Frid’Eh Update #39 | Daniel Elmore | Presented by Troy Lee Designs
By Billy Rainford
Welcome to Week #39 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update this week brought to you by Troy Lee Designs Canada. It’s been a bit of a tough week for me. Flying back from Italy on Monday left me in a bit of a hole to start the week. Monday was a write-off and then that seemed to carry over for the next couple days as I got myself back on schedule. What I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry for slacking off a little this week.
Week #39 belongs to the quiet rider from Telkwa, BC, Daniel Elmore. Daniel has been on our radar since we first met him training down at Club MX in South Carolina a couple years ago. He’s the kind of rider who lets his riding on the track do the talking for him…he’s pretty quiet off the the track.
Anyway, he had what can only be described as an “interesting” season of racing the Canadian Triple Crown Series this past summer. He started off the year on the Sky Racing Team with Al Dyck. There was a big blowout at the end of the day at Sand Del Lee and the result was that Daniel would be on his own for the remainder of the series.
I’ve heard from a few people who witnessed the scene first-hand and I also got Al’s side of the story. So far, Daniel has been reluctant to talk much about what happened, and he remained that way again when we spoke with him this week. One day he’ll give his side, no doubt. To be honest, I respect him more for his silence on what would likely only amount to a “he said, he said” situation anyway.
With that ugliness behind us, let’s have a quick look at Daniel’s summer results:
He finished 8th overall in the Triple Crown Series 250 class. He ended up smashing his shoulder in Supercross but toughed out the season to hold onto his position. Oh, and you should click “Telkwa” on Google Maps to see where he calls home. I’m always impressed by riders who come from such remote areas to become fast Pro riders. Just think of all the miles his parents had to drive to get him through the amateur ranks! Impressive.
Here’s what he had to say when we got in touch with him this week:
Direct Motocross: Hello, Daniel. I think this is our first Frid’Eh Update interview, so we’re going to have to put you through the ringer! First off, can you tell us where you’re from and how old you are? And can you tell us how you got into Motocross in the first place?
Daniel Elmore: Yah, thanks for doing it, Billy! I’m from Telkwa, BC and 19 years old. My brothers got into to MX in 2009 and I wanted to give it a try so I started in 2010 and never stopped.
What was your first race number and why did you choose it?
My first race number was 377. I chose it because of (Christophe) Pourcel. He was the top 250 rider when I started and was just the guy I was always watching. I was so stoked when he came to Canada in 2017! I got him to sign my 377 plate. Lol
You’re from a pretty remote area of BC. What was a typical race weekend like for you and your family? How far did you usually have to drive?
Yah, there isn’t a lot here. Haha. The closest track is two-and-a-half hours in Terrace but they haven’t raced there in a few years. The closest race is now 4 hours away in Prince George. We often drive ten hours to go riding for the weekend in Kamloops to ride a track that’s not baked, dry, and rocky.
Who did you come up through the amateur ranks with?
Mostly Marcus Deausy. We raced each other pretty much every race. It was a lot of fun! I also raced (Julien) Benek sometimes but there was a North and South series back then so I mostly raced up here.
I think I first met you down at Club MX. When did you first start going down there to train and why was that the place for you to go?
Yah, that’s right. That was my first time there. I mostly went there because of their reputation.
You ended up 8th in the 250 MX series this past summer. Can you take us through how your racing went? Your best overall was a 7th.
Yah, I’m pretty stoked how it went. I had a goal set to get top 10 and I was able to do that. I had a lot thrown at me, getting food poisoning at Sand Del Lee and a DNF at Deschambault and the last Walton round was a disaster. Lol. But that 7th place was awesome! I think the disappointment of the year was running 5th with three laps to go at Gopher Dunes and then sampling the sand. Haha.
You ended up on your own late in the season. Can you tell us how that went for you? And are you ready and/or willing to talk about what happened over there at Sky Racing?
Yah, I was on my own. It went pretty well though, I had a lot of people step in to help out and I really appreciate that. And about Sky… Lol I’d have to write a book so maybe next time, Billy.
You got a little beat u pin the SX portion of the series. Can you take us through how the racing at Gopher Dunes went for you?
Yah, SX was pretty rough. I was dealing with some pretty bad stomach sickness coming in. It was starting to come around and was doing awesome in round 3 until me and Quinn (Amyotte) came together on the start straight. I landed pretty hard on my back and separated my shoulder. I was able to roll around at round 4 to get points in some pretty bad pain but it paid off cause I kept 8th in the Triple Crown.
You called Gopher Dunes home for the summer. How did that go for you? Were you looking forward to heading home in the end?
Derek (Schuster) was the first person to help out after I was on my own. I really like Gopher Dunes, the tracks and people are amazing! After I crashed that last weekend I was ready to go home, I was just beat and tired. Lol
What have you been doing since the series ended last month?
Pretty much just recovering doing physio on my shoulder and also my ankle that I never let recover from last year.
