Motorcycle Racing Season in the Pacific Northwest: WMRRA and MotoAmerica are Here!
Episode 6: Show Notes
Welcome back to The Moto Curious! It's been a while since I've actually EDITED an episode instead of just capturing audio -- but today I'm really motivated. We’re out here at Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, Washington, where we've been testing our newest CW Moto Yamaha R1 Stock 1000 bike, and supporting some of our local WMRRA customers trackside and, even watching some racing. In this episode, you’ll hear our highlights (and some lowlights) from the 2022 MotoAmerica season thus far. We've got a plug in for the MotoAmerica Mini Cup series that is running this weekend at the Ridge Round, and I share the update that, with Sean Thomas -- our sponsored rider for this year -- still out injured, we're welcoming Eziah Davis, a senior instructor with Yamaha Champions Riding School (and accomplished up-and-coming racer) to our roster for the Ridge Round. We're also really excited to announce our season's partnership with Cascade Motorcycle Safety. Will we see YOU at the Ridge Round this weekend?
Key Points From This Episode:
What we’ve been up to this season so far locally and in the MotoAmerica paddock.
Why we recommend watching the Mini Cup races if you want to see the future of the sport.
Insight into our team’s rough start to the season.
Crewing for Andy DiBrino in his Stock 1000 and Superbike Cup classes at Road America.
A controversial finish at the Road America Build Train Race and some Baggers appreciation.
Our ’22 Yamaha R1 build for the Ridge Round and an update on Sean Thomas's anticipated return.
Why working with Eziah Davis felt like the best choice for this round at the Ridge.
Announcing our exciting partnership with Cascade Motorcycle Safety!
The importance of organizations that are looking differently at rider education.
What to expect from MotoAmerica at the Ridge in Shelton, Washington!
Want to connect?
Drop me your questions at sara@cwmoto.com
Visit https://cwmoto.com or follow us on TikTok, Instagram, or Twitter at @cw_moto
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You can also learn more about our behind-the-scenes community: CW Moto | Moto America BTS on Mighty Networks!
Tweetables:
“If you want to see the future of the sport, plan to stay late on Saturday, because in the Mini Cup races, [we see] the future of the sport before our very eyes out there.” — Sara Lobkovich [0:07:16]
“There is such fantastic talent here in the Pacific Northwest, but when we had the chance to work with Eziah Davis, the puzzle pieces just fell into place. That felt like the best move for the team for this round.” — Sara Lobkovich [0:16:40]
“We're excited to announce our partnership with Cascade this week and to help Cascade get the word out regionally, but it's also important to get the word out nationally that there are orgs that are looking differently at rider education and trying to fill in some of the gaps.” — Sara Lobkovich [0:19:10]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Full Episode Transcript:
EPISODE 6
[INTRODUCTION]
SL: Welcome to The Moto Curious. We're here to increase access and inclusion in motorsports, especially motorcycling, one question and answer at a time. I'm your host, Sara Lobkovich. I'm a highly trained, still slow motorcyclist, but the rider I am today is not the rider I'll always be. Right, Coach Nick? I co-own CW Moto Racing, currently campaigning in the Stock 1000 Class in MotoAmerica. My husband, Chris, crew chiefs the team and operates Counter Weight Motorsport, a Pacific Northwest Race Shop focused on excellence and innovation. We build fast bikes for serious riders. We also focus on developing hardworking talent who may not otherwise have access to the national paddock in our sport.
Drop me your questions at sara@cwmoto.com. We're @cw_moto everywhere, on social and @themotocurious on Instagram. If you're hearing my voice, you belong here, and I'm excited to have you as part of our community of motorcycle curious people. So, let's get this episode started!
[EPISODE]
[00:01:28] SL: Again, friends, it's been a while since I've gotten an episode pulled together here. It's been pretty funny out on the MotoAmerica circuit to run into people who good-naturedly ask, "Are you still going to do the podcast?" It's ironic that I'm so busy doing the sport right now that I haven't had time to edit episodes. I do still have stories recorded from last season that I haven't edited, so we're going to probably do things a little bit out of order but, today, I am sitting here out at Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, Washington. It's our home track. It's one of my favorite places on the face of the planet. We've been going home at night, but we've been out here for three days.
There was a pre-WMRRA race round track day on Friday, that we got some testing in with our newly built 2022 Yamaha R1. It's the new CW Moto Racing Yamaha R1 For our Stock 1000 program with MotoAmerica. We got in a really solid day of testing on Friday, working on our dry setup and our wet setup because this is, after all, the Pacific Northwest.
