Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128355
INTERVIEW AMA National Hare & Hound Champion Destry Abbott While Abbott may be a champion in the de sert, he is still looking to broaden his ho rizons into motocross and other forms of oH·road racing. oppo rtunity to go and do a couple. With riding with Ryan Clark, I know that my motocross skills have gotten a lot better, and I think that I could get up there and hope fully ear n some points. If you look at all of the off-road riders that have won championships, they've got a motocross background: Rodney Smith, Ty [Davis), and now Nathan Woods in the WORCS series. There's just a ton of motocross guys going over to the off-road scene, and it's working o ut. So that's why I have been working on my motocross skills. I've always had dece nt [motoc ross skills) , but it see ms like the top guys have a really great background in motocross, so I'm trying to do that now. With the GNCC a nd WORCS series be co m ing so po pul ar, do you see off-road racing taking a differ e nt direction in t he ne xt 10 ye ars , ha re a nd hou nd raci ng in pa rticu lar? I think so. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised [if the focus changes in off-road) . The hare and hounds, hare scrambles and endu ros: Those are the thr ee that have taken a back seat compared to the WO RCS and GNCCs . And I enjoy them - I've done GNCCs, and I really enjoy the WO RCS ser ies. And that 's where the main competition is. I'm curious to see what happens; it does seem like with land issues it is becom ing tougher to race desert races like we used to . The re seems t o be a lot of t he younger kids coming up in th e WORCS series. Ar e there any in pa rtic ular t hat you see as be coming so m e of the fut ure stars of off-ro a d raci ng? There's actuallyquite a few. Ricky Deitrich has been fi nishing in the top five overall [in the Pro races). And Justin Soule, he's a great kid. There's four of them all on Kawasakis now, all of them riding on the team [DH Racing/Kawasaki), and I think there's a lot of potential, and I'm looking over my shoulder now and I think those guys are going to be really good . Who do you usu ally go t o the races with? Actually I've gotten a mechanic [this year), Jonathan , Weisman, and he's been a huge part , and then my wife and kids: Carlotte , Kelsey and Cooper - my daughter and son. And then my dad has been helping me out in the hare and hound se ries. So I've got a good family that supports me, and I think that is a huge key with racing these days. It seems like there are more families participating. My dad has always bee n into it. He doesn't go to as many as he used to , but he is a huge part in helping me out . I always appreciate all of that. If you weren't racing, what would you be doing? Actually I was going to school to be a firefighter. I , went to college for fi re science, and I wanted to be a firefighter and then criminal justice. Luckily I got in the , right hands and took off with my racing career, because I didn't really think that I would be able to do th is [racing) for a living, and it just happe ned to work out. I feel really fortunate to be where I am today. In closi ng , what do you want people t o remem ber yo u by w he n you a re all finished raci ng? Hopefu lly it's best to be just know n as a good guy. , I've always tried to be respectful to people. But just a clean rider and someone who was nice - I just want to be a good all-around rider. Hopefully, I'm not a jerk to eN most people .