Interview | Quinn Amyotte Heads into 2024 AMO Arenacross with #1 Plates
By Billy Rainford
We talk with #14 Quinn Amyotte who is heading into the 2024 AMO Arenacross Championship in Chilliwack, BC as the defending champion.
Wednesday, November 20, 2024.
Podcast:
Transcript:
Direct Motocross: Well, it’s not often you get to run the number one place, but the gentleman on the phone, he’s gonna have his chance to do that. I gotta say, maybe for the first time this coming weekend at ArenaCross, the AMO ArenaCross in Chilliwack, we’ve got Quinn Amyotte on the phone. Quinn, thanks for chatting with us.
Quinn Amyotte: Yeah, thanks for having me, Billy. Yeah, number one, definitely gonna be exciting.
Am I right? Is this your first big pro number one place for any kind of series?
Definitely my first pro number one, yeah.
Yeah, that’s pretty exciting.
Yeah, no, it’s cool. It’s definitely cool. Gaudly kind of asked me if I could run the number one and stuff. And yeah, I was happy to do it. OGs made me some gear, so we got some number one gear too. So nice big target on the back. It should be good.
Oh yeah, there’s a target on your back with the number one normally, and even more so in the Chilliwack Arenacross.
Yeah, the West Coast kids definitely don’t want an East Coast guy winning it. So I’m definitely expecting a couple of hits in the turns.
Awesome. Now I’ve been checking out your Instagram and stuff like that. Where are you right now?
I am in Gauldy’s trailer in Chilliwack.
Okay.
Right outside the bar.
Oh, nice. Are you actually helping out with the schools? Are you the school guy this year?
I’m gonna help out with one of the schools. Yeah, there’s a bunch of schools, so a bunch of people kind of help out, but I was just putting in all the Aceris markers, and then I came in for some lunch.
Oh, you’re working?
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Gauldy’s got me working.
That doesn’t make sense. You’re the defending champ!
It’s all right. No, I got nothing better to be doing.
I don’t like it. You should be outside and autograph, downtown Chilliwack.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. No, he’s paying for my food and stuff, so it’s the least I could do.
Nice, crunchy peanut butter.
Exactly. Actually, smooth peanut butter. He’s a smooth peanut butter guy.
Nice. Hey, all right. So when did you get out to BC here? I say here because I’m in Kamloops right now.
Oh, right on. Me, Eric, and Gauldy drove out. We left Monday, got here Wednesday night, Thursday morning kind of thing. Spent the weekend just around here, went out on the ferry. First time ever being on a ferry, so that was fun. And then came back here and started working on Monday, got the track all built up Monday, Tuesday, Beaton and stuff. And yeah, and then I went out last night, did a couple laps, and now there’s practice happening.
OK, there’s a couple things in there. You touched on that I want to kind of touch on a little bit more. You mentioned Eric. That’s Eric Schildt. That’s kind of Ryan’s right-hand man kind of thing, right? So you boys, you really are part of the crew. You drove out with the crew.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I drove out with them last year. And then Gauldy kind of asked me if I could do it again. It’s just kind of easier driving out with the three guys. I guess it’s easier on Gauldy’s side of things, driving out, just making sure he has all this stuff, not having to rely on other people and shipping stuff out. So, easier to do it just all by himself.
Hey, for anybody listening to this who doesn’t live in Canada, we basically got one highway across our country, the #1, oddly enough. And believe it or not, our only highway has stoplights on it. Is it still, do you still have still downtown stopping at stoplights?
We actually came through the states.
Oh, you did?
Yeah, so a little bit quicker.
Oh, OK. I wasn’t sure. I didn’t think you’d be bringing a trailer and everything across the border, but I guess Ryan’s got it organized with a carné and everything.
Yeah, he’s got it all figured out.
Oh, that’s good. That’s good. OK. Well, never mind. But my thing still holds. We have one one highway stoplights on it.
It’s definitely true. I’ve done it before. That’s a straight drive.
OK. Another thing you mentioned was Kyle Beaton. How old are you now, Quinn?
23.
Are you old enough to remember Kyle Beaton being a hot shot in the 250 class?
I don’t remember him like racing, but I’ve heard all the stories and stuff like I. I’m well aware of who he was and everything, but I think I’m too young to be watching it at the time.
OK. Were you talking with him and helping him out when he was making the track?
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we’ve been hanging out quite a bit.
You know, it’s “Beaton’s Barn?”
