Frid’Eh Update #15 | Jess Pettis Interview | Brought to You by Dirt Care
This week, we feature Canadian 450 champion Jess Pettis in the DMX Frid’Eh Update Interview brought to you by Dirt Care.
By Billy Rainford
Welcome to Week #15 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update brought to you by Dirt Care. As the clouds sit in place over my hometown, I’m about to hop into the DMX Van and head to Philadelphia for Round 13 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series at Lincoln Financial Stadium.
Last week in Foxborough, I literally smiled the entire day and night as the rain fell constantly. It never really poured down hard with those big, damaging drops that we can often see in the northeast, but it never really stopped the entire time. As soon as they pulled the tarps from the track for the modified schedule, it was relentless.
Like I always say, a mudder is fun once in a while…once in a loong while. I’m going to see if I can bring the same positive attitude into Philly.
The cool thing about these awful mud races is that we sometimes get the chance to see riders at the front of the pack that we normally wouldn’t. As they say, mud is the great equalizer, and it proved that again last Saturday.
#177 Kade Johnson got his first SMX Next win at his first event. Yes, he’s fast, but #18 Landen Gordon went from last to first and then fell, so muck was definitely on young Kade’s side (see what I did there?).
#10 Chance Hymas got his first 250 East Regional win. He knows he’s good in these conditions so he wasn’t surprised he excelled in them last week. We weren’t really either but what happened behind him definitely did surprise most.
#59 Cullin Park held on and took his first podium as did #75 Gage Linville in 3rd. Gage was in that first turn pile-up, so his ride was extra impressive!
Canadian-owned Partzilla PRMX picked up ex-Club MX rider #62 Mark Fineis and it paid dividends immediately as he set fastest qualifying time from Group B. I introduced myself in the pits at the start of the day and did an interview with him:
#1 Tom Vialle knows how to ride the mud but he had what was likely one of his most irritating rides of his career. The video Jordan Wilsey from RussOgraphy got of him launching his bike across the line in 22nd place was an instant classic and is going pretty viral around the old internet. Check it out:
In the 450 class, everyone expected #7 Aaron Plessinger to be good, and he was. #51 Justin Barcia is also great in these conditions but went down and dropped back. #12 Shane McElrath has been showing good speed of late and he claimed 2nd place. #2 Cooper Webb made a ton of passes and landed in 3rd spot to move a bit further ahead of championship points chaser #4 Chase Sexton who could only muster a 6th.
And how about semi-Canadian #208 Logan Leitzel grabbing a 9th place in the Main?! He was thrilled when he actually made it into the Main and then he went out and grabbed a top 10. He was over the moon! Check it out:
It’s moments like these that make these long, boring drives worth it. I wonder who will have a memorable day this week?
There are people out there who enjoy one of these races once in a while and others who get up on their pulpit and proclaim that Supercross should only take place in covered stadiums so weather can’t play a factor. In a perfect world where scheduling simply falls into place for us, I’d agree. However, availability and cracking new markets also play factors.
Either way, we ain’t gonna see 4 races in a row in open-air stadiums in the north east in April next season, I think we already know that. Right now, Met Life in East Rutherford, NJ next week looks like it could go either way, weather-wise.
I think I can smile my way through 2 mud races in a row, but 3 and 4 might be pushing it, even for me!
I have a full-on rain suit and rubber boots in the “basement” of the van that I wore last week. I cut it down to 1 camera to make things easier and less damaging, too. It worked last week, so we’ll go with that set up again in Philly.
Jess Pettis is our #1 rider heading into the new season of Canadian Triple Crown Series MX National racing. In hindsight, I probably should have interviewed him for Week #1, but his career number is 15 so this is what we did. If he wins it again, we’ll make sure he takes the #1 spot next January.
Jess has shown he’s the rider with the best chance to dethrone perennial champion Dylan Wright who is racking up championships left and right! Dylan’s year started out bad and got worse.
At round 1 in Calgary, Dylan’s rear shock malfunctioned and he was forced to try and hang on while riding a lowered hardtail bike. I’ll never forget standing with Al Dyck as he stood in amazement that he was still pushing the pace.
Then at round 2 in Raymond, AB, Dylan had the crash of his life that scared everyone and ended up cancelling the remainder of the 2nd 450 moto.
He tried to comeback to battle for the title with Jess but decided it was pointless and took some much needed rest.
This isn’t Dylan’s week, but we were robbed of what should have been an epic battle for Canadian dominance last season between Jess and Dylan. we’ll have to wait until this year to see if it happens. Of course, we’ll now have #29 Phil Nicoletti on a WLTN Kawasaki 450 to toss in the mix, so this is shaping up to be a great season for podium dominance.
Jess went on to have a memorable battle with his Red Bull KTM teammate Josiah Natzke from New Zealand. Jess won 5 and Josiah won 2. Dylan came back to win the final round at Walton Raceway.
Here’s a look at Jess’ season:
In the end, he won the title by 11 points over Josiah who will stay hime in NZ this year.
Direct Motocross: Hello, Jess. It was too bad I missed you by like a day when I stopped in at GPF last month. We haven’t spoken “officially” for a while so I’m looking forward to asking you some questions. First off, obviously, you’re super-happy to be running the #1 for 2025, but were you a little pissed that you didn’t get to race Dylan Wright head-to-head to win it?
