Five Minutes With Tyler Bowers

Back in the pit area immediately after the two timed 250 A practice sessions that shook out inside the Angel Stadium of Anaheim on Saturday afternoon, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider, Tyler Bowers, appeared to be both relaxed and confident. “I felt really good out there,” he offered. “It was like I was only riding at 85 percent, I feel like I have more.” When the night show rolled around for the opening round of the 2015 Western Regional Supercross Championship, the multifold Amsoil Arenacross champion did, in fact, have more as he continued to build centrifugal force, securing to a Heat race win and, when all was said and done, a fine come-from-behind third Overall in the calamitous Main Event. Not a bad start to the new season from the big, affable kid from Ohio. Afterwards, we went looking for Ty in an effort to procure some insight on his first run at an AMA Supercross title. And as expected, when we found him, he was more than happy to fill us in. Read on.

Tyler, what do you think? A good opening night for you?

Yeah, it was pretty good. A win would have been better but my plan at the first round was just to go out and try to get on the podium. That was the goal, but the ultimate goal was to win, of course, but I wasn’t going to press the issue. If I tried too hard and I crashed or something like that, it really wasn’t worth crashing over a win at the first round, do you know what I mean?

All day long we heard a lot about the simplicity of the track – weird to call any supercross track simple – and how good starts were going to be imperative to a good result. To that end, Jessy Nelson and Zach Osborne were able to grab great starts at the beginning of the Main Event while you had to begin your race back in sixth. Did your start really hurt you?

Yeah, of course. One of my big downfalls has always been starts. I’m a heavier guy so usually that hinders me off the starts a little bit. That’s something myself and Pro Circuit racing have been working on. We’ve been doing a lot of testing and motor stuff to try to get the bike off the line the best we can with me on it. In the Heat race it showed as I came out of the first turn in second. That was my best start ever in a supercross race and I was able to get the Heat race win. In the Main Event, that was all just down to me. I jumped the gun a little bit when the gate dropped. I dumped the clutch and pulled a wheelie and then I double clutched it so everybody was able to get by me. Coming from the start I had, especially with the track conditions, the track was a little bit tame this weekend because they didn’t want to get too many guys hurt right off the bat with a technical track right at the beginning of the season. It was kind of hard to pass and there wasn’t a lot to separate riders. So I was able to manage coming from sixth on the very first lap to come all the way back to third at the finish. I was just happy to stay out of trouble and get up towards the lead. I actually almost caught the two leaders. I was catching Osborne and Nelson. I got pretty close right there at the end, but just ran out of time.

If you look at the timing and scoring sheets – which I’m sure you have – you can see that from approximately the halfway point forward you were pulling the fastest lap time of the entire race.

Yeah, I felt great in the Main Event. I rode a little reserved at the beginning because there was a lot going on with the guys that were around me. I think there were some guys riding over their heads and some guys were crashing and getting kind of squirrelly everywhere. I didn’t want to get caught up with somebody and end up going down or something like that. I kind of, like, hung out for a little bit and waited for my move to open up and make the passes that I wanted to make. After I got into third place and got a clear track I was able to start putting down the hammer. That was basically lap nine to 15 and if you look at the lap charts you can see that my laps were the fastest laps of the race. A start would have done a lot for me and that’s what we’re going to be working on this weekend going into Phoenix. I think the starts will be a lot better and we’ll get better results.

There was some talk after the races were run that you were out there being Tyler Bowers the aggressive arenacross guy and beating and banging about all night long. However, when I arrived home and watched a replay of the race, I thought you looked very controlled and precise with the moves you made throughout the night. Thoughts?

Yeah, there was a little controversy on my pass on Osborne in the Heat race – and that was a little bit rough – but it wasn’t meant to be very nice, by all means. I was nice up to that point because Osborne made a couple moves on me that weren’t that nice, either. I took two hits from him before that. I watched the race on TV, too, and he got kind of lucky because they didn’t show the part of him striking first, basically. I stood up for myself and I wasn’t going to take that and just got rid of him. I wasn’t going to deal with somebody running into me. Arenacross gets a bad rap. Everybody thinks it’s so dirty and rough and this and that. It’s not. There’s a lot of contact in arenacross, but that’s just because it’s tight racing. Most of the guys in there, they don’t want to be taking each other out, either. We all have to race each other each weekend and see each other each weekend. Nobody is trying to make enemies there, either. And as far as Zach goes, he’s a very competitive person. I’ve known him for a while. I’ve raced Zach on mini bikes all the way up to big bikes. I know Zach is just a competitive person in spirit all together and I have nothing but respect for that. I just had to fire back on him.

http://youtu.be/auolzLex-rc

Going into Phoenix, Arizona here in, well, six days, how do you feel about the competition and how do you feel about yourself?

I’m extremely confident. Going into the season I suffered a couple of bulged disks in my back. I still have them and I’m dealing with some nerves that are being pinched in back. Going into the new season I took some time off and I was kind of nervous that I wasn’t prepared enough. Going into the race on Saturday I was a little bit nervous and I didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t ridden with a lot of the other riders at the practice tracks. I knew I was fast and one of the faster guys on my team, but I didn’t know how I stacked up against the other teams. Going out and getting the jitters out of the way at the first round was just huge for me. I know at the first round in supercross and arenacross, everybody thinks they are going to win, you know? So you go out and it always gets a little bit crazy at the first round. I always thought the first race of a championship was to get through it with some good points. If you can win, that’s great, but you have to stay out of trouble. I’m just glad to get the first race knocked out with good points. Only five points out of the lead is a good spot to start the season. I think from here on out everybody knows where they sit and they know what to expect from now on and I think it’ll be good racing.

As far as social graces at a motocross race goes, you seemed to light up the crowd a bit – both at the stadium and on television – with your perspective, thoughts and words on things. Maybe you earned some new fans, eh?

(Laughter) I’m new to the scene, you know? Sometimes people like new things. I’m trying to change it up a bit. I’m just being me, man. I like to talk and I like interviews. I really enjoy them. I think after my racing career you’ll probably find me doing something in broadcasting maybe. It’s what I like to do and maybe one thing I bring to the table. I can talk. On the track, some people like my actions and some people don’t, but I’ve learned over the last six or seven years of my career that I’m not going to make anyone happy if I try to make them happy. Everyone is going to think what they want to think anyway. I’m just out trying to win races and do it the best way I know how to do it and this is it.