Frid’Eh Update #45 | Grant Hoffman | Brought to You by RP Race Performance

By Billy Rainford

RP Race Performance logo
Brought to you by RP Race Performance
Week #45 belongs to Grant Hoffman from Georgia. | Bigwave photo

Welcome to Week #45 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update brought to you by RP Race Performance. It’s nice to be sitting at home again to work on one of these, but it will be short lived. I’ll be on the road again for most of the rest of November. We set records for warmth here in London, Ontario, this week, but things appear to be back to normal with temperatures down around 13C now.

All the leaves that will affect our yard have fallen and I think that’s the end of our raking for another year. However, we have some new lazy people who just moved in up the crescent and their front yard is completely covered in ankle-deep leaves. One day of strong wind in the right direction and we could be out there again!

Grant Hoffman from Georgia was #45 for the 2024 season up here in Canada. Unfortunately, we never got a chance to see him up here running my first-ever number from back in 1981. Ouch.

He came up and raced 3 rounds of the Canadian Triple Crown Series MX Nationals in 2023 to earn the number.

I have to admit, this is possibly my favourite Update of all time. In fact, I doubt this will ever happen again. When I started racing, I chose the #45 as my race number. A couple years in and someone took my number before I could get it so I changed my number to #145. This is Week #45 and the rider who had it this year runs #145. Mind…blown.

Here’s what Grant had to say when we contacted him this week:

Here’s what Grant had to say when we contacted him this week. | Bigwave photo

Direct Motocross: Hello, Grant. I don’t think we’ve ever done one of these with you, so this will be good to get to know you a little better. We’d better start at the beginning: How old are you? Where are you from? Where do you live? And how did you get into Motocross?

Grant Hoffman: I am 20 years old, almost 21. I am from Canton, GA and still live here and I get into moto because my dad raced pro when I was growing up and that’s all I’ve ever done and wanted to do.

Did you play any other sports growing up?

I think played one season of T ball at some point but I was young then. In between 85’s and 250 I took some time to heal from an injury and I played some hockey and raced a lot of bicycles.

Nice! What kind of student were you?

I was decent in school up until I got on 250’s then I started racing more and did more amateur nationals. Then I was missing a lot of school so I switched to home school. 

We didn’t see Grant up in Canada this past summer, but his best finish in 2023 was an 8th at Gopher Dunes. | Bigwave photo

You run the same number as I did. My story started out with #45 then went to 145. How did you choose #145?

My dad ran 45 for a few years when he was sponsored by a firearm company called Glock, and that happend to be the time I was on a PW50. So naturally I wanted the same but different and we just put a 1 in front of it. At least that’s how I think it went.

Who did you come up through the ranks battling and when did you turn Pro?

When I was in C class it was a few guys that don’t even really race that I know of. Jacob Henry, Brody Slane all from the south battling it out in Winter Ams in Florida then went on to Loretta’s in C. Then B class and Pro Sport was a whole other story. We had Cameron Horner, Brennan Schofield, Trevin Nelson, Crockett Myers, and Cole Bradford. And I officially turned pro in 2023, the year I came up there the first time. 

And when you first came up here to race and how did it go?

I first came up there the summer of 23 for the outdoor season to do 3 rounds with CCR and other than a couple of unlucky bike problems it went great. I ended the season with a top 8 and a top 10 then a DNF in the mud at Sand Del Lee

Grant turned Pro in 2023 and came up to race Gopher Dunes, Sand Del Lee, and Walton Raceway. | Bigwave photo

How did you get hooked up with the CCR gang?

I first met Scotty and Gus at Mini O’s in 23 and started talking to them throughout the week. Also, one of my friends from home was on the team already (Nate Mason) so it all worked out from there on. 

You did 3 rounds in 2023 with a best result of 8th overall at Gopher Dunes. How did those races go?

Gopher went great. I would have liked to do a little better but had to make a late stop first moto for goggles, but other than that no complaints. Sand Del Lee was going good then second moto was running 10th then blew the bike up. Just some bad luck. Walton was good. I also had a little bit of bad luck there but nothing major. I ended up going down first moto and broke my back break off early on in the moto, but luckily Tyler Bowers had me on a no back break program so it didn’t bother me much. 2nd moto was alright. I ended up going down pretty good late in the moto and I think I ended up 10th. 

