Photo by: Ronnie Rayfield – Courtesy of GloryHog.com
These “Privateer Showcase” interviews presented by Race Tech Suspension at MotoXAddicts tell 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 get their stories about trying to break through to that next level with little or no help.
This week’s “Privateer Showcase” features privateer professional Supercross and Motocross racer Kyle White. Kyle is a privateer, but with the help of his brother Brian White of BWR Engines, the two have started their own family-owned and operated Supercross and Motocross team, the K1 Speed/BWR Engines/SSi Decals team. After three successful years on the Arenacross circuit, Kyle and his brother moved their operation over to Monster Energy Supercross and the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship and are going full throttle to live their dream.
We caught up with Kyle to talk about his first full year as a Supercross rider and team co-owner and what the future holds for himself and the team. You can hear what Kyle had to say in his “Privateer Showcase” Interview below.
Kyle, thanks for doing this. I texted you earlier today and you said you were at work. Are you working the regular 9-5 while chasing the dream?
Yeah, I do. I work for a construction company back home in Illinois and do accounts payable for them. So, yeah, I have the regular job on the weekdays and race on the weekends.
Because you took the road less traveled to get to professional Supercross and Motocross, I wanted to talk a little about where it all began for you. When did you start riding?
I started riding because of my older brother Brian, who’s now my mechanic, engine builder and owns our team with me. He rode, and I wanted to be like big brother. A neighbor guy gave him a barn full of bikes that didn’t run, and he pieced one together out of that, started riding and I followed in his footsteps. I wanted to be like big brother. (laughs)
(laughs) What kind of Frankenstein bike did he come up with in the deal? I’m picturing a “Winner Takes All” machine here.
(laughs) Actually, it was an XR 70 or 75 he got going out of a couple of them. He got it going and rode the wheels off that thing.
When did you start racing? Also, what was your local spot?
Yeah, I got my first bike when I was eight and started racing when I was nine. In my first year or two, we rode and raced a lot at Byron [Motorsports Park]. After that we switched over to riding all stadium-type stuff, just the Saturday night Faircross [Arenacross] type races. That way we had time on Sunday for family time, church and all that. I never did any of the amateur national stuff at all.
How old were you when you turned pro, and what year was that?
I moved up to the A class in 2007 when I turned 16. From there we went into AX. I always looked up to AX pro Tommy Hoffmaster who grew up twenty minutes away from me. I did my first Professional AX I think in 2008 and didn’t do another one until 2010. Then, I broke my leg half way through 2010, broke an arm half way through 2011 and then did full AX seasons in ’12, ’13 and ’14.
Those last two years in AX were relatively successful for you as well. You finished second in the Lites Regional Championship in 2013 and 2014, correct?
Yeah, in both years I was runner up in the Lites Western Regional Championship. I was second to my teammate Max Malatia in 2013, and in 2014, I finished second to Gray Davenport by two points. I couldn’t quiet finish the deal on getting my own Championship. It was good, and it actually prepared me well for Supercross. I think the whole “Ricky Carmichael Road to Supercross” thing is legit.
What made you decide to go to Supercross rather than continue to improve upon your success in AX?
After we finished up the 2014 AX season, I went and did the last four Supercrosses in the 250SX class. I ended up qualifying 24th and and ended up barely missing the main by two spots in Houston. After we raced those four, my bother and I talked it over and decided to move the whole team over to Supercross the following year.
You and your brother own the team as well—K1 Speed/BWR Engines/SSi Decals team—and you basically just moved it right from AX to SX?
Yeah, after we did those four Supercrosses in 2014, my brother Brian and I decided to move the whole team over to Supercross for 2015. So we put together a four-man team and did the whole series. I did the first four on the 250 and switched to the 450 in San Diego. I didn’t qualify for the night show at Anaheim 1 which was kind of a shocker because I was qualified 24th in my first-ever Supercross the year before. My goal was to make the top fifteen in the main events so when I didn’t make the night show I was like, “woah”.
Once you moved up to the 450, you were close to making the mains a few times in ’15.
Yeah, I broke my wrist last summer and that had me off the bike four months with a broken scaphoid. After not making the night show at A1, I went back to the drawing board and worked on getting my speed back. I thought I had it, but I apparently lost it with the injury. It was a bit of a learning curve. I almost made a few mains and missed making the main in Las Vegas by one spot. I didn’t make any of the mains, but I got sixth [they take top four] in the LCQ three times and a fifth in the LCQ, so I got really close.
