Frid’Eh Update #21 | Quinn Amyotte | Presented by KTM Canada
By Billy Rainford
Welcome to Week #21 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update Presented by KTM Canada.
It looks like I was right last week…summer is finally here in the east. In fact, we’re going to be very happy we invested in a new furnace and air conditioner a few weeks ago. The AC is about to get broken in.
I’ve been living up at my mom’s place on the eastern shore of Lake Simcoe north of Toronto. It’s amazing the difference a 3-hour drive makes as far as spring foliage goes. While the trees are basically just budding there, they are almost in completely here in Southwestern Ontario, London, to be exact.
Tracks are all open for business in SWO now and you should click on each one’s particular website to learn what’s needed from you before you make the long drive to the track. The only thing worse than getting to the track and realizing you’ve forgotten your boots is getting to the track and being told you aren’t even allowed through the gate! Do your homework.
Quinn Amyotte is the rider who earned #21 for the 2020 season. Over the years, we’ve watched him grow up and move through the amateur ranks to become the 2019 ‘Most Improved Rider‘ of the Rockstar Triple Crown Tour.
The Amyottes have been friends of DMX for a long time. In fact, Quinn’s sister, Jensen Amyotte, has taken over the ‘Out of the Blue‘ WMX weekly feature presented by Schrader’s.
Quinn is a pretty big kid and you’d have to think he’s going to really thrive when he moves up to the 450 class. Let’s have a look at his 2019 season:
We got in touch with Quinn to talk about his great seaosn and find out what his plans are heading into the new season:
Direct Motocross: Hey, Quinn. Let’s take this back to the beginning. How did you get started in Motocross?
Quinn Amyotte: My dad raced when he was younger and got my brothers into it and even my sister. So I was just born into it and have been addicted ever since.
What was your first number and how did you choose it?
My first number was 4 because of Ricky Carmichael.
Do you remember your first race? Where was it and how did it go?
My first race was at Motopark and it was pouring rain and all I remember is crying on the side of the track waiting for my mom to come help.
Who did you come up through the amateur ranks doing battle with? Do you have an amateur highlight?
I came up with Tanner Ward, Marco Cannella and all of those guys. They were always one step ahead of me but I was always kinda there with them. Never did anything too impressive in amateur, but winning Mini O’s was definitely cool.
How did your Intermediate year go? How did you do at the TransCan?
I had a pretty rough Intermediate year. It started off with compression fracture in my T7 vertebrae at Arenacross. I came back for the MX portion and got number 60 for my rookie season. I finished 3rd in 450 Intermediate but unfortunately I always had a rough time at the TransCan.
To be honest, I thought you were almost going to walk away from the sport a couple years back. Am I right? What kept you going?
I don’t know if I was gonna walk away from the sport but I was definitely slowing down with it. I did really good in my last Junior year and that made me realize I might be able to do something, so I told myself if I’m gonna try I gotta start training and putting all my effort into it, and I’m glad I did.
And now we just gave you our ‘Most Improved Rider’ award. Tell how you feel our 2019 season went.
I am very happy with how my rookie season went! I definitely did way better than I was expecting with how stacked the class was. Getting the Most Improved Rider award was definitely an awesome award because after how much time and effort I put in. It was nice to see that people noticed that.
What was your best race, in your opinion?
Even tho the results don’t show it, I would say Sand Del Lee. I crashed on the start in moto 1 and worked my way back to 13th, I believe. In moto 2 Westen Wrozyna and I we’re battling all moto then I got heat stroke with a couple laps to go but still managed to finish in 12th.
That was about the hottest, most humid day ever in Ontario! What did you get up to during the winter months?
I worked 7 days a week during the winter with Aide Industrial who has been so amazing letting me work and still follow my dreams in motocross! I worked as much as I could to pay for my racing this season. My family has helped me so much in the past that it was time for me to put my big boy pants on and pay for everything myself.
What have you been doing during these lockdown months?
The first couple months I took advantage of all the down time I had and trained as hard as I could and rode as much as I could. I am now back at work full-time till we go back racing!
Hey, Westen Wrozyna says he’s stepping away from Pro racing, but that he’s now hooked on pit bike racing. Did you have something to do with this because of all your pit bike shenanigans?
Wouldn’t say I had anything to do with it, but I definitely have a training facility for him to practice at. Looks like he’s got potential to be a pit bike pro..
How are things at your crazy pit bike track, anyway? What’s been going on? Is the big race weekend going to happen?
The pit bike track’s so good right now with the weather we’ve been having and we’re always working on it making it more crazy, but I am currently rebuilding my pit bike so I unfortunately can’t ride it right now, but I will have lots of pit bike videos coming soon!
What are you racing plans for this coming season, assuming we’re able to get back to racing?
Plans are to do the series, whatever that may be, and I was hoping to race Southwick this summer with AMA, but I don’t know if that will work out now.
Awesome. Thanks for talking with us today. Who would you like to thank?
My pleasure. Thank you. I would like to thank GP Bikes, KTM Canada, Fox, Shift, TCD suspension, Amsoil, TEAM LTD, Guts racing, Crossfit Bowmanville, Aide Industrial, D.O.T express, LAKA coolers, the Williamson’s.
