Frid’Eh Update #14 | Quinn Amyotte | Brought to You by RP Race Performance
By Billy Rainford
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Welcome to Week #14 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update brought to you by RP Race Performance. This week off in the 2024 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series could not come at a better time for me. We’ve been talking about doing some renovations at our house for some time now and that time has finally come.
Emily and I actually decided to take out the entire first floor hardwood ourselves to save a few dollars. Let’s just say we now know why someone would have to charge so much to do this work. We could barely move last night after 2 full days of removal work. Luckily, we both had a pair of Happy Knees to help but they did not save our backs.
In hindsight, we both wish we knew at the beginning what we knew by the end of the process. We were doing each little slat individually at first and then removing the nails as we went. In the end, I was using a heavy duty spade shovel to get a bunc h of slats started at a time and pulling them up, saving as ton of time.
We pulled so many nails out of the floor that I could not hold a fork when we went out for dinner. It felt like I actually had arm pump! I’m not even joking. Because of this, I ended up ordering the pizza.
Our grunt work is finished and we can now watch the experts do theirs as the scope of the kitchen renovation and cutting hardwood around doorways is not something either of us are interested in learning how to do. Not only that, we simply don’t have the woodworking tools to do it.
We’re relegated to the basement for the next few weeks. Fortunately, it used to be set up as an apartment and it’s actually not that bad, except for the lack of some crucial kitchen things, like a stove/oven…
Anyway, the weather is supposed to be pretty nice around here this weekend, so the hope is that I can get the YZ250 2-stroke ready to go hit a local track one of the days on the weekend. Where is everyone riding this week?
Quinn Amyotte from Blackstock, Ontario, is career #14 here in Canada. Quinn is easily one of the nicest, most well-liked riders in the Canadian pits…or anywhere else he goes, for that matter. Nice guys don’t always do well in Pro Sports, but Quinn has found a way to stick to his values while still continuing to improve every year.
I actually just saw Quinn on my way back from the Daytona and Birmingham Supercross rounds while he was training at GPF. He’s the newest member of the WLTN Kawasaki team and will be their 250 rider in the Canadian Triple Crown Series that kicks off out in Alberta.
He normally calls Luke Renzland‘s single-wide mobile home…home (with roomy #31 Zach Ufimzeff) while he’s staying at Dreamland in Florida, but he was up in Georgia for a couple days to ride with his 450 teammate #84 Tanner Ward while Team Manager Steve Simms and Caden Lee were in town.
I only saw them for a day while I was passing through, but I know they were about to do some suspension testing with Tim Bennett from TCD back at Dreamland the following week.
Here’s a look at his 2024 Canadian season:
250 MX:
Keep in mind, he lost the tip of his finger at Round 3 in Calgary!
250 AX:
250 Triple Crown:
We grabbed Quinn for another chat this week, so check out what he had to say:
Direct Motocross: Hey, Quinn. I feel like we just hung out! Oh ya, we did. Last time I saw you was at GPF and Steve Simms had just put a fresh motor in your 250 and you were heading back to Dreamland. How did your time at GPF go?
Quinn Amyotte: Hey, Billy! Yes, Steve gave me a fresh motor to head back to Dreamland with and it’s been awesome. My time at GPF with the team was really cool. Have never really experienced actual testing days like that and having our suspension guy Tim from TCD there was definitely a learning experience and I loved it!
Where are you if you were to compare your prep to last season? To me, you look pretty ready!
Thank you, I appreciate that! I definitely think I’m ahead of where I was at this point last winter. My fitness feels really good and I am gelling with the bike, so every day is a step in a right direction.
Is Luke back there yet? I feel like the shenanigan level is down from what I remember!
No, unfortunately, Luke stayed back and worked this winter. I definitely miss having him around. We are still getting into some shenanigans, of course, but he brought them to the next level. Lol.
With Kody Renzland doing the training, are you learning anything new on or off the bike?
Kody is so smart with technique for on and off bike training, so I am always learning from him. He helped me a lot last year and now that it’s my second year with him it’s more fine tuning the things I learned last year and just putting in the work. But he loves to push me and see where the body will go. Ahah.
I guess I should have watched your KWANG Vlogs on YouTube before commenting on shenanigans. How have your videos been coming along?
The vlogs have been great! CMXU podcast is helping the vlogs out this year which is super cool of them, so i’ve been doing the CMXU Question of the Vlog. I love it because it gives me a little extra to add in them and it keeps us thinking of new things to talk about.
What’s the best thing you’ve done while down south this winter?
I think one of the best or my favourite things about this winter has been learning this new bike and growing on it. I have been on blue for so long so it has been refreshing and exciting to learn this new bike!
It’s supposed to warm up nicely here in Ontario next week. How long will you stay down there?
I am planning on leaving around the 17th to get home in time for the first AMO race at Gopher Dunes!
I was talking with Brett Lee and he said you guys will be doing the first couple AMO rounds at Gopher Dunes and Auburn Hills. Are pre-season races something you look forward to?
