Idle Chat with John Dowd
With one WORCS race under his belt, Massachusetts native John Dowd makes his return to the circuit this weekend on the No. 45 Kawasaki KX™450F. After placing 10th in his first showing back in May at Honey Lake MX, he looks to improve on his finish now that he is back in shape after a busy summer. We chatted with him about the upcoming race.
Q: You’re coming back to the WORCS scene! Are you more excited for this round than the Honey Lake MX round you competed in earlier this year?
J.D.: I would say I’m definitely more excited. This biggest difference will be that I’m in a little better shape than I was in at the race in May. I wasn’t in good riding shape at all and a lot of my nerves came from the fact that I felt unprepared physically. So hopefully I won’t get tired on the first lap like last time.
Q: Do you have a specific goal in mind for this race? You got 10th last time.
J.D.: I haven’t really thought about a specific goal in terms of finishing position. I am hoping that I am able to race hard a little longer than last time. I don’t really know position-wise. It would be cool to do better than last time, but I know there plenty of guys that will be going fast. I’m really curious how I will do against everyone.
Q: Do you think you will be more comfortable at this WORCS race now that you have one under your belt?
J.D.: Oh definitely. I was nervous going into that race for a lot of reasons. I was out of shape and didn’t know if I was going to make it the whole two hours. I didn’t know the format or how the team did their pits. There were a lot of new elements that I learned and now I just want to go out and see what I can do with all that behind me.
Q: What else have you been up to this summer? Do you stay busy?
J.D.: I feel like I’ve done a lot over the summer. I raced the Southwick national, which didn’t go so well, but that’s racing. I have been doing a lot of local races with my son. He loves to go out and race. There are sometimes when I am not really feeling it that weekend, but he pushes me to get out there and ride. It’s good for me because it keeps me in the mix. There are definitely some fast kids around here, which makes me happy when I get the best of them every once in a while.
I did race a 24-hour down in Alabama and had a blast. I didn’t think I was going to have that much fun, but I did. I thought it was so cool to race at night, riding into the darkness, riding when the sun came up. It was hard and the next day I felt like a zombie, but it was really cool.
Q: Do you see yourself doing more off-road events?
J.D.: I’ve really started to enjoy the off-road scene a lot and think I could see myself doing more events in the future. I’m not really thinking of putting in a full series, but it’s fun to bounce around and try different types of races. You never know where you might find me.
Q: What do you normally have going on during the winter time?
J.D.: The last few years we’ve had an indoor track about an hour from our house, which has been nice to be able to keep riding when it’s too cold outside. I’m not sure if they are going to open again this year, but that’s how I’ve usually spent some time during the winter. We try to have fun during the winter months. I taught my son and daughter how to snow ski a little bit, and I wanted to try and show them how to snowboard. I have fun doing those kinds of things in the winter time.