Does everyone else feel like we’re getting closer and closer to being at the track again? We seem to be getting better news every day from provinces allowing more and more things to take place.
Of course, the fear is that we’re going to get complacent and, next thing you know, there’s going to be a horrible spike in virus cases. But you definitely get the sense that everyone has just about had it with this situation.
How many of you have lost internet friends over this thing? It seems people are as polarized on this Covid-19 as they are in American politics right now, and it’s pretty ugly.
But do you want to know what’s not ugly? Jeff McConkey‘s Yamaha YZ250 2-stroke, and it’s currently making its way to my garage.
Jeff used to use this bike to test new gear and some slick products. It was basically our DMX Test Bike.
I’d really like to thank the McConkey family for thinking that the best place for this bike since Jeff’s death is with the DMX family. I will be sure to give it a loving home, but I can’t guarantee it will ever be this clean again. In fact, I can guarantee it won’t be.
I don’t know anyone who was more into fresh gear and looking good than Jeff. It still puts a smile on my face when I remember one of his favourite sayings: “Looking good is four-quarters of the battle.” I don’t think anything sums our old friend up any better than that. Damn, he was a funny guy.
If you see the #739 bike on a track near you, be nice to it and the lanky rider on top of it because you may never see your photo again, otherwise!
Also, thanks to Kristina Sundal for picking the bike up for me and to Flippy for giving it a solid once-over to make sure it’s all ready to have the spark plug fouled up.
And don’t laugh, but I think I’m going to go the trailer hitch bike mount route on the back of the #DMXVan. I remember going to the races with an KX 80 sitting in bumper brackets on the rear of an old Lada, so this will just feel right.
Inside X Episode 6
You can now catch the replay of Inside X Episode 6 on their YouTube channel. This week’s guests included Kourtney Lloyd and Dylan Wright. Here it is here, in case you haven’t checked it out yet.
Supercross Returns May 31st
The final 7 rounds of Monster Energy AMA Supercross will take place at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, starting next Sunday, May 31st.
From the Supercross YouTube channel:
Watch this video as Ralph Sheheen, Ricky Carmichael and Daniel Blair discuss the excitements of the return Supercross rounds 11 through 17 on NBC!
Cheyenne Harmon Signs with Team PRMX
The Texas rider who we all got to know pretty well when he decided to come north to race in Canada alone in his van. It was a great story that showed a ton of dedication and that sprit and hard work has landed Cheyenne Harmon on the Team PRMX Just 1 Wossner Pelletier Kawasaki team for the remainder of the Supercross season and the 2020 Rockstar Triple Crown Tour.
Here’s the Press Release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
TeamPR-MX Pelletier Kawasaki JUST1 WOSSNER PISTONS is proud to announce the signing of Dallas, Texas, USA racer, #17 (Canada) #118 (AMA) Cheyenne Harmon, for Canadian Rockstar Triple Crown selected events, and for the remaining AMA 250 West Supercross in the USA in 2020.
“I’m really excited for the opportunity at hand, and looking forward to making the most of it and continuing to better myself! I came into the year not even knowing if I was gonna get to race, to having some good rides that have landed me back on a team! I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity with Team PR-MX and would like to thank all their sponsors and T.I.S.C.O Racing!” – Cheyenne Harmon
We would like to thank all the team sponsors that are supporting us: PR-MX Racing, Just1 Gear, Pelletier Kawasaki, Addikt Graphic, Ohlins USA, Devol Engineering, Bud Racing, Blud Lubricants, MX-Tech, Guts, Ufo, ODI, Rekluse, HGS, Bondi Engines, Williams Motoworx, No Toil, ASV, Dirt Tricks, Eze factory, Wossner Pistons, EVS, Renegade fuels, Hoosier tires, RecMX, MXLocker, Majeje Africa Safaris, K Deam optics, Loadluggers, Stellar CBD, Evans.
Good luck, Cheyenne and team. And an extra good luck to team owner Julien Perrier that he is able to cross the border and be in SLC for the racing.
My Pitboard Ready to Go!
Innovative product made by Canadians, My Pitboard, is ready to go.
Sky Racing Update
I hadn’t spoken with Sky racing’s Al Dyck for quite some time. Last time we chatted, he was signing #23 Dakota Alix to the team but said that they were still needing a second rider. I spoke with him briefly today to find out he’s had any luck adding to his roster.
I found out Al has certainly been busy! Like a few other teams, the more support they get, the higher the expectations. Because of this, they’ve been in talks with riders like Jordan Bailey and Jyire Mitchell south of the border.
Of course, the worry is that an American rider may have extended issues crossing the border, and what about a 14-day isolation period?
Al would also love to work with a fast up-and-coming Canadian rider like Jake Piccolo, but he’s got support from a different colour and gear company, so there are things that would need to fall into place for anything to move forward there.
He also pointed out the difficulties western-based teams like his will have with the current, updated schedule.
As you can see, there are a couple pretty big lags in the series that would raise the question about what some teams would do during that time.
Al didn’t want to say too much and Jetwerx is set to make their next schedule announcement at the beginning of June, so we’ll wait for that.
Have a great weekend, everyone. I hope you find yourself at a track near you after this seemingly endless off-season.
