Bon Jovi once sang about being a modern day cowboy, riding a steel horse, aka a motorcycle. Sorry Jon, but you’ve got nothing on Davi Millsaps and the rest of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross racers that will be on display this Saturday at the Georgia Dome. If you’ve never seen supercross, it is simply motorcycle racing involving off-road motorcycles on an artificially-made dirt track consisting of various obstacles and steep jumps. The AMA Supercross Championship events are mostly held in venues such as the Georgia Dome all across the country. The supercross events have a high degree of difficulty and it tailored for television viewing.
One of the top racers on the AMA Supercross tour is Davi Millsaps, a Georgia native that now calls California home. Millsaps is looking forward though to returning to the Georgia Dome, an event he calls one of the highlights of his season.
“It is cool to come back so my family can come watch me race,” said Millsaps about the upcoming AMA Supercross stop in Atlanta. In fact it was his family that got him interested in racing when he was just three-years-old.
“I was riding down the road with my dad and my sister when we saw some bikes, and we wanted some.” Christmas of 1991 was a happy one for Millsaps and his sister when both received small motorbikes.
After some early success, Millsaps received his first sponsor in 1995 and was winning early and often as an amateur. In 2001, Millsaps decided he wanted to ride motorcycles for a living. “I was brought into the pros in 2004 and then eventually switched to Joe Gibbs Racing,” said Millsaps. “That was hard to do.”
It may have seemed hard for Millsaps, but the decision for Gibbs Racing, Coy Gibbs in particular, was easy. Millsaps was one of the first racers that Gibbs approached to ride for the newly formed motocross team. It took a while but eventually Millsaps debuted for JGRMX in 2011. After a knee injury he began 2012 with a contract extension and he has been off to the races since.
Life as a Supercross racer may seem glamorous, but Millsaps said it is like most careers: highs and lows and not just the ones on the track. “It is amazing, but it is a job,” said Millsaps of life as a professional. “Riding has to be the best job, but it is a job. We get up and do what we love to do.” Millsaps noted that the travel is fun as well. “There is nothing like it, but it is a lot of work.”
Typically Millsaps said he will practice three or four days a week and travel on Fridays. The schedule depends on whether or not the circuit is in season. “I’ll run three days (a week) in season or four (out of season), but you want your body to recover.” Last year an injury forced him from a majority of the year, but he has recovered and is now going full bore after a title.
The injury occurred after a great 2010 for Millsaps, a year that saw him capture the Supercross 450 at San Diego, a win he calls his greatest achievement as a professional. Millsaps was fourth in the recent Anaheim race, moving him up to ninth in the season standings. Now the circuit stops in Atlanta, a venue that Millsaps looks forward to each year.
“The (Atlanta) crowd is one of the best on tour,” said Millsaps. “It is fun and it’s a great event.” The scenery is also something Millsaps said he is looking forward to as he comes back to the city near where he grew up. “I have really great memories from past successes in front of my family.”
Can Millsaps get the victory in front of his family? If so he will need to navigate a track that features plenty of twists and turns with jumps, mounds and hairpin turns. According to the supercrossonline.com, the Atlanta track will start with an immediate turn, followed by some fast moguls, followed by three hills in succession, a right turn followed by nine hills that crescendo then decrescendo into a stretch of straightaway. After a hairpin turn, four plateaus await the racers with three more hills quickly following. Racers will have the chance to speed into a small rhythm section then burn towards the final two hills and the finish line.
According to Millsaps, all of the tracks on the circuit are “somewhat similar.” “The all have the basic layout and features.” Millsaps noted that once you get the jumps down, you have have to nail the rhythm section and work through the race in your mind. He said he is looking forward to the Atlanta track though and hopes to have success. “The jumps are somewhat similar (to recent races). The layout is different but jumps are jumps.” A company called Dirt Wurx designs and builds the tracks. Hundreds of truckloads of dirt and clay are brought in and laid down on the stadium floor to form a base. More dirt is piled on to top shape the jumps, bumps and berms. After the event, Dirt Wurx has the dirt out in less than twenty-four hours, and the dirt is stored at a private location to be reused at the next event.
Millsaps hopes to put on a show in Atlanta, the closest stop on tour to his native Cairo. Watch to see if he pulls off his favorite move, “the dead body,” to give his fans an extra thrill. If he can master the jump sequence, expect Millsaps to receive an extra charge from his east coast fans and his family, which will be in attendance to cheer on his every move.
Loading ...