Jess Pettis: Haha Yeah, well I guess you guys will all just have to wait another month or so when the gate drops in Calgary!
I have to think that fact alone would have you more motivated than any time in your life to win it in 2025. Am I right? Is defending it even more important?
Yeah, of course I am grateful to run the #1, but I’m aware that the work continues and we are here to do everything to keep it! As a racer I always want to win, regardless.
Even though Dylan wasn’t in it, you had your teammate Josiah Natzke giving you fits all summer long and the season came down to the final round. You won 5 and he won 2, was it as simple as that or was it a really stressful season for you?
Well, it came down to the wire at the end with Josiah, especially having that DNF at Gopher (Dunes). So it got pretty stressful, not gonna lie. Haha
What did you actually get up to as a celebration? Holiday somewhere with Megane?
Yeah, we enjoyed the fall time in Quebec, mountain biking etc., but we went on a small vacay over Christmas to recharge the batteries.
I know she’s into everything you like doing – cycling, running, snow sports… Do you guys get to train together very much?
Oh ya , it’s pretty dang cool. She has her own personal goals (marathon) and cycling with all of us boys without holding us back. We mtb, cycle, and even some gym work together.
Has she picked another running race to do that she’s training for?
She’s on a gnarly running program at the moment, and I think she will try and do one for sure this year. (Around my racing schedule, of course)
OK, so let’s talk about you heading back to MX101 Yamaha. At what point did you guys start talking and what was it that convinced you to leave the Factory team of Red Bull KTM?
It came together extremely quick, maybe a few weeks after MXON we chatted briefly, and basically the next day I had the contract in my email. So it showed how serious they wanted me.
And ktm side of things, I think I was just ready for a change of scenery, bike, and something exciting at this stage in my career.
There have been a few changes to the Yamaha YZ450F for 2025, but you wouldn’t notice that. Lol There are huge changes between the KTM and Yamaha 450’s that you would notice. How has it been getting used to another brand? What did you notice right away?
Yeah, they’re both very different as we all know. The team has been unreal to help me adapt and get up to speed. They have basically been here in Georgia the whole time! I’ve been loving the bike!
Does everything feel like it used to the last time you rode for Kevin Tyler’s team?
Honestly, no. I feel like everyone involved is much more hungry, wanting to do whatever it takes to make sure we win this year. Of course the vibes are always good with KT and the team.
The stopwatch police have told me that Sebastien Racine has been flying on his practice 450 down south with you. How has that relationship been, on and off the bike?
Yeah, he rides it well, and it’s been really good being together the last 2 months. Hopefully, he can connect the dots when it comes race time.
Every time someone wins a 250 title for MX101 they move on. You must feel pretty good actually bringing a #1 plate to the team this time? And how come your #1 on the side panels is off to the side??? 
Yeah, feels great, honestly, and I don’t know, I think it looks sick tho!
What’s your plan as far as staying south? I think there is still some snow on the ground around the Montreal area.
Yeah, down here until end of April and then heading up north.
Most eastern riders plan on racing the first couple AMO races at Gopher Dunes and Sand Del Lee. Will you be at both of them?
Yeah, I’ll do a few of them. As of now I’ll still be down south for Gopher, but I’ll do Sand Del Lee.
You’ve shown you’re the only rider who can challenge Dylan these days. We’ll also have Phil Nicoletti in the mix for WLTN Kawasaki. Have you given much thought to this year’s competition or will he just take Josiah’s position in the battles?
Stoked to have him in the mix, only helps the depth and series. If we could have 10 more fast guys I’d be happy.
What did you guys think of the ending for White Lotus Season 3?
I’ll pretend I didn’t watch it either… OK, Jess, thanks for taking some time to chat with us this week. We’re all looking forward to seeing how this summer will unfold. Good luck with the rest of your preparation. Who would you like to thank?
Thanks, Billy, and of course the whole MX101 team, FXR, Yamaha, Alpinestars, Velo Station, Motosport St Cesaire, FMF, Renthal, Dunlop, Kev, Al, Auz, Joe Skidd, and the rest of the team sponsors.
Googl Maps has me on some really nice bi-ways through rural New York State heading towards Pennsylvania. It tells me it’s the quickest and most fuel-efficient route, so I guess I’ll go with it. I’m pulled over at a little roadside diner that I think I’ll try a hot hamburg sandwich at. You heard me.
I grabbed a new rain suit on my way out of London and lucked into a 50% off sale! It turns out, the one I wore last weekend was bought in Vancouver back in 2006! Ya, it was time.
They just revised the schedule for race day in Philly:
Enjoy the racing, everyone. I’ve still got over 5 hours to go before I get to Philly. It’s an East/West Showdown, so we’ve got #61 Cole Thompson and #800 Preston Masciangelo to keep our eyes on.
Hold the phone…
Rest up, Cole. Most of us out here know what a bad back feels like and how tough it is to keep trying to ride at that level. Well, the pain part, not the riding at your level part. Hope it heals for you.
Oh no, Preston isn’t on the entry list either! I’ll turn this car around!!! I have a call out but haven’t heard back from Preston yet.
Back on the road I go, but first, hot hamburg sandwich!
No comments!
There are no comments yet, but you can be first to comment this article.