Frid’Eh Update #31 | Parker Eales | Presented by Troy Lee Designs
By Billy Rainford
Welcome to Week #31 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update this week presented by Troy Lee Designs Canada.We have an off weekend ahead of us as we get set to invade “Motocross Town” in Walton, Ontario, for the 2021 TransCan at Walton Raceway followed by the final Canadian Triple Crown Series MX National of the season.
Parker Eales is #31 for the season and will be dropping that for 2022, for sure. He’s been having a great season traveling with Kyle Springman in the Holeshot Motorsports truck and trailer. Kyle helps out during the Pro races while also racing the FXR PreMix series.
Let’s have a look at Parker’s season up to now:
He’s coming off an impressive performance at Round 7 at MX Deschambault this past Monday after going down in the first turn and charging back to 5th place by the time the checkered flag waved.
We got in touch with him this week to get his thoughts:
Direct Motocross: Hey, Parker. Can you tell everyone where you’re from, how old you are, and how you got started in Motocross in the first place?
Hey, Billy, how’s it going! I’m from Maple Ridge, BC. A bit of a smaller town about 1 hour east of Vancouver. I’m 22 years old. I got started when I was about 5 years old when my dad bought me my first bike.
You’ve shown really good progression through this year and seem to be getting faster. What do you attribute this improvement to?
I think getting more comfortable with every race has definitely helped. Haven’t had that many gate drops since the last round of outdoors last year. I think that’s the biggest thing for me, just learning more and more each time the gate drops. I also have been trying to work on my struggles from the weekend during the week and I think that’s starting to show too.
You and Kyle Springman are traveling together in the Holeshot Motorsports team truck and trailer. How has your summer been going, off the bike? Are you guys having some fun?
Yes, we have been having some good times, for sure. Always trying to keep the mood good and have fun with whatever we may be doing. Just taking it all in!
What do you guys like to do in your spare time on the road?
We have done a fair bit of mountain biking in our spare time, pretty much wherever we end up during the weeks we try and get a ride or two in. We stayed at SMX for the weekend off before Deschambault and did some road biking and mountain biking at Bromont.
You finished a career high 5th place at Round 7 on Monday at MX Deschambault. Although some of the top riders went out, you have to be happy to get there from the back of the pack, right? Take us through how that race went.
Yeah, for sure, I was pretty happy with the result considering the first turn pile-up that I was in. There were a bunch of us down, it was a pretty bad one. I picked my bike up and it was straight somehow, so I put my head down and started clicking off the laps and ended up in 5th. We were definitely missing 3-4 of the top guys in that moto so that definitely helped with my results, but, all in all, I was happy I was able to come from dead last to 5th.
You finished 9-8 on Sunday for 8th the day before at Round 6. Can you tell us how that day went?
That was a fun day! It was great to see so many people back at the races watching. I didn’t get the best of starts in both motos but I was able to make some quick passes and get myself in those positions. The track seemed to develop pretty good all day so that made it really enjoyable to race.
How did you think the track was this year?
I thought the track was great! It was a ton of fun all weekend. The track crew seemed to do a great job in prepping it for us. I think it’s by far my favourite track that we get to race. It’s pretty fast and you get to cover a lot of ground within a lap, which is cool.
What will you guys do on this weekend off?
We are staying in Grand Bend for the weekend off at one of your good friend’s places, Dylan Kaelin. It’ll be nice to plug our trailer in and possibly have water hooked up the entire time? Haha.
Are you going to race during the week at the TransCan before the final Pro round at Walton Raceway?
Yes, that’s the plan! Last year was my first year being apart of the TransCan, I had a lot of fun doing it so I figured why not race again this year?!
Will you try to race the Supercross series or will you guys go back to BC and not return?
I think we are going to start the drive home as soon as Walton is over. We both have to get back to our day jobs. The plan is to leave a bike out here though and fly back to do the races! I missed them last year so I really wanted to make it work this year.
Awesome! It’s cool that your dad has made the trip to a few of the rounds. Is it good for you to have him there?
Yeah, it has been pretty sweet having him there. It’s nice to have another helping hand on the weekends, especially because Kyle Springman has been racing the PreMix rounds. It makes our Sunday pretty busy.
How many more years will you chase the nationals?
I am not to sure really. I feel like I have a lot of years left in me, considering I’m still 22. I’d like to for as long as I can, that’s for sure. It does cost a lot to do it year after year so that’s pretty much the biggest deciding factor. Hopefully, a few more years though!
