Frid’Eh Update #34 | Jack Wright | Presented by Troy Lee Designs
By Billy Rainford
Welcome to Week #34 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update Presented by Troy Lee Designs. We’ve got a weekend off between rounds of the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Tour MX Nationals. The last two rounds have been pretty tough on everyone, with both Walton races being hit by rain. I’m sure everyone is happy to have the weekend off to get their bikes back in shape.
Jack Wright is the rider who should be out there representing the #34, but he suffered a pre-season crash that resulted in a broken leg. The injury has kept him away from the races, but he’s getting ready to start back soon.
Jack will always be the guy who decided to drive all the way out to California with me on an hour’s notice. How hilarious is that?! It was a great road trip and I was happy to have his company.
Jack was able to travel the entire series in 2019. For many riders, that’s the number one goal of racing Pro Motocross in Canada. Jack can now check that one off his bucket list.
Here’s what he had to say when we got in touch with him this week:
Direct Motocross: Hello, Jack. Since we haven’t seen you at the Nationals this summer, let’s go back over your history so we can hang out a little longer with you. Could you tell us how you got started in Motocross in the first place?
Jack Wright: When I was five I got a PW 50. I rode that around my house hitting a driveway jump until the suspension couldn’t handle the abuse any more. After that I graduated to the PW 80 and raced that on the ice. The following spring we got a KX 65 and I went racing at OCMC every Tuesday Night. I was hooked from then on and never looked back!
And what was your first number and how did you choose it?
My first number was #12 when I was on my PW 80 because my birthday is 12/12/95. Then when I started racing OCMC that number was taken so I went with #211 so I could be “team mates” with my best buddy who took #210.
Who did you come up through the ranks with?
My last year or two on an 85’s I really started to gain some speed and can remember having some good battles with Justin Roney and Travis Roberts at the CMRC races. After that I can remember having battles with the MMRS gang… Ty Shemko, Bennet Amyotte, Brody Brown, Dawson Tracey, Nick Jones, Kyle King.. the list goes on! We all progressed together it seemed like and we really pushed each other every weekend!
You’ve always been a very stylish rider. Is this something you worked on or is that just something that came naturally?
I think I picked it up my last year on my 85. I can remember scrubbing through the “6-Pack” at Cochrane’s to gain some extra speed and it worked! I started watching Vurb Moto around then and I think that’s where I gained some knowledge and style points from! Once I got comfortable on a big bike the sky was the limit!
Who was your motocross hero growing up?
Blair Morgan was my moto hero growing up! Being able to race in 2 different professional action sports was pretty sweet back then! And my dad (Johnny Wildcat) was huge into sleds back then so it was only natural to follow Blair’s Success.
How did your 2019 racing season go? You hit the majority of the races and finished 18th overall in the 250 Triple Crown series.
2019 was a struggle for me racing-wise. I had great bike support, but just couldn’t put all the pieces of the puzzle together. On the bright side, I got to tour our amazing country with my girlfriend and some great friends!
And then this season would have really cut down on travel costs but it didn’t happen. Can you tell us what happened?
Yeah, exactly. I was looking forward to an east only series! About a month away from the first round I was practicing at a friend’s track and ended up hitting a tree when I was in the air. Right away I knew my leg was broken and saw my season and all my hard work flash before my eyes. Just like that, it was all gone. Surgery was needed to put a rod in my tibia, and recovery was started.
And how are you doing now? When can we expect to see you back?
It was, honestly, a huge struggle the first few weeks mentally, as every motocrosser knows. Time does heal just about everything and, lucky for us, our bodies don’t remember pain either! I’m feeling great now, sitting at about 6 weeks post surgery. Just waiting on the go ahead to start walking on it. I won’t be back to racing this year but I hope to be back out on the bike before the snow flies!
What does the future hold for you?
Well, right now I think life has caught up to me. Kelcey (Jones) and I are trying to save up for a house, eventually, and I am taking a few courses to widen my range of knowledge!
I am also training a few kids and would love to do some more of that!
Next year, I can see a whole ton of fun being had racing a 125!
Is there one thing you’d like to accomplish before leaving Professional racing?
Finishing in the top 10 was pretty high up on my list before I hung up the Pro boots. But I really don’t see that happening unless someone wants to pay my credit card bills or I win the lottery. Lol! I did get an 11th in a moto at PG (Prince George, BC) last year, so that will have to do!
What has been the highlight of your career?
The entire thing! I loved every minute of the racing I did over the past 14 years! Keeping it fun and low pressure is so important!
I guess you’re not too upset that you’re not doing repairs from Walton 2 last week, eh? What did you think of that?
Ya, that’s just nuts.. 4 full-length mud motos in a row is enough for me to say I wasn’t upset I missed this season! I was happy to be laying on the dock up at the cottage!
OK, thanks for taking some time with us and all the best with your recovery. See you soon, and who would you like to thank?
Thanks, Billy! I have to thank my family, Kelcey, the Jones family, Hero Goods, GP Bikes, GPP, Troy Lee Designs, Matrix Concepts.
