La Crescent, MN (11/24/2014) - With all the big announcements going on, I figured I should sit down and let everyone know what has been happening at Root River Racing.  To clarify the ongoing rumors, Yes, Josh Upperman is joining the Root River Race Team. No, he is not replacing anyone on our team. Was there any ill will between Josh and Mark Baldwin or myself and Mark Baldwin, NO. Is Root River Racing still accepting resumes, no.

I know everyone out there is wondering how is it that Josh Upperman left Baldwin Motorsports and joined Root River Racing and everyone is ok with it. Ladies and Gentleman, it’s called respect. I had a casual conversation with Josh at Unadilla about racing, 2015, and what it’s going to take to get him on the podium more often. His primary concern was time to train and the financial ability to train the amount needed to be competitive in the Pro class. At the end of the conversation, I asked him to put together a sponsorship request of what he would need to get on the podium. At Red Bud he presented it to me. I felt it was something the team could handle, but Josh and I had one very tough hurdle to get through, to talk to Mark Baldwin.

Over the past few years, Mark and I have become good friends and great working associates. Out of my respect to Mark there was no way I was going to offer a formal deal to Josh without talking to Mark face to face. I found that opportunity at Loretta’s. Mark and I talked at the rear of my pick up, one of the few places we could find that we would not be disturbed. I explained what Josh and I had discussed in the past couple of weeks and what I was willing to offer him. He was impressed with the offer and happy for Josh. I could see the disappointment on Mark’s face and I tried to reassure him that this was not intentional to pull Josh from Baldwin but was to offer a great person and Pro rider the opportunity to win a AMA Pro ATV Championship. He thanked me for talking to him directly about it and offered any additional support that we may need for Josh and our team, Baldwin Motorsports would be there for us.

In other news, we are ecstatic with the results of our team. 2014 was the best the team has ever done winning 5 national championships in 450 A, Production A, Open A, Women and Super Mini. The team also hit the podium 68 times and taking 36 overall wins. At the banquet we were honored with Team of the year as well as Sam Rowe winning Amateur of the Year and Noah Mickelson winning Youth Rider of the Year. Coming off a year like that, the riders have set a new bar for themselves.

The team is growing and taking new shape. The team is losing one of our most inspirational and talented riders to marriage and the GNCC Racing Series. Megan Manshack was asked to marry Luke Shepherd on the podium at Loretta Lynn’s after she won Women’s class. She had also stressed to me that she would like to try for the Pro Women championship in GNCC. After what she had accomplished in two years with the team, how could I say no. Our support will always be with Megan in her adventures and would hope that she could make it to the ATV MX nationals from time to time.

Bringing under the tent in 2015, other than Josh Upperman, will be long time partial sponsored rider Tyler Mack and newcomer to the sport Owen Subjek. Tyler Mack with be hitting the B classes with Alex Gillette, while Owen will be competing in 90 Jr Open and 90 Jr Shifter classes.

These additional riders will bring the team to 10 Full Sponsored riders. Of the partial sponsored riders from 2014 Jordan Digby and Trevor Thatcher will be returning for sure. The 2015 new partial sponsored riders will be Jeffery Restrelli, Ryan Korody, Kyle Burnham, Gramm Meyer, Jacob Stevens, Kobe VanFossen, Kazin VanFossen, Maci Davenport, Dylan McClellan, Tyler Davis and Grant Olson.

The team is taking new shape by adding what we are calling “Support Family Riders”. It is something that we have been working on for the last two years and will fully implement for 2015. The concept for a support family riders is taking on the burden of building, rebuilding, hauling to and from national events, track support and appearance of full sponsorship of a rider and his or her family by way of the family’s support of the team.

Where this concept came from was watching a great family with 4 miniquad riders, that we had known for years, struggle to keep their machines running. It was painstaking to me to watch the kids come off the track dejected because of mechanical failures. I knew Marcey and Mark Liebe were frustrated, because they were doing the best that they could, but they didn’t have the technological know how nor the time to do the proper maintenance on their machines. When they were on the brink of giving up, I talked to our mechanics to see if we had the time and talent to do the maintenance on their quads. Rod Mickelson, the team manager, told me they would make it work, so I approached the family to offer them an opportunity to continue racing.

In the off-season that year we rebuilt their quads and corrected everything that was wrong that was causing most of their problems. The family also followed us to Texas to train over the winter. We all sat down to talk about our program and to be on the same page when it came to expectations. At the first round of nationals, Tristen, Taron, Trax and Teagan finished every moto and came away with top 10s for the weekend. Needless to say the family was happy. Outside of the joy that we gave that family, they repaid us for parts and labor on top of sponsoring the team with diesel fuel for the year.

This past year at High Point we had taken on the Vossman family after a lot of struggles in pre-season an after the first 3 rounds. Tommy and Johanna were amazed at Sunset Ridge when they got on their quads and were able to feel comfortable and compete. For the remainder of the season, the Vossman’s were welcomed in as a part of the team. Tommy and Johanna’s dad Tom Vossman, was all smiles from ear to ear as he watched his kids improve round after round. He was so grateful, that he has been working on sponsors for Root River Racing and the series through his contacts in the Indy Car racing series and the company he works for.

Towards the end of this past season, Bryan and Conney O’Neil approached us about the Vossman’s and the Liebe’s and the program they had going on with Root River Racing. We told them the stories and they were very interested in being a part of this program. Rod and I sat down to try to figure out how this all was going to work. Rod and I had determined, with the return of Doug Schiltz, our shock specialist, and the additions of Leon Spinden and Jim Keough as full time mechanics, we had the man power to take on the another rider.

As you can see, the Root River Racing crew is busier than we ever have. In a nut shell, since October 1st, 2014 we have been steadily working on the rebuilds and full new builds on 24 race ATVs. The pressure of all these builds is enormous on the mechanics, because of the standards they put on themselves for perfection and strive for never having a mechanical failure at a race. Some days are better than others, but for the most part, the mechanics haven’t killed each other and I haven’t killed them all.

The whole team is very excited for the first ever Supercross race at Daytona Speedway and for the 2015 season. We will be there next year in full force striving to achieve our mission, “Root River Racing's mission is maximum amount of podiums possible! National recognition for our performance, representation of our sponsors, leadership qualities and respect of other riders and teams.”
- Rich Gillette

About the Mtn. Dew AMA ATV Motocross Championship
The Mtn. Dew ATV Motocross National Championship, sanctioned by AMA, is the nation's premier amateur and professional ATV motocross series, hosted at top motocross facilities nationwide. The 10-round series features the Nation's best racers, teams and sponsors, and is America's largest and longest-running ATV national motocross program. Since 1985, the series continues to expand and produce top talent from the amateur ranks, while premiering the professional class.  For more information, please visit www.atvmotocross.com.

www.atvmotocross.com