2022 Twins Cup Rider Ben Gloddy

Disclaimer: This transcript is AI generated and may contain errors

[00:00:15.290] - Dave Sulecki

Welcome to Pit Pass Moto, the show that keeps you up to speed on the latest in motorcycling and brings the biggest names in motorcycle racing right to you. I'm Dave Sulecki.

[00:00:24.600] - Dale Spangler

And I'm Dale Spangler. And this week we have Moto America Arc Racer Ben Gloddy. We're also excited to announce we've launched a new Pit Pass Moto store where you can show your support for Pit Pass Moto with some of our new branded merchandise. Head to Pitpassmotodotcom and look for the store button at the top of the home page. This week's Weekend watch is the Anaheim One Supercross from Anaheim Stadium in Southern California. Dave, I don't know about you, but this was the most incredible opening round that I've seen in years. Like so much action going on. Fastest qualifier Malcolm Stewart. That was a big surprise. Two main event winners. Maybe not so much of a surprise, but the action was intense.

[00:01:08.090] - Dave Sulecki

Yeah, for sure. Stuart is definitely one of the stories of the night and qualifying first in a tough field and he was running P five, but he ended up in a little altercation with Marvin Moosecan and that ended his evening on the 250 side.

[00:01:22.120] - Dale Spangler

It was the Christian Craig show, to say the least. The guy just seemed like he was firing on all cylinders, couldn't do anything wrong, setting the fastest lap time in practice and then taking it through to the main to just walk away with his first win in front of us. From what I think he said, his home crowd. He's from Southern California. So big shout out to him for an amazing weekend.

[00:01:44.640] - Dave Sulecki

Him and the Star Racing Yamaha team had kind of a tough night. We lost a couple of riders so far. We've lost Colton Nichols. He had a bad crash in his qualifier. Likely going to be out of the super cross season, but good to see the Racing Pro circuit rider Seth Hammacher, bringing home second, really had to fight his way to the finish because Hunter Lawrence was going to steal it away and he finished third in the evening.

[00:02:08.260] - Dale Spangler

Yeah, definitely intense racing. There definitely a huge shame for Colton Nichols going out on top of the fact that Justin Cooper on the east is out for that series. Star Yamaha has definitely got to be bumped on the 450 side. Jeez the depth of talent, Dave. I mean, it's so deep, kind of reminiscent. The battle between Ken Rockson and Chase Sexton at the start of the main event definitely reminded me of that 86 Bailey versus Johnson battle. Battle for top spot at Factory Honda. Unbelievable racing. At the halfway point, though, Sexton went down and it was roxton's for the win.

[00:02:43.680] - Dave Sulecki

And I think Sexton was probably the fastest guy in the track all weekend and just had moments of brilliance. But that was followed up with tip overs and things like that that really cost him, but quietly finishing second. Not a lot of people talked about it was Cooper Web, your defending champ. So it was good to see him sneak it in there like he does. That's how he wins Championships.

[00:03:05.330] - Dale Spangler

Yeah, it sure seemed like starts were the big deal at this round as well. Guys that got good starts seemed to finish up front. Eli Tomac on his new star Yamaha, struggled a little bit, ended up 6th, and then Malcolm Stewart, the fastest qualifier. He ended up going down as well with Mousse. And so I think what could have been did not happen for those two. But I expect more things from him, both of those guys here and some of the upcoming rounds.

[00:03:30.710] - Dave Sulecki

And one last notable rioter was Jason Anderson. One of the guys on a new machine for the new year had some of the fastest lap times of the evening. I think his finish, which was 10th, didn't reflect on his speed for the evening because he had a little altercation with Justin Baria, who parked him on a burn late in the race. So we're going to keep our eye on Jason Anderson as we move into the next few rounds.

[00:03:54.050] - Dale Spangler

Yeah. The first round is any indication, Dave, we're in for a fantastic 17 rounds of Supercross this year.

[00:04:12.730] - Dave Sulecki

This week's Industry Spotlight. We want to talk about the purchase of Western Power Sports by Arrowhead Engineered Products AAP. It's a Minnesota based holding company, which is a private equity group, is one of the power sports industry's largest entities. They purchased All Balls Racing back in 2012, Window Rose in 2013, and C and E Company, which is Hot Rods, Hot Cams Vertex in 2016. So they are the 800 pound gorilla of the industry, along with a large holding in adjacent industries such as outdoor power equipment and heavy truck. The purchase of the largest Aftermarket power sports distributor and power Sports positions the company to become the direct pipeline to over 10,000 dealerships in the US market. This is a significant situation for the power sports aftermarket in the history of industry. We've never seen such a large portion of the aftermarket owned by one entity.

