Frid’Eh Update #23

Frid’Eh Update #23

By Jeff McConkey and Billy Rainford

Welcome to week #23 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update, this week presented by Fox Racing Canada based right here in Calgary, Alberta. Earning #23 for 2015 is the rider we’ve gotten to know very well over the past few years, Dylan Schmoke from San Diego, California.

 

Dylan made the move up to the MX1 class for 2015 and has put in a couple impressive weeks of racing so far. When he’s not training or racing, Dylan is busy with his DS Moto Customs graphics company. If you’re looking for some decals for your bike, check him out!

 

We got in touch with Dylan as we head to Calgary for round 3 of the Rockstar Energy MX Nationals to get his thoughts on his MX1 progress as well as a few other things. Here’s what he had to say:

 

Direct Motocross: Hello, Dylan. First off, can you sum up last summer for us?

Dylan Schmoke: Last summer had its ups and downs for me. I didn’t finish as well as I planned but I did get my career best with a 5^th. I ended up 12^th overall in the series with 3 DNFs due to bike problems.

 

What did you get up to after the last round in Walton?

After Walton, I took a few weeks off of riding and put some focus in building my graphic company – DS Moto Customs. Then, I got ready for the Arenacross series in Canada.

 

How has this summer been going for you so far?

This summer has gone pretty good so far! I moved up to the MX1 class and I have finished top 10 overall each round.

 

What are your goals for this year?

My goals for this year are to stay in the top 10 and keep having good finishes.

 

What will you do this winter after racing is done here?

After the season is over I will take some time off the bike to work and have some playtime on stand-up Jet Skis.

 

Thanks for the chat. Good luck in Calgary this weekend and who would you like to thank?

I would like to thank my mom, dad, girlfiriend Amanda, and my whole family for sticking behind me through my entire career. As well as DS Moto Customs, RTR Performance, Maxima, Cti2, Acerbis, Sidi, Vemar Helmets, Budman MotoTraining, Valley Speed Shop, hinson, Pro Taper, 100%, FXR, Dunlop, Dubya, FMF, Atlas Brace, and KTM.

 

You won’t find a nicer father/son combo anywhere at the races. Be sure to stop by the RTR Performance rig this weekend at Wild Rose MX Park in Calgary and say hello.

 

 

Jeff McConkey

 

Hi, guys. We are heading into round 3 of the CMRC Rockstar Energy MX Nationals and we have been blessed with great weather and fantastic racing so far! In MX2 action we have had 2 different riders go 1-1. In MX1 we have had 3 different moto winners over the first 4 motos, with 2 different overall winners. The racing has been very good up to this point and I don’t see it lacking anytime soon.

 

Calgary National at Wild Rose MX Park

The MX1 class will have a huge name this weekend with the return of #800, wait…I mean #2. Yes, Mike Alessi will be joining the action this Sunday and immediately becomes a favourite to win. Mike looked amazing at the Wild Rose circuit last season and will no doubt be thinking 1-1 after a not-so-good European trip. Mike has been very close to winning a few professional championships over his career, but unfortunately has come up short so far. It blows my mind that he didn’t line up and take a serious run at the MX1 title for 2015. He was the fastest in 2014, and if it wasn’t for some bad luck, he would have been our champion.  But sometimes Mike’s team makes ‘different’ decisions, and love them or hate them, you have to respect that they do it their way. I myself would have loved to see Mike line up at Kamloops and throw his name into the championship battle. If he were racing all 10 rounds he would be my pick for the title. But, Mike and his Moto Concepts team chose not to. I don’t understand it, but I am happy he is coming to do selected rounds.