What did you think of our country, tracks, and series?

The country had some awesome places and views and the people were great, the tracks were everything they’re talked up to be, super fun. My favorite would probably have to be Gopher. The series was awesome too, it was just how everything was more relaxed and easy going and easy to deal with. It was a real breath of fresh air compared to the US pro series. 

Grant started his own business with his father last year and stepped away from racing while they got it rolling. | Bigwave photo

We didn’t see you up here running #45. Where were you this summer?

I took some time off from an injury that happened right before I came up there. And my dad and I started our own business so we were getting that off the ground a bit. 

You’ve been pretty quiet on Instagram. What’s up?

Not much just working and riding as much as possible. Trying to stay on the road bike and in shape as much as possible. I’m planning to be back to racing this summer. 

What have you been doing since the season ended? Do you have a 9-5 job?

No 9-5. We stated a business in October last year and I’ve been doing that for work. 

What will you do this winter?

This winter I’m thinking I’ll keep riding and maybe hit some Florida racing to stay away from the cold in GA.

Although he’s busy with a business he started, we should still see him on the line in 2025 at select races. | Bigwave photo

And what about racing next summer?

My plan for racing next summer is to do a handful of outdoors and possibly a handful of Canadian rounds again. I had to much fun up there to not come back! 

Hmm, let’s see…what do you think will happen when Haiden Deegan moves up to the 450 class?

I think that love him or hate him he’s crazy fast regardless and it’s going to be a good showdown with Jett (Lawrence) for sure. 

OK, thanks for letting us get to know you a little better this week. See you somewhere soon, and who would you like to thank?

You might be able to find me wandering Mini O’s if I go to hang out or some rounds of Supercross in the pits, but I’d like to thank Scotty and Gus of course for helping me up there and make all the connections I did. My dad, mom, Tyler Bowers for helping me keep it all going, all the great companies that help out as well: Pirelli, SYD, FXR, Invictus media, Free flight bicycles, and EVS. 


Jess Pettis to MX101 FXR Yamaha

MX101 FXR Yamaha has made it official with this Press Release announcing that 2024 Canadian Triple Crown Series 450 Motocross Champion Jess Pettis has signed on to run the #1 plates for the Richmond, Ontario-based team. Here’s the PR:


Interview | #84 Tanner Ward Takes Us through His Recent Crash and Injuries

#84 Tanner Ward from Woodstock, Ontario, crashed at Vision Built Tracks and sustained a few injuries that will take him out of action for a while. He recently signed with Priority MX KTM and these injuries will keep him off the bike forcing him to miss the upcoming 2024 AMO Arenacross Championship in Chilliwack, BC. He spoke to us from the hospital on Thursday, November 7th.

Podcast:

APPLE PODCASTS

Transcript:

Direct Motocross: Well, uh, as everyone has probably heard by now, Tanner Ward had a crash last weekend and sustained a few injuries. I wanted to give him a few days to, you know, kind of gather it all together and have everything sorted out. And I called him earlier today and apparently it still wasn’t enough time, but we’ve got him on the phone to take us through what the heck happened and what it all means. Tanner, thanks buddy for talking to us.

Tanner Ward: No worries, no worries, Billy. Yeah, thanks for calling.

Yeah, man, not the, uh, I mean, I guess we gotta, we call you for the good and I guess, unfortunately, we gotta call you for the bad. So, it sounds like you hit a root seeing on your Instagram as I’m sure everybody did? It threw you sideways, put you down or something like that. Take us through where you were and what the heck happened.

Yeah, I was just out at Vision Built there on Sunday on their amateur Supercross track getting ready for Chilliwack. There were a bunch of kids on the track as well so I was riding the outdoor track a little bit in between.

