Reports

After the 2009 season we visited Wes Kane at M Racing in Glendora, California where he is a mechanic and sponsored racer. Wes is well on his way to becoming a Professional Superbike Racer.

Jessica Rosales

You have been riding for six years and racing for about two…basically how did all this start for you?

Wes Kane

Well I grew up in El Paso Texas and by the time I finished high school all I wanted to do is own a motorcycle. I got to find a way to do this. A buddy of mine had a bike and he would let me borrow it, for some odd reason, for weeks at a time. That’s when I started doing stupid stuff on the street and just get myself in a bunch of trouble. And then I finished high school and knew I had to do something…one, I got to get out of the house…two, I got to get a job…three, I got to get a motorcycle. Not really in that order either. I think getting a motorcycle was at the top. So, I thought I could kill all these birds with one stone by joining the Air Force and get an education at the same time. I joined the Air Force right out of high school and was stationed in Arkansas and as soon as I could, I went out and bought a Ninja ZX-6R. That was in ‘03. Then some friends and I would go riding around doing wheelies in the streets and riding fast in the mountains trying to hurt ourselves. I crashed a couple of times and even lost a few friends. Then I started to think maybe I should find another way. So, I started doing track days because I still wanted to go fast and do crazy stuff.

Jessica

It sounds like you were sort of a dare devil. What actually slowed it down for you?

Wes

I don’t think it was really being a dare devil. I just had a lot of aggression going in the wrong places. I had no focus. Looking back, I can see now I am channeling all that into racing.

So, I didn’t need to go out and do wheelies in the street, or try to hurt myself in the mountains, by seeing how fast I can go.

I had seen guys ride off the edge of a cliff. I also got a DUI on my bike while in the Air Force. That is what drew the line for me. Once my riding privileges were completely gone I had to find a way to ride but not in the streets. So, I started doing track days. I took all the body work off the bike and put on race body work. I began dedicating everything to riding on the track and I will see where it goes from there.

I do not know how it really got started, but the next thing you know the same group of friends I was riding with was competing on the track. We had sort of a local club going.

Jessica

So, you started in Texas, then went to Arkansas and now you’re here in California. Those are three very different places. How is the riding in each of those states?

Wes

I did not do too much riding in El Paso, but it is a big desert; flat and mostly straight lines. I didn’t even know I wanted to race at the time, but I did know I wanted to move on. Arkansas was a lot better for riding because you had a bunch of twisty roads. That is where I realized I wanted to go around turns fast. I came out here and I don’t do much street riding.

Before making his move to California, someone talked to Wes Kane about doing Endurance Racing to get more track time and develop his skills.  What he wasn’t told is that he would start as the new guy and get the short end of the stick. After Wes didn’t get the track time he’d hoped for, he turned to Sprint Racing. He wanted to be his own team and represent himself in the Central Motorcycle Roadracing Association.  At the time, CMRA was racing in East Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.  All his plans changed when he received orders to go to Iraq in 2006.  Wes was able to race once at the end of the year, but was a little discouraged by his results. It turns out, no matter how good you think you are, motorcycle racing takes work and practice.

Jessica

How do you get yourself in that mind state of ‘I got to try it again?’ How do you get back into it?

Wes

That’s a good question. That is what I think eludes a lot of people and keeps them from going further, because it is really all in your head. If you can’t deal well with pressure and discouragement you will eventually stop. Realizing who you are and how far you have to go can hurt your ego.  When you find out you are not the next greatest thing, you are human and you were not born into something and you got to make it for yourself from the ground up. That is what gets a lot people. If you don’t have the burning desire to do it then at some point you art just going to pull the plug. You’ll weigh your options, ‘is it worth it to risk my life, family, house, car, all your cool possessions or finished 7^th in a race’ what’s better? That is what gets a lot of people. When you get discouraged and say, ‘umm, I got a long way to go’ I don’t know how to describe it, but it is like a switch that goes off in your head, ‘this is what I want to do.’ That is how it happened for me. The bad results I got were a constant reminder of how bad I was. For me, that’s what it took to work harder. If you can work past that in your mind first and then when you go out there you can be 100% better than you were the last time.

 ((wondering what “cool possessions Wes said good bye to?  Read on to find out!))

Jessica

It was your motivation…

Wes

Right, that was definitely my motivation. It was what helped me start the next year working harder. And I did do better, it was weird. After seeing those results for a whole winter hanging on my wall, the next year in ‘07 I was instantly faster. It could be different for everyone, but that is how it happened for me.