I always forget you’re still that young. OK, thanks for taking some time with us today. Good luck next week, and who would you like to thank?
For sure! Nice talking to you, Billy. I’d like to thank Holeshot Motorsports, Fox Racing Canada, Frazer Excavation, Fusion Graffix, Seco Seat Covers, Mobius Braces, 100%, Matrix Concepts, RMR Suspensions, Tracks and Training, Tear Off Gaskets, Kyle Springman, and Dylan Kaelin.
With so much racing happening last week at Motocross Deschambault, I found myself behind the eight ball all week trying to get caught up on the content clogging my hard drive. It’s one thing to be at the races enjoying the action, but it’s another to then do something with all that action you captured on your cameras! The long drive home from Quebec City to London also put me back a day, so I’ve been spinning my wheels all week just trying to figure out what to tackle first!
Anyway, we’ve only got one round left in the series and it’s going to come down to the wire in the 250 class. #30 Jake Piccolo leads the way, even after limping home to 6th place on Monday after rear brake issues dropped him from the lead. But this is far from a lock!
Just 3 points back sits 15-year-old #18 Ryder McNabb, who is one of 3 riders to have 2 overalls this season.
7 points down with 1 overall win is #157 Darien Sanayei who came up to race Walton back in 2015.
11 points out of first is #84 Tanner Ward who took the first two overalls at Walton, so you know he’s ready to try for two moto wins.
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In the 450 class, defending champ #1 Dylan Wright has a pretty solid 21-point lead over #15 Jess Pettis. Of course, Jess is out after that horrific crash he took while battling Dylan on Monday at Round 7.
Sitting in third is #2 Marshal Weltin, 27 points back. He’ll need some help if he wants to bring home this title. The way Dylan rides Walton, I wouldn’t bet on that happening.
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In the WMX class, Eve Brodeur is unbeaten and just keeps on winning. #241 Sarah-Kim Villeneuve has been close enough to keep things interesting and Eve can’t slip up or else Villeneuve would be right there to capitalize.
It seems like #4 Malia Garant has the rest of the field covered but can’t quite match the pace of the two front-runners.
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#26 Kaven Benoit made the FXR PreMix class even more interesting when he showed up to race at Deschambault. Defending champ #1 Westen Wrozyna showed amazing tenacity bu taking both moto wins from the 2-time Canadian MX champion. Keven won’t be at Walton, so we’ll have to see who else can challenge Westen for the final win of the season.
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Canadians at Loretta Lynn’s
We’ve got a few Canadians down at Loretta Lynn’s this year. Here’s a look at how their weeks are going:
#43 Noah Viney
Supermini 1: 27, 5 – 12th
Supermini 2: 2, 9 – 5th
#49 Brennan Schoefield
450 C: 3, 2 – 1st
#33 Connor Stevenson
450 B: 36, DNF, 26 – 38th
450 B Ltd.: 24, 34 – 29th
You can watch it live on RACER TV YouTube channel:
Trystan Hart 7th at Red Bull Romaniacs
| Manuel Lettenbichler #1 (DEU) KTM 300 EXC Tpi 2stroke | ||||||
Total time Difference |
TTQ 38m29s |
Day1 4h54m36s +3m29s |
Day2 5h5m42s +0s |
Day3 4h23m14s +2m22s |
Day4 4h38m45s +0s |
19h40m46s +0s |
| Wade Young #4 (ZAF) sheroco 2stroke | ||||||
Total time Difference |
TTQ 37m42s |
Day1 5h17s +9m10s |
Day2 5h24m21s +18m39s |
Day3 4h20m52s +0s |
Day4 4h45m2s +6m17s |
20h8m14s +27m28s |
| Mario Roman #6 (ESP) Sherco 300 2stroke | ||||||
Total time Difference |
TTQ 40m59s |
Day1 5h5m31s +14m24s |
Day2 5h18m41s +12m59s |
Day3 4h26m17s +5m25s |
Day4 4h42m18s +3m33s |
20h13m46s +33m |
| Billy Bolt #5 (GBR) Husqvarna 300 2stroke | ||||||
Total time Difference |
TTQ 40m23s |
Day1 5h13m34s +22m27s |
Day2 5h19m53s +14m11s |
Day3 4h21m26s +34s |