For sure. Racing is what I love to do so I am always excited to get some gate drops in pre-season and especially because most of them are on tracks the pro circuit goes to.
Everyone seems to love Auburn. Is it up there as far as favourite tracks go for you?
Honestly, I have yet to ride at Auburn. I’ve heard nothing but good things so I’m excited to go!
Wow, that surprises me. What is your favourite track?
Gopher is always my favourite, especially on Pro day when it gets super gnarly. I grew up riding in stuff like that so I feel right at home.
Big changes in the Canadian 250 class for 2024. You’ve been around for a while now, so who do you think will be battling for the top 3 places every week this summer?
The goal is definitely to be a top 3 guy each weekend. I know some guys have left but the class is still stacked, so it’s gonna be some really good racing.
And we’re hearing we should see young US Amateur whippersnapper #300 Drew Adams make an appearance in Canada this summer. He also rides a Kawasaki. Do you know Drew and what are your thoughts on the US kids coming north. We also hear Tiger Wood is coming up.
Don’t know either of them personally but I think it’s a cool idea for them to come race some pro races. Learn how a pro weekend works and practice banging bars for 30 minutes before going pro in the states.
What round are you looking forward to this summer?
Like I said before, Gopher is my favourite so I’m definitely looking forward to that, especially after missing it last year.
You seem to be one of the most popular riders at the races. Is there anyone you carry a beef with or used to that you can tell us about?
I try my best to have good relationships with everyone and I just have a very friendly personality so no, I don’t have any beef with anyone. When the helmets go on it’s race time but when they come off I don’t usually hold a grudge.
OK, and finally, do you have the bike where you need it to be? What are your goals for this season, and will you race anything down south?
Yes, the team worked hard on getting my bike to where I like it, I am super comfortable on it and it’s been nice to just put in the work and not have to worry about changing my bike. Goals are pretty much to just be a top guy every time I’m on the track. Once we do that we can start looking a little further ahead. Maybe some AMA nationals after our season, but nothing planned yet.
Thanks for taking some time with us this week, Quinn. Good luck and we’ll see you soon. Who would you like to thank?
Of course, always love doing these. Thanks, Billy. Just want to thank the entire Walton Kawasaki Team for this opportunity. So grateful to be doing what I love, so excited to get to work with them this summer! Also Steve Simms and Caden Lee for all the hard work this winter.
As we come out of hibernation here in Canada, there are always a few things going on in our sport that are worth talking about. Some are factual, some are speculation, some are rumours, and some are just fun to bench race about or all of the above. We have a few of these things going on right now, so let’s touch on them.
I’ve known for a while about the first couple things, but I don’t like to just spout off about things without having some facts. Hot amateur prospect #300 Drew Adams is burning up the A class right now and the Supercross Futures. He’s heading into his final year in the A/Pro Sport class down south and is on his way to what should be another excellent Pro career to keep our eyes on.
Before he heads to race Loretta Lynn’s in August, it was rumoured that they’d like to come north to race a few of our MX Nationals to get some gate drops at the Pro level in Canada. It was mentioned at the Mini O’s and now it looks like we’ll be seeing the speedy youngster on Canadian soil when our series kicks off.
Will he do the entire series? I’m guessing that’ll depend on how things are going after the western rounds.
Tiger Wood is a B class rider who is on his way up through the ranks. His lap times won’t be what Drew’s are but he will be a great addition to our 250 class. His focus will be Loretta Lynn’s too, so we’ll wait and see what his plans are for the summer. He’s a good kid and will fit in nicely with our series.
I’ll keep trying to get a word with these guys so we can all get to know them better. I first met Drew at Matt Walker‘s place in Georgia a bunch of years ago when he was just a little kid showing potential. I haven’t spoken to Tiger before.
New for the 2024 Canadian Triple Crown Series
As we near the start of the 2024 Canadian Triple Crown Series MX Nationals, one thing that announced in the 2024 Pro Package stood out:
If you’d like to get in on the conversation, head over to our Facebook page where there are a lot of opinions be ing voiced on the subject.
And here’s the payout breakdown:
You can check out the Pro Package HERE.
We see you, #324 Dylan Kaelin at a Loretta Lynn’s Area Qualifier in Illinois! He won +30 too.
Full Loretta Lynn’s qualifying schedule HERE
Kade Walker Update
Kade Walker has given an update on how he’s doing over on his Instagram page. Good to see he’s working hard and making progress.
I’m hoping to get a chance to head over to a track this weekend, but it will all depend on how much we get done around the house. These renovations may kill us! I hope the weather is looking better wherever you’re reading this from. It’s a week off in the Supercross series, so we’ll regroup and see you in Foxborough for another SX Futures round. #800 Preston Masciangelo will be back in action and Dylan Rempel will be on the line, but we’re not sure if we’re going to see Ryder McNabb again there.
If you missed it, we spoke with Ryder after his first Futures race last week in St Louis:
Find it on the Direct Motocross channel wherever you get your podcasts.
That’s all for this week…
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