MXP: Hey Newf, let’s start with your second weekend in a row at Whispering Pines MX Park. The Future West MX Series kicked off there on the weekend and by all accounts, the race was a big success. How was it overall and how did you and your son Meston make out?
RL: It was a great weekend! We had a record number of entries 515 which has never happened in BC before. The FW crew killed it and everyone was on point. Things went very smoothly, as far as the running of the race. Long moto’s, great racing, 32 Pro/am’s showed up so overall it was a huge success for everyone involved. Meston rode well and was able to win both moto’s in the 50cc 4-6, he has some work to do in the 50cc Open but he will get there. For myself, I did ok and was in the battle in the Pro-Am class but they were 20 min moto’s so I got tired but I still find a lot of enjoyment in racing with the kids that’s for sure.
MXP: We interviewed Shawn Maffenbeier this week and he mentioned how good the Whispering Pines track was on Sunday. How is the new track crew doing and how do you expect things will be for the WCAN and for the opening round of the 2022 Triple Crown Series in June?
RL: The track crew really has that place figured out right now. It was national-level prepped for last weekend with a lot of ruts which made it really fun. For the WCAN, we will be leaving the track the way that it is right now which has a lap time of about 2:15 seconds but I have already discussed with the track guys about adding in another section along with building up some of the jumps for Pro day to make it a little more exciting. We will be around 2:30 seconds per lap for the Pro National. I’m sure they will like that as a longer lap time will make the moto’s go buy faster for them
MXP: We now have only two weekends of SX remaining and it’s kind of sad that it’s coming to an end. Let’s assume Eli Tomac and Christian Craig clinched their titles on Saturday as Jett Lawrence did last weekend so all will be good there. My question to you is what the heck is happening right now with SX? At times, this season we’ve witnessed some bizarre incidents and decisions from the top series in the world. By the sounds of it, they should’ve red-flagged the 450SX main event a few weeks ago when Dean Wilson was bleeding profusely on the side of the track. Then they randomly build a massive triple jump in Atlanta for press day. Finally, where did they ever find that dirt for last weekend in Foxborough? It was terrible and I cannot believe the riders had to race on it. What are your thoughts on what has been happening?
RL: For me, I’m ready for it to be over, to be honest as I feel that it’s a little stale. This many rounds of supercross are so much for everyone. Of course, at the start of January, I can not wait to get together and watch with buddies but by this time of year, I only watch live if it is convenient to me. I honestly feel like it gets stale for everyone from the riders, teams, and track builders and I think that is why we see some WTF track obstacles. They are running out of ideas to make it exciting. I’m ready for the outdoors. There are so many big names missing it’s time for a reset. As for the dirt in Foxborough, it reminded me of the dirt they used for the World SX here in Vancouver. They called it Moon dirt (laughs). Saturday in Foxborough did look terrible though. So many rocks.