FROM THEN TO NOW WITH DAVID PINGREE

                                                                      Photo credit: Racerx.com
David Pingree is a former factory SX/MX/SM rider and team manager. Now he is a Racer X editor and firefighter/paramedic. David took the time to talk to me about his racing career and what he has going on now.

David I just wanted to start this off by saying thank you for your time and agreeing to do this interview.

First off, tell me what got you into racing?

I grew up in Montana and my whole family rode; we would go to the mountains and ride old mining
trails as a family. I was riding a PW50 when I was three. One of my dad’s friends had a son who was
racing and we went and watched him. From that point on my dad was hooked. I didn’t really care about racing too much at first but once we got into it I loved it.


Your first year on Pro Circuit in 1995 you won a race and got some podiums but said the bike wasn't as good as it could be. Then in 1996 you were a title favorite, alongside Kevin Windham. What was the biggest change in those years?

When I started with the team Ryan Hughes was doing all the testing and bike development. He had been with them the year before and they expected him to win races so they were building the bike around him. But Ryno wasn’t the best test rider and the way he rode didn’t suit most other guys. Pichon and I were not stoked with the motors that year at all; they had no bottom end and you had to rev the piss out of them. In 1996 I was expected to win and so I was doing all the testing. We won the Bercy supercross in Paris and things were going really well heading into the season. I was second in points before San Diego and I ended up breaking my femur during practice there. It was a bummer because Windham broke his collarbone earlier that week so he missed the San Diego round too. I could have moved into the points lead with a conservative finish.


You started the 2000 season off with a win on a Suzuki, and had some solid finishes all year long. Unfortunately, you had some bad luck and just missed out on that 125 west title.  What are your thoughts on one of the tightest title battles we've ever seen?

That season was great and miserable all at the same time. I got cleaned out in the first turn of six main events that year… six! I somehow managed to hold a 12 point lead going into Minneapolis but a mishap coming out of turn one bent my front brake carrier and I rode the whole main with my front wheel locking up. I almost made up for the lost points at the last round in Dallas where I went down in the first turn, yet again, and worked up to second at the finish.

A lot of people may think Ryan Dungey was the first American rider on a KTM to win a Supercross but you did it in 2002. Can you give us a some insight on that race?

We had come a long way with the development on that bike from the year before. The engines were
amazing but we started to see the four-strokes moving into the class. I was doing well in that
championship as well but I just had a couple little crashes and issues that kept me off the box in the
opening two rounds, but I knew the speed was there. At A2 I started fifth or sixth and just plugged away until I got into the lead. I had a nice gap on second but Stewart was coming from behind and closing fast. The last two laps I dropped several seconds off my lap times because if I didn’t he would have caught me. I put the hammer down and held on for my last supercross win and the first win by an American rider on a KTM [Grant Langston had won Dallas in 2001]. That’s a small stat that is pretty insignificant but I still like to throw around.


Was there one thing in particular that made you retire from racing Supercross full time?

Well, the week after that Anaheim win my bike broke in half in Phoenix. After a career full of injuries it was just the last straw, you know? It really drove home the fact that so much is out of your control in this sport. You can be doing everything right and still get hurt really badly. I was ready to move on.


You do a lot of work with Racer X Online. What is you role for them?

I’m one of their Editors-at-Large and I have a list of things that I provide. I have the online column, Ask Ping, Electronic Ping in the magazine, I handle all the bike testing duties for the website and I provide text for features and whatever else they might need in a pinch. You have to be able to wear a lot of hats in this industry and especially at Racer X because you are asked to do a lot of different things.


I remember watching a old VHS copy of a 1993 movie called "Action Figures" with you in it, and now you have your own set DVDs for sale. What do they include and where could someone pick up a copy?

My Motocross 101 DVD’s are still for sale if you go to that website, or you can buy them at ITunes. They have done really well. It is an instructional riding video but we tried to raise the bar and do some things that nobody had done before.


Supermoto caught on pretty big here for a while; how did you get involved with that?