Jessica

When you were called to go to Iraq for your tour of duty and you went from racing and then leaving for that much time…how do you get back into the groove of things?

Wes

I don’t think that was so much a really big deal because I hadn’t started to really race. I had done some stuff but hadn’t really started to race so; I had no concept of what I was doing. To take a break didn’t really affect me at all. It actually made me more determined. When I got back from Iraq, I kind of jumped right back into it, instantly and purposely.

When I moved to California the whole 2008 season was gone. I rode on the track maybe two times. That’s because I moved out here with hardly any money and probably not the best plan. I had a plan, but when you get out here and put it into use, your plan is not as great as you thought it once was. I couldn’t race. I didn’t have the money. I didn’t have the time. I was trying to survive. So, 2008 was a complete wash. That did hurt because I was coming off such a high from 2007. That was my first year of racing and I was determined, I was driven, I was trying to push myself and then I hit a wall.

I came to California and everything was new; it was difficult. I was putting myself in a new environment. I had to learn a new job. Everything was new to me. That was another mental burden that I had to overcome and make sure that fire was still burning inside. So, when I did get to race again I could do it. We had made plans for me to race in 2009. I had pretty much sold everything to survive. I sold my old race bike and my travel van I used to race in 2007. They had a 2005, ‘1000’ here and I was able to turn that into my race bike. That definitely took on a toll because I went from being on a roll in 2007 to nothing in 2008.

Jessica

Watching 2008 go by…like you said you only had a few races. Were you ready for 2009? Did it make you more anxious for it? How did that affect you for the upcoming season?

Wes

Yeah, I was definitely anxious. It was tough…I knew I was going to race a new bike. I had not really rode much on 1000s. 1000s are a lot different than the 600s. I never rode on any of these tracks out here and I was going to put myself back into competition. The one thing I had going for me is the knowledge of the guys at M Racing. I was also riding in a higher class. I was in expert class at the time, after I had come from a novice year. I had gained my expert license riding one year in the CMRA. There is a whole formula they use. You race a whole year and they put the numbers together. If the numbers add up right, then you get to move up to expert. That is right below the pro. It is your stepping stone into the pro level. So, that was an issue for me. I am going to ride with the fast guys on fast bikes at new tracks. There was definitely some anxiety going into 2009.

Jessica

Was there any intimidation? Did you ever think maybe this is not for me?

Wes

There was intimidation, but I always knew this was for me. There was never a doubt in my mind about that. I was just worrying how long it is going to take. It is just human nature to want everything now. I want to be the best, right now. It just doesn’t come like that. Nothing comes like that. So, it was kind of a slap in the face when I started. But, I was determined to keep going without a doubt.

Jessica

How did the 09 season in AFM go for you?

Wes

It went great in the long run, considering it was only my second year of racing. It started out a little rough, of course. I had to get use to the bike. I had to figure stuff out with it and how to ride it hard. Dean (Mizdal) had been helping me out with parts from his old race bike. (Dean Mizdal is a professional racer and a member of the M Racing staff) That helped a lot, but it also hurt because it set the bar so much higher than if you have just a stock bike with race body work on it. Having all those performance parts on it made the bike so much better. So we kept raising the bar before raising my level of performance. That is why the year started out kind of tough for me. I had a goal of finishing within the top ten at the beginning of the year. I thought that was a realistic goal I could set for myself. The first 2 races I crashed and there were some problems with the bike. A tip over sensor was bad. I think I finished 13^th and 17^th in the 2 races. That was real discouraging. But by the end of the year with Dean helping me, things got better. Since he does AMA Superbike, I could pick his brain. We analyzed things together and it really works out well. I could drive and push harder because I see him telling me what I can do. That is what keeps me going faster.

Jessica

So, Dean has been a motivation for you?

Wes

Having Dean around helps me not only with the bike but my mental strength.

Jessica

Now that you have a full season under your belt, what is coming up for you the next season and what are the goals you set for yourself?

Wes

Next season I want to race in as many pro races as I can. You must qualify to race in the pro races. I tested myself this year. I raced at California Speedway in Fontana. I had never seen the track. I never did any laps so I didn’t have any time to gauge myself on to find out where I was to qualify for the pro race. Even though I was not able to get much practice time, I was able to move from the rear up as far as 7^th place. It was a good test to see if maybe I can qualify for the race in Fontana for 2010.

Jessica

We will keep our fingers crossed for you. It sounds like you are heading in the right direction and we will be looking for you on the track.