ATV/MX Series Racing Market - Factory Invasion

Brant Russell, VP of sales and marketing, Yoshimura R&D: Racing has a direct impact on Yoshimura sales in many ways. The two main benefits are in product development and branding. Our ATV exhaust line has improved massively from six years ago-the direct result of data learned from racing. In addition, the ATV enthusiast knows that we aren't "carpetbaggers." In other words, the ATV pipe buyer knows that we race at a very high level and develop product through racing. Anyone with a torch can cobble together pipes in his backyard, but building at the national pro level yields direct results for the guy who's racing B class in Paducah, Kentucky, beginner class in San Bernardino, California, or A class in Scranton, Pennsylvania. People who race know this in turn trickles down to the play riders. At Yoshimura "not racing" is not an option. We're a racing company, period. The product and business efforts are always secondary to racing. Racing is what we do.

Not Your Father's ATV Racing
In 2007, the full-on factory teams doubled, as Kawasaki stepped in with the Monster Energy/ Kawasaki team. Suzuki upped the ante as well, by adding Dustin Wimmer and Chad Wienen to its roster. The Suzuki squad was supported by two factory satellite teams: Lost Creek Cycles in the pro ranks and the Cernic's Media Allstars in the pro-am class. Kawasaki picked up Farr's pro-am team, while Yamaha added support for two pro-am riders on the MX side. The WPSA's ratings' darling, the QTC, attracted a slew of factory support as well. Arctic Cat fielded two complete teams, while Can-Am stepped in with its Warnert Racing effort. The season concluded with another pair of championships for Honda (Byrd GNC, Natalie WPSA). The TV ratings continued to climb and the rumors of new 450cc sport ATV models from KTM, Can-Am and Polaris made the dream of landing a factory ride a reality for another dozen pro racers.

To say we're in the midst of a full-on factory invasion would be the world's second biggest understatement. Every aspect of ATV racing is currently enjoying some sort of increased factory presence in 2008. From the GNCC series where factory Yamaha is being joined by Suzuki and KTM to the WPSA ATV Tour to the GNC MX series where seven factories are fielding factory-backed ATV/MX and QTC teams. Even the often-overlooked Extreme Dirt Track series is enjoying a factory-backed pro champion. All in all, there are currently an astonishing 75 factory-backed ATV racers competing in the U.S.A. in 2008.

"Manufacturer involvement is much higher this time around," White said. "Also, resources from aftermarket manufacturing are much higher and better, which makes the bikes more competitive. What's not different is that back then we had two to three guys capable of winning at any race, and it's still pretty much the same now."

2008 Factory Teams

FRE KTM (GNCC)
Tim Farr, Adam McGill, Taylor Kiser

Yamaha (ATV/MX)
Pat Brown, Dustin Nelson, Thomas Brown (Pro-Am)

Yamaha (GNCC)
Traci Cecco, Bill Ballance

Rockstar/Makita/MSR/Suzuki/
Yoshimura/ProTaper (WPSA)
Doug Gust, Dustin Wimmer, Chad Wienen

Suzuki (GNCC)
Chris Borich

Cernic's/Suzuki/Fly/Yoshimura/
Media Allstars (ATV/MX)
Aaron Meyer, Cody Grant, Austin Wilson, Chase Cunningham, Danny Cooper, Leslie Ragon

Monster Energy/Kawasaki
Josh Creamer, Keith Little, Russell Shumaker

Team HGR/Kawasaki (ATV/MX Pro-Am)
Mark Kendall, Jason Connell, Billy Cottage

Epic Racing/Can-Am (ATV/MX)
Jeremy Lawson, Sage Baker, Greg Gee

Warnert Racing/Can-Am
(ATV/MX, QTC, GNCC)
John Natalie Jr., Cody Miller, Clifton Beasley, Rory Beckman, Chris Bithell, Rick Cecco, Chris Jenks, Scott Kilby, Michael Swift

Gorilla Racing/Can-Am
(Southern ATV Mud Bogs)
Casey Beach, Brandon Broussard, GregMcMullen, Josh Richardson, Jason Shanas

LTE Racing/Can-Am (GNCC)
Lexie Coulter, Jerime Dudding, Duane Johnson, Brent Sturdivant

MPR/Can-Am (GNCC)
Mike Penland