Photo by: Hoppenworld
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 trying to chase their dream of racing professional 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 guys just hoping to become regulars in the big show. We tell their stories.
This week’s “Privateer Showcase” interview is with one of only three privateers who made it into the 450SX main event in San Diego, K1 Speed / SSI Decals / BWR Engines-backed Cade Clason. With as many as twenty factory or factory-backed riders signed up for the 450SX class in 2017, simply making the main event on a privateer effort is a huge win. In his first race back from a broken hand, the #80 made it into the 2017 San Diego SX main event with a last lap pass for fourth in the LCQ. Not quite back up to speed and still not 100% physically, Cade said he struggled with the 20-minute plus one lap main event, but he now has one under his belt and can now build off of it.
After Cade surprised us by making the main in his first attempt for 2017, we thought we would give the man a call to find out his thoughts on his 21st place finish in San Diego, about his program for 2017 and his expectations on the new season.
Thanks for taking the call. You said you were out training today. What’s your training regimen like these day? Where are you riding at?
Right now I’m in SoCal. I only stay out here for a few weeks during the first few west rounds. It’s a lot easier with traveling and whatnot. I can also test with my team and stuff. Right now I’m just getting back into the swing of things. I haven’t had a whole lot of time on the bike since I got hurt. I only had like five days before San Diego this weekend, Right now I’m trying to get my speed back, my endurance and just back to where I was before the injury. I was riding really well before I got hurt. It was a big letdown, but that’s the way it goes some times.
I remember hearing something, but when was it exactly that you got hurt and what did you injure? You missed A1. Were you close to racing it?
I broke two bones in my hand at the end of November at a SX in Germany. It was supposed to be a three-week healing process, but when I got my cast off, my hand just wasn’t right. I saw three different doctors because it wasn’t healing right and I ended up waiting like six weeks. I only rode once before A1 and didn’t want to come in super behind. I don’t want to come in, suck and make myself and everyone look bad so we were perfectly okay with not racing A1. It sucked not be racing, but I’m not usually one to just kind of wing it. I rode pretty much every day between A1 and San Diego, and we almost didn’t even race San Diego. It crossed our minds, but we felt we were close enough so we gave it a shot and it ended up working out.
Obviously. (laughs) In this 450 field, just making the main is a huge success at the moment. Did you surprise yourself a little making the main in San Diego?
Yeah, a little bit. I hadn’t done a 20-minute moto yet, so that was a big shock. That kind of sucked. My speed isn’t really back yet. That’s the struggle: trying to go fast, as fast as these guys are going right now. In my heat race, I fell and just kind of rode around. My semi was okay, and in the LCQ, I had like a dead last start. I was just kind of riding around and everything just fell into place for me. A lot of guys fell or made mistakes, and I just kind of worked my way through and around people. We got an extra lap with the new timed format and that helped out ’cause I made the pass for fourth [last qualifying position in the LCQ] on the last lap. That worked out well for me. Yeah, I was super surprised I made it, but the next main I’m in I’ll be way more prepared.
I didn’t see you get around Tyler [Enticknap] for the last qualifying spot in the LCQ. Where did you get him?
I guess I caught him a lot in the section right before the finish line. Then after the finish, you do that short rhythm, turn right and go three onto the table. I set him up on the left and then I squared down early, went three on to the table on the inside of him and pushed him wide going into that flat turn. It worked out good.
You guys did 24 laps in the main event, which is obviously the most laps ever so far for a main. Did it feel a lot longer? How were laps 21 through 24 for you?
It was long! I was struggling. My hand had felt pretty good all day up until the main, but the track had just deteriorated crazy. It got stupid rough. All the square edges and bumps were making my hand hurt and that was hard for me. I wasn’t really tired, but it was really painful to hold on. I was really trying to hit my marks, and I didn’t want to crash. I wanted to stay off the ground the whole main.
I think that’s almost everyone’s goal, Cade. (laughs) How big was that track too? The jumps and rhythms seemed huge to me during track walk.
