is it gnarly, with team managers poking chests and yelling? What’s the most memorable meeting you’ve been a part of?
-Detroit Dave in Colorado
Dave,
Honestly, it all depends on the team. At JGR, we always had to do an evaluation sheet. That evaluation sheet consisted of three topics: engine, suspension, and chassis. You would rate sections on the bike with a 1-5 evaluation. Then on Monday there would be a team meeting. I know at Pro Circuit they have a meeting and watch film on Mondays with the riders. Every team has a different dynamic.
With most factory teams, meetings happen earlier in the week while shit is fresh. I have been a part of meetings on Saturday after races, and most of the time they are not good. Someone, somewhere along the line, is having a meltdown. My most memorable ones are with Coy Gibbs. He’s had some legendary one-liners, that I’m unable to say, while coming unglued. He was one of the best! Mr. Coy never held back. Ever. That’s what made him so great.
-Phil
Confrontational Phil,
Not too long ago I was listening to a Racer X podcast and Weege was telling a story about asking how your knee was on the plane, and your reply was that it was hurting. From a few rows back Malcolm Stewart called out, ‘Good!’ because I guess you’d somehow interfered with his race. This might have been Hangtown? Anyway, this got me wondering if you’ve ever had any awkward travel moments following a tense race. I can imagine it would be a bit weird to board a plane and find yourself sitting next to a rider who took you out the night before. I mean, what would have happened if Jett Lawrence had to sit next to Jason Anderson after the infamous helmet grabbing incident during supercross? Any stories of awkward moments like this?
-Sam
Sam,
I haven’t had any awkward moments with anyone. Believe it or not, if I have an issue with someone, and they walk by me on a plane, I’ll still give them a nod. I don’t give a shit. The Mookie one was funny because we started next to each other. He said I came over on the start and caused him not to get a good start. The problem was, he was so slow off the gate that everyone came over on him on the start. We were joking on that flight that Weege was talking about. Mookie and I are cool. He’s a great dude. Even with the incident we had in Texas last weekend in the second corner. That was on me. I even called him Saturday night and apologized, even though his mechanic threw his hands up at me when I came by on the first lap, haha. Like I meant to do it, buddy, haha. But if Anderson and Jett did sit next to each other, I can guarantee you they would chat just fine. They are both awesome guys.
-Phil
Phil,
As I was watching the race on Saturday and seeing Jo Shimoda absolutely ripping after only about a month removed from a broken collarbone, it made me wonder about what kind of pressure there is for guys to come back from injury quickly. If you come back quickly and do well, like what’s happening with Shimoda, everyone slaps your back and tells you how remarkable you are. But it frequently goes the other way too, and people are so quick to criticize and shake their heads about riders foolishly rushing back to racing. But they wouldn’t be rushing if there wasn’t pressure, one would think. So is there industry pressure? Financial pressure? Pressure to show you’re not a little bitch? Does it differ for riders at different levels of the sport? Do you think Jett had pressure to come back for SMX?
-Coffee Can Dan
Coffee,
Actually this is a solid question. Our sport is funny with this. You have some guys who are tough as nails and want to try and get back as fast as possible and can deal with some pain and adversity. Then you have some guys who will milk it to the very end to make sure they are “okay.” Or they'll milk something that really isn’t that big of an issue. But when you have contracts with sponsors, injury clauses come into effect. Unfortunately, it’s one of the shittiest things in our sport. When a rider gets hurt during practice or racing, an injury clause shouldn’t be put into play. Like, sorry, we gave it a 100 percent out there and we endo’d our brains out, broke a wrist, and we're now out for seven races. But if you miss more than four races we probably reduce your salary “X” amount. That’s such bullshit to me. An athlete doing their job, and then they get punished for it. In what world? Fortunately, I have great companies that don’t hold that against me. But I have been with some that have, and it’s shitty. If you get mangled skiing, or downhill mountain biking, then okay, that’s on you. But if you’re grinding on a Tuesday, or racing on a Saturday, a company should not dock an athlete. It’s wrong. Why should the athlete try then?
-Phil
