Frid’Eh Update #9 | Dylan Wright Interview | Brought to You by RP Race Performance

Frid’Eh Update #9 | Dylan Wright Interview | Brought to You by RP Race Performance

By Billy Rainford

You know when you drive all night you tend to be a little scatterbrained the next day or so as you try to get caught up on your sleep? Well, I woke up this morning thinking I had until 6pm to do things around here. I even planned on going for a mountain bike ride with my old friend Jeff Hines the MX announcer over at Graham Swamp. We’ve been trying to time a ride for a bunch of years now and today was finally the day.

It turns out today is not Thursday…at all. It is in fact Friday and that means it’s the busiest day of my stay down here in Florida. Oops.

I have to get my podcast interview done with the Week #9 honouree, Honda Canada GDR Fox Racing’s Dylan Wright, it’s Media Day over a the Speedway, then the Meet and Greet, then the Arenacross at the Ocean Center. No, it’s not a day off by a long shot!

Fortunately, I woke up to some rain which means the MTB was likely going to be cancelled anyway, but I haven’t heard the final word from Jeff.

As you’re reading this now, I likely did the podcast interview with Dylan in the back of the van in the parking lot at the Speedway before driving over to the Ocean Center. This media stuff isn’t as easy as it looks, kids! Haha

[Edit: We were able to get the interview done as he was driving to the track this morning.]

Anyway, I’m sure you’d like me to whine and moan some more, but I won’t.

I saw Dylan at the Toronto Motorcycle Show just a couple weeks ago, but I didn’t want to interview him there because I knew his week was coming quickly. He’s been busy making appearances in TO and again in Montreal before heading back down to Florida to continue getting ready to defend his Canadian 450 MX title…again.

He didn’t lose a moto all of 2022, so when his closest rival, Red Bull KTM Canada’s #15 Jess Pettis, managed to beat him at Round 1 in Edmonton last summer, it was a pretty big deal. Dylan managed to win the overall, so that means he’s gone 2 full years undefeated heading into 2024.

Here’s a look at his 2023 results:

Because of Dylan’s dominance the past few years, teams are scrambling to find a rider who can possibly compete at his level. Unfortunately for other teams, that means they would need to pull someone away from what is likely an already very lucrative contract or option wherever they’re currently riding. In order to continue to get the support from their current manufacturers and team sponsors, they are in the difficult position to try and find someone to fit this role. It’s not easy. Every team in Canada with riders knows they are most likely fighting for second place right now.

Here’s our podcast interview from this morning:

APPLE PODCASTS

As always, find it wherever you get your podcasts.

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Money Moto Showdown at Pax Trax Content

It was cool to be able to attend the inaugural Money Moto Showdown at Pax Trax in Bunnell, Florida, on Wednesday. I drove all night to be at this one and I’m paying for it today. They have plans to keep this event growing and want to keep making it so that the riders can have a big payday. Here are some of the uploads from the day:

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A post shared by DIRECT MOTOCROSS (@directmotocross)

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Canadian Results from the AX Amateurs in Daytona Beach

AX Amateurs

Ocean Center

Daytona Beach, Florida

Thursday, February 28, 2024

#365 Trevor Hale
Ontario
Collegeboy – 6th
450 B (14+) – 2nd

#224 Jeremy Bellefroid
Quebec
85 (9-12) – 4th
85 AX (8-15) – 9th

Full results HERE

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Daytona Supercross Media Day

So, I made it in time to catch everyone hitting the track to ride, but I was late getting there for the interview portion. People don’t plan to fail…

When you’re watching opening ceremonies Saturday, watch for the cheer results to look like this:

3rd place:

#94 Ken Roczen

2nd place:

#7 Aaron Plessinger

1st place:

#3 Eli Tomac

Don’t ask me why, but I always pay attention to the silly things like crowd response. Eli is always the crowd favourite. Aaron is usually a very close 2nd and Ken Roczen takes 3rd. When they introduce Aaron, you think he’s for sure going to be the winner but then Eli comes out and they blow the roof off the dump! Check it out Saturday.

There’s a wall jump right before the mechanics area that is proceeded by a 180 right-hand corner followed by little, big, little obstacles. Doubling the first two and then jumping up onto the top of the wall jump is definitely STEWABLE! A few of us stood there watching and it looked like #38 Haiden Deegan was tempted by it in the 250 class and then #21 Jason Anderson looked like he was measuring it up, as was #2 Cooper Webb.

I was talking to our old friend Josh Hill and he didn’t disagree when I said I thought he would do it. He mentioned that maybe they wouldn’t do it today because then the track crew would go ahead and change it so they couldn’t on Saturday.

I stood there recording Deegan and Anderson over and over in case they went for it, but I never saw anyone try it. Watch for it tomorrow. I’ll post some video up on our Instagram page.