Then, we came back out on our – I'm making air quotes when I say this – on our “day off” yesterday. Today, even on our days off, we can't stay away when there's racing. We came back down on Saturday to help out a few friends in the paddock and we had some customers out here that needed some support trackside. We picked up another couple projects yesterday that needed support. We came back down today, did a little work, did a little play, watch some racing, and I recorded just some thoughts on the season so far here since we've been sharing the story of our season, mostly in our CW Moto + MotoAmerica Behind the Scenes community.
We are trying to keep it a little bit small because it's been really delightful to have a place that isn't just wide-open social media to share the behind-the-scenes of the team and our race program, but also, just our life in the sport. But I will drop that link into the show notes for folks who are interested.
All right, friends. This is Sara Lobkovich with The Moto Curious here. I am out at Ridge Motorsports Park. It is Sunday. Is it Sunday? It's Sunday the 19th of June. June, did I get the month right? Awesome. Chris' girls are here helping out. We've been at the track so much and I have to tell you, I struggle to even remember what state we're in right now. We've been down here at the ridge for the last couple days, hanging out with friends and helping out some of our local WMRRA racers, our local club here in the Pacific Northwest. We also have one of our CW Moto built customer bikes. We built a Daytona 675 for Nick Myershaft who's out here in his novice season. He's had an awesome weekend. We are so impressed with how he has progressed over the course of the weekend. Really, really cool to see Nick getting faster, beating his personal bests in race conditions and, today, managing the fatigue that comes with being at the end of a really long race weekend for his first time out.
[00:05:09] We’ve been out here helping out Nick Myershaft, and then we've also got a bunch of MotoAmerica friends here in the paddock. We just can't quit those SVs as much as we try. So, yesterday during the Twins race, one of the guys had a little bit of a mechanical and another of the local riders that we cheer for out here is Mallory Dobbs. Mallory had a little incident in one of our races in turn 13, so Chris met up with our MotoAmerica friends from Twins. I ran down to check in on Mallory, she was fine. They got the bike back together. She got out and put in a fantastic performance in her next race. She had a really solid weekend out here. We are super excited to see her run her first MotoAmerica round this week. You can hear Gibson in the background.
We're about to head out for a walk down to the Dunlop tire tent to see Kumpy and Jen, because Jen has the really big milk bones and Gibson is well trained now to go find snacks when she gets hungry. Anyway, I ran down to check in on Mallory, Chris was in the pit with our friends from Twins and, by the time I got back to the Twins pit, man, they had that SV motor in pieces. It was pretty funny to see the inside of an SV again. It's been a while.
Some of the other big excitement for the Ridge Round here is the Mini Cup is running here at the ridge. We just love the mini kids. They put in such hard work. Those families work so hard. I mean, racing isn't easy for anyone, but we've got the Mini Cup operating here. If you are coming out, plan to stay late on Saturday. The Mini Cup runs late in the day on Saturday. I'm not just saying this because they're cute. It is some of the best racing in the paddock. The racing is so good. If you want to see the future of the sport, plan to stay late on Saturday, because the Mini Cup races are – we see the future of the sport before our very eyes out there.
Our team has had a pretty rough start to the season. We had quite a learning round in Kota. That was a superbike race, but Stock 1000 teams were able to race if they were Superbike Cup eligible. We made the trip. After our preseason testing, we ran at Kota, we finished both races, which was a big accomplishment for the team. First time out with our new R1 and first race weekend with our 2022 team sponsored rider, Sean Thomas. We had a rough go at Atlanta. That track teaches us lessons every year. Sean had a single bike incident at Atlanta that led to some pretty hefty repairs. Bomber was in our free practice. We did get the bike repaired and back out in time for Q2, but it was a pretty rough weekend. We didn't qualify. We didn't make the big show at Atlanta. Then, packed it up, got home, rebuilt the bike in time for VIR. Then, had just a heartbreaking incident in lap three of first race at Virginia.
It was a two-bike incident. Both riders, I can't say walked away, but both riders were okay. There was a corner worker who was injured that we've checked in on. He's healing up. The team is working on a little thank you package for the corner worker who was affected because our riders and bikes get on television, the corner workers don't. I mean, this case just shows, like they're putting themselves in harm's way to make sure our teams can operate and stay safe. We really appreciate the safety crews at the tracks we operate at. Shout out to the corner workers because we can't do what we do without the corner workers, the medics, and the medical crew that are out, the tech teams, everyone right down to the folks who work concessions at the tracks and who keep these places running from a maintenance standpoint. We know well we can't do what we do without you all due on what you do, so we really appreciate it.
Both riders had, I don't know for sure about the other rider, but his bike was in bad shape. Ours was a near total loss. We packed up after VIR. We gave Sean a couple of weeks to recover, since he did experience two fractures in his left ankle. It's been a bit of a recovery to get him well and fit to ride. Sean took Road America off. Chris and I went out to Road America to help out friends and paddock mates. Once you know how this works, it's really hard to be at home when there's racing. It's really hard to be in the paddock and not be racing. But we felt like it was important to go help out some friends.
