Back at the Millville National in 2007, we were wrapping up the Racer X Motocross Show in the pits, and Ben Townley was goofing around trying to mess me up. I proclaimed to BT that I could not be rattled, and told him to call me the Ice Man. With that in mind, he and
Ivan Tedesco grabbed a big cooler full of ice and dumped it on me at the conclusion of the show (followed by Townley throwing out a sarcastic “Ice Man, eh?”)
We all had a good laugh after it. Townley and Tedesco are two of the good guys in the pits. They’re just like the buddies you race with, you can see yourself sitting on the tailgate and cracking a few brews with the guys while bench-racing and getting on each other. They just happen to be super fast on a dirt bike, but I bet that hasn’t changed them much.
Both riders were heading to Team Honda for 2008, and expectations were high. Not only were both primed to win and contend, but they both “got it” as far as their dealings with the press and fans. You wanted to see these boys succeed, because it would be good for everyone involved.
Injuries kept Townley away from his Honda for most of the last two years, though. And IT hasn’t been much more fortunate. He was beat up for most of ’08, and while he made it through supercross in 2009, he sure wasn’t the same guy who tore up the 125 class in ’04 and ’05, or showed so much promise in his rookie 450 season in 2006.
New kids get on the block quickly in this sport, and you had to wonder how much longer the window was going to stay open for Tedesco. Under normal circumstances, you could see him getting one more shot with another team even if his Honda deal didn’t work out. But we’re not living in normal circumstances anymore—budgets are tight, teams may be shrinking or leaving altogether, and there’s a big pile of 450 riders with unsure futures.
That really sucks for Tedesco. I doubt there are many at the track who root against him. You don’t hear anyone say, “he dug his own hole.” And he’s never, ever been accused of not putting in the work.
Mike Alessi put his future on the line by racing with a broken kneecap on Saturday. He had an old nemesis out there in Josh Grant, and when Grant ended up inside of Mike in a corner on the first lap of the first moto, I’m sure JG didn’t really care if they came into contact. There’s no love between MA and JG, and years of creating rivalries means you’ll get no favors when you need them.
IT, though, has tried to keep his nose clean through the years. In fact, when James Stewart landed on him in Toronto a few years ago, everyone was primed for the take-out to end all take-outs as revenge once Ivan came back, but he thought better of it.
Despite doing the right things, though, Ivan just seemed to have bad luck, and things weren’t looking good. I was holding out hope for the guy, but after he missed the podium in supercross, it wasn’t looking good. After he crashed out of Glen Helen with a head injury, it was looking even worse.
One good thing Tedesco had on his side, though: he’s done this before. No one expected Tedesco to turn out this good in the first place—he was far from a standout as an amateur. I recall the Steel City National in 2000, when Travis Pastrana and Stephane Roncada were battling for the 125 National Championship in the final round. An unknown Tedesco grabbed the holeshot in a moto and promptly fell right in front of the whole pack, nearly taking Travis down and ruining the whole thing. He ended up way back in the pack. Amazingly, five years later, he was winning the title himself.
Tedesco persevered despite being an underdog. He built his career and his confidence from scratch. With that experience in his back pocket, I thought maybe he was a little better suited to re-opening the window of opportunity than some other riders.
Now it looks like he’s doing it. With a few solid rides, punctuated by his 1-1 at Colorado, IT is back in the title chase. Something seems to be off with series’ leader Chad Reed, leaving Tedesco with an opportunity to get all the points that he lost at Glen Helen back.
I remember exactly one person predicting Tedesco would win the ’05 125 title before the season began. Parts Unlimited’s Rob Buydos called me and said “Number 30 will be your man.” I didn’t even know who number 30 was, at the time, because Tedesco was running #1 in Supercross.
Rob was right, and I will forever remind him that he was the only person in the industry who accurately predicted the '05 125 chase. Not many people believed in Ivan then, and I don’t know if they numbers were any better now. He’s got a shot at this, which means one of the good guys might finally make it.