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By: Robert Janis A Natural
-- Wayne Matlock
Wayne Matlock |
You could say that racing ATVs is the Matlock
family business. You could also say that deserts
were, and are, the place of business.
Wayne is the second generation of the
Matlocks to participate in ATV racing. The
29-year-old native of El Cajon, California
builds custom cabinets, but his true passion is
ATVs. He has been riding ATVs since he was 2
years old. His dad, Cliff, raced ATVs in SCORE
and Best in the Desert competitions. He also
serves as a member of Wayne’s pit crew in SCORE
and Best in the Desert races. In addition,
Wayne’s wife, Kristen, races ATVs in Best in the
Desert events, and she is the captain of Wayne’s
pit crew.
It should be to no one’s surprise that Wayne
was encouraged into riding and later racing ATVs
by his dad. His father had won the Baja 500 and
Baja 1000 a couple of times, said Wayne. So it
wasn’t out of the ordinary for his parents to
take him to ride the sand dunes in Southern
California when he was just a kid.
He actually started his racing career
competing in Baja and local desert racing events
in Southern California on a motorcycle. However,
he had already developed a background of riding
his dad’s racing quad. So after he began
building a reputation for himself as a
motorcycle racer, ATV racers Greg Rowe and Jimmy
Knorr contacted him about racing ATVs.
That led to Wayne participating in his first
ATV pro race in 1998 when he competed in the
SCORE San Felipe 250. He won that race riding a
Honda TRX250 that was not his. He prepared for
that race doing a pre-run on a 50-mile section
of the 250-mile course. However, as far as the
race was concerned, “They gave me the roughest
part because I was the young guy. I had to
negotiate 60 miles of whoops,” Wayne quipped.
That ATV was fully customized and was
re-built off the original chassis. “Back then
Honda didn’t have production ATVs capable of
winning desert races. Now they do,” said Wayne.
So that first ATV included a Tommy Boy design
frame, A-arms, and swing-arms among other
things. “It wasn’t my machine so I don’t know
everything that was done to it,” Wayne added.
Wayne Matlock |
Between then and now Wayne has also raced for
Bombardier and Suzuki in 2006. He won every race
he entered except three. His past victories
include the Baja 1000 in 2005. In 2004, along
with partner Chad Prull, he won the Quad Pro
Championship and was the over all points leader
in the Best in the Desert series. He has even
competed in a GNCC race. The trees in the wooded
areas slowed him, but he hauled ass in the open
terrain.
Today Wayne is with Honda and competes in
SCORE and Best in the Desert races on a Honda
TRX450. This bike has been customized with Roll
Design A-arms, stem, foot pedals and heel
guards; a stock swing arm; Elka Suspension
shocks tuned by Precision Concepts; a Hinson
clutch; Ford connection levers; Douglas wheels;
Maxxis tires; a stock radiator with fan; IMS-Roll
front and rear bumpers; and AC Racing custom
made skid plates. “The AC Racing skid plates are
thicker than the normal aftermarket versions,”
explained Wayne. He also noted that his mechanic
with Precision Concepts did a lot more custom
tricks to the ATV. The mechanic does
customization on all the bikes of the Honda
factory team, added Wayne.
His sponsors include American Honda, which
helps in pit support in the Baja races; Alba
Action Sports; Precision Concepts; Maxxis Tires;
Elka Suspension; Roll Design; Douglas Wheels;
Hinson Works Connection; Moose Racing Supplies;
One Industries; Alpine Stars; AT Racing;
Division 4; Baja Designs; and Leaggers.
He solicits potential sponsors by sending out
resumes and making phone calls to the major
companies involved in ATV desert racing.
“Actually, my wife sends out the resumes. I
contact people over the phone. I’ve been able to
build up a reputation so they take my calls,”
said Wayne.
As of this writing, for 2007, Wayne holds the
number one plate for Best in the Desert, and he
is currently ranked second in the SCORE series.
He is not happy with that second-place ranking.
He has a good reason to be. “We had a problem in
the Baja 250,” he explained. “We got messed up
at the starting line. With SCORE you have to
have a working taillight on the bike or on your
body. We had one, but my partner, Chad Prull,
put his jacket on to ride his bike to the
starting line about five miles from where we
were staying. When he put on the jacket, he
broke a clip off of the bicycle blinking light
he was wearing on his chest protector. He didn’t
know that the light was broken. A member of one
of the other teams got an official before the
start of the race and complained that we didn’t
have a working taillight. It’s a timed event. A
rider starts the race every 30 seconds. Instead
of starting third where we were positioned to
start, we had to start after the whole field had
left. So we started 19 and a half minutes
behind. We still finished second and we lost by
a little less than 3 minutes. We had a faster
time on the track than the first-place team, but
it was hard to make up the time.” Wayne and his
team have two more races in the series to amend
the mistake.
According to Wayne, participating in ATV
racing has helped to keep his family together.
“My parents, my wife, and my in-laws participate
in my pit crews and go to all the races,” said
Wayne. “I think that if I had to go by myself, I
probably wouldn’t do it.” He also enjoys the
adrenaline thrill of winning.
Wayne Matlock |
On the other hand, he hates to lose. “I feel
like I am letting a lot of people down when I
lose,” he said. “I’ve been competitive my whole
life. My family and friends joke that I am way
too competitive. For me, everything is a race.”
His favorite races are the Baja series events
held by SCORE International. He said that he
often goes to Baja just to ride for fun. “I live
just 20 minutes or so from the border. Baja is
like my backyard. I get down there quite a bit.”
And there is the added pleasure of meeting so
many nice people who live in the area. “I’ve met
a lot of nice people down there. Everyone is so
willing to help, and they are honestly excited
that we go down there,” said Wayne.
He concluded that the future looks bright for
ATV desert racing. “I hope that it will only get
better,” he said. “It has gotten better since I
started racing quads. I also see more factory
involvement for the future. With the factories
getting involved it will become a lot more fun.
Kawasaki may be putting a factory team together
to compete in desert races and KTM and Can Am
are supposed to be getting involved too. Honda
is already involved. So things will be getting
better. Also, there will be more TV coverage.
Already the SCORE races are on NBC and even the
local District 38 races are covered by local
TV.”
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