Oh, I know. Yeah, I was kind of the guinea pig last night, hitting all the jumps and stuff. And there’s a big triple. And he’s sitting there. He goes, you know, I would have done this. I was like, all right, I’ll go do it then.
He would have. Trust me, he would have.
Yeah.
So you tell him, next time you see him say, “Hey, welcome to ‘Amyotte’s Arena’.”
Yeah, we’ve been we’ve been joking about that. I guess there’s some guy that beat him once in the barn, and they keep joking about him being that guy’s barn, not his.
Yeah. There are a couple of guys, I guess. Well, his close buddy Spencer Knowles maybe did. Brock Hoyer was a champion back in the day.
Yeah, I forget what the guy’s name was, but yeah, they’re they’re joking at him about it.
OK, do you have a clue who’s coming up to this? By the way, everybody, it’s a AMO Arenacross, used to be Future West Moto Arenacross in Chilliwack Heritage Park in Chilliwack, BC. Do you know who you’re going to be battling yet? I know obviously Julian Benek is out, unfortunately, but you have you seen the other guys?
Yeah, I think Benek or not Benek. Sorry, you just mentioned him. (Blake) Davies is coming, so he’ll be good. He’s been down south training and stuff. Davies will be good. I think Collin Jurin is coming.
Oh, okay, he’s good.
Yeah. Tyler Gibbs is out here riding right now, actually, he looks good. Parker Eales, obviously. I’m sure there’ll be a few other guys, but as of right now, that’s all I can really think of.
Okay, yeah, I mean, obviously, there’ll be full gates.
Yeah, there’ll be a full gate, but for the guys that will be battling up against all the stuff, I think that’ll be it.
Okay, so yeah, I mean, there will be definitely some fast guys. Like you say, Collin Jurin, he’s super fast in the indoor stuff, and he’s a former champ too. I mean, everybody takes their turn. Now, you mentioned Parker Eales. We’ve always got to lay into him because it changed hands from Future West to AMO. He won the last year it was a Future West and didn’t feel right putting the number one plates on. I think he should have.
Yeah, I get both sides of it. It’s definitely a little bit weird running the number one, and especially in his situation when it was a different people running it and everything, so I get it. But at the same time, it is pretty cool to run the number one if you have the opportunity.
Yeah, trust me, when you’re my age and you’ve got pictures on your wall of running a number one anywhere at a pro level, you should take it.
Yeah, yeah, no, I agree.
He’s gonna have “ragrets.”
Yeah, exactly.
Okay, so you got out there, and I know the cool thing. Well, we’re still riding all across Canada. Well, maybe not in Saskatchewan right now, they just got hit by a bunch of snow. But you get out there, did you? So you went on the ferry, you went across, I’m assuming you went to Sunshine Coast, Sechelt?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we just went out and checked it out. Newf and stuff were all riding.
Okay, what did you think of that place? You’re under hydro lines, though. Did you get shocks on everything?
No, it was chocolate sweet. It looked awesome. Yeah, we’re under hydro towers, but no shocks. I live under hydro towers, so I’m used to it. But no, it was an awesome place. And then we went out to our buddy’s afterwards and hung out there and stuff and stayed on the Sunshine Coast, so it was really cool.
Oh, nice, because I go to Green River MX in Pemberton, and I cannot touch anything. Like, I literally can’t touch anything. I don’t know if I have a whole bunch of salt in my… I don’t know. I get shocks on everything.
Really? Yeah, I didn’t get anything. Back at home I live directly under hydro towers, so that’s probably what’s wrong with us.
Well, yeah, that third arm comes in handy, too.
Yeah, exactly.
Okay, so you mentioned practice. You’ve seen the track. What’s the deal on the track? And you said you had to go out and do a rhythm or a big jump that Beaton said he would do. What’s the track like?
Yeah, the track’s awesome. So last year, the start, there’s two barns, obviously, and all the fans are on the one side of the barn. And the start was in that barn last year, where this year the start is on the far side. So there’s four lanes in the side where the fans are. So I think that’ll be pretty cool. All the action will be like right in front of everyone.
No start straight on the side of the action, which is kind of cool. And then, yeah, there’s two big rhythms that are possible. So it’s kind of, if you want to man up and do it, it’ll be beneficial, but it’s also quick to go to the other rhythms.
So it’s definitely, there’s options for big stuff. And then if you don’t want to do it, there’s options for anything else. So it’s really cool.
