Old School

By Dave Porter
Photos by Crystal Maher

Yeah-yeah, I know, where the heck have I been… Well I don’t have a big long story. I’ve just been real busy. I’m not a nine to fiver, I’m more of a five to niner. Meaning I’m flat out from 5am to 9pm But any who, I have a few things on my mind and lucky for me ATV Scene let’s me say it like I see it, so here goes another of my Old School columns…

I have to start with the state of the sport. If you are, or have been a regular at the AMA ATV Motocross Nationals you know that the series is going backwards not forwards like we all want it to. There are less and less sponsored teams and less talent than ever. Team Suzuki, arguably the best and most winning ATV race team in the history of our sport is no longer in our sport. The two riders that dominated ATV motocross over the past three years no longer race the nationals. How sad is that?

I think it sucks that a truly hard working regular guy like Josh Creamer busts his ass, has an outstanding season, accomplishes his extremely huge goals, only to see his dreams didn’t pan out for him like he thought they would. What it says to me is our sport let him down. I mean really, how does the number one rider on the planet not have a job? When three years ago there were no less then 14 paid riders with respectable paying jobs in our sport. How does this happen?

Fiction or Fact, Direct from Dave’s Almanac
In 2008 we had two factory Can-Am teams with five factory riders, one factory Yamaha team with one rider, a factory Kawasaki team with three, a Rath Racing factory Polaris team, two factor Suzuki riders and three factory backed Honda riders and a couple of teams owned by aftermarket companies. My 49 year old memory maybe off by a few, but there were 13 to 14 paid riders back then.

ATV motocross racing was certainly on a roll, and good things were starting to happen, now there are three factory backed riders, and who knows how long they’ll have jobs. What a difference a few years makes, especially when proper preparation and building aren’t done correctly. It’s a shame no one took hold of our sport at its peak and worked to secure long lasting success. Main stream television coverage sure would have been nice, now it looks like the sport is back to yet another rebuilding stage.

Local Racing to the Rescue
I guess I shouldn’t say Josh no longer has a job, because he sure is working, just not within his chosen career using his incredible talent. Instead Josh works ten to twelve hours a day driving a truck and laying block for home foundations. On the side, basically as a hobby, he’s racing the NEATV-MX Series with no mechanic and has no time to train. How does that happen? Imagine seeing Ryan Villopoto, fresh off his Supercross Championship, working construction to try to make a buck or two and racing locals on his day off. Sounds crazy doesn’t it?

Now, yes, we can blame the economy for the down turn. I’d like to look at it in another way. What if ATVA or the AMA would have been more proactive in the promotion and marketing of the sport? What if something was done like what the now defunct WPSA did with TV coverage? Things may be different today. I have a lot of behind the scenes real credible info that backs me up. I know that opportunities were past up because people were scared to lose control of the series. Things could have been different and promoters could have been more proactive. Look, I don’t have any answers but I truly believe there were some less than positive decisions made over the past few years. And good young hard working men are paying for it. Sorry if you disagree with my opinion, but someone needed to say it and I needed to get it off my chest.

With Polaris pulling out of ATV motocross racing for 2011 I was without a job for the AMA nationals. Seeing that the New England ATV Motocross Series (NEATV) is basically in my distant back yard, I decided to follow it instead of the Nationals. It had been almost three years since I’d been to one of their races so I thought why not do something new, different and definitely cheaper. And with the added bonus of being able to watch the two fastest guys in the world racing a handful of other extremely fast professionals, it was a no brainier. Not to mention one of my best friends Jason Dunkelberger was also racing this series, so I was definitely on board.

With just a few races into the NEATV series I can tell you I really like what I’ve seen so far. The numbers are strong and the people are very friendly. One of the things that Is very refreshing is that the people that actually own and run the series are there at every event. If you have an idea or a complainant you can voice it to someone that actually can do something about it. But more than anything your thoughts can actually be considered by someone face to face and not just filed away and blown off. It’s a competitive, well organized, series run by fair and down to earth people that are willing to listen and make changes when needed, something I’m certainly not used to seeing at the Nationals.

Back to the Future
I think the sport is going to have to go back to the future in order to go forward with success, and I’m sort of doing the same thing with my personal racing adventures. Instead of racing in the Plus 40 class I’ve decided to go back in time and race the +25 class at this year’s NEATV-MX Series. I was very disappointed in the guys that I raced with in the 40+ class. I wasn’t going to get into this but I think it’s strange and funny at the same time. I’ll make it short. I won the first round. Let me say it wasn’t easy at all. I had to ride way faster than I like to. At the second round all of the guys but one dropped out of the class and entered a different class. Basically cause a couple of us were too fast. I can really say only one thing to that. WHAT THE HELL! Look, I’m 49 years old, suck it up guys. But any who, I jumped into the 25+ class with Travis Spader the 2000 ATVA/AMA Pro National Champion, along with a few very fast former NEATV pro riders. Needless to say, I’m going to have my hands full this summer. I ended up finishing third by the way. We’ll see what happens – if I win one you can bet I’ll let you know.
Anyway, if you’re on the East Coast and maybe a little tired of racing the Nationals you highly suggest you come check out the NEAT-MX Series.

Lastly I would like to thank Rath Racing, Chris at Western Power Sports and Glenn at ATV Innovations for helping me out and coming through at the last minute for me this year.

 

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