Honestly, I was just doing like a no clutch moto nothing crazy and in the back section there’s just a single and from what I can remember I just kind of came up over the single and normally kind of like, you know, speed scrub at the top and before I even got to that point I hit a root and it kind of just ejected me weird That’s pretty much the last thing I remember, kind of being in the air and being like, yeah, this ain’t going to be good.

But, I hit the ground hard. I was pretty out of it for a little bit there and then kind of got up, obviously I was knocked out and stuff, but I knew my hand was not good. I could see it was, it wasn’t good.

Like, visually your hand was messed up. Was it swollen or weirdly shaped?

Yeah, it was really weird. My fingers looked like they were lower than I could tell. I’m, like, “(JustinRoney, my knuckles are out. My knuckles are out.” I was thinking of my knuckles to get back in. Like, I thought I just dislocated my knuckles, but turned out I broke three of the metacarpals and they dislodged.

So, they’re, like, yeah, yeah, not good. So, yeah, made my way to Woodstock Hospital and then figured out there that I punctured my lung and I had air between my lung and my ribs, so they had to put a chest tube in. And that’s obviously where I learned that the hand was not good either.

So that’s why they sent me here to London because they had a hand specialist and obviously a little more advanced and whatnot. They put me in this, like, this splint thing in Woodstock and were like, yeah, you won’t be in it for long. Like we’re just putting this on, just kind of support it for the ambulance ride.

And they do the chest tube in Woodstock as well, which I say chest tube, but they go through like the top of your ribs. Like it’s your chest on the side and they’re, they accidentally cut it wrong. There’s tape and stuff. The guy’s like making jokes saying, “Oh, I can be a plumber.” And I was still kind of out of it at this point. Like, obviously, I hit my head pretty good and I was on some drugs at that point. A little bit of a shit show to get it going. And then, uh, got to London and it’s just been weird, man. I haven’t really ever got answers, never knew what was going on.

I know with the, with the hand, they weren’t worried about it. Obviously, the main thing was to get the lung healed, get the air out. They put you, when you’re on this chest tube, you’re on this like suction thing, like you’re hooked up to air and this machine, it just, it sucks like negative pressure out, right?

It was not getting better. So it’s not that I want to shit on doctors and stuff, but it was very slow process here.

Which hospital are you at? Where are you?

I’m at Victoria in London. I would see a doctor. Well, I think, I don’t even know. He’s like the doctor student. I see him in the morning. What would have to happen is that they would have to turn the suction off, wait four hours, take an x-ray and make sure that no air built back up.

So like I would see the doctor in the morning and we’re about to shut it off. They wouldn’t shut it off until like late afternoon. And then they wait the four hours, like I was getting x-rays at like eight o’clock at night. There’s like three days where I was in the matrix about the exact same, like, see the guy in the morning, I’d show up later in the day, go get my x-ray, wait around, and then the nurse would be like, “Yeah, no, the doctor said there’s still air,” so they turn the suction back on.

So it was like three days of that, and little to no answers. The communication was not good. I’m trying to ask for like, uh, ask for answers or like any sort of plan or anything wasn’t easy to get. And, at one point, I was struggling with my splint I said they put on because like, it was probably the jankiest thing I’ve ever seen.

My wrist was like at a 90-degree angle. My fingers were just hanging there. Like, and I just, like you said, outside of the podcast here is I just got the cast on. It’s like they put a plaster cast on because I’m, yeah it’s been, it’s been a lot, to be honest with you.

Wow, so ribs are broken too?

Yeah, I got three broken ribs. I thought it was four, but I got three.

So, you’re talking, okay, your hand is in a splint with broken bones, like, what did they do? No surgery, or do you have to have surgery coming? What’s the deal on the hand?

Yeah, so, the original plan, like, when I left Woodstock, was I was getting surgery that night, so they were like, yeah, like, we don’t really care, like, we’re just getting you the surgery. And then, with the miscommunication and whatnot, and then I got here in Victoria, and then they’re telling me I have to get surgery at St. Joe’s. So, yeah, that’s the hand in the on Monday, they said, yep, tomorrow, which is Tuesday. Yeah, tomorrow too. No, no, sorry. On Monday they said Wednesday I’m having surgery.

