Page 12 - PULSE-FOUR

12
THE PULSE • ISSUE FOUR
Tell us a little bit about how SupermotoUSA came together and what your responsibilities are with the series nowadays.
Well, I started SupermotoUSA back in 2002 after doing our first race at Cal Expo Fairgrounds in Sacra- mento -- that particular race was part of Don Canet’s Super TT series, back then he was the only one in
the country doing it. I was competing in the series and kind of got tired of traveling to the Los Angeles area every weekend to race, so I approached him about doing an event. We put one on up here and after seeing the response from all the participants, some racer friends of mine encouraged me to keep doing it, so we formed SupermotoUSA and started a series. We’ve continued to do it now for eighteen or nineteen years and we’ve experienced the highs and lows that come with motorsports. When Supermoto was new there was all types of enthusiasm and ultimately Red Bull got involved supporting the national series, there was a lot of stuff on TV, and the sport got the kind of awareness that we were all hoping for. Then I think it kind of plateaued around 2008/2009 and we’ve been steadily keeping it alive, seeing a little bit of a transition with the direction of the tracks and how we lay these things out. I wear a lot of different hats with SupermotoUSA -- I’m the founder, organizer, and I’ve got five or six people that work with me at the events and between the events. I do a little bit of everything; I really enjoy the course construction, laying out the tracks; especially when I get to start with a blank piece of canvas to work with like this Sturgis event. We get to start from a couple of roads and a dirt field and put it all together, so I enjoy that and that’s one of the things I spend a bit of my time with nowadays. >>
Super