Quick one with Arenacross star Tyler Bowers

Eric Johnson

Steve Cox

The 2010 AMA Arenacross Championship was Tyler Bowers’ title. At 18 years of age, Tyler had dominated the championship and hoped to be moving up to supercross for 2011. However, with a couple of rounds left, he suffered bilateral femur fractures in a practice crash at home. Still, he finished third in points despite missing the final two rounds (which actually included three nights of racing), but had a ridiculously tough year to recover from his injuries. Even though he wasn’t in perfect racing shape when the AX series started back up, the Monster Energy/Babbitt’s Kawasaki rider is starting to hit his stride. Last Friday night, he won his first main event of the season, leading a Monster 1-2-3 sweep of the podium in front of teammates Chad Johnson and Gray Davenport.

Eric: Obviously, you won a lot of these Arenacross races last year and you probably should have had the title if not for your injury, so take us through what that time period has been like between when you got hurt and now getting your first win.
Tyler Bowers: It was a rough summer, man. Three and a half months in a wheelchair before I could even walk… I remember the first time I walked I teared up a little bit. It was a struggle to even go anywhere. You know, it’s weird how you almost… Well, you do; you forget how to walk. Little muscles aren’t trained, you’re shaking, you’re barely moving and stuff. So, last year I was on top of the world for a bit then I hit rock-bottom. I worked my tail off this summer and I think the first three rounds I worked too hard. I came in and put a lot of pressure on myself. I usually handle pressure well, just not when I’m putting it on myself because when I’m on the track I’m the only one that can tell myself, “You’d better win.” So, I pushed it too hard the first few rounds and made some mistakes. This weekend, I got off to a decent start and just salvaged from there. I made some smart passes, tried not to make anybody mad, was patient and it worked out for the best in the end. This track was real slick and hard packed tonight. The tracks lately, a lot of the guys can kind of go the same speed on it, so patience is key. I just don’t make any mistakes and capitalise on everybody else’s mistakes. That’s what paid off tonight.

When you have a battle with your teammate at the front like you did tonight with Davenport, does that complicate things a little bit?
Yeah, it’s tough, especially with Gray. Me and Gray are good buds now. He’s out in California where I’m staying now and I see him all week. It makes it tough, but at the same time I’m so proud of the guy. I’m just so pumped to be out here on the podium. Gray is riding good and he’s had a few rough nights at the beginning of the season, too. When he got out to that lead, my team manager said, “I knew you would be able to get by him,” but in the back of my head I knew Gray was riding good and I was actually trying my ass off to keep up. So I’m proud of him. And then [Chad] Johnson, after I got by Gray, he capitalised on that, got right behind me then pressured me the whole race. But it’s all in fun. We know we’re not going to kill each other out there and it’s a good feeling to have all three of us on top of the podium again.

That happened quite a bit last year with you guys, so does it sort of feel like a return to what it should have been?
Yeah, I mean this is the way it should be. I know all three of us work our tails off every day of the week and it’s good to get everybody up here on the podium again. I know we’re probably the guys to beat out here and the team to beat for sure. We’ve got the most backing; Eddie Babbitt is hooking us up. Pro Circuit, Monster Energy and Ti Lube are huge. Ryan Holliday, from Kawasaki, was here this weekend, and he’s just helping us out a ton. So we’ve got all the backing we need to put the bikes up front. Maxxis tyres are hooking up. Everybody is helping us out so we’re where we need to be and hopefully we can keep this going.

Well, you’re still young. What are you 20, 21?
I’m 19. I’ll be 20 in March…

Yeah, so you’re still a young dude. Obviously, you were in Supercross a little bit here and there but you have to be thinking past Arenacross at your age.
Man, I love Arenacross. I hate to say it, but I wish I could stay here my whole life because it’s fun. It’s a welcoming crowd and everybody here is nice. We all get along, we mesh good, and it’s not as intense. But in the long rung I obviously want to be in Supercross, you know? I’m working my tail off during the week in front of all the Kawasaki guys trying to get up there and put myself out. So, like I said, I’d like to be in Supercross making the big bucks again. It’s just, with the economy now, everything has kind of dropped off a bit and people have had to shuffle around. I’m fortunate to even have a job riding a dirt bike. I do what I love. Everybody falls on hard times every now and then and I’m lucky that my hard times are still good times. I’m having a blast. I couldn’t ask for anything better. I’ve got all the support in the world and I’m with the nicest people around.