So I did like my pre-surgery appointment on Tuesday here. But then when I did my pre-surgery appointment here at Victoria, they had no idea I had a chest tube in, so they’re like, what? Okay, we’ll figure that one out and then they’ll call me back and forth, call my doctor, call my nurses, finally getting answers.

I mean, at the end of the day on Tuesday, it was like, if your chest tube is out, show up here for 7 am, we’ll do surgery on your hand at 9. If not, don’t show up and we’ll have to reschedule. And then that’s when like, yeah, I, they didn’t take it, they didn’t clamp the chest tube until 2 pm. We had to wait another four hours, got the x ray, didn’t hear anything.

And then it’s not like the doctor comes in and is like, “Ah, it’s getting better, but we would rather put you back on suction.” It’s just the nurse is like, “Oh, no, the doctor says you got to put it back on.” So you just got a billion questions in your head, getting no answers. And then my wrist is just cockeyed for the Tuesday night.

I don’t mind. And I took the splint off and then the plastic surgeon came in on Monday. He was not happy or Tuesday, whatever day it was, was not happy that I took it off. I’m like, man, like my arm is going numb, like, not even my hand, it’s more than that. And a long story short, today when I saw, finally saw a real doctor here today, he was like, “Yeah, that’s was doing nothing.”

Like he grabbed my hand, they’re moving it around. Like this guy’s telling me that I’m going to like lose full function of my hand if I don’t keep this on. And then the other doctor just told me that like, “Yeah, if you kept it on any longer, like, you’re going to…” they call it like drop wrist or something like, I’m just like, I don’t know.

It’s a tough place to be in because like, I’ve been in plenty of splints and casts and whatnot and kind of know what’s right, what’s wrong. I mean, I’m kind of arguing with the nurse and I’m like, I’m not trying to be rude here, like I understand you don’t know and it’s not your choice, but like, I need to see someone who knows what they’re talking about.

And they’re like, “Yeah, yeah, we’ll be back.” And then six hours go by and just, I mean, not to be rude even right now, I’m just waiting to get discharged. I don’t even know what, I haven’t seen someone in like three hours.

Wow. And so are you still at Vic? Are you, so you are going to get surgery coming up or what’s?

Yeah, so actually, so long story short, once I got the chest tube out last night, finally, it was too late to get a hold of St. Joe’s Hospital, and then…

[Nurse walks in] I’m just going to initiate your stop, okay? Can I just take a little quick look at you,

Oh, someone’s there now?

Yep.

Perfect, let’s listen in, everyone.

Nurse: I’ll come back when you’re not busy.

Oh, shoot. No, I’m screwing you up.

Can we do it now?

Nurse: Well, when I get the stuff… five minutes.

Five minutes? Okay, perfect.

Perfect timing. That’s awesome.

Yeah, I figured that too. I’m like, oh, I’ll just get this out of the way now because I’m like, they’re not going to be here. Sorry about that.

No, it’s okay. It adds to the value of the interview.

Yeah, it does. Like, I don’t, I have any answers, I haven’t had an answer this whole time I’ve been here about anything.

That’s what I always find the most frustrating. All you want is, you know what I mean, you need someone to come in and just kind of talk you through some stuff.

Like a game plan, like, let’s have a game plan. It goes sideways, but like at least we have like, I mean, something to work towards.

So, you’re going, I’m assuming you’re going to the upper hand and limb at St. Joe’s to have it done. Is that the story?

Yeah. Yeah. On Wednesday which kind of sucks. I have to wait all the way to Wednesday now because I was supposed to get it yesterday and now the doctor’s away.

Yeah, so my hand’s gonna be I’m like, I hope I don’t have more damage or like more problems down the road because my hand’s sitting all dislodged for a week-and-a-half! So now I just go home and relax and wait, wait for Wednesday.

Oh man. Okay. So that’s going to affect our late fall mountain biking!

I know, especially with this weather. It’s nice out right now, but, I mean, it is what it is. I’m ready to get out of here.

