Building a Name

By Jason Zittel

What attracted you to ATVs?
I first became interested in riding ATVs when my best friend Kris Young took me riding one day in his backyard. I was instantly hooked and ATVs became my only interest. I was either on an ATV or my nose was in an ATV magazines or surfing the web trying to take in everything I could about racing and riding. I was obsessed with the sport and still am.

How about racing?
I wanted to race so bad but my parents were reluctant to let me get started in what they thought was a very dangerous hobby. I’m sure they never imagined I would be doing some of the things I have done with ATVs.

How did you get started in your impressive career?
When I was 13 I saved up all the money I could from mowing lawns and managed to buy a used, basically stock Honda 400EX. I began racing and we quickly figured out the stock setup was not going to cut it for me. Thankfully my parents got on board and helped me get another 400EX that was set up with some decent suspension.

Are your parents still supporting your career?
Yes, throughout my entire racing career my parents have always been my biggest supporters. Without them all the incredible things I have been able to experience and all the dreams that have come true would not have been possible. I cant thank them enough.

Where did you get your start?
After racing a few local Texas races the group of quad riders I had become friends with turned me on to the TQRA (Texhoma Quad Racing Association). I was pretty intimidated when I showed up at my first TQRA race. I went from racing eight guys at the local track to a full gate of really fast riders.

How did that first big race go. Let me guess you blew them all away?
Not even close! My nerves were off the charts as I lined up for that first moto. I took the outside spot and in the first corner the pack pushed wide and into me – causing me to flip and break my collar bone.

Good for you for sticking with it. Didn’t you end up winning a TQRA Championship?
Yes, after I healed up I came back to race the TQRA series the following year and ended up winning the A class championship. That was a great year! Caleb Moore, Nick Hickey, Brandon Raymond and myself all had a great battle for the championship and it came down to the last race as to who would win the championship. I was able to finish well, hang on to my points lead and win the championship. From there I moved to the Expert class in the TQRA and continued to ride as much as I could.

The Lone Star state has produced quite a few of our sport’s top riders like Thomas Brown, Colten and Caleb Moore and Cody and Hunter Miller among others. Why do you think so much talent is coming out of Texas now days?
The TQRA has had a huge part in all these rider’s careers. This racing community has a great ATV crowd that is very involved with the sport. It is not a fluke that so many great racers have come from the TQRA. Most of them raced Blasters and 300EXs in the TQRA youth classes and worked their way up from there. There are many other TQRA racers that are really fast and have great potential as well. I am sure you will continue to see a lot of future pros coming from the TQRA series and making a name for themselves on the national level.

Back to your career. When did you break into the National scene?
I was able to ride my first national in 2006 . It was a great experience and I met a lot of amazing people.

Okay, since you mentioned it, name one of those amazing people.
Dee Manshack with Rage ATV instantly comes to mind. He really helped me at the Nationals. After talking with him about my motor and taking a peek at some of John Natalie’s championship winning motor heads that he had with him I pulled my motor out of my Honda and sent it back with Dee so he could do his magic on it. He completely went over it and delivered it to me at the next race. Let’s just say ever since that day I have been using Rage ATV for all my motor work and never have had a motor failure. They build high quality motors that are screaming fast!

How did you get on the Media Allstar team?
One of the other key people I met in my career was Jorge Cuartas with the Media Allstars Race Team. I was traveling around with Caleb Moore at the time and he was a member of the Media Allstars Race Team and that is how I met Jorge. I talking with Jorge at a few of the Nationals. I must have made a good impression because he offered me a full ride to run the WPSA tour in the Production A and Production Pro Am classes. I cant tell you how excited I was at the first race when I parked my Suzuki LTR 450 underneath the Media Allstars’ tent right next to the Factory Suzuki race team. Cernics was one of our major sponsors and with the help of Kyle Damman and Suzuki they where able to put together a great race program for us. It was straight out of my dreams to be honest. It was pretty surreal traveling around all year
racing my first national circuit and being a part of such a great program. Being a member of the Media Allstars was without a doubt the highlight of my racing career.

How did you get involved with the FMX scene?
I started trying tricks off of a dirt double I built in my backyard. I visited some quad freestyle motocross forums and started posting my pictures and talking with people. I started talking with Dan Guetter and we ended up meeting at a freestyle show that was going on at Quad Zombie MX in Sherman, Texas. My quad was broken so I had to borrow Garret Engelstad’s KFX to ride in the show. It was my first time to hit a ramp or perform in a show so I was pretty nervous. I had a small get off on the first jump of the show but after that everything went great! From there I kept riding at Quad Zombie as much as I could and ended up traveling up north to do a few shows with the Guetter brothers.

 

How was it riding with the extremely talented Akraix team?
It was awesome! Being able to ride with the pro freestyle riders that I had seen in films over the years was very exciting for me.

Tell me more about your freestyle adventures.
I was pretty young and very ambitious. After getting a taste of what it feels like to perform in front of people I kept wanting to push the limits and get better, but I went on a streak of crashes that put a halt to me wanting to be a freestyle rider. As much as I tried to ignore the temptation over the years I kept letting myself get lured back into doing a few shows here and there.

Yeah the ATV bug, whether racing, freestyle or just riding, is hard to fight off. Are you still busting tricks?
Well I have to admit I just finished building a new ramp so I can work on my freestyle game a little. I can’t help it, I want to learn a few more tricks. I do not plan on getting too serious about it though, I’m basically just riding for fun.

Tell us a little about your involvement with QuadFreestyle.com.
Yeah, that’s another Guetter brothers’ adventure. I ride freestyle shows with them when they need me, so of course I’m all about promoting their stuff.

You ride a Honda but you jump a Can-Am, why is that?
The Guetter brothers have a great support program from Can-Am. When I travel to do shows I get to ride their Can-Am DS450 machines, which are really great by the way.

Do you like the Can-Am better for jumping?
Yeah, it’s great. They are very comfortable to ride and extremely nimble in the air. This helps us really throw the quad around when we are doing tricks.

Did you ride at their recent show in the Netherlands a few weeks ago?
Yes I did! It was my first international show. It was really a great experience to be able to see a different part of the world like that.

Do you think Quad FMX will ever earn a spot in the X-games, or are quad guys like the Moores forced to forever ride sleds at the Winter X Games instead?
If you want my honest opinion — I don’t think so. The politics surrounding ATVs and the restrictions involved with them being used for freestyle jumping are a marketing nightmare for large companies and I don’t ever see it happening.

What’s this about being in a Can-Am commercial?
A few months ago the Guetters took me with them to film Can-Am’s 2011 ATV and UTV models for their new television commercials and print ads. I was ecstatic to get to be a part of something so cool. We went down to Rage ATV’s motocross facility for one of the commercials, which was basically a shootout between all the new UTVs on the market. I was able to drive every new UTV on the market in a comparison test, which included a drag race, sled pull, dirt track, motocross, a mud pit, a rock pit, dunes and trail riding. You name it – we did it. The Can-Am Commander was the dominant winner across every discipline. I was really impressed. Anyway, if you see a Commander or Renegade commercial or print ad that’s me or one of the Guetters riding and driving the machine. How cool is that!

Back to racing. Are you planning on chasing points at the Nationals again?
I hope that in the future I will be able to return to the National scene and try to bring home a championship someday, we’ll see how things go.

Who would you like to thank?
I want to say thanks again to all those who have supported me throughout my career. My family, my girlfriend Haley, the Guetter Family, Moore Family, Rage ATV and the Manshack Family, Kyle Damman, Jorge Cuartas, Brattain Family, Can Am and the All Terrain Research Crew.
 

 

 

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