Pit Racing

Mason Banfield returns to the show for another hilarious discussion of moto and of course, a whole lot more!

Mark Blackwell races the +30 Expert class in the Oklahoma State Championship Series and is one of the most likeable dudes you will likely meet at the track on the weekends. Mark and his brother Zack were both talented racers earlier in their lives with very strong showings in the Intermediate and Pro classes at Loretta's. In this episode we talk to Mark about his history in the sport, his life now as a veteran racer returning to the sport, and his son's recent foray into racing. We also discuss some of the recent races around Oklahoma, the Pit Racing crew's standings in OSCS, Austin's thoughts on being a career musician, and more.

Terren O'dell was one of the most promising amateur motocross talents of the 2000's. As an amateur, he routinely finished in front of some of the most well known names in motocross you will see today. Some of those names include Eli Tomac, Dean Wilson, Justin Barcia, Ian Trettel, Blake Wharton, Malcom Stewart, Vince Friese, Cole Seely, just to name a few. A very promising future was stunted by the ramifications of the 2008 US financial crisis, which saw most of the factory teams hesitant to support many riders. After a couple years of struggling to secure a ride, Terren made the decision to retire from professional racing to support his family. He spent most of the following years relatively absent from the sport, but made a fiery return to competitive racing in 2020 at the Motoplayground Race in Ponca City, Oklahoma, where he was the class of the field in most of his motos. It was clear to everyone that Terren still had it, and in 2021 Terren qualified for Loretta's in the +25 class where he made a strong showing and finished 6th overall. Terren is an awesome guy and we had a blast sitting down to talk to him.

Darrin Thomas is an ex-professional motocross and ATV motocross mechanic. Before becoming a mechanic he spent several years racing motocross before deciding he liked working on bikes. He then spent several years working as a motocross mechanic for amateur riders around Oklahoma before taking a professional position at Yoshimura Suzuki in California. Following his time at Yoshimura he was hired by the Snapp brothers as a full time mechanic for their ATVMX program. Darrin worked alongside Chase during all of his pro-am and professional success as an ATVMX racer where they won a pro-am title together and placed 6th overall in the premiere class Chase's rookie year. Chase's accomplishments as an ATVMX athlete are something that is still discussed among the ATVMX community to this day, and Darrin played a very significant role in that success. Following his tenure with the Snapps, he worked as a factory mechanic for Joel Hetrick and the Can-Am team. Darrin now works as one of the premiere bass boat mechanics for some of the world's most elite bass fisherman, including several members of the Bassmasters tour. Darrin is absolutely hilarious and has a really awesome story; you don't want to miss this one!

In this episode we brought the podcast equipment to the track where we originally intended to talk to some of the riders competing in the Oklahoma State Championship Series. However, significant rain led to the round being rescheduled and most of the attendees left early. We recorded the show anyway and talked to the owner of Jandebeur's Motorsports Park, Bob Jandebeur. We were also joined by the Vice Mayor, Spenser Barnes. Bob talks about the history and philosophy of the park as well as his history in motorsports.

For episode 10 we take it back to how it all started with just the three of us. We discuss the Oklahoma State Championship Series, how Austin has changed as a racer from when he was a kid, Chase's appearance on the Digging Deep ATVMX podcast, the state of the podcast, and more!

Coby Sharp is a veteran motocross racer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and is currently competing for a title in the +40 class in the 2021 Oklahoma State Championship Series. He is the reigning 2020 state champion in the +40 class, the 2020 Motoplayground Race, as well as the 2021 Texas Winter Series. He also had strong finishes at the 2021 Spring-a-Ding-Ding national where he battled with Brian Deegan for a 3rd overall. All of these results have landed him in the top 10 of Motoplaygrounds Vet(+40) "Dirty 100" in 2021. Sharp was also very fast as an amateur, with strong showings in the 1990 Oklahoma City AMA Supercross as well as an impressive finish that same year at Loretta Lynn's where he finished 4th overall, one spot behind Ricky Carmichael. We also touch on the format of the Oklahoma state races, the lack of money in motocross/supercross, and we go through the names of all Oklahoma riders who have advanced to regionals from the south central area qualifiers.

Wyatt Carter is an amateur professional motocross rider from Cushing, OK who has been racing dirt bikes in Oklahoma his entire life. He is currently competing for an Oklahoma state championship in the 250 and 450 pro sport classes. Ryan Nichols is the sales manager at Stillwater Powersports in Stillwater, OK. He has become one of the most notorious powersports salesmen in the region through his hilarious Facebook posts and his friendly, down-home treatment of his customers. Both Wyatt and Ryan have been good friends of the Pit Racing crew for many years now and we had a really fun conversation with them.

Robbie Smith is the owner and operator of Robbie Smith MX Training in Wellston, OK. He is also an ex-professional motocross racer who has competed in both supercross and professional outdoor motocross races. In this episode Robbie shares some of his thoughts on proper riding technique, stories of growing up as an MX racer in Oklahoma, old injuries, and more.

In this episode we are joined by Oklahoma's own Marshall Plumb, owner and operator of Marshall's Racing in Stillwater, OK and one of the organizers for the Oklahoma State Championship Series. However, most people outside of Oklahoma probably know Marshall as one of the most tenured members of the professional motocross and supercross pits. Marshall started his career as a mechanic in his home country of Canada and later moved to the US where he tuned Guy Cooper and Bryan Swink to national championships in the early 90's. He remained a professional mechanic through the late 90's and eventually landed at Dunlop Tires where he still works on the weekends today. Marshall has an incredible story and the Oklahoma moto scene is fortunate to have him.