Man, well, I tell you, three broken ribs is bad enough to deal with. I mean, if anyone out there listening has ever broken ribs, it sucks. I do not like breaking ribs.

Yeah, and then they like ask me about my breathing and stuff, and I’m like, well, I’ve never really broke ribs before, so I don’t know if I’m, like, if it’s my ribs that I’m feeling, or if it’s my lungs.

It’s definitely, it’s all kind of new to me, but, um, yeah, it’s been, it’s been quite the two or five days, very long, dragged out, and like I said earlier, if I was in the matrix, like, I’d see the doctor when I’d wake up in the morning. So something’s about to happen, you don’t see anyone for six hours, then something happens, don’t see someone for six hours, then something happens, and then by the time you take one step forward, which in a day you think you’re gonna take a couple steps forward, it’s already night time, everyone’s gone home, and you gotta restart the process the next day, and it’s like, I get it, like, I wasn’t, like, I had to stay in the hospital anyway, because I wasn’t making progress, like, with the, with the chest tube and stuff, I didn’t know why or what was the plan or if we’re not making progress, like, what else can we do here?

Or if we can’t do anything! it’d just be nice to hear from a doctor. And cause the nurses can’t give me, the nurses are just told to do what they’re told to do. It’s tough, man.

I haven’t even spoken to you since you joined your new team and everything like that. So, obviously you’ve ridden KTM’s before, with the Orange Brigade and stuff. So, you’re happy with all the changes and everything?

Yeah. Yeah. That’s the bummer part. I feel like I, like I’ve taken a huge step forward in my riding and just my overall, everything was just, um, probably the best I’ve ridden in a long time. It’s obviously very cliche to say that when you hop on a new bike program, but I think the people that see me ride lately can attest to it.

So that’s a little bit of the bummer part. It’s always when you’re feeling the best is when you kind of get knocked down. But, um, no, it’s, it’s an unreal program with Peter (Knoop). They’ve been, they’ve been awesome. Mostly through this, they understand. Yeah, yeah, no, it’s been good and one of the first things that I was concerned about when I got hurt and when I crashed, obviously I was pretty out of it being knocked out, but I was really concerned to letting the guys know I wouldn’t be at work on Monday.

But, um, no, the balance of the work, the riding, and obviously it’s all still fresh to me, but they have that part of it really dialled. Iit’s, it’s honestly a perfect program for Canada and someone like myself and yeah, I think a lot of people look at it like I took a step down, but if only they knew half the stuff that’s going on, how great this is, it’s, it’s a major step up.

Well, good for you, man. And you raced the Monster Mash at Baja Acres?

Yeah, yeah, Wyatt (Kerr) and I went with Mike Judge and just, uh, I mean I said it in our pod, but it was very, uh, very back to the roots. A lot of gate drops, four lap motos, but, um, yeah, it was so fun. We were, obviously Montana came down, Wyatt and Lauren, it was very, uh, just, yeah, camping. It was awesome. It was very fun. Cooking, they had the Halloween stuff going on. Unfortunately, not a lot of people showed up to race. It was maybe an expensive weekend for Wyatt and I to do sprints together. But, I mean, it doesn’t really matter whoever is on the gate or what the situation is.

When there’s a gate in front of you and it’s got a drop, you’re getting nervous. You kind of put yourself into those race situations. That was my goal this fall. I didn’t think I was really going to race much on the new bike. And once they kind of got the okay from Walton to go race and they let me have my contract early, I was like, man, I’m taking advantage of it as much as I can, because we struggle in Canada to race our eight races and don’t do anything for eight months and then go back racing again.

Nice. Who, what other pros were there besides you two?

Ah, just us two.

Oh, honestly? Oh, wow.

Yeah, it was just us two. There was, no, sorry, there was some other, I think, maybe some more A riders, but no one that’s ever came over here to Canada or no Canadians or nothing, really.

Hey, a W is a W. We don’t have to talk much more about details. Lol

Yeah, yeah, exactly. No, it is what it is. Like I said, like, I mean, I’m, regardless, you put yourself in a race situation, it’s four laps, so you gotta like, Wyatt, we’re going to, but I still got to go fast to go beat him.

