With one of the most successful Outdoor National Series in Canadian history now in the history books, we now switch our focus to the tight confines of arenas across the country. For the first time in history, Justin Thompson and his Jetwerx AX Team are bringing their popular series north of the border to four cites in Canada. Beginning this weekend in London, Ontario, some of this country’s top pro and amateur riders will take on this exciting and intense sport known as Arenacross. We caught up with Justin as he was putting the final touches on his first ever Canadian National AX Series.
MXP: Hey Justin, how was your summer?
Justin: One word…busy. It was a little overwhelming at times but for some silly reason my family strives at moments like this. It’s weird.
MXP: You obviously followed your brother Cole this summer. What was your assessment of his performance at the 2015 CMRC Nationals?
During each round of the series Justin Thompson can be seen doing just about everything to make sure the races run smooth.
JT: Yes, I watch every race online but it’s really tough to be a fan only having Twitter and Live Timing. I guess being in the USA so much makes us spoiled to the supercross and motocross live airings. It’s all growing pains of Canadian motocross being the size of our country versus the USA.
As far as CT, I think he did well. I know he didn’t want to end the series in fourth but he had to start somewhere. I mean, I raced most those guys he’s racing and there is over a 10 year age gap between me and CT. So I really think Faccoitti, Goerke and Metcalfe are not only blazing fast but they have years of experience that it takes to run for a championship. All in all, Cole is a quick learner so I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t a title threat next season now that he has a full year under his belt.
MXP: It sounds as though your family had a busy summer, between Cole racing, the new Frankfit training facility that Kyle is running and of course you planning this new Arenacross Series?
JT: Yes, the family runs at a 110% effort, 365 days a year. Kyle has been building champions with his Frankfit training facility, along with Jay and our MXschools.com program. Cole has been doing his thing, Jeff has been busy with my Dad at his company, and I have been working hard on bringing our very successful AX Tour in the USA to Canada. Really, I can’t take all the credit as it has been a group effort by our Jetwerx crew, which are some of the most passionate moto people on the planet that eat, sleep, and breath motocross.
MXP: Okay, let’s get right into this. When did you start to think about bringing your successful AX Tour north to Canada?
JT: This whole transition started two years ago but it has been a process to make it a
reality. Since we have done hundreds of events in the past you would think this would be easy, right? Well, wrong! There have been some huge hurtles to overcome. One being venues, trusting their facility in our hands. The venues on the 2015 schedule and most of the venues on the 2016 schedule have never had an event like this in their history. Therefore, we are breaking new ground and proving that we can pull off an event in their facility that will be successful for both parties. It’s a huge formula that will make most people go cross-eyed looking at it, but for us this is what we do.
MXP: How long have you been doing the series in the USA?
JT: The series is coming up on 15-years-old in the USA and has been gaining the most popularity the last six years with both industry involvement and rider support at an all-time high. We had several rounds last season that had around 70 pro rider entries. This made some main events pretty interesting with the likes of Medaglia, Harrison, J.Martin, Regal, Sewell, Justice, Moore, Thompson, Faccotti, Cue and many more battling for their chance to win.
MXP: Have those races been popular in the cities you’ve visited?
JT: The series has been going to some of the cities since the beginning and there is a huge following with some fans who never miss a race. The AX Tour racing is so much more of an “in your face atmosphere” than outdoors, with fans never missing a moment of action and making it a great family entertainment package. That’s really the main difference between indoor and outdoor racing. In an arena or stadium, we can really make it a show with the rider video intros, laser lights, canons and a pit party. It’s a family experience.
MXP: The series begins in London on the final weekend of September. How did you pick the cities and venues that you have?
JT: The series took a few different shapes in the building process with it being originally seven venues reaching from the East to West coast. After much discussion, we realized for year one that was too big of a footprint for teams and riders to travel with limited budgets. So we restructured the program for year one to fit budgets and timelines.
MXP: What will be the racing format? Two nights? Amateurs?
JT: The series is a two night format with both Friday and Saturday being part of the Pro National Series and the Amateur Western and Eastern National Championship. As far as the racing format goes, it’s simple. We have Amateur classes that will run their normal, two moto format with the top riders racing in the Amateur All-Star program. The Pro classes will run a Heat, LCQ, and Main event format. The top six riders in both the AX Lites Pro and AX Pro will be fighting in a super final called the Clash for Cash Championship. The Clash for Cash is sort of the history of the Arenacross Tour dating back to its beginnings. It’s simply a way to see what rider is truly the fastest that night in
a 20 lap main event.
MXP: Who will be designing and building the tracks?
JT: When talking about track designs and builds, Jetwerx (Parent Company of the Arenacross Tour) is a track build and design company by trade doing hundreds of builds all over the world. This helps immensely when building a safe, yet challenging race track in a short period of time. Everything that we do is by blueprint and animated track layout, making it fun yet challenging for all levels of riders.
MXP: As far as a title sponsor, is there an energy drink involved?
JT: Well, that’s a good question, I guess we’ll have to see at round one.
MXP: The Future West AX Series has been very popular in BC, but at the end of the day it’s a regional series and works very well as one. How do you hope to make this national series successful?
JT: Future West and the Quebec Arenacross series have done wonders for the riders in their areas by giving them the opportunity to develop the skills needed to be well rounded racers on a global level. Canada has always lacked the skill sets of other countries when it comes to Supercross and Arenacross. This is what we are focusing on by branching out. We want to try to involve the entire country in a National Arenacross program over the next few years.
MXP: The timing of this series appears to be perfect to entice a large amount of top riders. Can you talk about what riders you think might race this new series.
JT: Let’s just say if you are a moto fan you won’t want to miss the first round as I really don’t know who to put my money on. Arenacross is a different art of the motocross craft. It takes technique, mental awareness and a little luck, which brings new heroes out of the woodwork to battle the current top guys in the sport. All I want to say is London will be epic.
MXP: I know it’s hard to look too far into the future, however, where do you see this series going in the next few years?
JT: As far as the future of the series goes, Jetwerx is really focused on progression. We are a very forward thinking company and understand that this is not a process that happens overnight. We want to earn the trust of riders, fans, and the industry by proving ourselves and our product. We truly believe that each and every rider in the Arenacross Tour is a part of the show and for that reason we have taken the measures to always make it affordable for an indoor motocross production.
MXP: What other things can people expect out of the Canadian National Arenacross Tour?
JT: There is a list of exciting new things that are coming along with the introduction of the Canadian National Arenacross Tour. With too many things to list, a few of my favourites are the live airing web broadcast of the entire series so that fans that can’t make the show will not miss it. We have also put together an all-star broadcasting line up that will make the series more whole right out of the gate. This live event will not only feature the best Pro riders in the country but will showcase the Amateur All-Stars in a way that puts them on a stage where they will be discovered by teams, fans, and the industry. With this, the plan is to have TV and webcast together in year two. Other great programs that are part of the series are the “RaceTech Rising Star Award,” “Marin Bikes Halftime Show,” and the “Royal Distributing Holeshot Award.” These are some of the companies that support the sport and make all of this possible.
MXP: So it all kicks off in London on September 25th. You must be very excited to begin this series right in the heartland of Southern Ontario?
JT: We are very excited to start in London. It’s been well over 12 years since the last indoor race here and it’s great to be this close to home. Most of my friends and family have never seen our production live in person, with it being solely in the USA until now.