Episode Transcript
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Hello everybody and welcome back. I am Zach Herron, your host. Once again, alongside the man usually behind the camera, Danny Stu. And with us, Danny, we got Arena Cross royalty, the five time champ going for six, Kyle Peters. Kyle, how you doing, man?
[00:00:21] Speaker B: What's up guys? Doing great. How are you guys?
[00:00:23] Speaker A: Fantastic, man. We're excited to talk to you and excited to get this season off and rolling, you know. How are you feeling coming into, coming into round one, man? What's the thoughts right off the head?
[00:00:32] Speaker B: Yeah, feeling good.
Just been putting in some riding, getting, trying to get ready as best as we can. November 15th is coming quick, so we'll be ready.
[00:00:42] Speaker A: Going to be here before you know it for sure. Now before we get into this year and you know our thoughts coming up, let's, let's take a little trip back. Obviously last year, a huge year for you. You tie Buddy Anton as five Arena Cross championships in a row. But honestly, I don't even think we really gave you an opportunity to soak it in and to enjoy it. It seemed like you had no sooner gotten the number one plate in your hand. People are asking, you know, are we going for six? Are we going for the next title? You've had some time, right? You've been able to soak it in. You've been able to look at that plate on the wall for a while now. Let's take a little trip back to last year, man. What's, what's your thoughts overall on the season and some, some areas that kind of stick out to you about last year?
[00:01:18] Speaker B: Yeah, last year was great. I had some, some good and bad moments. You know, I let some things get to me that I shouldn't have made some mistakes along the way, but looking back, able to learn from those, know kind of what, what to do now in those situations and I let some things get the best of me, but overall we kept, kept on track and got the championship. So it was a learning year for sure and going to take what we learned and apply for this year.
[00:01:47] Speaker A: Now as far as headed into this season, we got, we got any big changes, any, any new personnel, anything like that headed into this year?
[00:01:55] Speaker B: Yeah, a few little changes. Nothing, nothing major, but definitely got some new things in the works and I'm excited about it.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: He's teasing us, Danny. You noticed that?
[00:02:10] Speaker C: You know, Kyle, if you don't mind me asking, I'd like to know. I heard that we might see Heath Harrison spinning wrenches for you. Is there any truth to that?
[00:02:18] Speaker B: That that is, we have the Arena Cross champion himself, Heath Harrison coming back, pumped to have him back on. On the line with me. I had him there with me for three years, so kind of bringing it back, stoked to have him with me. And, yeah, it's gonna be a fun year now. That.
[00:02:36] Speaker A: That'll be pretty cool too, because. And. And if you remember, like some of the arena crowd or the inside arena cross episodes last year, Heath obviously was. Was working in kind of a team manager point there for Phoenix Honda, but sounds like he's got a little bit of a. I don't want to say a mental coach role, but he was definitely kind of giving you some words of encouragement, some advice and stuff like that. So it's not just a new guy, spinning wrenches. He's. He's really going to be in your corner for on and off the bike type stuff?
[00:03:01] Speaker B: Absolutely. Since I've been with Phoenix, Heath has been right there with me.
He's. It's great because he has the insight. He's been there, kind of done that as well. Um, it's funny because Heath and I are the same age, but I think of Heath as being an older guy that I can kind of look up to and ask him questions like, hey, like what? Well, what do you think about this? Or kind of look for his guidance a little bit in certain areas. But no, I'm very blessed to have him in our corner this year. Not so much as a team. Team manager kind of role, but more of like my kind of guy. So, yeah, really looking forward to that.
[00:03:38] Speaker C: I think we saw last year, and it's like with any championship fight, when you're. When you're in that fight and it's week in and week out, and people see it on Friday nights. Last year, I know for you, you know, it doesn't just end when you leave the arena that night. It's on your mind until you're there on the starting line again the next week, but surrounding yourself with the right people, keeping the mood. Right. When you mentioned earlier that you learned some things, are you going to do some things differently? Is this one of the aspects of the race night that you wanted to focus on, or did this kind of just fall into place naturally?
[00:04:10] Speaker B: So this kind of just fell into place naturally.
Heath wanted to move back home to Alabama, start a. Start a company himself. So he's still with Phoenix, but he's doing a little. A little bit different route, which I can completely understand being around family and that sort of thing. But. But yeah, you know, it's just you learn as you go kind of what you want and kind of what, what works and what doesn't sometimes.
And yeah, there was a lot of things that, that I was able to learn from last year and kind of move, move some pieces of the puzzle around to hopefully make it a lot better this year.