I couldn’t just go and go slowly. Right. I tried really well. Um, my goal was to, was to make that gap bigger every moto, and his goal was to make the gap smaller every moto. So we were still pushing each other. So, you still get nervous. You still have to have some race craft. You’re passing a lot of like lappers and slower guys. So you still put yourself in your race situations.

That’s what we, why we’re doing these, but whether the gates are stacked or not, there’s still a lot to take away from from these weekends, right?

No, for sure. Like you say everybody’s chasing gate drops and yeah race situations. And then your plan was to go out to do the AMO Arenacross series in Chilliwack. That’s not happening, of course. So we’re well, we’re at the 7th of November now, so say you get surgery next week, you’re 6-8…what’s the winter plan now? Is Supercross in your future or is just now just training in the south going to be what’s happening?

Um, yeah, the plan was to go to Chilliwack. Obviously, my plan was working until the baby was born. Um, actually we have a baby due in February, so, it was kind of my plan right until we couldn’t, until the weather didn’t allow us here in Ontario. And then just kind of start focusing on down south and kind of coming up with a plan there.

So the plans haven’t changed too much. I don’t know what that timeline for getting back on the bike is, but I feel like I’m going to be giving myself even a little bit more time by the time I get back on the bike anyway. So, um, yeah, no Supercross this year. I think in the future, I’ll say I want to talk to Peter and stuff, but I would love to do it again.

I feel like there’s some, some unfinished business on that end of things, but, uh, this year with the situation, new team. Obviously with the baby on the way and stuff, I just want to want to be home and support Montana as much as I can. And then at this point now, I just got to get rested up and, and kind of, uh, hit the reset button for when we head down south.

Okay. Well, I appreciate you, you know, filling us in on what happened. We, of course, we all read your, post and all, but it’s good to hear your voice and kind of hear you kind of take us through it. So unfortunately you’re still sitting in the hospital, but, you’ll be back in and then back on the mend. So, good luck with it all. Good luck with the baby and everything.

Yeah, thank you. I appreciate you guys reaching out. Obviously, these times are tough and all this has been a bad experience for myself, unfortunately, like I guess I don’t like talking bad on anything, but the Canadian health care system, you get a true first hand experience right now being in it.

Yeah, a little frustrating for sure, man. You just want answers.

Yeah, I’ve never had to stay overnight here in Canada before. I’ve always done my major injuries in the States and kind of see the difference of it all. And, it’s unfortunate. I wish we were in a different spot in Canada and a different approach.

Nonetheless, like the people here, it’s not their fault, they work hard. They’re just kind of doing what they’re told to do. But, it’s kind of unfortunate. I feel like I’m putting my hand in a spot where I didn’t need to be. It could have been fixed and already on the mend where now I’m waiting a week-and-a-half with it. The bones all, all unaligned and whatnot. But, in the last year, I mean, there was no choice but to take the route that I’m given right now and make the most of it. So we’ll be back on the mend next Wednesday and got lots of time to chill out and make sure we’re a hundred percent cause I really feel like I can do some good things on this new bike and new team.

Awesome Tanner. All right, buddy. Well, good luck. Like I say, I’ll mention to Emily that you’re coming in and she’ll come see you.

Yeah. Perfect. Maybe she’ll be the nurse. Thanks, Billy. I appreciate it.


Sam Gaynor Injury/Recovery Update

*** WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES ***

Sam Gaynor. | Bigwave photo

Canadian pro motocross racer #28 Sam Gaynor from Erin, Ontario, has sort of been through the wringer with his wrist injury. Back in April of 2022, Sam crashed at Club MX in Chesterfield, SC while preparing for the upcoming Canadian Triple Crown Series MX Nationals, breaking his scaphoid bone. As we all remember, this was the injury that ended the illustrious career of Ricky Johnson back in the late 1980’s.

Surgery has improved over the years, but this seemingly innocuous injury is still one of the ones that plagues racers to this day.

Sam tried to ride through the pain but decided to take surgical steps in March of 2024 where they took parts from his leg and attached them into his wrist.

