Old School
- Updated: August 24, 2009
By David Porter
Photos by Jorge Cuartas
Here I am giving Casey my top secret gate info, “Ok… when the gate drops, go like hell.”
Unless you were a frequent flyer at this year’s MX Nationals you probably didn’t know that Polaris actually had a factory motocross race team. Rath Racing is spearheading the Polaris Motocross effort. At this point the team consists of just one Pro-Am rider. Rath Racing started the season with one Pro rider and one Pro-Am. Due to some injuries to both of their original riders Rath and Polaris had to recruit a rider to fill in for the rest of the season.
That recruit would be Pro-Am rider Casey Martin, who was formally racing a Honda. When Kasey finished on the podium at the Danville round, he caught their eye. Not long after Casey was a big part of the Polaris/Rath motocross program.
Anyone that knows anything about the sport of ATV motocross racing knows that the first year on a new race quad is a real struggle. Ask Thomas Brown, Pat Brown and Paul Turner. They have had their hands full with the new Yamaha YFZ450R this year. The process of getting a race quad up to Pro and Pro-Am speed usually takes a full year. Then add in all the injuries that the Polaris/Rath team had the work past and it becomes an even bigger hill to have to climb.
Casey and Ben are seen here in full race-face while going to the gate at Muddy Creek.
It’s a good thing that Polaris and Rath Racing fully understand that success cannot be achieved overnight, and they also know that with hard work success is achievable. The team has been making big strides in the last month or so. They are trying different motor and chassis set ups in an attempt to get Kasey and his Polaris 450 Outlaw on the podium. As far as what I’ve seen, they’re definitely heading in the right direction.
It’s no secret that Polaris Outlaw 450 has never really been a threat at the motocross nationals, and I know a lot of you are reluctant to think a Polaris can soon finish on a Pro-Am or Pro national podium. The Outlaw has always been a good sport quad – just not a very good motocross race quad. Well, in my opinion that is changing, and with the effort that Rath Racing is putting forth the motocross crowd is going to be in for a big surprise very soon.
I’ve taken a more than passing interest in the Polaris/Rath effort. You see Rath’s main man at the track is Ben Bettis. Ben and I go way back. Ten years ago we raced together. We also hung out together. So I’ve kind of taken more than average notice of what Ben and Kasey have been up to over the years. Ben has really come a long way with the Outlaw 450 since the first couple of rounds. And the addition of Casey Martin has been a big plus to their program. Ben says Casey really understands that it’s a work in progress. When you have a rider come back from practice with input instead of criticism, it means the world to a race team. “I can’t help make things better if I don’t have good information and input from the rider. With Casey, he gives me what I need to make the quad better every single weekend”, says Ben.
Podium at Loretta Lynn’s
Casey is a big boy. I’m thinking this pressure washer in my hand could be useful if he gets out of hand. Actually I was telling him that I was proud of how hard he rode after crashing in the first moto at Loretta Lynn’s. Casey was really strong at the final round of the series. He should have been on the podium, but due to a scoring mistake he never got to celebrate all the hard work like he deserved, but make no mistake it doesn’t take anything away from how well he and the Polaris/Rath Racing team progressed over the season. Watch out for this team in 2010! Without a doubt things really came around for the Polaris team at the final round of the ATV MX Nationals. The final round always brings out the best Pro-Am riders in the country. This year was no exception the best of the best were all there and ready to rumble.
Casey, aboard the Polaris/Rath Outlaw 450 found himself right in the hunt in the runner up spot after the second lap of moto one. Unfortunately at the end of the second lap he went down. In pure Casey Martin style he got back on and road his ass off. At the end of the moto he had worked his way past over half of the field and finished 9th. When the gate dropped in the second moto Casey held an impressive second place all the way to the checkers. With his 9-2 score Casey put the Polaris on the box with a third place overall finish. A third place finish in without a doubt the most competitive Pro-Am race of the year!
If you were there and didn’t see Casey and his Rath Racing Polaris on the podium, it’s because he wasn’t actually on it. The officials had added the scores wrong. No matter what mistakes were made, there’s one thing that is absolutely not a mistake – Ben and Kasey never gave up trying to put the Polaris up front. I saw it first hand. They went through a lot of struggles over the summer. Many times things would be going in the direction of a really good Pro-Am finish, then bad luck would suddenly rear its all too familiar face. There were many times that they left the track with their heads down and could have given up. They could have just finished the season and said the hell with it. Not many riders and teams have the stomach for some of the bad luck they had throughout the year. Instead they never gave up and kept digging.
If you have ever read any of my columns you know I’m a big fan of hard work and commitment. If you know me at all, you know I’m indeed very old school. I believe in hard work, keeping it simple and most of all using your brain more than you wallet. That was pretty much the formula that they used to finally find success. Ben, Kasey, Rath Racing and Polaris did it the old school way. They worked their asses off and kept digging like a determined bulldog.
Even though we didn’t get to enjoy Casey up on the box at Loretta Lynn’s we still realize the accomplishment, I know I certainly do. I think all the people that really follow this sport know and understand how big of an accomplishment it is to even show up to every MX National let alone try to compete in the Pro-Am class with a brand new unproven quad. Well as you can see, they did a hell of a lot more than just show up. Congratulations Casey & family, Daryl, Jennifer, Ben and everyone at Polaris. You should be very proud.