Oh yeah, a lot of the jumps were really big. I had a lot of fun out there this weekend. I went right out in the first qualifier and jumped all the rhythms. I surprised myself and even my trainer. I was surprised on that rhythm section after the whoops that nobody quaded somewhere through there. There were a couple different options I thought might be possible and guys like [Eli] Tomac and [Jason] Anderson like to bust that stuff out. I really liked the track, though.
What did you think about that triple into the corner that bit a few people? It took Jimmy Albertson and Mitchell Oldenburg out for the night and nearly killed Jeremy Martin.
It was really scary. I walked the track with my trainer, and he didn’t think anyone was going to do it. I saw some guys busting it out and thought, “That’s not good.” Then I saw people crashing on it and I was like, “That sucks.” Then they fixed it, but it sucks that it takes enough guys to crash before they fix something. It was smart to take it out, ’cause it was going to take people out.
I know you’re with K1 Speed, BWR Engines, SSi Decals, Race-Tech Suspension team again in 2017. How’s it going with the BWR team and what’s it like with those guys?
It’s awesome. I really love the whole team. It’s a really cool atmosphere and they’ve really stepped up with my program to make it even better for myself. Brian White, who’s our team owner, engine builder, suspension builder, has done so much for all of us. There’s four of us this year and he’s a busy bee. My mechanic, Nate Rega, is top notch too. He came straight out of school last year for the Atlanta SX, and he’s been working for me ever since. We mesh really well and it’s just a really good team. Everyone from K1 Speed that I’ve met loves the sport and loves helping us out. It’s what it’s all about, having the right people around to support you.
I know it’s a struggle for privateer riders and an almost bigger struggle for teams like Brian’s to cover everything as far as expenses. Are you coming out of your own pocket at all still?
No, they’ve stepped up a lot and are taking care of just about everything. There’s a few little things that I pay for here and there and I also help my mechanic out with bonus’ and stuff. It’s based off how I do and Nate deserves it. I felt like I deserved it this year too and after the year I had last year, the team thought I did too. It really wouldn’t of been possible without the team stepping up like that. It’s hard to come up with the money to do SX on your own.
Can you call racing making a living now?
Maybe a little bit. It’s hard to call it making a living when you’re not saving as much as you would like to, but it’s a job. I make money and I pay my bills with it. I could say I do, but a living is something you have to do your whole life and this is not going to last forever.
How’s the bike working for you so far? Is the Race Tech suspension getting the job done?
The Race Tech suspension is awesome. I got a new setting right before San Diego and I pretty much fell in love with it. Those guys are so smart. I love working with Rob, Checkerz and all the guys over there. They know so much about so many different things. They can always make it do what you want to do. I was a Factory Connection guy and was skeptical when I had to switch, but I could not have been happier after I made the switch. The best thing is, they don’t care if you’re factory or a privateer out of your truck, they’re always walking around the pits looking to help. They come buy our rig three or four times a weekend to make sure I’m liking my setting or if there’s anything I want to change. And they do that for everyone.
You’ve been a privateer throughout your career, but you’ve still progressed. Started on a 350 in ’14 and made one main, moved up to 450 in ’15 and made two main events, then twelve main events in ’16 and one for one so far in ’17. What would make you happy at the end of ’17 looking back at the results?
I would like to make all the mains. I would like to make the mains and do all the laps every weekend. I really want to start being in the top 15; that’s the goal. I missed a few rounds last year with stupid mistakes and I can’t do that. These guys are no joke and there’s a lot of fast factory dudes that take up most of the gates. So you have to at least beat every other privateer to make the main. That’s hard. It’s hard to be the best privateer every weekend, because there’s so many guys that are really fast. I really want to be better and I want to be more consistent with making the mains. Once I’m back up to speed, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Thanks for talking with us today Cade and good luck this weekend at A2. Who are the sponsors that are helping you get there?
I want to thank K1 Speed, SSI Decals, BWR Engines, Race Tech Suspension, FXR Racing, Yoshimira, Pro Taper, Mobius, ClubMX, Arai Helmets, 100% and Alpinestars.