** Warning: Graphic surgical images **

Sam tried to ride after the required recovery, which is said to be between 3-8 months, but the pain was still there. It kept him from riding the 450 class in 2024, but he still defended his title successfully in the FXR PreMix class.

It was decided that they would try the surgery again and so he went under the knife at Toronto Western Hospital a couple weeks ago on October 25th. This time, they took parts from his other leg and transplanted them into his wrist.

The surgery took 8 1/2 hours and the doctor said the surgery was much harder than he was hoping, but that he was happy with the end result.

Sam added: “Wrist is good. Just had my 2 week post-op check-up this morning and everything is looking good. The screw and wire are still in place and haven’t moved which is a good sign. My leg is pretty sore as they had to take a bigger piece of bone from my femur than last surgery. They also had to cut the muscle off my femur to get to it better, so the healing for that will be a bit longer. I’ve been off the crutch for a few days now. Overall, doing pretty good! Just bored.”

Sam now has matching scars on both legs.

As for recovery time, Sam summed it up like this: “3 months of doing absolutely nothing. Not allowed to elevate heat rate etc. as they also did a vein and artery graft from my leg, so they don’t want it to burst if I get my heart rate up.

This surgery before me had been done somewhere between 50-60 times in the world, and I’ve had the same surgery twice now!

As for the future, Sam says: “The plan is to be back racing in the 450 class! We have lots going on with the AVL Racing team which is exciting and I’m looking forward to round 1 permitting everything heals as it’s supposed to! As for work, I was doing some carpentry as well as my own little business “80 Grit Woodworking” before surgery but I am now off work until my wrist is fully healed.”

Thanks for the update, Sam. See you on the track in the spring!


MVP International Motorsports Triumph Racing

2025 team riders Julien Benek, Kaylie Kayer, and Blake Davies.

I spoke with MVP Racing team owner Al Dyck this afternoon for an update on what the team is doing. Right now, Blake Davies and Julien Benek are down training with the US team in Georgia with Mike Brown as the gym coach. Interesting fact, Al said that Blake and Julien scored higher than anyone else in some base training tests, so that’s a pretty good sign!

They’ll be training at Moto X Compound near Macon, GA until December 20th preparing for Monster Energy AMA Supercross where they will both be racing 250 West, starting January 11th.

However, both riders will will fly home to compete in the AMO Arenacross Championship at Chilliwack Heritage Park in Chilliwack, BC November 22-23 and November 29-30.

Team riders Blake Davies and Julien Benek are currently training in Georgia with the American team getting ready for Monster Energy AMA Supercross and round 1 in Anaheim on January 11th.

Blake: 250 West

Julien: 250 West

When summer rolls around, Kaylie Kayer will race WMX and, at this point, it looks like it’ll be Davies on the 250 and Benek on the 450.

As far as the homologation rules are concerned, they have yet to determine exactly what the fee will be for the new team. Whereas other brands have many models in their line-ups to make up the cost and numbers, Triumph currently just has the 2 bikes on the offer. I do know that if the number isn’t agreeable to the new team, they appear to have little qualms about taking their racing efforts south of the border, but I doubt it will come to that.

They will race whichever AMA Pro Motocross rounds they can before the 2024 Canadian series starts next year.

As I was speaking to Al, he was driving his brand new Mercedes Sprinter Van down the highway. I can smell it now…

Keep an eye out on their Instagram pages as photos and video of them on their new rides will be coming out starting next week.

Hopefully, I can stop in to see them either on my way to or from the Mini O’s at the end of the month.


I am heading out to look after my mom for 10 days starting on Monday out in Kamloops, BC. With her ever-accelerating dementia, she can make it pretty difficult to ignore her to work on anything DMX related, but I will continue to do my best while also making sure her every needs are met.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Earl Reimer and Skippy Mobbs showing you’re never too old to enjoy the feeling of working hard and achieving your goals. Go ahead, Earl: “See you at the races...” | Bigwave photo
RP Race Performance logo
Be sure to check out RP Race Performance on Instagram