 

In MX2 action, red plate holder Canada’s Motorcycle FXR Yamaha’s Jimmy Decotis had a mechanical failure causing a DNF in moto 1. After a solid 1-1 ride at the Wastelands, Royal Distributing Fox Racing KTM’s Kaven Benoit will once again run the red plates at round 3 as our current points leader. Honda Canada TLD GDR’s Jeremy Medaglia once again was 2nd best and trails Benoit by a mere 6 points. I don’t think we will see many rounds, if any, without these 2 on the podium. Here are my round 3 predictions:

 

MX2

 

1st Jeremy Medaglia

2nd Jimmy Decotis

3rd Cole Martinez

4th Kaven Benoit

5th Brad Nauditt

 

MX1

 

1st Mike Alessi

2nd Brett Metcalfe

3rd Teddy Maier

4th Cole Thompson

5th Colton Facciotti

 

 

Women’s West Nationals

 

The Women’s West National series has its 3rd and final round Saturday. Schrader’s TLD Yamaha rider Kennedy Lutz has been the fastest so far, and holds a small points lead into the 3rd and final round. Cycle North TLD Honda’s Sara King sits in 2nd and will be ready to pounce if Lutz falters. In such a short series like this, you really need to be in full race mode in the very first moto and be damn near error-free to win.  Holeshot Motorsports Yamaha rider Rachel Springman has rode a great series and sits 3rd in points. I would be very surprised if we see much of a change in the running order for the final round. Here are my predictions:

 

Women’s West

 

1st Kennedy Lutz (Jeff didn’t know about Kennedy’s knee injury yet)

2nd Sara King

3rd Rachel Springman

4th Brittany Danyluk

5th Jamie Munro

 

 

MMRS KTM Provincial Series

Round 8 of the MMRS KTM Provincial Series heads to Madoc this weekend. As always, they will have, as John Maguire calls it, “the best kept secret” in Saturday’s open practice. It’s a great chance to ride this fast, jumpy track one more time before the annual MMRS Madoc National in August, which is a “Can’t Miss” event! One more reason to hit up MMRS this weekend is that the Madoc Fair Board canteen is offering a great meal at a great price, so you don’t even have to cook dinner Saturday night. How cool is that! It’s not often an entire town gets behind a race series. MMRS has earned the love and trust of this small town, so come on out and see for yourself!

 

 

Women’s East Nationals

 

Before I go, I’d like to call out all of the lady racers on the East coast. The Women’s East National Series starts up Saturday, July 11 at Gopher Dunes. If you young ladies want the series to continue and grow, do your part. You really need to show up and race. Don’t be afraid, this isn’t technically a ‘Pro’ series. It is a National series run by a group of great people that love the sport. I always hear young girls saying that they aren’t fast enough, blah, blah, blah. You need to start somewhere, and you will never know until you try. The Women’s West has had a great turnout, so let’s see if we can do just as good.

 

That’s it for me this week. I’d like to send ‘Get Well Wishes’ to injured lady racer Jessie Jenkins. Jessie had a big get-off at round 2 in Nanaimo and has broken her pelvis. I myself am still feeling the effects of a nasty pelvis break from 2013, and wish Jessie all the best. You have a long road ahead, so just stay positive and work hard! Be sure to check out this week’s ‘Out of the Blue’ with Samantha Vaughan and ‘On the Radar’ with Simon Taillefer. Thanks for reading and stay safe. Have a great weekend and always #smileforBC!

 

 

Billy Rainford

 

Thanks for that, Jeff. I hadn’t heard what the injury was to Jessie. Sorry to hear she actually broke her pelvis. Get well soon. I’m currently sitting in Calgary where it is actually only 5 degrees, windy, and raining. It’s the Friday before the Calgary National at Wild Rose MX Park and now I’m scared. Actually, here is the forecast for the weekend from The Weather Network:

Kennedy Lutz OUT for Final Round in Calgary

While writing about Jessie Jenkins injury, we just found out that points leader #2 Schrader’s TLD Yamaha rider Kennedy Lutz will not be competing this weekend for the final round of the Schrader’s Women’s West Nationals. This is from her Facebook feed:

“Unfortunately I won’t be racing the last Canadian Women’s National in Calgary this weekend. I fell in a corner practicing this week and injured my knee”

Kennedy has had a tough year with injuries. She even managed to break a finger without even falling at GPF over the winter. We got in touch with her this afternoon and you could hear the disappointment in her voice as she was back home in Saskatchewan (Haha I don’t mean she was upset to be back in SK).

