Interview by: Chase Yocom – Photo by: Hoppenworld – Words by: Dan Lamb
In both the Eastern and Western Regional 250SX Supercross Championships, there’s a deep field of rookie talent for 2015. One of the rookies that has been slightly overshadowed by the bigger named freshman is Jay, Vermont’s Dakota Alix. The Orange Brigade/FMF/KTM pilot has made the main event in every Supercross he’s competed in—he missed Detroit due to breaking his arm in Indianapolis—and he definitely showed his toughness in St. Louis last weekend when he scored his best-ever finish racing with a broken arm. While 22nd overall in the standings may not look overly impressive on paper, the #88 has shown he belongs in the professional ranks and has displayed his massive potential to anyone that’s been paying attention.
Last weekend, Dakota surprised everyone when he showed up to race in St. Louis with a broken bone in his arm. After qualifying 22nd in timed qualifying and getting into the main directly out of his heat race, Dakota ripped an awesome start in the main event. After checking in on lap one in 3rd, Dakota rode strong to finish with a career-best 11th. Considering the circumstances, St. Louis was one of those breakthrough rides that could snowball into a new level of confidence. The next time the #88 lines up will be in New Jersey, and he should be a lot healthier and better fit to score that first top-ten milestone that every rookie is after.
After his courageous ride inside the Edward Jones Dome, Chase Yocom caught up with Dakota to talk about his night, his injury, his season and more. You can check out Dakota’s interview below.
We’re here with rookie Dakota Alix. Dakota, 11th on the night, career best so far. Not bad for a broken bone in your arm. How was it out there?
It was good. I would have liked to have done a little bit better considering I had a good start, but, like you said, I broke my arm and it’s only been 14 days. It wasn’t a serious break, just a crack, but it was definitely pretty painful out there. I got a few good laps in and then it was just too much to take after a full day. I’ll regroup and try to get improved for New Jersey.
Take us through some of the battles. You got sucked into about a five-person battle out there. How was dealing with that, up towards the front, probably for the first time?
It was good. It felt kind of weird up front, and then I had four solid laps and started going backwards after that. It is what it is; I just have to get healthy and try to get another good start in New Jersey and see what I can do with it when I’m healthy.
What did you think of the track tonight? I know it was kind of shorter lap times. People were saying it was kind of easy, but did it break down at all, get a little more difficult through the day?
So far this is probably my second favorite track just because the dirt was so good. Definitely the whoops were a lot smaller than any other race so far, but I really like the dirt and you had pretty good traction. I feel like the track flowed really well, so it was a fun track for sure.
It didn’t seem like there were too many areas to make passes on. What was working for you out there?
I got passed in pretty much all the right hand turns. There were like three good ruts in every turn. It seems like in other races it would be pretty much one good rut to the turns, but my strong point was the whoops tonight. I felt good in there and I nailed all the rhythms every lap, so I was pretty happy with that.
For people that might not know, tell us a little bit about your program, where you’re training at and what you got going on through the week.
I’m based out of Cairo, Georgia. I actually have a house right across the street from MTF [Milsaps Training Facility], and all week long I’m working with Colleen Milsaps, Brian Johnson, and my trainer Tony. It’s a great program. I’m really happy down there and looking forward to seeing what we can do in the future.
How excited are you for this little break you got now until New Jersey?
I kind of wish the break was after Indianapolis considering that’s where I broke my arm, but I’m definitely going to take at least a week off and get fully healed. Yeah, I’m pretty happy for this break.
What’s the goals for New Jersey? Are you looking to get in that top 10 now?
Yeah, I definitely want to get in the top 10. My main goal in New Jersey is getting another good start and trying to stay up front as long as I can and just keep getting experience, but most of all just be in the moment and have fun. That’s when I do my best.
How much fun are you having your rookie season?
Having fun, definitely not too much fun this weekend rather, but for the most part, I’m living the dream getting to ride motorcycles. Hopefully I can pick it up so I can keep doing it for years to come.
Thanks for your time.
Thank you. Appreciate it.
