Kyle has consistently put the #199 in the main. Words by: Dan Lamb – Photo by: Hoppenworld
These “Privateer Showcase” presented by Race Tech Suspension at MotoXAddicts are interviews telling the stories of the guys in the trenches week in and week out just trying to chase their dream of racing in Monster Energy Supercross. While the riders at the front of the pack get the money, the T.V. time and the glory that goes with it, there’s a huge pack of kids just hoping to become regulars in the main events. We will talk to them and the guys on privateer teams looking to break through to that next level.
This week’s “Privateer Showcase” is a conversation Chase Yocom had at the 2015 Indianapolis Supercross with Rocky Mountain ATV backed Kyle Partridge. Since turning pro in 2005 after a stellar amateur career, Kyle has been a workhorse privateer. Originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, Kyle comes from a moto family, and with moto deeply ingrained in his upbringing, it’s obvious there is absolutely no give up switch in his mental option menu. It’s been 100% full on since turning pro, and with or without the help of a team or major backers, Kyle gets to the races and makes 450SX main events year in and year out. The #199 has had a couple shots with teams like Hart and Huntington (now RCH/Suzuki) and other satellite efforts throughout his career, but injuries and other setbacks have always left him on the outside looking in.
For the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, Kyle is once again doing whatever it takes to get to the races and making the best of his situation. So far in ’15, he’s made eight of the eleven 450SX main events and sits 24th in the 450SX Championship points. 24th may not look awe-inspiring on paper, but when you consider all but two of the riders ahead of him are pitted out of an 18-wheeler, his accomplishment becomes more lucid. In a year stacked with factory-backed 450SX riders, Kyle has once again proven you can carve a place for yourself at the pinnacle of the sport without the high dollar backing of a major team.
After Kyle’s season-best 16th place finish in Indy, MotoXAddicts’ Chase Yocom caught up with him to record this week’s “Privateer Showcase” presented by Race Tech Suspension. You can check out what Kyle had to say in his interview below.
We’re here with Kyle Partridge. Kyle, 16th on the night, pretty good night for you. How was the main event?
The main event went well. I got a good start and just started cranking laps off. I ran I think 9th for a little while, went back to 10th for a little while, then I was like 12th until lap 13 or 14. I have been working really hard on my fitness and lately it seems to be getting a lot better. I still have a little bit of work to do and I’ll be right up there in the mix. For me, it’s a huge confidence boost because I ran 10th for so long, I was 10th for over half the race. So, for me, I know where I belong. I know where I can run now. I just need to keep plugging away, getting stronger.
You were looking good all day and I think qualified 12th. How was qualifying practice?
I’m really big on trying to do the best I can in practice, just because practice basically sets you up for the whole night. You get a good pick for your heat race, you finish well in your heat race. For me, it’s pretty unrealistic to make it out of the heat race. There are a lot of good dudes still racing, and they only take four. So I kind of use the heat race as practice, get a practice start, try to run with those dudes for as long as I can, then get a good gate pick for the semi, which I did. I had an awesome start in the semi, and I think on like the second lap, I got around all those dudes pretty quick and then just started, like I said, just started cranking my laps off and ended up second. I ended up with a pretty decent pick for the main event. I snuck around the inside there in the first turn and came out like 8th or 9th in the first lap and then I just started putting my laps together, being smooth, really consistent. Man, I just need to get a little bit stronger. I’m getting better as the year is going on and that’s something that I can take away from this as a plus. I’m not where I want to be yet, definitely need to be a little bit better just so I can solidify myself with something for next year. Like I said, running 10th, 11th, 12th like that for as long as I did is a huge confidence boost for me, just because now I know I can do it. It’s just about getting my fitness up. That’s always been my problem. I can go as fast as those dudes for one, two, three, four, five laps. It’s just I need to put everything together and I think a lot of people are starting to notice that I’ve doing a lot of work off the bike. We’ll go to Detroit next weekend, hopefully being stronger than I was this weekend and just keep plugging away.
How gnarly was that track? How bad did it break down throughout the main?
Yeah, like the last five laps were pretty brutal. The finish line was pretty rutted out. Just about every take off was pretty bad. The only triple that wasn’t bad was the back one. It was super hard back there, but the whoops were super gnarly; it was like a single track all the way through. You kind of had to start in one and then try to ride all the way through it. I’m typically pretty solid in the whoops. I get through them really good, and tonight I was just jumping in and jumping out. It seemed to work alright for me. When the tracks get technical and tough like that, I seem to excel a little bit because I’m super smooth. I get in and out of my corners really good and hopefully, like I said, go to Detroit next weekend and put in another good result.
You know the whoops were gnarly if you are jumping through them.
I talked to Davi [Millsaps] a little bit after practice, and he said that they were gnarly. Me and Davi, and like [Weston] Peick and a couple of other dudes, are usually really, really solid in the whoops, and even Peick was telling me they were tough tonight.
I know you mentioned your fitness. You got a new trainer this year. Charles Dow, right? How’s that going?
It’s going awesome. After the first Atlanta, I kind of sat down with him and told him that we needed to step it up, and we definitely have. The last three weeks have been really hard, really tough, and it’s paying off. I can’t say enough about that guy. He puts in a lot of hard work. He’s been believed in me when not a lot of people have. He pushes me in the gym, and I can 100% for sure say that if I wasn’t doing the stuff in the gym, I would not be doing as well as I am. So I’m super thankful for that. I have a guy from Vegas. His name is Jerry Williams. He pays for that for me. Takes care of it. I have his son at my house staying with me. I kind of take his kid riding with me, and I’ve lucked into a couple of really, really great people that help me out. There’s a guy from West Virginia or Virginia—his name is Ron Feather. He owns a demolition company called Demolition Services, Inc. and helps me out financially, and without those two guys, me doing as well as I’m doing right now wouldn’t even be possible.
Thanks for your time. Appreciate it and awesome seeing you getting stronger and stronger every week.
Thanks a lot. I appreciate it.
