Out of the Blue | Chelsey Hennig | Presented by Schrader’s

Out of the Blue | Chelsey Hennig | Presented by Schrader’s

By Jensen Amyotte

Name: Chelsey Hennig
Date of Birth: September 20th 
Hometown: Barrie, Ontario 
Occupation: Fleet Administrator
Race Number: 12
Bike: KTM 
Race Club: AMO / MRC
Classes: Ladies A

When not on a dirt bike, how do you keep yourself busy?   

Well, between my job, operating a side art business (I draw pets!), owning a home with my boyfriend, helping him in the shop with his business, maintaining my fitness, stand up jet skis, snowmobiles and cars – it’s pretty easy to keep myself busy. I’m always doing something.

As a racer, are there any obstacles you feel a female racer has to deal with that maybe a male racer does not?

I don’t think there are as many obstacles as there used to be. There are obviously physiological obstacles for some females but I believe those can be overcome with the right fitness routine. The sponsorship and support opportunities are there, MRC gave us a series within the Triple Crown, regional race clubs have 2-3 ladies/girls classes and they do their best to help us out.

I think there are a lot of girls who get out of the sport earlier than males for multiple reasons, being for either safety concerns, they have children, buy a house, career reasons or just simply keep riding but don’t continue to race and with that being said, I think race attendance will always be a thing that female racers will have to deal with that men won’t.

Who is your all-time favourite rider?    

I have a few! JS 7 Bubba, Jason Anderson, Eve Brodeur, Brittany Gagne, and Jordan Jarvis. 

What is your favourite track and why?   

I have quite a few. Not in any particular order but my top 5 are:

I love Motopark – love the flow of the track, and the facility itself is awesome.

Burnt River – the dirt is always perfect at Burnt River and I love the layout of the track!

RJ’s – it’s literally 3 minutes from our house so the convenience is a huge plus.

Deschambault – probably all-time favorite track – love the dirt and the track layout.

Switchback MX in PA – fast and flowy – a lot of fun!

Tell us about your 2020 race season and your plans for 2021.

My 2020 race season was an absolute bust but between the COVID pandemic, working shift work, buying a house with my boyfriend and further, building a garage/shop on our property, it was incredibly busy and literally impossible for me to attend the few races that did happen last year. I had to prioritize everything and racing just wasn’t on the list. Don’t get me wrong, I love racing but buying the house and building the garage was huge for us.

As we’re half way into the 2021 riding season, I honestly haven’t raced yet. This spring brought a big career change for me which I’m incredibly thankful for because I’m finally out of working shift work. But right now, my plans for 2021 are to just have a maximal amount of fun on my dirt bike with my boyfriend and friends, work on some fundamental things with my riding and likely just race the Motopark races – AMO and MP Cup rounds. Looking forward to 2022, I’d love to be able to set myself up to race the WMX national series.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I have a number of personal and professional goals that I will accomplish within 5 years but keeping it motocross related, I’d LOVE to have the opportunity to race the WMX West National Series one day. Calgary and Whispering Pines tracks look AMAZING – we have friends who live just outside of Edmonton so it would be awesome to make it happen somehow. Furthermore, my boyfriend’s cousin Joey, who’s 12 years old, just got a YZ85 and is going to the MP Camp for the first time this summer. He wants to race AMO next season so I’m pretty excited to help Joey get into racing!

What kind of track/dirt do you feel you excel at most and why?

I’m a big hard pack/loamy dirt kind of girl. I have no idea why, I just feel fastest and smoothest on hard pack/loamy dirt tracks.

If you could give 1 piece of advice to a female of any age who wants to start riding what would it be?

NEVER. DOUBT. YOURSELF. I’ve spent a majority of my years on a bike doubting myself and my abilities. It wasn’t until the last 2-3 years that I found my confidence and began to really believe in myself. I’ve learned riding dirt bikes is a head game just as much as it is a physical game. Put yourself in the right mindset and you can accomplish anything.  

Do you see yourself ever competing in the Canadian WMX Triple Crown series?

I have before but looking back, I was honestly never in a position with my riding where I felt I could do as well as I knew I could do. I’m not a top 10 rider by any means but I knew I could at least perform better… to prove to myself that I could do better. Tying into my last answer, I just wasn’t confident and I’d get in my head and it would severely impact my riding. But like mentioned in one of the previous answers, I’d like to set myself up to race the 2022 rounds!

What are your thoughts on the WMX Triple Crown series? 

It’s an awesome series and I hope to line up on the gate again – it’s been really cool to see how the series has evolved from Leah Clarke doing it to now MRC. I think it’s really cool that the women’s motos are televised. It sucks however there isn’t a west series for our west ladies this year because of pandemic logistics but I’m sure next year, post-pandemic, they’ll give the west girls some love! 

What do you like to do in the off season?

Snowmobile. We travel to Chic Chocs in QC and Sicamous, BC to ride. I absolutely love winter! 

Who would you like to thank?

Jensen Amyotte for reaching out to me to do this article – thank you! And honestly, want to thank my boyfriend, Cory. He got a bike again after not riding/racing for many years, basically because of me and I’m just very thankful he shares the same love for motorsports as I do. He’s helpful, supportive and pushes me to be better rider on the bike and better person in general.