Presented by 6D Helmets

The summer of 2018 was a strange time for Phil Nicoletti. Despite having a number of top-ten finishes and even an overall podium to his credit, the New Yorker had no lucrative offers on the table to race in the United States. With all stateside options exhausted, he took a contract with the Rockstar Energy/OTSFF/Yamaha team to contest the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown series in Canada that promised two years of full support and a confirmed status as a front-runner in the very competitive field. It's a route that a handful of riders have taken in recent years, especially because the series offers a 100,000-dollar (Canadian currency, by the way) payout to the person with the most combined points from the Arenacross, motocross, and Supercross tours.

After an eventful year that included race wins, podium finishes, and that impossible to miss incident in the post-race cooldown zone, Nicoletti clinched the title with a sizable margin over defending champion Cole Thompson. The move north has given Nicoletti a new lease on his career and at 30 years old, he feels that he has a few more years to stack wins over the border.