SX and MX have always been decorated with personalities and characters but none more polarizing than Tony Alessi. 99.9% of you know Tony as the father of AMA National-level pros Mike Alessi #800 and Jeff Alessi #801. Tony and the family have been in the spotlight, camera’s dialing in on them, ever since the kids turned pro.
I’ve known Tony since I was just a pup and he was a local rider at Indian Dunes. I, personally, have always liked the man, but there are mixed feelings in the public about Tony’s technique and business relationship with his sons. Still, nobody can say that Tony is anything but passionate about his kids, their racing and motocross in general. Tony is a true MotoXAddict. You can say what you want about his technique with his boys, but one thing is for sure: his approach has created two incredibly fast kids that have made MX their living.
It took six e-mails, but I finally convinced Tony to chat with me on the phone. Here’s how it went:
Tony, when did you first get in to motocross?
I think I started riding and racing in 1978.
What level did you get to yourself?
Well, obviously you know I was a Indian Dunes rider, and I rode there from 1978-83. I had made it just into the pro class, and I pretty much split my time between Saddle Back and Indian Dunes. I also raced O.C.I.R., Barona Oaks, sometimes Ascot, but yeah, I was pretty much a Dunes regular. I would race A.M.E., C.R.C. and C.M.C. and the N.M.A.-type amateur nationals when they would come to Indian Dunes. That was me: I was just a regular moto guy. I made my way up from the 80cc class, battled in the 125 novice class, then made my my way to the pro class. That lasted until the family ran out of money, so I got a job instead.
Did you ever make it to the National level as far as when you were a Pro?
No, no! I never got up to that level. As a mini-bike amateur, I did a little . I raced some, like the World Mini, the Race of Champions. I did those types of things as a mini-bike rider, just not in the big bike pro class.
Yeah, I remember seeing you and talking to you at the night Ascot races way back in the 70’s, 80’s. Damn, I’m getting old. I’m remembering things by the decades. (Laughs)
Yeah, I remember that. Those were the Wednesday night races. I remember the track used to be really rough and chattery—lots of holes—and you had to get a good start or you were done. Yeah, I remember the announcer there well: John Bethea from C.M.C. That guy was announcing when I was on 80s, and when my kids were racing, he was still announcing. That guy’s been around forever.
How old were you when you had Mike?
I was 23.
How old was Mikey when you first took him racing?
Mike was five when I got him his first bike, so 1993. I think his first National was in ’94.
When did Jeff start racing?
It was the year after, so ’94. Mike started when he was five or six and so did Jeff, a year later. They’re a year apart.
So how did Mikey and Jeff do on 50cc and 60cc bikes?
Well, I used to be the announcer at Perris Raceway and do the cycle news stories as well. Kim, their mom, used to take them on the pee-wee track. I would announce at the big track, and mom would take the boys over to the pee-wee track. I barely ever got to see them race much during that time. The deal that I had made with Kim was that as soon as they were big enough or old enough to ride 60s on the main track, then I would take over, but until then it was all Kim and the boys at the pee-wee track. People would come over to me back then—even guys like Kenny Watson of all people–and say, “Dude, your kids are air-breaking on the pee-wee!” I was like, “Yeah, yeah whatever.”
So you were kind of in the dark. They obviously made it to the main track on 60s, I guess.
I really didn’t get into it much at that point, but then Mike came over from the little track to the main track on a 60. He was still little. I remember we got Mikey a bike, a KX60, from the owner of AXO at the time, Jim Hale. So we got the 60, and Mikey couldn’t touch the ground on it. We had to teach him how to shift and everything. From there, we took him out to the El-Mirage Dry Lakebed—had to shrink the bike down for him, shorten the shock, the subframe and the seat. It was a big ordeal just to get him to fit on it. After that, he would just pretty much do his own thing. He would race his motos and just sit in the tower with me all day long, watching all the races closely.
So when did you really start to notice there was something there?
I’d say probably right around 13 for Mikey. When he was 13 years old—and he and Villopoto were riding the Super-mini class—we would go to the GNC Internationals out in Texas. I was clocking Mikey and RV against the 125 and 250 pro class, and they were clocking 2 seconds a lap faster than the pros at the time. I was like, “Oh, My gosh!” I was thinking, “These guys are pretty good, and I may have to look into this just a little deeper.” So yeah, at that point I knew.
When you say that it reminds me of the days out at Indian Dunes when they would put Eric Kehoe in the 125 Pro class. You were at Indian Dunes for that. Does Mikey remind you of Eric?
Yeah, a little. Mikey was maybe even better than Eric was at that point. I loved the way Eric used to ride 80s. Remember, he would wheelie around the whole Shadow Glen track?
