Catching Up with... Dean Thompson

By Chris Pomeroy

Photos by James Lissimore

For the last few weeks we here at DMX have been speaking with all the Team Mangers after each race to get their thoughts on how the weekend went. With no racing for two weeks we decided to talk with Blackfoot Racing’s Dean Thompson, not just about racing, but what happens during the week with their web site, Blackfootdirect.com.

DMX: Hey Dean, you just had a well deserved weekend off. How was it?

Dean: Ya, weekends off are few and far between, especially this time of year. It was good though, I got to ride my street bike, I went dirt biking little bit. It was actually the first time of my dirt bike since my shoulder surgery in January, so it felt good to get back on my bike. The weather was great, it was a good relaxing weekend for sure.

You guys have had kind of a mixed series so far in the Nationals. You have had some bad luck with injuries to Kyle Beaton and a crash with Colton, you’ve suffered a couple of DNF’s, and yet your leading the points in MX2 and are right there in MX1. How have you guys been dealing with all the ups and downs?

It has been tough for sure. To go to Kamloops totally prepared to hopefully 1 and 2 in both classes, and then for Kyle not to even make it out of practice, then to have Dusty DNF in Edmonton and obviously lose points, and then for Colton to crash hard in Calgary and lose the points lead. We were definitely shaking our heads after Calgary. But, it’s racing and things like that are going to happen, the key for us is that we are a resilient bunch and we never look to far down the road, we honestly just go race to race. 

We prepare so much during the off season for the Nationals that we know if we just keep going, good things we happen. If you look at all the bad things that have happened so far this year, and yet we are leading the points in the MX2 and we aren’t far off in MX1, and we still have 5 tough rounds left. Like I said, yes we have had a few misfortunes, but I like we are right now.

Team Yamaha Red Bull Blackfoot Fox Racing.

Just on the subject of Kyle Beaton, as a team, how do you deal with what has happened to him the last two years in a row?

Well, the only word for it is disappointment for sure. You put in all that effort both as a Team and as a rider, everything we do, all the crappy stuff that no one see’s, all the off season testing and training. Then to not even make it out of practice, it’s tough on everybody. But, it’s racing and you can’t beat yourself up over it, injuries happen and we all know that. Kyle will be fine, we hope to have him back for the final two rounds of the Series so he can hopefully salvage the last part of his season.

The Blackfoot Team has been at it for 10 years now at the Canadian Nationals. You have won a ton of Championships and really have set the bar for all teams. As far as the CMRC Series goes, how do you think things are going? Would you like to see any changes, or are things pretty good from your perspective?

Things are good, there is always room for improvement in anything, the CMRC Series is no different. It would be nice to see more people come to the races each weekend, whether this means more promoting or more hospitality areas at the tracks, I don’t know. If you look at last weekend in Morden, the races ended a bit early and I think stuff like that is really key. Word of mouth is so important, and if some people went home from Morden and told their friends that not only was the racing great, but that it ended at a good time, those friends will come next year.

You know, TV is obviously important, but we need to get more people to the track. For instance, after the Calgary round, our phones at Blackfoot Direct were ringing off the hook, that’s what we all want. Maybe it’s as simple as going to the local schools and giving the kids a free ticket to the race, someone has to take that kid to the track so the parents come, maybe their friends come, it all adds up. 

Then once you have people at the track, I think the facilities could be better, like the hospitality sections, the stands, things like that. You have to cater to the new fans, the die hard MX fan will always come to the track because they just love racing, it’s the people that are just coming to check it out, those are the people that we need to make happy. Those are the people that come in to the dealerships on Monday and buy bikes and parts.

Sir Dean The Brave with the King of Walton Sword.

Those are great points Dean, I totally agree. I’m glad you brought up Blackfoot Direct, that was my next question. How is your mail order web site going?

It's going great, we have built up such great relationships with our sponsors over the years, like Hinsen Clutch components, Renthal Products, Fox, Haan Wheels, all the companies we deal, that has helped us so much. The products we use with our race team, we don’t just use them because they look good. We use them because they work the best. So when a customer calls and says they want one of these products, we know they work and the consumer knows that we can back it up.

We just brought in Hammerhead Products (brake levers and shifters) because people have been asking for their products for awhile and because they are awesome. Right now we offer free shipping with any order of $500, but we are actually working on lowering that number for our customers, so we are always trying to improve, just like with our race team. We couldn’t be happier with how things have been going, even with the economy the way it is.

That was actually my next question (laughs). How have things been with the economy?

Things are actually really good both on and off the track. You know at the track, things have been great, rider entries have been great, the interest in the sport is great. Off the track, things are also good. I just want to touch on one thing and that is cross border shopping. There has never been a better time to buy stuff in Canada, things may seem cheaper in the USA, but by the time you get the stuff to your house, it is the same as if you bought it from blackfootdirect.com. We always try to keep our prices competitive with our competition and as I said earlier, we back up our products with years of race testing and experience. So, if you have a choice, go and buy something from your local dealership, and if you want the best products, at the best prices, and at your door in 5 days or less, call us or go online and order from us, its that simple.

Alright Dean, thanks for your time and see you at Gopher Dunes.

Ok, thank you.