[00:04:49] Speaker C: The 450 of ours, 250 was a huge talking point last year. Is that one of the things you're thinking of when you keep talking about what you learned from last year and looking ahead at the schedule? Have you made any changes to either the 250 or the program as a whole? Have you introduced the 450 to your. You know what you're riding on a weekly basis now? What, what's your plan of attack here on, on the great debate? 250 versus 450.
[00:05:14] Speaker B: You know, that's, it's been, that's been a big decision for us. Just knowing what I dealt with last year racing at Elevation, so much with the series and in certain, certain things. But I can't give you guys all the information. You're going to have to wait, wait for round one.
[00:05:33] Speaker A: He's keeping us on our toes now. Now, something that you can probably touch on is you've got the full backing of Phoenix Honda. You're the lone soldier for them. I think there can be an argument made on both sides as far as that's advantageous or a little bit of a disadvantage as well. Obviously, at the end of the day, everybody shows up for one goal. That's for you to be successful. But it's also probably nice, not that necessarily team orders happen, but it's also probably nice having people on the same brand, the same team late in the season when you've got some tough competition. You know, what do you look at this and obviously, you know, you put a positive spin on it. You want, you know, you got to look at it as an advantage, but, you know, how do you kind of balance that being the lone guy for Phoenix Honda this year?
[00:06:15] Speaker B: You know, there's, there's pros and cons to everything.
For me. I go out there to do my job, do the best of my ability, give it everything I've got, and wherever the cards lay, that's how it goes. And just be smart about it.
It's a rain across. It's, it's crazy. It gets wild out there.
So there's a lot of carnage usually. So, yeah, it's going to be fun.
[00:06:41] Speaker A: Going to be fun for sure. Now, you're not the only one with some changes. For those of you that don't know. Last year, we had two different main events, and following the first main event, we had the inverted start. Now, that was something that you talked about, obviously, maybe a little more fun for the fans than it is for the riders. But you may be excited to hear this. We no longer have the inverted starts this year. How does that change things as far as moving forward? And this is breaking news. You just found out about this?
[00:07:06] Speaker B: Yeah. Haven't heard anything about this.
This is what I've. For the past two years, this is what I've been screaming. Just. I understand the fan aspect of the inverted start, but for the writers, I wasn't a fan of it. I can't speak for everyone else, but. Yeah, so I'm pumped for that. That's. That's great news.
This is.
I mean, yeah, I don't really even know what to say. I'm stoked.
[00:07:38] Speaker C: Zach. I think we just made his day right there.
[00:07:40] Speaker A: Did you see that smile, Danny? He's pumped.
[00:07:42] Speaker C: He was speechless for a little bit. He. He had to really think about that one. He thought it was too good to be true. I want to rewind a little bit.
You know, kind of going back to last year. No sooner than you were being handed the trophy. It was one sentence. It was, congratulations, Kyle Peters, on the fifth championship. Are we going to see you come back again and go for the 6th next year?
[00:08:02] Speaker D: You just tied bud man in the booth. Are you going to try to pass him kp? So are we. Are we coming back next year?
[00:08:08] Speaker C: And there was some uncertainty around that. There were rumors that you might be looking at retirement. So, you know, could you tell us why were you thinking about retiring and why didn't you retire?
[00:08:18] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, there was a lot. A lot going on last year off track. My dad was going through some health issues that were really kind of unknown what exactly was going to happen there. Um, so that was. That weighed on me pretty hard, pretty much the whole season. So going through that and then having some struggles on the weekends, I was kind of snowball. I kind of snowballed a little bit. So we're in a lot better place now, mentally.
Dad's doing better. He's going through a few more scans and learning some more things, but everything looks. Looks to be going better. So, um, thank God for that. And, yeah, after. After the season, took some time off, went and worked with Pops all summer, selling cars, buying cars, learning, learning the whole business there.
And, you know, that's definitely not dirt bikes, so, you know, I. I love it. I love the competition aspect of it. I love the challenge of it.
I love everything involved. So, you know, I think I got a. I think I got a little bit more left in me to go out there and make something happen.
[00:09:34] Speaker C: I'm kind of curious. I know last year, putting out those inside arena cross videos, you were hearing about them, you definitely decided to stay clear away from watching any of those. When you're in the midst of the title fight. And like I said before, week in and week out, every day from when you wake up to go to sleep, that's all you're thinking of. And you don't want that outside noise, as people call it sometimes after the season, once you knew the outcome, did you go back and watch any of it?
[00:09:59] Speaker B: I've watched a bit.