[00:05:26.210] - Dale Spangler

This week's moment in Moto history, let's talk about single event winners of the Premier 450 class. There are 26 names on this list, so we decided we're going to mention a few of them, starting with the oldest man still racing Supercross, Iron man, Justin Brayton, who won the Atlanta Supercross in 2018. Justin is now 38 and his plan is to semi retire in 2023 and then see if he can hit that 200 start milestone before he fully retires. What are some of the names that stood out to you, Dave?

[00:06:00.610] - Dave Sulecki

You know, when I look at the list, it's quite long, as we said, there are 26 names and you go back in history, there are some big names on there. And the first one I want to mention, Mike Craig, who won the Tampa Supercross in 1094 for a single event when is the father of Christian Craig who has won Anaheim 1250 class. So I thought that was an interesting stat. Kudos to Mike for winning his single event. Also, Pierre cars maker who won Daytona. Pierre is credited with being one of the founders of motocross racing in the United States who helped bring the sport to the American market.

[00:06:39.180] - Dale Spangler

Few of the racers that stood out to me were current Dekar rally race for Andrew Short and he won his one Supercross at Seattle. A couple of the other riders that stood out to me are riders that were unfortunately not seeing at the races any longer and that's Blake Baggage and Zac Osborne. For some reason, I thought both of those riders had gotten more wins in their career, but each one had only gotten one win throughout their career.

[00:07:04.410] - Dave Sulecki

It's interesting when you look back and one of my favorite ones to talk about because I remember watching this event was Ricky Ryan in Daytona. When he won, he won the race as a private tier, which is his only single win in Supercross. But he also won the race race without a knee. He basically had blown his knee out in practice leading up to the event and still raced it in the rain, I should mention, because it was a wet event and went on to win the Daytona Supercross. So kudos to Ricky Ryan. We'd like to welcome the pit pass Moto today, Ben Glotte, newest racer, fast young racer for the Robin Engineering April team for 2022. Ben, welcome to the show, man.

[00:07:53.810] - Ben Gloddy

Yeah, thank you. It's good to be talking to you guys.

[00:07:56.460] - Dave Sulecki

Yes, absolutely, man. And we want to congratulate you for some successful seasons. Most of all, you're moving to Twins Cup for 2022 in Moto American. We're pretty excited about that for you, a new platform and a new bike. So Congratulations on that, man.

[00:08:11.200] - Ben Gloddy

Yeah, thank you. I'm really looking forward to getting the season underway and seeing what we can get done.

[00:08:17.200] - Dave Sulecki

So I know April is the newest kid on the block, as they like to say in Twins Cup. The bike was introduced, I think, last season and had a very successful I'd say first season going one and two in the series. You got to be excited about working with that new machine. And have you, number one, have you had any time to spend on the bike yet?

[00:08:36.490] - Ben Gloddy

Yeah, I'm really excited to get rid of it. I've ridden at one time so far and I really liked it and just kind of keep testing with it and getting ready for the first round here.

[00:08:48.950] - Dave Sulecki

What is the first round? I don't think Twins is racing Daytona this year. Are you guys going to hit the first round, I think is what, in April?

[00:08:55.770] - Ben Gloddy

No, we're actually going to Daytona this year. Moto America took over the 200, so they're having the baggers twins and super sport race at Daytona this year.

[00:09:07.640] - Dave Sulecki

All right. So which class will you be running at Daytona?

[00:09:10.990] - Ben Gloddy

The Twins Cup.

[00:09:12.170] - Dave Sulecki

Okay, so they are running Twins Cup. That's what wasn't clear to me. I was looking all over the Internet this morning trying to find that out. So have you ever written Daytona and is that somewhat of an intimidating track for you?

[00:09:25.480] - Ben Gloddy

No, I've never ridden Daytona. I've been there a handful of times to watch and whatnot, but I'm pretty excited to go there and I think it will be a pretty good track for the Aprilia and yeah, just looking forward to it.