Just out of curiosity, how did the K1 Speed/BWR Engines/SSi Decals team start? It’s not easy to just start a team and head to your local SX.
A lot of people ask my brother and I, “What do you have to do to start a race team?” I’m like, “I don’t really know.” We didn’t really intend on doing a race team. It started off with my brother and I doing AX races in a van, and my brother ended up getting hurt. He always built our motors and suspension for AX, and I figured I have my bike here so why don’t we find another rider to race my bike. I’ll come along and mechanic for you guys, you’ll still have someone to split fuel with, and that’s when we brought on Max Malatia. Then we went up to four riders in AX for 2014, and it took off from there. We didn’t intend on it happening, but we had great bikes, and every time someone threw a leg over one, they wanted to race it. I think having good bikes is what did it for us.
What are the future plans with the K1 Speed/BWR Engines/SSi Decals team in SX? Are there plans to go bigger?
I’m really excited about the future of the team. Everyone that’s been around the sport for a decent amount of time says we’re doing everything right. They say we have good bikes and are doing the right things to get the team to where it needs to be to succeed. So that’s exciting for me because I’m not going to be able to ride forever. It’s cool because it’s a family thing with my brother and I pretty much doing it on our own. I think we’ve grown into something that will be around in Supercross and even Motocross for a while. We now have four guys with Alex Ray, Noah Mcconahy, Bubba Pauli and myself riding for us. Not everyone has a good weekend every week, so it’s nice to have guys that have everyone’s backs.
With your brother being your suspension tech, how did the deal with Race Tech Suspension come into play?
Yeah, my brother did all our AX suspension and we had a great setup there, but when we came over to Supercross, we didn’t quite understand what a real Supercross track was going to be like. So when we came in, our settings were pretty far off. Rob from Race Tech is from Illinois and my brother and him go pretty far back. He opened himself up to us about Supercross settings. He got us going the right direction and said hey, you guys should try Race Tech. We have the Gold Valves, and they’re great for Supercross. We tried it out, and I fell in love with the settings right away. From there, we let the rest of team try it out, and after hearing their positive feedback, if we didn’t make the switch we’d be foolish. We’re going to put on the bikes what we feel works the best. Also, from there, the relationship has grown with my brother, and Race Tech is making his shop the Race Tech tuning center for Northern Illinois.
You guys are doing the Lucas Oil Pro Motoross Championship this year as well. Have you raced any outdoor nationals before 2015?
I’ve never really done outdoors, but I’m going to do ten of them in hopes of learning more skills in ruts and other stuff I can take with me to SX next year. The plan is to get into some main events next year.
You didn’t qualify for the motos at Hangtown, Glen Helen, or Thunder Valley, but you were getting closer and closer. Last weekend at Muddy Creek, though, you qualified 36th and made the show. Talk about that.
I don’t know if you saw it, but that step up triple quad thing they were doing got me. In the second lap of practice, I way overshot the triple. So the next lap I tried to hit it quite a bit slower and still overshot it and landed where it was tilled real deep. I blew both my hands off the bars, smashed my chest and knocked the wind out of myself. Not sure how, but I didn’t crash. Went back to the truck and next thing I know I’m coughing up blood. So I went to Asterisk, and after a thorough exam, they said nothing was broke and as long as the coughing up blood stops I’d probably be okay to ride. It hurt really bad to ride, but I threw down a fast enough lap to qualify on the bubble in 36th and didn’t have to ride the consolation race. Then, in both motos, I got a flat tire. I’m like, “Really? My first-ever national motos and I get two flat tires?” (laughs) Because I was in a lot of pain, I’m not sure my results would of been up there anyway. We finally got into the show, we made a little bit of money, got my feet wet and I’m excited for High Point.
It looks like you guys also have some really good backing with sponsors as well Can you tell us who helps you and the team get to all these races?.
Yeah, we have K1 Speed—that’s an indoor go-karting track—stepping up as the title sponsor. They really made SX happen for us. BWR Engines is my brother’s motor building business, so we have ripping motors. We also teamed up with Race Tech Suspension, SSI Decals, Rekluse, Yoshimura, Fly Racing, Arai Helmets, Performance Electronics, TuBliss, Works Connection, No-Toil, MotoSeat, Evans Waterless Coolant, Protenza Fitness, Fischer Excavating, RK Excel, 520 Machinery Sale, Leatt Brace, EVS-Sports. There’s a whole bunch of people helping us out which is awesome.