It was. It was a super cool aspect. Going back, looking at those, it was really cool to watch while I was in it. You know, it was like you said, it was just noise. And I was trying to stay fully away from everything. No social media, don't look at anything, don't do anything. But, you know, I was. I think I was definitely overthinking a lot last year. Um, instead of just going out, having fun, riding my dirt bike, which that's what we're supposed to do. So that's. That's the focus this year.
[00:10:31] Speaker C: You can watch the final episode. That one definitely showed everything all come together for you. I can understand trying to watch through those middle few episodes, not really highlighting the. Your best evenings on the season. But we've got a lot to look forward to this year, including some new riders added to the gate. We're hearing that Breeze will be back. One other addition that I'm really excited about is Robbie Wagerman. And, Zach, have you been hearing some rumors about Vince Freeze coming through?
[00:10:57] Speaker A: I mean, the rumor mill is always turning right? We never know what's. What's legitimate, what's not. But yeah, yeah, the name's definitely been thrown around.
And college. I'd be interested to get your perspective on this. You know, like you said, you're a guy that you like to get away from the noise. You don't buy into the hype, the rumors, everything like that. Is that go for. For the other riders as well. You're. You're refreshed, you're rejuvenated, you know what you're capable of doing. I mean, five. Five championships in a row, you clearly know how to get the job done. But when you hear about somebody, somebody like Wageman, obviously Breeze coming back as well, you've Got plenty of experience racing against him. And then the potential of somebody like Vince Friese where obviously, like you said, there's plenty of chaos in arena Cross and, and Vince doesn't shy away from it, which I think is a good thing. All of you guys, you know, you've got to, you got to be aggressive from time to time. But, you know, does this change the mindset at all? Does the training change at all? Or is it just like, hey, bring whoever you want. Kyle Peters is showing up to get a job done.
[00:11:53] Speaker B: Yeah, like you said, it doesn't matter who shows up, doesn't matter who comes.
The more the merrier. You know, the training doesn't change, the mindset doesn't change.
I'll be ready.
I do do the work in the off season. It'll show off during the season. So, you know, that's, that's what we're here to do.
Nothing changes. Whoever shows up, shows up. Cool.
Go out there, do, do our best, and that's all we can do. Kyle.
[00:12:22] Speaker C: And a guy in your position, obviously you've got enough context where you could send out a few texts and get answers pretty quick.
So when you start hearing about any of this, do you hit anybody up and say, hey, is there any truth to this? Or is this really happening?
[00:12:35] Speaker B: Or just take it as it comes? You know, if, if whoever shows up on Friday night, that, that's who shows up. You know, it, it doesn't change anything.
It doesn't change because so and so has come in that, oh, I gotta work harder, you know, just use it as fuel during the week and do, do the work.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: And I think that's probably the secret to the confidence too. Right? You, you have, obviously you're very confident in your program. It's, it's proven itself time and time again now. So, yeah, I think, I think it's, it's shown. Like you said, you took a step away. You seem refreshed, rejuvenated, excited about the season. Obviously you've had plenty of time to look at the calendar as far as these locations, floor spaces, dirt, elevation, everything like that. Is there any rounds that are sticking out to you, like, you know, hey, I'm really going to, I'm going to shine here. Or, you know, obviously one of the big talking points last year was, was the dirt at Daytona. That's the finale this year, you know, in any big things as far as his upcoming schedule that you're looking at in a positive or, man, this is going to be a little tough type spotlight.
[00:13:38] Speaker B: No, I Mean all the, all the races I think we've been, we've been to in the past. So we kind of know the dirt, we kind of know what to do with the bike as far as elevation and, and whatnot. So nothing really sticks out. Obviously, Daytona being the, the season finale, I'm sure the dirt will be the same. So last year we, we really went into that race unknown of what it was going to be, how, what the dirt was going to be, where they were getting it. So yeah, it was a big surprise showing up there last year for, especially the first race there. But now we know what to expect, you know, kind of how to prepare for it. So no real surprises, just whatever, whatever they give us, we'll, we'll take it and run with it.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: Now one of the big things as far as this upcoming season is the return of the double headers. Obviously, you know, you race Friday night, you race Saturday night. As a rider, do you feel like that's kind of an advantage standpoint in the sense of, hey, you know, I have a bad night on Friday or even if I have a good night on Friday. But you're able to maybe tailor, fit things a little bit better for the next day? Obviously as far as for some of the privateers go, it's a little more bang for your buck, a little less driving, a little more racing. But for somebody in your standpoint where it's, hey, you know, pretty much, I think it's five double headers throughout the entire season. Is there any big changes that you guys are making between night one and night two at some of these rounds? Because like you said, you've probably got notes from years past bike settings figured out. But you know, is it going to really allow you guys to dial in the bike by those second main or the second night of main events.
