2009 Media Allstars ATV Race Team
- Updated: March 8, 2009
In a day and age where just about everyone is faced with economic uncertainty, and devastating cutbacks, fielding an Amateur ATV racing team may not seem like the best idea. Luckily, no one bothered to tell the Media Allstars. With five years under their belt, and a propensity to ignore conventional wisdom, the sixth edition of the team might just be one of the strongest. “We’ve been at this for quite a while now, and we’d be lying if we said things are anywhere near normal for ’09, but we’re soldiering on, and making the best of the situation. Hopefully we can weather this storm.” Said Team Manager/ Racer Jorge Cuartas. The problem with this particular “storm” is that unlike any other, it’s attacking from all sides. The sport as a whole is under fire both directly, and directly by the CPSC, the U.S. Government, and most importantly our wallets. “Fielding a team wasn’t an easy decision, we lost most of our support during the off season, and we’ll be operating way in the red for the foreseeable future. Most of our sponsors are on life support, and it would be pretty sh**ty for us to turn our backs on them now. We’re suffering with them, and trying harder to give them a return on their investment in the team. If nothing else, we want to show them that we’re loyal.”
Team Manager/ Racer Jorge Cuartas That’s not to say that the ’09 version of the Media Allstars resembles the ’08 effort. “We made some pretty big roster changes this year as some team members left to seek greener pastures, while others were forced to hang up their boots until the economy comes back around. We made a conscious decision to avoid expanding, the only new names on the roster were too good to pass up; Dave and Matt Porter are great guys, and Dave’s got more experience than anyone in this sport, I hope to learn a few things this season.” Outside of the afore mentioned Porters, the team will consist of Pro Am racer Cody Grant, Plus 25 Champion Chase Cunningham, B Class racer Jake Brattain, and vet riders Mario Diangelo, and Dale Batson contesting the ATV MX Nationals, Austin Wilson will race the TQRA series in both the UTV & Pro Am Classes, Mark Kendall will race a limited ATV MX nationals, and PAMX schedule, and reigning UTV Lites Stock Class Champions Josh and Charlie Starrett, Scott and Jake Brattain, and Jorge Cuartas will race various UTV races including the GNCC series. “We lost two of our “#1” plate holders this season which sucks, but Dustin Shuler (GNCC UTV Lites Mod), and Jordan Digby (ITP Triple Crown 50cc) left on good terms for personal reasons, they were huge assets to the team and their contributions will be missed.” 
Coming into the new season, the team is confident that they’ll make their presence felt on and off the track. “We’ve got the best looking bikes we’ve ever had, some interesting new sponsors, new gear, and a genuinely hungry group of riders with the weight of the world on their shoulders. We literally, and figuratively can’t afford to lose this year.” As for the new sponsors, most noticeably is new title sponsor Suzuki City out of Biloxi, Mississippi, best known for their impressive Supercross Lites Team (#77 Steven Clarke who scored a career high 5th at the Indianapolis SX, and #34 Matt Goerke). The next thing most will notice is the new O’Neal riding gear that the team is now wearing. Also new to the team are G4 Graphics, Dragon Fuels, and Twelve Ounce Prophet. “The ink isn’t dry on two other biggies for us, so we’ll have to announce those in the very near future.” The rest of the sponsors are identical to 2008, with Maxima Lubricants, and Yoshimura R&D at the top of the list, followed by Maxxis tires, Outerwears, Fox Racing Shox, Hinson Clutch Components, Rath Racing, DWT Racing, Smith Optics, Powermadd, Uni Filters, Quad Tech, Division 4, Precision Racing Products, Moto X Nutrition, O’GIO, EVS, & RPM.
So how do the Media Allstars plan to stay relevant in 2009? “We just need to stay true to who and what we’ve always been, we need to set the bar for pit presence as well as sponsor representation, and we need to add to the 91 Overall Wins, 211 Moto Wins, 390 Podiums, and Twelve #1 Plates that we’ve racked up in the last five years. Dude, we’re hungrier than we’ve ever been, and we want our piece of the pie back.”