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/128390
Team Green Kawasaki's Chuck Woodford started the off-road season with high expectations after winning the opening round of the National Hare Scrambles Series in Hollister, California. He has been in position to win the Hare Scrambles tide before, but injuries have always seemed to derail his hopes, as was the case this year. After his Hollister win, an injury once again sidelined him. But Woodford proved that he is back on track by nearly taking the overall win a few weeks ago at round five of the National Hare Scrambles Series in Illinois, where we spoke with the speedy off-road racer from Ohio. en: You had a great start to the season. Tell us how things have gone so far. chuckwoodford: I felt really, really good at the start of the season, and I had hoped that this year was gonna be it. I've got a great bike, the 'OS KX2S0 is really good, and with help from Factory Connecdon and with my mechanic Doug [Douchette1 and everybody else that helps me, I had high hopes for the year. We took all of the precautions and did some wintertime testing and training down south. I thought I had all my ducks in a row, and everything was going good. A big goal of mine was to win Hollister and then I ...."ent out there and got that under my belt. Things looked like they were going good, but then I had to miss a couple of events after I got hurt at the Loretta Lynn GNCC. en: What exactly happened? chuckwoodford:. I was sick the race before Loretta Lynn's. I actually had bronchitis, so I didn't perform very good there, and I was really on the rebound dUring the Loretta Lynn event. I got a bad start, but I made it to the front pretty quick and was just kind of cruising along, and the next thing you know, something just took my front wheel out and planted my chest into a big stump. I separated all the cartilage in my sternum and bruised it pretty bad. en: How tough was the rehab? chuckwoodford: I didn't think it would be that big of a deal, and my doctor said it could go pretty fast and that I would know when I was ready. I've been trying to ease my way back into it and I was hoping to be back for Oregon, but I wasn't even close. So, I just kept trying and babying it along, and the first time I actually tried to ride was at the Summersville GNCC. I started the race but it bothered me a little, so I pulled out. Then I rode again at the Wisp, just to get some track time. Then I started after that with some really light weights. I have just now got to where I could get back to my training program. en: You are sitting In second overall In the standings now. Have you revised your goals since the start of the year? chuckwoodford: I'm definitely going to concentrate on the Hare Scrambles Series, and it is going to be a battle until the end. I am more determined than ever to get it right. I think I have the strength now, I just need to get some confidence back. I am back on track with my weight program and my bicycling, so I think I can do it. Ryan Villopoto: The Next Big Thing However, a broken collarbone suffered a week later at the Loretta Lynn's AMA Motocross Championships was a serious disappointment and setback for the Team Green Kawasaki rider. A series of other injuries has plagued the 16-year-old since then and kept him out of the 2005 World Mini Championships in Las Vegas, as well. Villopoto is, once again, recovering from an injury, but he looked plenty fast at this week's Ponca City race, claiming three wins out of the four classes he entered. Villopoto gave us the scoop on his injury situation and talked a little about turning Pro before heading off to Loretta Lynn's. Ryan Villopoto might well be the next big thing to emerge from the Amateur ranks. The Washington native was considered one of the fastest (if not the fastest) Amateur in 2004 after demolishing the troops at last year's Ponca City Grand National Motocross Championships in the 14- to IS-year-old 8Scc classes. en: What injury are you recovering from? ryanvillopoto: I hurt my wrist just over two months ago. I broke my navicular bone, and I've had a screw in it for about fIVe weeks. I started riding again about four weeks ago, and I am just starting to get back into it now. en: What happened? ryanvillopoto: I got landed on at the Attack MX race at Lake Elsinore [California]. Jeff Alessi landed on me. en: 50 that's Why you missed the World Minis in Las Vegas? ryanvillopoto: Yeah, I've missed it two years in a row now, both times with the same injury. I actually broke the same bone that year and again this year. en: 50 how does the wrist feel now? ryanvillopoto: It's okay now. I just tape it up and wear a wrist brace. It's not too bad on soft ground, but it hurts on hard pack. en: Loretta Lynn's will be your last race as an Amateur. What are your goals for the rest of the year? ryanvillopoto: Well, after Loretta's, am probably going to race BroomeTioga, Steel City and Glen Helen [Nationals]. en: Can you tell us anything about you going Pro? ryanvillopoto: No, not really, other than that I am ready to get out of the Amateur ranks. It's long weekends and long weeks. I get a lilde bummed out racing the Amateur stuff all the time and being gone for like two weeks at a time. So, I am looking forward to going Pro. en: You've always excelled at Ponca City, but you usually seem to have bad luck at Loretta Lynn's. Why is that? ryanvlllopoto: I crashed in practice there last year. I was really bummed out because I felt I was the fastest rider that week. I ended up breaking my collarbone, so I was finished for the week. We decided after that, it was time to move up and focus on the big bikes. en: What is your goal for this year at Loretta Lynn's? ryanvillopoto: To come away with at least one title. I have never won a tide at Loretta's. It would be nice to leave the Amateurs with at least one there before turning Pro.