27 Nick Wey

Fresh off a Loretta Lynn’s Pro title and a promising amateur career, Nick Wey gave fans a sneak preview of his talent in late 1997. When he emerged onto the full-time pro scene, an impressive supercross showing and seven top-ten rides outdoors earned Nick the 1998 Supercross/Motocross Rookie of the Year Award. Nick landed a second-place finish in the ’99 Supercross East Coast Lites class and took his talent outdoors to land fourth in the Motocross Lites Series. In 2000, Nick piloted his Splitfire Kawasaki to a top-five finish indoors and a sixth-place ranking in the 125 (Lites) nationals, and then traveled abroad where he captured the Barcelona, Spain Supercross crown.

In 2001, Nick jumped ship and lined up for Supercross aboard a Yamaha of Troy YZ250F. He remained consistent as a front-runner and charged his new blue bike to a fourth-place repeat performance on the East coast. The ‘01 AMA Motocross Series was set to be Nick’s farewell ride on a Lites bike, but with injuries along the way, he found himself falling just outside the top 10 at the end of the summer. For the 2002 season, Nick parted ways with the Lites-only Yamaha of Troy clan and wound up at Moto XXX Yamaha. Nick had yet to prove himself in the premier class, but after securing 8th place in the ‘02 SX series, he had done just that. Overflowing with confidence, he began preparing for the outdoors, but a knee injury postponed his plans. Luckily, he only missed the first two rounds of the series and was raring to go at Southwick. Despite his setback, Nick was able to salvage the season and finish a respectable 12th place in the Motocross class. As negotiations for the 2003 series commenced, Nick found himself sticking with Yamaha but switching to the Mach 1 team.

His luck had not yet completely turned around, as misfortune reared its ugly head once again in the first few rounds of the ’03 SX series. He quickly bounded back and finished the series impressively in fourth place. During the outdoors, Nick rode consistently around the top ten and, due to a few mishaps, finished eleventh. The next year turned out to be another impressive year for Nick Wey, who now represented American Suzuki. His fifth place Supercross finish and seventh place outdoors proved that his new ride suited him well. Toward the close of ’04, Nick hopped aboard an Unbound Energy/MDK backed Honda and debuted his new ride at the US Open, where he finished on the podium in second place. Nick’s rollercoaster career hit a low point during the 2005 Supercross series when, after five straight top-ten finishes, he re-injured his knee and was sidelined with surgery. When he made his return to racing at round 3 of the ’05 Nationals, it was clear that the time off had not affected Nick’s speed. Leaving his injury behind, he added another top ten to his resume by rounding out the season in ninth. Nick re-signed with MDK for 2006 and landed fifth place overall in Supercross, including three podiums and the Top Privateer Award, and then bested many factory riders for yet another top-ten finish outdoors.

He lined up confidently for the 2007 AMA Supercross Series aboard his MDK-backed Honda. He came out swinging and earned five-straight top tens including a podium and three top-five finishes. Unfortunately, his momentum was hindered at round six with an injury that left him out of the SX running. Nick seemed to still be struggling during the outdoors as he only competed in the first four nationals, with his best moto finish at Mt. Morris in eleventh. Despite a disappointing summer, Nick and the MDK crew had high hopes for the ’08 Supercross season. Aboard his brand-new KTM, he rebounded to end up with yet another top ten under his belt. With the 2008 AMA Motocross Series under way, Nick has become a steady frontrunner. Regardless of some setbacks along the way, Nick’s speed and perseverance has truly earned him a reputation as a force to be reckoned with. Alyssa Wald