And a Huge shout out to my guy, Tosh Hero! He has been in the hospital for more than 3 months and is in need of a heart transplant! He kept my spirits high when I was struggling after my crash. He is someone who I can always go to, and has kept me going! He is my HERO! Thanks for being you, Tosh!
Last week at Round 3 of th Rockstar Triple Crown Tour MX Nationals, we had a couple cool things happen in the first moto of the 250 class.
#18 Tanner Ward held on in the mud to take the win. It was his first moto win as a Professional and it was pretty cool to be there for it. After watching how much goes into a rider’s career from their parents to their sponsors, to see it all come together for their first big win is a huge deal.
#41 Jeremy McKie finished 3rd in the first moto and it was his first time cracking a podium position as a Pro. It was pretty cool to see.
Unfortunately, with the way the Jetwerx crew was forced to work the schedule in the terrible conditions, there was no time to do first-moto interviews at the podium. It was really too bad for both the Wards and the McKies as they were all gathered to celebrate the memorable moment with their riders and teams.
After a few minutes of confusion, we all had to just walk away without sharing in the moment with the two riders. Anticlimactic is a word that describes it.
I chased Tanner down in his pits to at least get a quick reaction:
It was an unforeseen added problem with trying to get the races in under those horrible conditions. I guess each rider will just have to do it again!
Fortunately for Tanner, he was able to come out and finish 3rd in moto 2 and it was enough to give him his first overall of his Pro career. This time there was a podium celebration.
Jeremy could only muster an 8th in the 2nd moto, but it was enough for him to crack the top 5, so that was also cool.
Points leader #15 Jess Pettis salvaged the day with 2-2 motos for 2nd overall. It was enough to keep him nicely at the top of the 250 points.
#19 Marshal Weltin rode like a man possessed in the mud. He almost looked like he was enjoying himself out there! He was holding the throttle wide open on his Kawasaki and putting it anywhere on the track in the slop.
He struggled in the first moto and had to come from way back. He made passes in the 2nd and took the win.
Like I mentioned earlier, I hope all the privateer riders were able to get their bikes back in working conditions this week. The place looked like a scene from a Civil War movie and smelled like burning motors all day long.
Congratulations to everyone who managed to cross the finish line last week.
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In the 450 class, #9 Dylan Wright‘s streak was ended in the first moto. He had troubles early and had to accept that he just wasn’t going to run the table, after all.
#54 Phil Nicoletti looked pretty comfortable in the mud, as did his Yamaha teammate, #3 Shawn Maffenbeier.
As mud races usually go, the rain stopped pretty early in the day but the damage was done. In fact, it got worse as it began to dry out a little. You know how it goes, it always gets worse before it gets better. Riders had to try and get through the thickening goo and nurse their bikes as best they could.
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Another casualty of the weather and forced schedule was the WMX class. They decided to cancel the Ladies as well as the Pre Mix races for the week. Of course, that didn’t stop #2 Eve Brodeur from racing! She lined up in the 250 class and managed to finish both motos. It was quite the feat.
In the first moto, her bike was over-heating badly so she stopped for a while to let it cool down. When the leaders went through for their final lap, she fired up her KTM and crossed the line to the cheers of everyone standing in the area, myself included.
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Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Returns to Lorettas for Round 2
We’re back at Loretta Lynn‘s for Round 2 of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championships.
2020 TransCan Champions
In case you missed it, we posted all the winners from the 2020 TransCan at Walton Raceway. Check it out:
Another year of the TransCan at Walton Raceway has come and gone. Champions have been crowned and memories have been made. I hope you met all your goals and expectations at this year’s event. It was a miracle we were even in Walton racing!
As you’ll see, most classes were dominated by a single rider. You can argue both sides that this is good for our sport.
Here’s our annual look at the winners of each class from the schedule, in order as they appear on the results page.
Full results can be found HERE.
Can you believe we didn’t get a drop of rain all week for the TransCan?! Pro day was a different story.
Thanks for another amazing year of amateur racing. I hope everyone has made it home safely. See you next year!
Motorcycle Sales Up over 2019
Sand Del Lee | Round 4
With one weekend off, we head to Sand Del Lee near the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario, next weekend. Let’s just hope Kevin Tyler hasn’t been taking dance lessons from Brett Lee and we can get through the weekend without seeing a thunderstorm…
I may be heading to Ottawa a few days early to go for some cycles in the Gatineau Region with Reece Rendall and Thomas Rendall. If you’re in the area and looking for a cycling guide, join me in drafting these guys through some of the nicest cycling areas that the eastern portion of our country has to offer.
The situation heading into this coming round was tenuous, at best. At times, there were rumours circulating that we wouldn’t even be able to hold the races!
Well, the good news is that we will be going there to race. The bad news is we won’t be seeing any amateur day racing. It’s a strange summer, folks.
#84 Trystan Hart Wins TKO Enduro
Congratulations to Canadian #84 Trystan Hard for winning the TKO Enduro in Tennessee last weekend.
Here’s a little taste of what this means:
OK, have a great weekend, everyone. It’s hard to believe we’re nearing the end of the summer, but we are. Get out and do all the things you want to do because you’ll be out shovelling the driveway before you know it!