[00:09:37.520] - Dale Spangler

Hey, Ben. So again, Congrats on that new signing with Robin engineering team. And you have to be excited to land on a team like that. Well, they got one to finish in the series in 2021 with their riders. So I mean, was that a big part of your decision to go to that team?

[00:09:52.300] - Ben Gloddy

Yeah, that didn't discourage me from reaching out to them and trying to get on their team for this year. And it kind of all just fell into place and talk to the right people and I ended up being able to join them for 2022.

[00:10:06.900] - Dale Spangler

I noticed recently you also raised the so you're down in Florida, from what I understand, and you raised the Corey Texture winter throw down flat track races. So how did that go for you and what was it like getting back to your roots and flat track racing?

[00:10:22.370] - Ben Gloddy

Yeah, it was good. It was my first time back on a flat track bike since I rode in 85 and just kind of getting used to things at first and kind of picked it back up pretty quick. And I made one of the main events on Friday night and then on Saturday night, I was able to make both 450 M Charmaine and Open and Maine sweet.

[00:10:42.670] - Dave Sulecki

That's such a fun form of racing to watch. And I got to imagine being on the track again is going to be great to be in the middle of winter. I'm kind of curious, Ben, coming up through the Junior Cup, are there any racers that you've raced against that are moving into Twins Cup with you familiar competitors that you've raced with?

[00:11:00.190] - Ben Gloddy

I know Blake Davis is moving up to Twins Cup this year. I think Gus Rodeo is as well. I think he might be. But yeah, I think a lot of these guys I've raced with in the past, whether it was club racing or at Moto America, but yeah, I'm looking forward to it.

[00:11:19.670] - Dave Sulecki

So those guys, let me ask you, maybe it's not one of those names you mentioned, but who's been your toughest competitor so far as you've come up through road racing, let's say not flat track racing but up through road racing specifically.

[00:11:32.870] - Ben Gloddy

I think road racing the biggest competitor was definitely last year with Tyler Scott. Me and him went back and forth all year. He would win one race, I'd win the other and me and him had the biggest rivalry last year.

[00:11:46.730] - Dale Spangler

So why do you think it is that so many of these great road race in America often come through that flat track from that flat track background? Of course, the great Nicki Hayden immediately comes to mind. Why do you think that's so?

[00:12:00.940] - Ben Gloddy

I don't know. I think when I kind of stopped flat tracking, I don't want to say kind of losing interest in it, but I was just kind of want to try something different. And I think that's kind of what a lot of it comes down to. You're going left the whole time riding fast track, and you do that for so long, they just kind of get bored of it and want to try something new. And then a lot of it translates with feel and all that over the road racing. So I think that's a big part why a lot of flat trackers can kind of switch over the road race side of things and be pretty successful.

[00:12:31.920] - Dave Sulecki

No doubt. You see so many instances where the skills translate from flat track to road racing. And I think you're a great example of that with what you've done so far in your career. We're really looking forward to what you're going to do next. And I'm kind of curious young man like yourself into road racing and probably focused on that pretty heavily. What do you do for off track hobbies? What do you do to occupy your time when you're not racing or thinking about racing?

[00:12:57.880] - Ben Gloddy

Well, I'm still in school, still in high school, so I got to keep up with that. But I do a lot of mountain biking and when I'm back home, I snowboard and ski quite a bit, so just kind of do as much as I can.

[00:13:11.210] - Dale Spangler

So, Ben, I don't remember where I read it at, but you mentioned that your home track people at the Penguin Racing School and the Louden Road Race series has been a huge part of your success. So tell us about them and what it is they've done to help you and your program through the years.

[00:13:28.090] - Ben Gloddy

When I went from flat track, I was pretty young. I was twelve years old. So I started racing like Calc 110s and CRF 150 Rs on gokart tracks. And Eric Wood, who owns Woodcraft Technologies and the Penguin Racing School, he gave me the opportunity to go ride at a track in New Hampshire called Keynen Motor Club. And that's where everything kind of started with the whole Rotary side of things. He kind of paved the way and got me in to New Hampshire Motor Speedway at 13 years old. So I was the youngest one to ever race there. And he kind of coached me through the whole thing and helped me out. He still helps me out quite a bit. He comes to a lot of the races with Moto America, and him and John Gross are definitely the two that kind of got me where I am today and setting me up with opportunities that I've had.

