Interview:
Jesse West - 2007 WPSA Pro QuadTerrain Champion
- Continued
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Arctic
Cat has their very own QTC course at
the Thief River Falls, MN location,
which ATVriders.com, Harlen Foley, had
the opportunity to try out last year
after Daryl Rath wrapped up the Championship.
This is the same track that Jesse uses
to practice and durability test Arctic
Cat ATVs |
Before
this you never really rode ATV’s. This
is all new to you; you just got involved in
ATV racing last year for engineering purposes…
I’ve had no experience on ATV’s.
For my job I did some riding and testing,
but no real racing. My family and I started
a snowmobile racing effort a couple of years
ago, but I got the chance to go race ATV’s
and I was just kind of a natural on them.
I love doing it!
Are
you going to be back on the snowmobiles this
winter?
We’re going to finish up the GNCC series,
and the 12-Hour, then we’re going to
go right into snowmobile racing. We’ll
be running some snowcross, but mainly Pro
Cross Country with the USCC for Arctic Cat
right now.
Since
you mentioned GNCC; how do you compare the
GNCC with the WPSA? Have you learned stuff
from GNCC that you’ve applied here or
is it completely different?
When you get down to the basics, it’s
the same aspects. You’re racing, and
you have the same mentality WPSA is more of
a sprint race, GNCC is more of a planned out,
longer race. You definitely attack them a
little different, it’s two different
styles of racing, but each one helps the other.
I’ve learned from both and it’s
helped me to succeed at each one.
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| Jesse
West kicked off the 2007 GNCC Season
with a win in the 4x4 Open Class, but
with conflicting races with the WPSA
Series, Jesse has missed 5 rounds of
racing, but he plans on racing the final
2 rounds of the season at Powerline
Park & The Ironman
|
Which
is your favorite?
I love the woods, but WPSA is so much fun.
It’s the style of racing I like; it’s
real intense. I also love GNCC because you’re
out there for two solid hours so you get a
lot of seat time. I’d definitely pick
the WPSA, but I still like them both.
Back
to the snow side of things…How competitive
are you in the snow? Are you one of the top
pros out there to like you are here on the
ATV’s?
Actually, I’ve never went pro. This
last season I was going to go pro, but the
ATV schedule conflicted with it and we didn’t
race much snowcross. This year I’m going
pro on the snowmobile. I’ve been semi-pro
up until then and have been successful at
that. I plan to do well; I’m ready for
it as a racer.
Where
do you compete at on the snow?
National snowcross is all over from Quebec
to New York and all the way from the eastern
U.S. to the Midwest. The cross country is
all in the Midwest.
If
one really takes off are you going to keep
racing both or are you going to start focusing
on the ATVs more?
That’s definitely what I hope it turns
into. I wouldn’t have a problem with
that. We’ll have to wait and see, but
for right now I’m going to try and do
my best at both and try to keep myself racing
all the time.
Congratulations
on your win Jesse! You have a great group
of friends, family and your whole pit crew.
We wish you luck with all your sponsor deals
coming up and look forward to seeing you race
next year!
Thank you! I can’t wait to get out there
and do it some more.
