When Ryan Villopoto told us he was going to attend the Racer X Inter-Am in Boise, Idaho, we invited the nine-time AMA Supercross/Pro Motocross #1 to tell us all about his weekend and his journey into the vintage motocross world
WORDS: Ryan Villopoto
PHOTOS: Dean Bradley & Wayne Denny
I jokingly tell people I am now “the world’s best retired guy.” I have definitely been busy in that role, what with my wife, Kristen, and our twins, Brax and Gage, and just life in general. Last year I had made a plan to go up and race the 13th Annual Racer X Inter-Am in Boise, but that was pre-COVID. My dad’s good buddy (and now my good buddy) Leon Capps has a bunch of vintage bikes, including a 1974 Yamaha YZ125, as well as the ’74 YZ250. He was like, “Hey, would you ever want to race one of these?” And I was like, “Hell yes!” But then COVID hit, and everything was canceled. Now things are finally getting way back to normal, and the race was finally going to happen, so I decided to drive up to Boise from Southern California to get my first taste of vintage racing.
Right before the race I called up my old teammate Jake Weimer and told him I was coming to Boise, which is about two hours away from him. I said, “Come on out, let’s drink some beers, have some fun, talk some shit, and ride old bikes.” He was like, “I’m in!”
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Davey Coombs
Editor-in-chief & Founder
Racer X Illustrated
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