FXR Racing Presents the Mid-Week Report with Andy White

If you didn’t get a chance to make it to the national at Sand Del Lee then you missed out on some great racing! The national series is back in the nation’s capital and I am very happy about that. First, the guys that manage this track really know how to put on a great event! Second, they are located in a perfect part of the country. There is plenty of MX in the Ottawa area. Third, it’s only a two hour drive from my house! Fourth, FXR supports their team and their track. I hope it stays on the schedule for many years to come. 

The Sand Del Lee track was in perfect shape for the weekend of racing at Round 5. Photo by James Lissimore

This past weekend was special as FXR launched their 2019 MX line up. I am the brand manager so I was in charge of setting all of this up. I was fortunate to have lots of helpers on hand, Greg Small from the office flew down to help me get it all set up, Carson Soviak from the office prepared all the 2019 gear and samples, our local sales reps Marco Dube and Perry and his wife Leah pitched in as well. I can’t forget the guys at MX101 that provided the building and the staging area. The launch went off perfectly and Ryan Gauld did a fantastic job on the mic introducing the gear and touching on the history of FXR. The owner of FXR, Milt Reimer was on hand to tell his story as well. Overall the gear was well accepted and it was a successful evening.

The weather on Saturday was pretty hot. Fortunately, the humidity was long gone from the week before. It was perfect racing weather for the month of July. I was impressed with the spectator turn out too. The fences were lined up with fans cheering on the riders. One local that had lots of attention was Dylan Wright who rides for the GDR Honda Fox team. First moto all 40 riders are lined up, the 30 second board goes sideways, the revs are wide open. Dylan drops the hammer before the gate drops and blows right through the starting gate and some how doesn’t get stuck in the gate. Dylan is 5 bike lengths ahead of the rest of the pack who waited for the gate to drop. Now if you’re a rider on the gate your thinking okay, they are going to red flag this start obviously? I honestly have not seen this too often. The last time was with Dylan in Kamloops a couple of years ago. That penalty was one full lap. This time the penalty was a stop and go kind of deal. I don’t quite understand why the rules are different but I’m not the one in charge. It really didn’t affect me in anyway as Pettis DNF’d that race with a engine issue. It seems like when you think the rule book has every variable covered, something like this happens. Let’s hope the balance of the season goes smoothly and we see some great racing. 

MX101 FXR Yamaha Racing Team rider Hayden Halstead had his best race of the season at Round 5 and looked great in his 2019 FXR gear. Photo by James Lissimore

This past weekend the US riders were at the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship round at Red Bud, Michigan. If you’re any sort of race fan you know what Red Bud is. It has to be the most insane place to attend during a race weekend. If you plan to camp over, don’t expect to sleep! The loud music and parties will keep you awake. If you do survive the night then you have to battle through a ton of crazy fans. I think most people that attend the race probably enjoy that. I know it’s one of the races that also gets the most riders signing up. I believe there were well over 80 riders signed up in both classes. They had to turn riders away as there were too many. The LCQ race had 40 riders in it and there were riders that didn’t make that because they were too slow. I had a chance to watch the first 450 moto and I saw Marvin and Barcia fall down in the first turn. Marvin picked up his factory KTM in 39th. After 30 minutes, Marvin worked his way up to second place. I was shocked how fast he was charging through the pack. He was pushing hard from the first right to the very last lap, giving it his all! That dude is in shape. It didn’t matter what line he took, he managed to pass riders on every lap. I did see Tomac three laps from the end pushing his factory Kawasaki back to the pit area. In the second moto Eli was all over the place, What happened to him from the first moto to the second one? It’s kind of like he forgot to reconnect the brain. He is hands down the fastest dude out there in my books. Does he need a man friend to talk to him? I bet he wishes he knew the answer too. The lites class action was unreal too. Plessinger is the man in that class right now. Forkner is looking good but why does he always end up on the ground? Aaron wasn’t going to shut off in that corner leading up to the plateau. I don’t think Austin even looked up when he came out of that corner. All the rest of the Top 10 guys are wide open in that class. I am really enjoying the racing this year.

This weekend at Gopher Dunes will no doubt be another very difficult race for all of the riders. Photo by James Lissimore

There was one issue I wanted to touch on before we sign off. I saw the video or picture of the dude giving Marvin the finger. I don’t think that was very cool. Yes Marvin is from France but he has lived in the US for a hell of a long time. Marvin in my books is more of a US citizen than a European. The French FIM doesn’t even want him. I get it that the race is on a July 4th weekend, but seriously? A really disrespectful thing to a guy who deserves so much respect.