[00:10:41] We got to crew for Andy DiBrino in his Stock 1000 and Superbike Cup classes. It was really awesome to be out there supporting another Pacific Northwest team. Andy is just a wildly talented rider. It was really fun for Chris and I to get to support and get to know Andy. We've been a big fan of his since meeting him in a coaching capacity out here at the ridge. He's a phenomenal coach in addition to being a really skilled racer and rider in his own right. We were appreciative of the DiBrino family giving us something to do with our hands out at Road America.
We had a great time staying with our friends, the Ride Barracks from ChampSchool, and working with Andy and then cheering on Jenny Chancellor. She's another Pacific Northwest local, who's riding in the Royal Enfield Build Train Race this season. We got to be there to see Jenny land on the podium, which was very exciting. The Build Train Race at Road America had a little bit of a controversial finish. The participants had a little bit of a tough love learning about the red flag rules. But the ultimate result worked out in Jenny's favor and put her number one in the championship points for a Build Train Race. We were really stoked to be able to see her race and finish out there at Road America.
We were also on hot pit for the Baggers race. I know there are people who look at those bikes and question that program but, man, some of those Baggers teams – I mean, those are serious race programs. Seeing talent like Kyle Wyman, he's out there with Dave Hopkinson and his team, and then Travis Wyman out there as well, both riding for Factory Harley. We fell for the Baggers last season, seeing him run live. I mean, frankly, I fell for him seeing the exhibition at Laguna Seca the year before. We've really loved seeing the Baggers run the racing and that class is so good this season. I mean, it was good last year, but it's serious. Then, the viewership and the participation that we see from riders who might not otherwise turnout for a MotoAmerica round. When the Baggers run, it's just, it's so cool. This sport needs every fan it can get. It really means a lot to see more folks turnout for the races. We've got classics going out racing now. It's getting pretty noisy as they get ready to go out.
Let's see. That covers the big stuff. That gets us through Kota, Atlanta, VIR. Then, Chris and I traveled for Road America. We, after Atlanta, picked up a 2022 Yamaha R1 as our next build. We pulled some parts off it for the rebuild after Atlanta. Then, after the incident at VIR, the right move given two incidents on that frame and some engine runtime either on the bike side or upside down. Then it makes sense to build the 22 fresh for the Ridge Round. Chris and the guys have been hard at work in the shop on the build. It's also our high time with customer bikes and the season here in the Pacific Northwest. It's been a really big push to get the bike built in time for the Ridge Round.
Sean is still recovering, so he'll be sitting out the Ridge Round. He wants to ride so bad. We want him fully fit and really healed up. We made the tough call, also in consultation with Jimmy Westover who handles rider physical conditioning and physical wellbeing for the team. Jimmy's with Back to Movement Denver, and he is a team sponsor. But luckily, he and Sean are right there in Colorado together. We made the really tough call to give Sean a little bit more time to heal and recover from the incident that took place in VIR. Chris and I are really excited that a friend of the team, Eziah Davis was able to fit riding with us at the Ridge into his schedule.
He's crew for another team out here, so it really means a lot to us that both – EZ is able to put the puzzle pieces together to fit this into his schedule. He's already got commitments that we all take really seriously. Really appreciate that he was able to put the pieces together to come and ride with us at the ridge round so that we can gather some more good information on the bike, keep improving the bike, in hopes that Sean will be able to ride at Laguna Seca with us. His recovery is going great, so we're fingers crossed. In the meantime, we're just really grateful.
[00:16:16] We met EZ through Yamaha Champions Riding School, and then have gotten to know him in the MotoAmerica paddock. We're really excited. EZ has a lot of experience on Yamahas. He's also written here at the ridge, and it was important that we looked at local talent, because we really would have loved to put a local on the bike here at the Ridge. There is such fantastic talent here in the Pacific Northwest, but when we had the chance to work with EZ, the puzzle pieces just fell into place. That felt like the best move for the team for this round.
We're really grateful EZ's able to make the time and availability. We're anticipating a great round here at our first of two home rounds. We think of Laguna as a home round, because California is just down the way. It's like run into the grocery store, compared to going to the East Coast, or the Midwest or the Southeast for the rest of our rounds. We're just really looking forward to putting on a good show for the home fans here in the Pacific Northwest.
Then, we're also, for this round, announcing our partnership with Cascade Motorcycle Safety, which we are so thrilled. A friend of the team, Derek Roberts, who's one of our sponsors with Law Tigers of Washington saw a potential match to be made with Cascade. We're so grateful he did. We're going to be working with Cascade to help spread the word about their skill training programs here in the Pacific Northwest. We know Cascade because I've actually seen them operate. They do street strategies days in collaboration with one of the other track day orgs here.