Okay, is there a whoop section?
There is, yep. Oh, it’s a big whoop section. Yeah, Beaton doesn’t like to mess around on the whoops. So they’re big, legit whoops.
Okay, all right. Is Beats a Moto Dad yet?
Kinda. His kid’s on a little Stacyc bike. He’s out here today, so he’s turned him into one.
Okay, so you got the number one plates on your bike. Speaking of bike, what do you have out there? Just a 250 you’re gonna run, or what are you gonna run?
No, I got a 450, so the 450.
Really? You got both, or just?
No, just 450. That’s what I rode in here last year, too.
Okay, okay. I got you.
Yeah. A lot of bike in here, but it definitely helps in the starts.
Okay, what do you do to your bike? I mean, obviously, it’s a Arenacross. It’s pretty legit Arenacross. What do you do to your bike?
Just, you know, kind of just stiffen up the suspension, and that’s pretty well it. The bikes are made so good nowadays. These Kawasaki’s are awesome. So I, yeah, just stiffen up the suspension and kind of run it.
So we’re talking clickers, and away you go. You’re not sending away to have all the suspension done?
No, no, we had a set pretty stiff. So yeah, I’ve just been running that.
Okay, so that’s okay. And now what about mechanic for you and stuff like that? Who’s helping you out?
I’m just on my own out here. I think probably get Eric to set my holeshot device, and we’re on our way.
Defending champ doing his own thing!
Yeah, well, it worked out last year. I was doing it on my own last year. So, should have no excuses this year.
Right, and indoor stuff like that. It’s obviously way less stuff to have to do compared to motocross, for sure.
Yeah, you don’t need much bike work or anything like that. So it should be all right.
What about Walton Kawasaki team owner, Brett Lee? Is he coming out? Him and Mel, anybody coming out?
I don’t think so. No, I think they’re staying local.
All right, man, okay. Just getting right through these questions here. Now, what about, well, I gotta ask you: I know, Brett, that team is still looking for the 250 guy. Well, unless you’re the 250 guy or another rider. Let’s just put it that way. Do you know what you’re doing for the summer yet?
I am honestly not sure. No, they’re still trying to figure out on the Kawi side of things, what the deal is, who they want to bring up and stuff. So I’m not too sure what the deal is, but it’s definitely looking like staying with them next year. So that’s all I’m really sure of right now.
Okay. So that part’s not even finalized.
No, no, none of it’s finalized yet.
Okay. Do you want to move up to the 450? Do you have, like a lot of guys say, unfinished business in the 250 class?
Yeah, I’m pretty on the fence about it. I definitely feel like I have unfinished business, especially with how the season started off last year, this previous year. Definitely kind of sucks out when on the East Coast. So I definitely would like redemption, but I do ride a 450 good and I fit a 450 much better. I could probably put on a little bit of muscle finally if I rode 450, so I’m kind of on the fence about it. I’m good to go either way, but it’s kind of up to what I get offered.
OK, gotcha. I thought you were a big off-road guy. You’re doing nothing but Corduroy type stuff.
Yeah, I do enjoy that stuff, but I definitely want to get it done in Motocross here first.
All right. So, I mean, obviously, I get home on Friday and then I hop in the old DMX van and head to Florida on Sunday for Mini O’s, which keeps extending in days. I mean, man, I think the racing starts on Sunday. I’m going to miss a day. But you like the Mini O’s, right? You’re going to have something you’ve always had fun with.
Yeah. Yeah, I did it one time, which was sweet. I got a C championship there. Gauldy likes to always bug me about that.
Junior, call it Junior.
Yeah, yeah, Junior. But I went out there. Yeah, it was sweet. It was an awesome event. It’s always huge. I feel like every year, like you were saying, it gets longer. I feel like every year grows and grows.
It’s going to be a two week events!
Yeah, pretty well. Well, I think the whole thing is like you’ve got to qualify for Loretta’s kind of thing. So half the people don’t get in. So then everyone goes to Mini O’s because you don’t got to qualify for it. So I think there’s double the amount of people there.
Yeah, it’s crazy without the qualifying. It’s just, yeah, they just keep renting and buying or whatever they do to different fields, neighbouring fields and fill those up with motorhomes and things. But OK, so then you’re out there for two weeks in a row, four rounds, Friday, Saturdays. Man, they’re getting crushed with snow out there. You’re going to get a chance to get up to Whistler or local mountains or anything?