I actually had a friend who was doing it and he talked me into building a bike and trying one. I told DC I would go do the big finale in Reno that year and write a story about the budding sport. Well, the racing was a lot of fun and I ended up getting a bike from KTM the next year to do more of the rounds and I won the final race in Long Beach. At that point Troy Lee offered me a spot on their team, the premier team in the sport at the time, and I jumped at it. I spent a couple years racing for them and then transitioned into the race team manager role. They were trying to be more of a player in Supercross and motocross and they needed somebody with some experience in that discipline.


You were team manager for the TLD Honda team for a number of years.  What made you go that route in the industry?

The opportunity came along and it was something I always thought would be fun. As a racer you have all this experience and knowledge from doing it for so long and it’s cool to be able to share it and help somebody else. I loved the racing. Being up in the manager’s tower was as close to being on the bike as you can get. But the travel was a drag and the time it takes at the shop to do the job right is overwhelming. I knew it wouldn’t be a long-term deal for me because I wanted to spend more time at home with my family.


I know you've been asked about this a few times, but what exactly caused your bike to break in half  in Phoenix in 2002?

KTM in Austria sent over some lighter pistons that tested well on the dyno. However, they were never endurance tested on actual bikes and, obviously, they weren’t strong enough to last. The skirt cracked off the piston on the face of the triple and my triple clamp sheared off when I augered into the landing of the jump.


You are now a full time firefighter- what made you chose that career, and what are your thoughts on it so far?

I knew nothing about it until I met my wife. Her dad was a fire captain and we visited him a couple times at the station. It seemed really exciting and fun and something you could be really proud of at the end of the day. The way an engine company works together as a team is very similar to how a race team works so there were a lot of parallels to be drawn between racing and the fire service. I was slowly taking classes from 2008 on, while I was racing Supermoto and managing the race team. Those were hectic days. Sometimes the mechanics on the team would get mad because I would cut out of work early to get to class but it was something I really wanted to do. I worked for a couple different departments before I found the right fit. I’m with San Bernardino County Fire now and I love it. It is so cool to be learning something new every day and starting all over at 40. Just like there are a million nuances in the racing world, I have to be trained in structural firefighting, vertical and horizontal ventilation, wildland firefighting, auto extrication, search and rescue, confined space, HAZMAT, rope rescue, low and hi-angle rescue, swift water rescue, vehicle fires and a million other things and all the equipment and skills involved. On top of that I am a paramedic so I have to be able to respond to any type of medical emergency when somebody calls 911. There is a lot to know and a lot of pressure at times but it is really rewarding. By still staying active with Racer X I can still be involved in the sport I love on my own terms, so I’m in a really good place.

You've had a very successful career in the moto industry and now are well on your way in your 
firefighting career. Thanks again for your time and hope to see you at the races.

Kris Keefer

                                            Photo credit to Drew Ruiz


Kris Keefer is a former SX/MX racer and current Dirt Rider Magazine editor, along with being a test rider with his own company Keefer Inc.

Thanks Kris for doing this interview, I appreciate it.


Kris, you are a former pro Supercross rider and Motocross rider, can you give us some background on your racing career?

Yes, I raced professionally for several years.  I raced Supercross for only two years back in 2004 and 2005. My mom was diagnosed with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) when I was just five years old and it turned for the worse around the yearly part of 2002 (when I was peaking as a racer). I was always brought up that family comes first so I tried to race as much as I could, but my mom's disease required me to be home most of the time (due to my parents being separated since my late teenage years). My mom was bed ridden (due to the disease) and we could only afford a caretaker for so many hours, so the rest of the time was spent spending quality time with my mom. I had some help with her in 2004 while I worked as KTM's R&D's test rider and that led me to race the whole West Coast SX Series. I qualified for my first main event that year and even lead the Anaheim 3 heat race for several laps, which was a highlight for me. My mom passed away in December of 2004, but she always told me to pursue my passion and that lead me to my first factory ride in Canada in 2005. Andy White from KTM Canada (at the time) hired me to race their newly developed KTM 250 SX-F, since I did so much develop work on that bike. I then developed relationships up there and raced for KTM again in 2007 and a few races in 2009. I have been back several times to race since then and have a lot of friends that I consider family in Canada now! I am practically an adopted Canadian! My main gig most of my life was being a test rider but I always loved racing!    