The 2024 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship Schedule of Events for DAYTONA is listed below:

Saturday

11:30 am – 11:38 am 250SX Futures Free Practice

11:40 am – 11:48 am 250SX Group C Free Practice

11:50 am – 11:58 am 250SX Group B Free Practice

12:00 pm – 12:08 pm 250SX Group A Free Practice

12:10 pm – 12:18 pm 450SX Group A Free Practice

12:20 pm – 12:28 pm 450SX Group B Free Practice

12:30 pm – 12:38 pm 450SX Group C Free Practice

12:40 pm – 12:48 pm 250SX Futures Free Practice

12:48 pm – 1:05 pm Track Maintenance

1:05 pm – 1:15 pm 250SX Group C Qualifying

1:20 pm – 1:30 pm 250SX Group B Qualifying

1:35 pm – 1:45 pm 250SX Group A Qualifying

1:50 pm – 2:00 pm 450SX Group A Qualifying

2:05 pm – 2:15 pm 450SX Group B Qualifying

2:20 pm – 2:30 pm 450SX Group C Qualifying

2:35 pm – 2:45 pm 250SX Futures Qualifying

3:00 pm – 3:15 pm Promoter Track Walk #1

3:10 pm – 3:20 pm Track Maintenance

3:20 pm – 3:30 pm 250SX Group C Qualifying

3:35 pm – 3:45 pm 250SX Group B Qualifying

3:50 pm – 4:00 pm 250SX Group A Qualifying

4:05 pm – 4:15 pm 450SX Group A Qualifying

4:20 pm – 4:30 pm 450SX Group B Qualifying

4:35 pm – 4:45 pm 450SX Group C Qualifying

4:50 pm – 5:00 pm 250SX Futures Qualifying

5:00 pm – 5:15 pm Promoter Track Walk #2

5:20 pm – 6:15 pm Track Maintenance

Evening Program

6:30 pm – 7:05 pm Opening Ceremonies

6:55 pm – 7:05 pm Begin Loading 250SX Heat #1

7:05 pm – 7:13 pm 250SX Heat #1 – 6 Minutes/Plus 1 lap – 20 riders (1 – 9 to Main)

7:09 pm – 7:19 pm Begin Loading 250SX Heat #2

7:19 pm – 7:27 pm 250SX Heat #2 – 6 Minutes/Plus 1 lap – 20 riders (1 – 9 to Main)

7:23 pm – 7:33 pm Begin Loading 450SX Heat #1

7:33 pm – 7:41 pm 450SX Heat #1 – 6 Minutes/Plus 1 lap – 20 riders (1 – 9 to Main)

7:37 pm – 7:47 pm Begin Loading 450SX Heat #2

7:47 pm – 7:55 pm 450SX Heat #2 – 6 Minutes/Plus 1 lap – 20 riders (1 – 9 to Main)

7:55 pm – 8:00 pm 250SX Futures Sighting Lap

8:00 pm – 8:10 pm 250SX Futures Main Event – 8 Minutes/Plus 1 lap – 22 riders

8:10 pm – 8:20 pm Track Maintenance

8:10 pm – 8:20 pm Begin Loading 250SX Last Chance Qualifier

8:20 pm – 8:27 pm 250SX Last Chance Qualifier – 5 Minutes/Plus 1 lap – 22 riders (1 – 4 to Main)

8:22 pm – 8:32 pm Begin Loading 450SX Last Chance Qualifier

8:32 pm – 8:39 pm 450SX Last Chance Qualifier – 5 Minutes/Plus 1 lap – 22 riders (1 – 4 to Main)

8:39 pm – 8:51 pm Intermission

8:41 pm – 8:51 pm Begin Loading 250SX Main Event

8:51 pm – 8:54 pm 250SX Sighting Lap

8:56 pm – 9:13 pm 250SX Main Event – 15 Minutes/Plus 1 lap – 22 riders

9:13 pm – 9:21 pm 250SX Victory Circle

9:21 pm – 9:24 pm Track Maintenance

9:14 pm – 9:24 pm Begin Loading 450SX Main Event

9:24 pm – 9:27 pm 450SX Sighting Lap

9:29 pm – 9:51 pm 450SX Main Event – 20 Minutes/Plus 1 lap – 22 riders

9:51 pm – 10:00 pm 450SX Victory Circle

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OK, it’s time for the old Meet and Greet so I’d better make like a tree. I’ll then head over to the Pro AMA Arenacross back at the Ocean Center where the doors open at 6pm.

Oh, so I was getting my vest just now and realized I had something on my right front tooth. ALL DAMN DAY! I’m a combination embarrassed and pissed off.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the racing.