Street riders who want to come out and improve their street riding can do it with the relative safety of riding on the track through that program with Cascade. I've seen a lot of street riders do their first trip to the track. I don't think I've ever seen first-time street riders as a cohort have as much fun and feel set up for success the way that the riders I saw working with Jesse, and Brandy and the team at Cascade did. We have been huge fans of Cascade ever since we saw them operate. Cascade has been at the top of our referral list ever since for rider training here in the Pacific Northwest. They do basic rider training, advanced skills. They also do their street strategies program. They can also do one-on-ones and other kinds of training for folks that are looking for places that can fill in gaps in their rider education.
We're really excited to announce that partnership this week and then to help Cascade get the word out regionally here, but I think it's also really important to get the word out nationally that there are orgs that are looking differently at rider education and trying to fill in some of the gaps that we need orgs to fill in in terms of rider education. What we were so excited, Cascade, the first time I talked to Jesse, he was like, "I kind of wish we named it something different that didn't have safety in the name," because what they do is fun. Advanced skills, building your skills as a writer makes writing more fun. It does. It also makes it safer, sure, but I I'm the first to give that testimonial that it wasn't until I started doing advanced training that riding got fun, not scary. We're really excited to work with Jesse, and Brandy and the team at Cascade to help more riders hear that message and feel invited into advanced training.
[00:20:22] Well, I've got to go get the dog for a walk. We're going to visit our friends, Kumpy and Jen, in the Dunlop tent because Jen has the big dog biscuits. They're one of Gibson's favorite stops in the paddock. We're also really lucky here. The crash truck is Gibson's other favorite because it is also milk bone dispensing which is a unique feature of the Ridge. She has not experienced that at other tracks. We're going to take the dog for a little paddock walk. But we are so excited to be operating this week here at our home track at the Ridge. It is an absolutely beautiful track. The team here has done so much work to make the facility ready for a national. I mean, every year it gets better.
One of our local racer's wives, Nick, who I talked about earlier, his wife Kate, and Chris' girls went up to spectate from the infield during Nick's race earlier today. The kids came back with tons of video from the infield. They were so excited about how much of the track that they were able to see from the infield spectating. It's just really amazing to see the facility improved. We also heard that they're bringing in some more local food trucks, so we might have more concession's options, more services. But I got to say, the folks in the Ridge concessions are doing an awesome job, really phenomenal job. The food's been better this trip out than we've had in a while. Please be kind to our home crew here at the ridge.
We're all really excited to have MotoAmerica come and operate here in the Pacific Northwest. and we're just so stoked that the racing here is going to be phenomenal. For folks who are in the Pacific Northwest who might not even know this exists. If you're curious about motorcycle racing, or if you want to come out, we'll be here at the Ridge in Shelton, Washington, it's only about an hour and a half from Seattle, a little more if there's Fort Lewis traffic, but plan on a nice, beautiful two-hour drive. There's a very scenic route that crosses the key Peninsula and then drops down from the Hood Canal side. Beautiful drive out here. Then, there'll be racing. We do – move in is on Thursday, practice and qualifying on Friday. Then, there's racing on Saturday and Sunday. We'd love to see you out here in Shelton, Washington at the Ridge Round this week.
I'm going to wrap this up. Instead of doing what I usually do, which is capture the audio and then never do anything with it. This one is going to actually go live, because I want you all to hear about how excited we are to see you at the Ridge this week. We're going to pack up and then head home for a sleep or two and then we'll be back out here on Wednesday to move in on Thursday. We hope to see you out here at the Ridge. Thanks.
[END OF EPISODE]
[00:23:39] SL: All right, friends. That's all for today. Remember, drop me your questions at sara@cwmoto.com. I am a without an H, so it's sara@cwmoto.com. We are cw_moto everywhere in social media and The Moto Curious on Instagram. You can also join our behind-the-scenes community. It's hosted on Mighty Networks. It's awesome. We'll put some messages up about where to find that in our social media. You can click through. Then if you're really want to connect, that's the place to do it. We share extra behind-the-scenes updates and content from the paddock that we don't share other places, since that is a smaller, more intimate community of our closest fans and friends. But if you're hearing this, you are welcome there as well. Check out our social media and you'll find more information about the CW Moto + MotoAmerica behind-the-scenes community that we host on Mighty Networks. Thanks so much.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and tell your friends. We're looking to get heard by more folks who are curious about the sport. We try really hard to reach race fans, as well as their families, and spouses, and friends and other people who, goodness gracious, don't understand why we do this but are curious about it nonetheless. We'd love your word of mouth and thanks again for tuning in. We'll hope to see you this week while we're out at the Ridge.
[END]