You are the associate editor for Dirt Rider Magazine and a test rider. What are you responsibilities in these roles?

I am very lucky to be the Associate Editor of what I feel is the best testing based magazine there is. My responsibilities are widely spread, but mainly I evaluate products, dirt bikes, and create valuable content for our reader. Let me elaborate on this a bit. I am not the type of guy to be at the office five days a week, as I feel I am best used out on the track. I am very fortunate to have a great group of people to work with at the magazine. We all work together to give our reader the most informative information there is for them to digest. I enjoy writing test articles because I know what I want to hear when I am looking to go buy a new bike or aftermarket accessory. I take testing very personal. All we have as a magazine (and heck myself included), to sell is our integrity. That is all we can offer!!! These people are spending their hard earned money on what we might say works well. I take that to heart because I know how hard it is to spend money that is tough to come by. I really try and make sure to respond back to readers who have questions on what they might want to buy, but are unsure about. Our industry is not like the car industry where they can go test drive it before they buy it. They rely on us to point them in the right direction!  


You raced some Canadian nationals this summer; how did that deal come about and how did it go?

Well another gig I have is co-hosting the Pulp MX Show with Steve Matthes. I enjoy talking moto on the show, among other things, but it really has opened up some doors for me in the industry. Whether he knows it or not I owe a lot to Matthes, but I don't dare tell him that or he will get a huge head! I was talking on the show one night about how I want to go back up there and race. Kevin Tyler from the MX 101 Yamaha racing team up there got a hold of me and I went and took a family vacation and raced the first two rounds. The first round didn't go well as I had some bike issues, but the second round I finished top ten (9th) in the hyperactive young buck MX2 class! Not bad for a 36 year old test guy! I really wanted to challenge myself and ride a 250F up there. Yamaha has the best 250F in production form, so the team built me an unreal race bike and in return I wrote an article about the team and my experiences up in Canada. 


Would you be interested in doing some more races if the right deal came together?

Absolutely, if something came up and it fit my schedule. My testing business and Dirt Rider come first, but if the deal was right I would love to go race as much as I can. I think have plenty to offer a team. I just love dirt bikes, period! I love meeting new people and helping them out with their testing problems that sometimes they might run into. Usually, I get to meet a lot of those great people at the races. 


For those who may not know, how would a day of testing go for you and what would it entail?

There are all different types of testing actually. Production is testing is different than magazine testing. Pre-Production bike testing is usually called "blind tests". Engineers will not share what is different on the test bike and it is up to me to decipher what is better or worse and relay it back to them. They can change up to ten different parts on any given day and you must give them the right information. They have their paperwork in front of them when you are downloading them the info, so you have to be precise with your words. I prefer that kind of testing. I like not knowing what I am evaluating and giving feedback on directly what I feel on the track. Magazine testing is a little more laid back, but I really try to bring the blind testing over the magazine side. That way there is no confusion or pre-notion on what is good or bad. It is very long days. Usually starting by 7:30AM and ends at dark. I have huge stock in Bag Balm for my ass, because it gets chapped a whole hell of a lot! Monkey Butt for days. 


Anything you can share with us about some major changes in the next year or two with the bikes or gear?

Come on! Part of the deal is I have to keep my fat mouth shut! You know this! HAHA! I got tested early on in my career when I was at Yamaha. Ed Scheidler came up to me and said " I heard you been talking about what we been doing here, to others"! I was like "no sir, I swear"! I was so nervous and almost pissed at the same time! He then looked at me in the eyes and said "Good, I was just making sure you weren't talking"! However, I can tell you that KTM is making all of the Japanese manufacturers step up their game on production motorcycles. KTM has taken the 450 SX-F and 250 SX-F and made them lighter, more compact, faster, and with an electric start! The Japanese better start working hard to shave pounds ASAP. 


You've also started your own company- what exactly is Keefer Inc.? What gave you the idea to start it?