[00:14:23.510] - Dale Spangler

I think I saw where the Penguin Race school is actually a cool little fact is that it's the oldest motorcycle track school in the USA, if I'm not mistaken.

[00:14:32.350] - Ben Gloddy

Yes, it is.

[00:14:33.680] - Dale Spangler

Pretty cool.

[00:14:34.600] - Dave Sulecki

So, Ben, you got to be excited. You got a new teammate for this year. T Hobbs. You've got some time on the big bike. Have you guys spent any time together or done any training together, getting ready for the new season?

[00:14:46.290] - Ben Gloddy

Not too much this year. We haven't spent a ton of time together, but me and Tig were actually teammates a few years ago in the Junior Cup, riding under Dale Quarterly with the Quarterly racing team. Even before that was coming up through Eric Wood and everything ticks from New Hampshire as well. So we grew up racing through loud and together and even racing the minis and stuff on the gokart tracks. We were racing together, but I think we have a couple of tests here coming up soon with the team, and I know me and team work well together, so I think we'll be able to help each other out throughout the year and together we make the team stronger.

[00:15:21.190] - Dave Sulecki

Which is always a good thing. So I'm kind of curious. Moto America has been growing over the last couple of years, and they've added some venues to their program. I got to wonder what your favorite track is. Favorite one to compete on out of the entire series.

[00:15:35.190] - Ben Gloddy

My favorite current track that we go to is probably Barbara Motorsports Park, but my all time favorite track is Sonoma Raceway, which unfortunately we don't go to anymore.

[00:15:45.410] - Dave Sulecki

So too bad. Barbara was kind of a messy one this last end of last season. What was that like for you, man?

[00:15:51.840] - Ben Gloddy

Yeah, Barbara was pretty wet. It rained all three days there. It kind of sucked, but I guess it made up for the last couple of seats. We've had a dry racing. We haven't had a wet race in a couple of years until Barber, so I think it was good. It kind of separated the field a little bit at who would run up front in the rain versus the dry and just kind of came down a technique.

[00:16:17.020] - Dale Spangler

So what are some of your goals coming into the 2022 Twins Cup class?

[00:16:21.560] - Ben Gloddy

Obviously, the main goal is to win the Championship, but it's kind of everyone's goal. I want to stay consistent, stay up at the front, consistently being on the podium, and just set myself up for the best possible situation to win the Championship at the end of the season.

[00:16:38.260] - Dave Sulecki

Awesome. And we look forward to seeing how you're going to do this next year. We're going to be watching for you as we follow Moto America very closely here on pit pass Moto. So we're excited to see a new young rider in the series, man. It's going to be great. So Unfortunately, Ben, we're running out of time here today so we want to take the last few moments. If there's anybody in your program you want to give a shout out to and thank them, now would be the time to do it.

[00:17:01.760] - Ben Gloddy

Yeah, I mean my mom and dad step dad stepmom. Everything they do for me is amazing and they helped me out a ton the whole Roman engineering team for giving me the opportunity to season and yeah, my entire team last year honestly because they killed it with everything and without them I wouldn't be where I am today. And just everybody else. Aaron helmets and motor Liberty. Yes, everybody. Thank you guys.

[00:17:29.390] - Dave Sulecki

Awesome. And last question is the best place to find you social media and on the web if there's a way to look you up and have people followed.

[00:17:36.750] - Ben Gloddy

Yeah, on Facebook it's Bengalotti racing and then on Instagram it's Bengaldi 72. Those are the two best accounts on social media.

[00:17:46.960] - Dave Sulecki

Thanks for spending time with us today, Ben. We appreciate it, man.

[00:17:49.930] - Ben Gloddy

Yeah. Thank you for having me on.

[00:18:01.690] - Dale Spangler

Thank you again to our guests for being with us today and thank you for tuning in. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to follow us on your Favorite Podcast app so you'll never miss an episode. If you have a moment, please rate and review the show on your Favorite Podcast Listening App. We really appreciate it. Make sure you're also following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and visit Pitpassmoto. Com where you can check out our latest blog and our brand new Pitpass Moto store.

[00:18:30.950] - Dave Sulecki

This has been a production of Evergreen podcasts. A special thank you to Tommy Boy Halverson, producer Leah Longbrake and audio engineer Eric Koltnow.

[00:18:40.550] - Dale Spangler

I'm Dave Sulecki and I'm Dale Spangler. See you next week on Pit Pass Moto.