[00:15:15] Speaker B: You know, double header, not to me, doesn't really matter.
And as far as like bike setup, I kind of have a base setting what I ride during the week. I don't really want to steer away from it depending the track. Obviously a few little things here and there, but nothing really changes, you know, other than after the first night of racing. Get to the hotel, get, get your food, get your nutrition right, make sure you get to bed and wake up next day and do it all over again.
[00:15:45] Speaker A: Well, we've got to talk about it. Obviously five tied buddy Antonids, but is it different this year at all? Chasing history as far as, you know, to be the, the lone guy on top of the mountain. Six championships in a row. I mean, go back to, to the first championship if you were to tell that Kyle Peters, hey, you're about to go on a tear for the next, next half a decade and, and arguably be, you know, the winningest arena cross rider. What, what is that like? And is there any, any added pressure? Is it just, hey, another day at the office and how cool is it to be in this position to where, you know, you're not tying anybody, you're all by yourself and for the potential to make history?
[00:16:22] Speaker B: So I think, I think last year was probably more. I felt more pressure to tie Buddy.
To me, this year is a lot less pressure. My mindset's a little bit different than last year. I'm. I'm going out just looking to have fun, putting, putting the work and going to win. I think last year it was like, oh, manage, manage, manage.
And there was a lot of pressure to do with the five, but to go for six, I don't feel any pressure really from my team, from myself, anyone. So it's definitely different, much different field than coming into last year. So I think it's a lot better and we're in a better spot.
[00:17:08] Speaker A: What is certainly going to be exciting to see. Danny, you got anything else for the champ?
[00:17:12] Speaker C: Well, there's a Filthy. Phil is retired. He's going to be kicking around looking for something to do on the weekends. Any chance you drag him out to be part of your circle on any of these, on any of these races or what? Yeah, bring some of that, you know, real positivity around the pits for you.
[00:17:28] Speaker B: It's funny. Phil, actually. Phil text me a week or two ago, something like that. And he's like, hey, what, what's a good arena cross to come to? And. Or he actually posted, posted a story or something and of the arena Cross schedule. And I hit him back with, hey, stay in your lane, dude. You're retired. Get out of here. But no, Phil and I have been talking. He's like, hey, what's the best venue? Like, what do you think?
So I'm, I'm hoping to get him out to more than one arena cross, but I definitely think we'll for sure get him out to one, which will be fun. You know, I love Phil, love racing Phil.
[00:18:08] Speaker C: Oh, you're talking. So you're talking about racing. I originally meant coming and hanging out and just maybe we making a weekend trip, a boys trip and watch his buddy KP go for this. But you're trying to twist his arm to get out there and twist the throttle.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:18:21] Speaker B: You know he's, he's raced some Marina cross in the past. Trying to get him out to do, to do some more. I really just want to beat up on him, you know. But no, just kidding.
[00:18:32] Speaker A: How many do we have an over under on throat slit gestures?
[00:18:36] Speaker B: I, I'm pumped to get him out to hopefully get him out to more than, more than a few but definitely if he, if he can't race or he won't race, have them come out.
[00:18:46] Speaker A: Support going to be exciting for sure. Well, honestly very glad to see that. You know, it sounds like a positive outlight coming into, coming into this season. Definitely could see the stress last year. Not saying, not want to say it's getting to you, but I think you could feel it. Like you said, that task of managing is a lot easier said than done, right? You guys are such, you know, almost killer instincts. You know, you're almost bred to line up to win but when you're in that position of, you know, like you said, time, it's a lot harder to be like, okay, maybe I just take a third and then all of a sudden it's really hard to get third. Like it would seem like, you know, sometimes it's easy to win. All of a sudden it's impossible to get a fifth place.
[00:19:23] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure, for sure. It was definitely a learning experience, learning season. So excited, so excited to have that done with and big on to onto the next one.
[00:19:38] Speaker A: Well, we're definitely excited to watch what you're cable. I'm excited for the racing this season. Kyle, we appreciate you joining us. Get back to work and we'll see you November 15th.
[00:19:46] Speaker B: Thanks boys. Appreciate you.
[00:19:48] Speaker A: And if you guys want to tune in for all of the racing action live, make sure you subscribe to Arena Cross all access app, get it downloaded, get subscribed and get ready to enjoy a fantastic season of AMA kicker Arena Cross.
