Greetings! Welcome to another edition of the Monday Gate Drop, which is once again brought to you by the incredible crew at Yamaha Motor Canada. Even though it’s now the official off-season, Yamaha Global is very excited that Haiden Deegan has decided to make his 450 debut at the opening round of the 2025 WSX Championships in Argentina. This race is coming up fast as the gate drops on November 7th in Buenos Aires. After that, Deegan is also planning to compete in the Australian round of the WSX, again as a wild card entry. Does this mean that Deegs will forego the 250SX class in the 2026 Monster Energy Supercross Series, and remain on the 450? Only time will tell, and it most likely depends on how he finishes in these two WSX rounds. Either way, this news is exciting for fans, and for Yamaha.
Speaking of Yamaha riders, back in 1985 on a rainy day in Antler Lake, Alberta, Ontario rider Doug Hoover clinched his first ever Canadian Pro National Championship. Riding the wheels off his 1985 YZ125, Doug was able to dethrone Ross Pederson-something that was rarely done in those days, and take his first of two Canadian National Titles. Three years later, Doug would win the 500cc National Championship, and then just like that he decided to retire. At the time, Doug felt like he had accomplished everything that he set out to do in the sport of motocross, and with race budgets beginning to shrink, it was perhaps a good time to step away. Doug’s incredible career speaks for itself, and on Saturday night, he and six others were given the ultimate honour by getting inducted into the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame. The ceremony took place at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, located just beside the Hamilton International Airport. This proved to be an amazing event space, with a plethora of our Nation’s most glorious flying machines as the backdrop. It was an amazing evening, and it was great to spend time talking to so many of the legends of Canadian motorcycle riding. One of the most inspiring conversations I had was with former Canadian Superbike Champion (and HOF Member) Steve Crevier. Prior to Saturday evening, I had only ever had one encounter with Steve, and that was standing outside the mens room at the 1989 Yamaha Motor Canada dealer convention in Toronto. At the time, Steve was Yamaha’s top dog in Superbike Racing and pretty much in the prime of his career. As for me, I was 16 years old, had just turned pro a month before, and was just beginning my tenure at Yamaha. At that time Steve was extremely cordial and wished me good luck with my future racing endeavours. On Saturday evening, I reminded Steve of our short chat 36 years ago, and although he didn’t recall it, he said he followed my racing career through the 1990s, and most recently, thanks to Social Media, he knew exactly what my family and I have been up to for the past several years. As we traded old racing stories, and life stories (Steve has gone through some personal issues during the past few years) Steve confessed how happy he was for me that I was still so involved in this sport. He mentioned that over the years, so many riders (like him) give so much to racing and chasing the dreams of winning titles, and then when it’s over, there is nothing to fill that void. Steve also spoke about how attending functions like the HOF ceremonies, and motorcycle shows has been great for him, it presents opportunities to have chats like the one we were having.
Like Ross Pederson, and Doug Hoover for that matter, Steve is an old racing warrior from the 1980’s; a time when, if you wanted to go faster and finish better, all you had to do was train harder and twist the throttle more. When you fell down, unless you were half dead, you got back up and continued racing. You did this, because there was always a ‘next’ race somewhere, and most riders couldn’t afford to get there unless they finished. It was an unforgettable time to be racer in the 1980’s, and that is one reason why the stories from that era are so classic. While being interviewed on stage Saturday night, Doug mentioned that his ‘gotcha’ moment in racing came down in Florida in early 1985 when he and Ross just happened to be staying at the same hotel near a local practice track. This is a great story, and one that Doug also shared with Mike McGill in the biography story we did on Doug several years ago. Here is that story as told by Doug:
“We were down in St. Petersburg, Florida, training for the upcoming season,” remembers Hoover. “Ross happened to be staying at the same hotel as we were, and one morning, out of nowhere really, he asked if I would like to go for a run. We had always been fairly cordial but we never really hung out,” states Hoover. “But I thought, hey, why not?” Hoover ran quite a bit at the time as part of his training and felt that he was a pretty solid runner in his own right. “I was doing my stretching and getting loosened up,” remembers Hoover. “Ross just walks right out of his room, no stretching or anything, and starts to run. After a couple miles Ross picks up the pace, so I matched him. After five or six miles he picks it up a little more, and I start falling behind a bit. By the time we get to around eight miles I can’t even see him anymore. That’s when it really dawned on me. The reason he beats everyone is because he’s in such great shape. I knew right then and there if I was ever going to beat him I needed to pick up my game.”
Doug had an enormous influence on me as a young mid-pack Ontario rider in the 80cc class. I was searching for ways to improve my riding and at the time, emulating Doug’s style seemed like a great idea. In the mid-80’s, Doug’s appearances at local races were few and far between. However, when he and his family (and entourage) did show up, it was a huge deal. Doug and his brother Don would drive up separately; their team in the box van and them in their Porsche 911, and once at the track, the Hoover Pit Compound was created. His style on the bike was near perfect, and in the paddock, he looked like a rockstar, so as you can imagine, I watched him very closely both on and off the track. During the week when I was practicing, I tried to ride exactly like Doug. In 1986, Doug had switched to Honda’s, and also had a lucrative sponsorship deal with Esso Oils. At the Uxbridge Ministade I won the 80cc race, and as a prize, I received some bottles of their pre-mix oil, Esso Easy-Mix. Later that day, as I was walking through the pits, carrying the bottles of oil, Doug’s Dad saw me and congratulated me on my victory. He told me that if I liked the oil then I could come by and get more at the next race. Two months later at the Markham SX, I went up to Doug’s van and sure enough his Dad remembered me, and not only gave me some more oil, but he also introduced me to Doug. Obviously, as a 13 year old fan, I was star struck! Eventually, Doug’s Honda deal went through the Machine Racine dealership in Aurora, Ontario, and when I signed with John Nelson’s crew to ride Honda’s in 1996, I was truly honoured to ride for the man, and for the dealership that once sponsored Doug. Seeing Doug get inducted into the HOF on Saturday evening was amazing, and to be in the same room as some of the legends of Canadian motorcycling was truly an honour. As I said, the rider’s from Doug’s era were true warriors, and I thank them for paving the way for my era in the 1990’s.
Well, that is it for me this week as I wanted to dedicate this week’s column to the HOF class of 2025. They include, Doug Hoover, Rob Egan, George Evans, Inglis Cycle Centre, Jay Kimber, Doug Lawrence, and Scott Miller. If you want to check out more information regarding the HOF, you can visit the website at www.canmoto.ca. Finally, there has been some big rider signings in the past week and the Triple Crown Series teams are finalizing their 2026 line-ups. Out of respect for the Team Manager’s, I will wait until the official press releases have been made public. Thank you for reading this week’s column, and as you can guess, our newest HOF member Doug ‘The Sweeper’ Hoover is my Rider of the Week. I hope everyone enjoys these final few days of October, and Happy Halloween to everyone on Friday!