Oh, man, I’d love to. I don’t know. Davies’ dad was joking about taking me out on the snow bike, so that would be cool if that happened, but I’m not too sure. Not too sure what the plan is yet.
Oh, yeah, you got to jump on that stuff. And Tyler Gibbs’ dad and his family, they go up in the mountains on sleds and up snowboarding and stuff. You got to jump in on that next week.
Yeah, yeah. If people are going and they have extra room, I definitely will be. There’s no snow here, but I know there’s snow up in the mountains. I was just talking to Gibby today, and he was saying that Whistler has like a bunch of fresh powder.
Nice. Yeah, man, you should do that if you’re there. When you mentioned we talked earlier this week and you said you’re on the ferry and stuff, I’m like, oh man, you’re going to Tofino. And I was like, I thought maybe you’re going surfing. It’s pretty big. There’s like, I heard 10 meter waves at times over there right now.
And that, yeah, I’ve never been surfing, so I don’t know if that’s a great place to start.
No, you wouldn’t. You’d be on like the third wave breaking up into closer to shore. You wouldn’t make it to the outside.
Exactly.
All right, Quinn. Well, I just kind of want to chat with you. I know, yeah, heading into this, get to run the number one place is a big deal. I mean, don’t, you know, it’s fun. It’s, are they going to do a Clash for Cash or Dash for Cash or anything, do you know?
I think it’s going to be the same as last year, the three main events and then overall winner. We were talking about doing the Clash for Cash and stuff, but then it’s kind of, one guy gets the purse, you know, so it’s kind of nice to split it up and have three main events for the fans. It’s a little more exciting. You can watch the pros for a little longer and it splits up the race in a little bit. So I think that’s the plan again.
That’s a lot of indoor math to do though, three motos.
Oh, I agree. But I mean, I’m not upset about it. It gives us a little more time to get the motos in. And if you mess up a moto or something like that, you get a redemption. So.
All right. Well, good to chat with you. I don’t want to keep you too long because if and when you defend this championship, we’ll have to another chat and talk about how the actual racing went. So I appreciate you kind of filling us all in on what how it’s going out there and out there out here. I’m only three and a half hours away from me. But mom doesn’t travel so well. So I won’t be. I did it a couple of years ago. We drove down and it wasn’t good.
No, no, that’s all right.
All right. Well, hey, good luck. Good luck with all the big decisions you have coming up to. I mean, team wise, bike size wise, all that kind of stuff, man. And what do you know? I’m assuming you’re going down to Dreamland no matter what the plan is or what?
As of right now, that’s the plan. Yeah. Yeah, it’s hard to not go there. I love those guys and they help me out a lot. So, yeah, it’s definitely it’d be hard to go anywhere else.
OK, cool. Well, yeah. Well, thanks for filling us in on some stuff. Good luck. What do you have left today and tomorrow before the racing starts Friday?
Not a whole lot. I think hopefully I’ll get out on the track a little bit more tonight and then practice for the event is tomorrow and then race to start. So really not much left. The track is built. People are riding it. And just a little bit helping helping Gauldy out here and there. And then it’s race time.
I love how you’re working.
You gotta do what you gotta do, you know.
Hammering in track markers.
Yeah, hey, someone’s got to do it.
Someone tell Quinn somebody ran over a track marker. You gotta go get this back in place.
Yeah, exactly. That’s what I was waiting for. I was waiting for someone to run into me.
Yeah, you be careful. I’ve been grazed there taking photos before. I haven’t really been hit too hard, but…
Oh, I bet. It’s a tight little stadium in there.
Yeah. All right, by the way, again, thanks for your time. Good luck this weekend, and we’ll talk to you soon, and good luck with all your decisions coming up.
Thank you, Billy. I appreciate it.
Hey, do you want to thank… I guess you’re still under contract with people. Do you want to thank some people? Then we’ll let you go.
Yeah. Yeah. I’d like to thank the whole Walton Kawasaki team, OGs for always helping me out and getting me here for this weekend and everything. Everyone a part of Walton for this entire summer has been great, and it’s awesome that they’re still supporting me through everything. Kawasaki Canada giving me a bike for the Cord and everything. Gauldy and AMO for driving me out here, even though he’s making me work. I still thank him, and it’s awesome that he gives me this opportunity and stuff. So, yeah. Everyone that’s part of this. Thank you.
All right, Quinn. Thanks for the chat. Good luck, and we’ll talk to you soon.
Thank you. Appreciate it.
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