Oh, heck yeah, I remember that. What did you do to make ends meet during the mini-bike years before you started getting sponsorship help? It’s not a cheap dream to chase.
I used to work at Waste Management. Mike Smith was my boss, and he was a MX racer with kids that raced so he helped me out a lot with getting time off and whatever scheduling I needed to go to a race. I mean, yeah, I had to get up at three in the morning, get up and go to work, but Mike really helped me get it done so that I could stay on top of working with Jeff and Mike every day. I will say it took a lot of coffee in the morning. (Laughs)
Were you able to quit the job at some point when Mike started picking up sponsors? The rumors are just that: rumors. But there are people that say you lived off Mikey’s success. What do you say to that?
At the point when Mike started making money, I was making X dollars at Waste Management. I cashed in the 401k, sold the house and moved us all out to the middle of the desert. From there, we used whatever money we had to get the kids from mini-bike riders to National level professionals in two and half years.
That two and a half years is huge in the grand scheme of things. A lot of people just do not comprehend how much commitment that takes.
Yeah, it was a big under-taking and obviously Mike couldn’t pay me any money when he was on mini-bikes. But I did tell him that when you become pro and you get a factory ride—I was sure he would get one—we would make a deal. You pay me what I get paid at Waste Management. Even to this day, I don’t make a penny more than that. I do all his track work, maintain his equipment, work for him, drive him and pretty much whatever he needs done. You know, whatever he needs done that takes care of him, and I can tell you right now if he didn’t pay me he would have to pay two or three different people to do what I do.
Yeah, for sure. I will say one thing, Tony, and that is I would have done the same for my Pops. You knew my dad, and you know I would have done the same for him. There’s a comfort level you get from Dad that you can not get anywhere else.
Yeah. Last thing I want is for him to have to pay two or three people three times what he has to pay me. Like you said, it’s a big thing having the comfort of your dad: he can trust me. I will always make sure everything is right for him. I won’t be careless about my work with him and allow something to go wrong. He isn’t going to catch me texting some chick when something needs to be done. That’s the deal.
Well, we all know where those kinds of rumors run wild: VitalMX.com. What is your opinion of Vital and the sort of negative mob mentality there and other places towards the Alessi’s in general?
I don’t know. I’m not going to lie, though. I go on there, and I think everyone that rides, or is involved in motorcycles reads it to see what people are thinking, what’s talked about, what’s popular. Anyone that tells you they don’t read it is not not telling the truth. They all read it and overall it is a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of the industry and the fans.
Does it get to you at all when there is negative stuff about the Alessi family? I personally think it is way off base and out of line at times towards you guys.
One thing that does worry me—and I’m not sure how to word this—I guess a good word would be “image assassins.” I believe there are probably people out there that work for other agents or riders. Lets say there are two riders that are going for the same ride and you hire a group of people—maybe your people: you know, your gear guy, your goggle guy your mechanic or the kid’s family—and the whole group gets together and colors the other rider black. After that happens even if the rider that got colored black is worthy of the ride, they still may take the other guy instead because the one guy’s reputation is so tarnished now. It’s really not cool and all it takes is say ten of those guys to get together, start writing bad things about a rider, and now the rider has a bad image. Who knows how it works. All I know is Mike’s a good kid: he trains hard, takes great care of his girlfriend, doesn’t have tattoos, drink, or do drugs. Mike does everything that is good about a person. These people just go on there and write anything. Sometimes it feels like a bunch of personal attacks. You know?
What did you think about The Moto on Fuel TV and how they focused so much on you guys in ’09?
I think that we are interesting. Overall, we are very passionate about what we do—really want to succeed, will do whatever it takes to succeed—and maybe that is just attractive. It was just entertainment for the fans and the viewers. In the end, it brought a new perspective on the behind the scenes of motocross racing, and that’s always a good thing.
Tony, thank you very much for doing this. I’ve known you since we were just Simi Valley and Indian Dunes kids, and I appreciate you letting me try to tell your story. Last question, and I’ll talk to Mikey and Jeff. Any regrets or anything you may have done differently if you could?
Well, I guess the worst part is watching your kids get injured, and I guess if there was anything I would go back and change, it would be that. Besides that no, no regrets. And your’re welcome, Dan. Glad I could do it.
After I got off the phone with Tony, I talked to Jeff and Mike Alessi about there year, SX, and the 350. Jeff and I also talked about the Josh Grant incident, and Mike told me about his goals for the year. Check back early next week for those interviews as well. In the meantime, you can follow me at @dandunes818 and @MotoXAddictsCom for live race reports, updates and links to my latest interviews and race reports.