Day4 4h43m44s +4m59s |
20h19m +38m14s |
| Jonny Walker #17 (GBR) Beta 300rr 2stroke | ||||||
Total time Difference |
TTQ 41m4s |
Day1 5h5m1s +13m54s |
Day2 5h28m39s +22m57s |
Day3 4h25m27s +4m35s |
Day4 4h50m44s +11m59s |
20h30m55s +50m9s |
| Taddy Blazusiak #14 (POL) GasGas EC300 2stroke | ||||||
Total time Difference |
TTQ 38m41s |
Day1 5h13m47s +22m40s |
Day2 5h37m33s +31m51s |
Day3 4h26m1s +5m9s |
Day4 4h50m2s +11m17s |
20h46m4s +1h5m18s |
| Trystan Hart #45 (CAN) Ktm 300 exc tpi 2stroke | ||||||
Total time Difference |
TTQ 39m13s |
Day1 5h17m56s +26m49s |
Day2 5h37m2s +31m20s |
Day3 4h32m11s +11m19s |
Day4 4h51m41s +12m56s |
20h58m3s +1h17m17s |
| Teodor Kabakchiev #8 (BGR) Husqvarna TE300i 2stroke | ||||||
Total time Difference |
TTQ 38m1s |
Day1 5h8m38s +17m31s |
Day2 6h10m9s +1h4m27s |
Day3 4h23m1s +2m9s |
Day4 4h52m19s +13m34s |
21h12m8s +1h31m22s |
| Michael Walkner #7 (AUT) GASGAS EC300 2stroke | ||||||
Total time Difference |
TTQ 39m39s |
Day1 5h15m7s +24m |
Day2 5h59m5s +53m23s |
Day3 4h30m16s +9m24s |
Day4 4h50m39s +11m54s |
21h14m46s +1h34m |
| Dominik Olszowy #43 (POL) KTM EXC 300 TPi 2stroke | ||||||
Total time Difference |
TTQ 39m15s |
Day1 5h46m1s +54m54s |
Day2 6h15m10s +1h9m28s |
Day3 4h31m19s +10m27s |
Day4 5h2m39s +23m54s |
22h14m24s +2h33m38s |
I had no idea he even rode dirt bikes, but a guy I went to elementary school with raced the event, too. Scott Thornton played a full career in the NHL and is the youngest brother in a family that was the first one I knew that rode and raced motocross.
His older brothers, Jack Thornton and Perry Thornton, were names that first sparked my interest in MX back when I was a little kid. Anyway, congratulations to Scott for taking on this daunting challenge and even making it to the finish line!
| Scott Thornton #446 (CAN) 150 Racing | ||||||
Total time Difference |
TTQ 34m15s |
Day1 7h50m20s +3h13m7s |
Day2 7h45m15s +3h53m14s |
Day3 6h30m30s +2h33m48s |
Day4 10h37m49s +6h23m46s |
33h18m9s +16h40s |
#39 Daniel Elmore Parts with Al Dyck’s Sky Racing Team
Things came to a head Monday evening at MX Deschambault and #39 Daniel Elmore will no longer be riding on Al Dyck‘s Sky Racing team.
I wasn’t there and had already hit the road back to Southwestern Ontario, but the incident was well-described to me through text messages.
Daniel didn’t really want to say much about what happened and will be racing on his own for the final round this week at Walton Raceway.
I spoke with Al today to get his side of what happened and I’ll simply sum it up like this: sometimes things just don’t gel when people are away from home and on the road for extended periods of time.
The bottom line, from Al’s side, was that he felt disrespected and said he just didn’t feel that Daniel was pulling his weight off the track and things came to a head, resulting in them going their separate ways.
Without having a statement from Daniel, I’m not going to say anything more about it, but that was how Al felt about the situation.
Daniel has moved on and posted this on his Instagram page:
Al will move forward with his two riders, Jake Piccolo and Julien Benek, and finish off the season. Good luck next week and in the future to everyone involved.
Well, we’re finally having a service for my dad who passed away just as COVID was hitting. It will be nice to finally have some closure and share stories with a bunch of his friends who will make the trip to Lagoon City to celebrate his life with us. I’m going to be the MC so I hope I can get through it without being too much of a blubbering fool
I think we’ll be going LIVE every night during the TransCan again this year, so be sure to watch for more details on that and how you or your rider can get involved and come on the show to talk about your racing and promote your sponsors.
Have a good off weekend and we’ll see you in the corn field for a final week of great racing!
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