She fell in a corner this past Wednesday and her leg got stuck under her bars. They went to the doctor’s and are now waiting for an MRI to determine what exactly is damaged. The knee is “swollen a bit” and she is unable to bend it or walk on it.

With Loretta Lynn’s Regionals coming up the next two weekends, it is unlikely we’ll see Kennedy able to go back to Tennessee this summer. Of course, she said she would try to ride through some pain but doesn’t want to even try if she is less than 90%. We’ll be sure to contact her again in the next couple weeks to find out the extend of the injury to her knee.

With her absence this week in Calgary, it will be up to Sara King and Rachel Springman to duke it out for top spot in the Women’s West National series. Get well soon, Kennedy.

Women’s West Nationals Point Standings (2 of 3 rounds complete)

1. 2 Kennedy Lutz 97

2. 3W Sara King 91

3. 631 Rachel Springman 80

4. 6 Brittany Danyluk 72

5. 5 Jamie Munro 63

6. 7 Dominique Daffé 59

 

Drive to Loretta Lynn’s for Casey Keast

I saw this on Dean Keast’s Facebook feed. Sounds like they’re looking for someone to drive their truck and trailer down to Loretta Lynn’s:

 

Attn.: trying to find a good driver to drive my 45-foot toy hauler and dueley to Loretta Lynn’s in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, in august and I will fly you back or if you are racing we can work it out.

Dean (250) 862-2035

Thanks

 

2015 Future West AX Schedule

 

Nanaimo National Notes

 

We usually do these after each round but haven’t yet this summer. We’ll try to make it a regular thing in the first day or two after a National. We all know who placed where, but there are usually a bunch of stories that put riders where the were. Here are a few things we noticed/saw last weekend in Nanaimo:

 

 

• I asked Devil’s Lake MX owner, Trevor Cerny, if he was doing much riding these days and he said, “I built a pretty difficult section and Blake (Savage) went out and did it on the first lap. I went out and tried it too and almost broke my jugular!” LOL
• #24 Danyluk Racing rider Kyle Swanson was sleeping in the front of their trailer in the pits Saturday night and had his Suzuki 250F race bike stolen from the back part of the trailer. Fortunately, he had race suspension on his practice bike and was able to compete anyway, but with his old #313. I hope nobody protested that move! Can you imagine?
• We always like to point out riders attempting to race both classes and this week it was Bow Cycle Alias Yamaha rider #32 Jared Petruska who did it. He dropped out of the first MX1 moto and finished back in 34^th in the 2^nd. He did well in MX2 (9-14 for 10^th). Also, he was the only MX2 rider to clear the triple step-down every lap in the second moto. Nice.
• With a knee injury to would-be RMR rider Ricky Dietrich, Washington State’s Collin Jurin filed in and will also head to Calgary this week. Collin was up in 12th place in moto 1 but then fell and had to charge his way back from around 35th place. He made it all the way up to 12th by the end. In the 2nd moto, he got off to a top5 start but said that he was spent from all the hard work in the first but still managed an 11th place finish for 11th overall. They will head to Calgary this week but that will end their Canadian season together.
• On Amateur Day, there was an inside triple option on the track heading towards the finish line. They decided it just wasn’t possible and took it out. It was just a double-double section Sunday.
• The Wastelands track looks a lot like a Supercross set-up with lots of 180 turns and jumps. Royal Distributing Fox Racing KTM’s Cole Thompson even said it was “like our camp track. I have to brake hard before the jumps!” He also said it was his first-ever Pro holeshot and said he didn’t look back once.#33
• #14 Rockstar OTSFF Yamaha rider Shawn Maffenbeier took a hard fall early in the day that left the crew working hard to get the bike ready for racing. As they were working away on the bike, I looked over my right shoulder to see Shawn up on the stationary getting ready to race. He was fine and wound up 3rd on the day.
• #26 Duroy Racing KTM rider Michael Da Silva smashed 2 rear wheels in Nanaimo, once in qualifying and again in the first moto causing a DNF. He came back for 20th in moto 2 for 22nd overall.
• #29 Jeremy Pronovost was back racing after missing round 1 due to vision issues. He’s also racing his practice bike because he said it’s faster than his race bike. He had a strong 14th in the first moto but troubles (I think he had a rear flat. He wasn’t using mousse but was using 2 inner tubes which allowed him to finish) in the 2nd put him back in 25th for 18th overall.
• When GA Checkpoint Yamaha rider #291 Dylan Delaplace and #444Drill Tech Fox rider Dustin Creson went down (Creson actually fell in front of Delaplace) Dylan dropped his bike and ran to help Dustin get out from under his bike.
• After #55 Blackfoot Direct KTM rider Keylan Meston pulled the first MX1 holeshot, he said he was “terrified” with those guys behind him when asked on stage.
• Petruska and #194 Devil’s Lake MX rider Jake Streichert both went down in turn 1 of the first MX1 moto. Jake still came back to 20-16 motos for 19th overall.
• #762 Devil’s Lake MX rider Blake Savage had to race with a smashed rear wheel and bent shifter in the first moto. He still finished 8-9 for 7th.
• In the 2nd MX2 moto, #17 Redemption Racing Fly Dragon KTM’s Seth Rarick, Petruska, Pronovost, and #84 Teegan Williams all went down in the first couple turns.
• #7 Rockstar OTSFF Yamaha rider Bobby Kiniry had a rough weekend in Nanaimo. He started dead last in the 2nd MX1 moto and clawed his way all the way to 5th.
• #33 Duroy Twice KTM rider Shawn Robinson had an even rougher day. He blew a shock in the first moto (16th) and had a flat tire in the 2nd (35th) for 20th overall.