What is it you do for work when you’re not racing?
In the past, I’ve done forest firefighting and currently I’m doing forestry work.
Will you race the Future West Moto Arenacross series in Chilliwack?
Possibly. It depends on my injury recovery and provincial restrictions.
What are your winter plans?
Pretty much just work until February and then I plan on going back to Club MX for a couple months.
And how about your plans for next season. It looks like we should be going coast to coast again, finally.
Yes! It will be awesome to race in the west again! My plans are up in the air right now. I will not race 250s unless I can get on a team. A stock 250 just doesn’t cut it anymore and I can’t afford to spend thousands to make it competitive.
Well, good luck and we’ll see you somewhere soon. Who would you like to thank?
Thanks, Billy! I would like to thank my parents for their hard work to make it possible. Also Ken’s Marine, BC Snow&Dirt, MX North 54, Troy Lee Designs, Spy Optics, Seco seat covers, Mika Metals, DT1 filters, Motovan, Parts Canada, TCX boots, and Atlas brace. Much appreciated, everyone!
Team Canada MXON
Like I said at the top, it’s been a bit of a strange week for me, with the jet lag and all. An added problem is that I shot video clips throughout the entire Motocross of Nations trip and now I’m trying to put it all together in one video story. It’s gotten a little daunting as I go through all the footage. What is a watchable length for one of these videos? The only thing I know is that it’s not going to be what the kids would call an “edit.” It’s going to give you the full experience of being there alongside Team Canada.
I’d like to give a huge thank you to the team for allowing me to be there with them as they all did their things at Mantova MX in Mantova, Italy. Everyone was gracious with their time and I think they all realized that being able to look back on it with a nice video recap will be worth having to put up with me putting the cameras in their faces after every little thing they did.
So, what I’m trying to say is that I’ve been spinning my wheels a little this past week as I attempt to pare down this colossal amount of video footage.
Also, thank you to Cobequid Mountain Sports and Callus Moto for helping to get DMX there to be able to cover the team and the event. To be honest, I didn’t even think I was making the trip until the day before I left! True story.
Be sure to hit up Cob Mtn and Callus.
Canadian Off-Road Superstars Shelby Turner and Trystan Hart Win Corduroy Enduro
Had I not been in Italy for the MXON I was definitely going to make the trip to the Corduroy Enduro this year. I really was! Like many current and former racers, I lined up for a few enduro races in my day, so I can really appreciate what it takes to not only finish one of these things but to do well at them. Making it to the finish line is never a given.
There was a star-studded field in the men’s and women’s Pro field and Shelby Turner and Trystan Hart showed why they are getting all the attention they are this season.
Here’s a look at the results:
Corduroy Enduro Results
Pro Class
- Trystan Hart
- Alexandre Gougeon
- Spenser Wilton
- Jeremie Lanthier
- Jarred Jonker
- Brian Wojnarowski
- Kevin Dupuis
- Mel Mazaudier
- Ryder Heacock
- Maxime Belanger
Women Pro
- Shelby Turner
- Lexi Pechout
- Jannie Devin-Lamontagne
- Mary Ann Antoine
- Emma Sharpless
- Katherine Boisvert
- Emily Kretschmann
- Megan Sharpless
- Rose Lantaigne
- Marika Hamel
Full Results HERE
Assuming the dates don’t conflict in 2022, I’ll be there!
Supercross Tracks Released
Supercross released all the track maps for the 2022 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series this week.
I’m not going to post all the photos here, so just scroll through their Instagram post to check them all out:
Team PRMX Partners with Partzilla
Eli Tomac in a Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha Shirt
Jason Anderson to Monster Energy Kawasaki
Future West Moto Vaccine Update and Poll
Head over to the Future West Moto Facebook page to help them out:
Hey all. As you may be aware, Fraser health has issued new health orders that could directly affect the success of us running Arenacross in three weeks time.
We would like to put a poll out to see what percentage of people/ riders are fully vaccinated and able to show a vaccine passport. Please either click yes or no on our story if your child is able to race and a parent or parents are able to attend. The way the new orders read is that 12 and over will need to be full vaccinated to be on the grounds. Ridiculous, we know, but these are not our orders.
Riders under 12 are not affected but would affect the parents or guardians that attend with the rider. We are trying everything we can to come up with a plan or plans on how to over come this. We are not looking for comments, we are just looking for yes or no answers and we will decide on the best decision.
This post doesn’t mean that AX is canceled. This doesn’t mean that we are checking passports. This is just a simple poll to see if we have to go the passport direction, does it even make sense.
Thank you.
FW Team
We’ll leave this week on a pretty cool note. It sounds like things are coming together to see Dylan Wright race the last few MXGP‘s over in Europe. From what we’re hearing, Dylan will now race his GDR bike and keep all his existing sponsors with him as he pits under the Factory HRC tent alongside Tim Gajser and Mitch Evans. Cool beans.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
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