Keefer Inc. was started over five years ago. I noticed companies needing someone reputable to help make their products better before going to market. So I created Keefer Inc. to help these companies. It started out with only a couple companies, but now I have several that use me to help them develop their future endeavors. I also want to say that I created my company so it is an unbiased form of an opinion, on any product or machine. All of my Keefer Inc. testing is confidential (I sign a confidential agreement) so zero information can get shared with competing companies. This ensures each company an honest and fair evaluation to help their product advance and get better. For some people it's tough for them to believe in, but I am trying to break the mold when it comes how products and dirt bikes can be evaluated fairly. Nothing worth doing is easy right? 


Thanks again Kris for you time,
 hope to see you out on the track soon.
And remember everyone to checkout the latest issue of Dirt Rider Magazine and if you are looking for Keefer Inc. R&D services you can reach Kris at keeferinc@hotmail.com for more info.

Brett Cue 365

                                          Photo credit John Sanders

First off, Brett, thanks for taking the time to do this. It means a lot. 

What got you into racing? 

Well, for as long as I can remember, I’ve loved dirtbikes. When I was little, I was scared to have my own or ride by myself, but I loved being at the track and riding with my dad. I knew everything about the sport, but was too scared to ride, myself. When I was 10, I decided to give riding a shot. I raced once when I was 13, but didn’t start really racing until I was 15 or 16. My family supported every one of my decisions, no matter if it was to race or to do something else, so I’m very thankful for that!

I know you're from Oklahoma, so was Guy Cooper a big influence on you?

For sure! I think it was the same story for any young rider in that region. I believe he is part of the reason I turned out the way I did. He was always all about having fun on a dirtbike and throwing whips! I learned a lot of the whip style I have from watching him all those years! My dad and him use to ride together a lot, so we spent quite a bit of time at the track with Guy as I grew up. His riding abilities were way before his time and he had a good attitude and personality to go along with it, so he was definitely one to look up to!

What inspired you to do your X Games videos? 

I wasn’t in the best place in my life at the time. Most of the racing I use to do had kind of stopped and I didn’t have many goals to look forward to as far as riding goes. Dayton Daft had just started doing videos and we thought it would be neat to do a series to try to accomplish something that I really never thought was possibility. Even though it didn’t work in 2013 and now it’s almost 2016 and I’ve still never been invited to X Games, I feel like that was a huge part in getting me where I am today. Even if I never end up getting into X Games, I can’t complain a bit.

Obviously the goal was to make it into X Games, but could you have imagined everything else that has happened as a result of those videos?

Not at all. To be honest, Dayton and I had, and probably still have, no idea what we were doing. We paid for everything we did out of our own pockets and were just truly pumped to get to do the things we did. Even now, I am probably the luckiest guy in the world. Not many people can say they have a job they really really love, but I definitely can.

What is your position at Motosport.com? and what does it entail?

I am the brand ambassador for MotoSport.com. No matter if it’s making videos, talking for commercials, going to events or taking care of guests, I’m the guy. I also do the amateur support program as well as helping with the custom graphics program we just started.

You and motosport.com have put out a couple of videos of you on a two-stroke.  Can you tell me a little about that?

I found a super fresh 2007 CR250 at the end of last year and bought it right away. Since then, we have done a few select videos and commercials with the bike. I’ve been trying to keep it fresh since she is so beautiful, but it’s so fun to ride that it’s hard sit and look at it in the garage! If all goes according to plan, I may have another 2 stroke in the stable soon as we will be able to put out some more cool videos!  

We've seen you at the Monster Energy Cup, you were an alternate at last years X Games, and raced some outdoor nationals. What's next for Brett Cue?

Honestly, I never know what’s coming up until it happens most of the time. You never know where you’ll see me next, but as long as I’m having fun, I couldn’t ask for more! Hopefully this year I will land on the podium at Monster Cup and get an invite to X Games. If either of those happened, the rest would just be icing on the cake!

Just wanted to thank you again Brett for doing this interview I can't wait to see what you have in store in the future.

Thanks buddy! Good to meet you!