Mitch Payton, owner and operator of the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki race team was making an observation: “I’ve had a thousand people in here this week,” said Payton, referring to countless riders still looking for work this late in the year. To that end - and with Anaheim I rapidly approaching - Payton took a break from his porting bench to provide us some insight on his team, the Motocross of Nations, the state of the sport, the Balloon Boy and the rapidly approaching 2010 racing season.

Mitch, as far as riders are concerned, how was the last month for you and the team? I mean word had it that EVERYONE came through this shop looking for work.
Well, it was difficult because we couldn’t hire riders until we had an agreement. The agreement didn’t happen until fairly late and then that started the process for us. Then dealing with the first couple of riders took a little bit of time. Then, all of a sudden, you had 10 guys calling you looking for rides who didn’t have anything. We had to figure it out and just slowly make a list and go through results and look at everything and figure out who we wanted.

Who was at the top of your list? Did you want Christophe Pourcel back? Was that imperative to you?
Actually, even in the beginning, I wanted two guys. I wanted to keep Christophe and I wanted to keep Jake [Weimer]. So really, my mindset was real simple. That was what I wanted. At whatever cost I wanted to make sure to secure those two guys. I thought they both did a really good job for me and I believe in both of them. They can both win supercross and they can both win outdoors.

Mitch, with two spots open on your roster for 2010, just how many guys walked into this shop looking for a job?
Really, it was one spot. Tyla [Rattray] carries over to 2010. I would say, like for real, a list of 10. Then we narrowed it down to a small group. And then it became very difficult. I saw qualities about every kid that when I got down to that point that I thought would be great to have. But I could only have one and that’s the decision we made.

Why did you go with Dean Wilson?
Uhm, that he’s been successful as an amateur. I think he’s got good speed. I think he’s got good drive. I don’t think he has a lot of hang-ups. I don’t think other things in life interfere with him. I think he wants to race. I think that’s pretty cool to have the single focus in your life right now.

Okay, internet-based enquiring minds want to know: Why did you hire Josh Hansen?
The reason Josh is going to be here is that I have a title sponsor [Monster] that has painstakingly spent in extreme sports and action sports. Their Superbowl is the X Games. And it was really important to Monster to be at that event. Just to be there and compete – and they won. They considered that to be a really big value and I think they want to secure that.

And you have Hansen!
We have the good, bad and the ugly. You really have to kind of have everything. He represents a group of people, or he has had, that is the crazy side. But to me he’s been really good. He’s very polite. He’s very presentable. I think he can turn it around if chooses to. It’s up to him. I know he’s failed a lot, but if he decides to put in the work he has to do… Here we go again. People say, “Why do you give him another chance?” He’s not a bad kid for me. I like him. He’s easy to deal with. He’s fun to have around. He’s no trouble. If he does succeed, then we would have done something for him that he’s wanted to do for five or six years. Maybe longer.

Before the last moto at the Motocross of Nations in Italy when we were three points down on the French team, what were you thinking?
I stayed in the tower for all three motos and after every moto, we’d add up the points and then try and try and figure out which moto each country would drop. After the second moto, we dropped Jake’s second moto which was a 25th. But Italy had a DNF. We were still alive, but then the blast moto was like, “If Dungey can be up there and Ivan can be up there, then it’s really just how the French and the Italians dealt with the moto.” The French were looking pretty good – better than the Italians. Just after the first lap you had [Antonio] Cairoli in the first turn out. France, after the first lap, was out. And you had Belgium, with [Clement] DeSalle, was dead last. After our guys came around on the first alp and you looked at the board and you counted it up, they were pretty golden (laughter).

After the race, Roger mentioned to me that of all the years he’s been involved with the American Motocross of Nations, the win in Italy was one of the most meaningful. What did you think?
I think it was awesome. I was pumped for all of them. I was nervous before the first moto, after the first moto. I was a little disappointed after the second and nervous before the third. And then as it happened, it was great. I was actually more happy for those guys because it was tough. All of them, like Jake, said, “Dude, I was more nervous for that than any Anaheim because you think you’re going to let down everybody.” Ivan was nervous a little bit, but kept it together. It was all good.

Okay, eight weeks Anaheim I. Time to start pouring coals to it?
We need to get everybody to the track once and then it’s a matter of routine.

How do you feel about your team for 2010?
I feel our team is going to be real good. I think that we’re healthy and we should be there in both championships, East and West. I also think we’ll be there for the outdoors.

By Eric Johnson