We’ll try to get the ‘Notes’ article up early in the week for the remainder of the season. Of course, we can’t know everything, but we’ll do our best.

Scott Champion Racing Calgary?

Yep, Scott Champion is indeed racing. The top 10 just got a little more crowded this week in Calgary. It’s doubtful he has the speed to challenge for wins, but he will definitely shake things up. Alessi, Friese, and now Champion…get to Wild Rose MX Park this weekend!

Parts Canada TransCan GNC ANQs this Weekend

Here’s where you need to be:

Alberta South (AMSA) – GNC Allocation (3)

ANQ Events = 3

Sunday, May 10 at Brooks MX Park
Sunday, May 18 at Medicine Hat
Saturday, June 13 at Calgary Wildrose MX Park

Not only do we have the final Women’s West National Saturday and the Pro Nationals Sunday, Saturday’s Amateur racing is an ANQ!

South Western Ontario – GNC Allocation (10)

ANQ Events = 4 with AMO

Sunday, April 26 at Moto Park
Sunday, May 24 at Gopher Dunes
Sunday, May 31 at RJ Motosport Park
Sunday, June 14 at Walton Raceway

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Revy Riders Revelstoke, BC

Chris Pawlitsky from Revy Riders in Revelstoke, BC put out the call to any traveling Pro riders to come to their little slice of heaven outside the quaint ski town between the Nanaimo and Calgary nationals. We stopped in to check it out on Thursday to see Kyle Keast, Brad Nauditt, Dylan Delaplace, Marcus Nilsen, and Brock Hoyer put in some laps. The place is like a postcard in every direction. I shot some video and will post it up as soon as I can get to it, so watch for that here on the site.

Fox Head Canada Tour

It wouldn’t be the Calgary National if I didn’t head over to see Jason Moore and the gang over at Fox Head Canada. They always welcome the DMX crew with open arms and an open swag bag. Thanks for all the support of DMX over the years, gang. See you next year…

OK, there just isn’t enough time in the day on these race trips. You spend all your time either driving or getting content for the site, but then you have no time to actually do anything with that content! Thanks for reading this week.