Blake Wharton On His Return To Racing
When Blake Wharton announced in 2018 that he had intentions to return to professional racing, many wondered what the future would be for the former 250 class Supercross Main Event winner and factory rider. Would he have the same speed and skill as when he was a part of factory-backed teams? Or would the time away and the subtle changes that happened in the sport create the need for reeducation of sorts? Wharton’s initial plan was to contest the 250 East Coast region in 2018 with support from Munn Racing, but ultimately went to the now folded IBCorp Racing team when their original roster was hampered with injuries and raced two Main Events in the 250 class; unfortunately, a torn ACL at the Salt Lake City stop put him on the sidelines as well.
Although Wharton stepped away from professional racing to pursue a music career and college education, he maintained ties to the sport with multiple riding trips in locations around the world and as a coach to riders at select track training days. The limited engagement in 2018 seems to have fully restarted the idea of racing professional and Wharton is back on the starting line for the 250 East Coast portion of the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Series with support from the TiLube Honda by Buddy Brooks team. At the opening round of the East Coast region in Minneapolis, we spent a few moments with Wharton and discussed his plans, thoughts, and reasoning at length.
Our talk began with the most obvious question: why come back? Wharton explained that there were multiple reasons, with none being more important in the decision than others. “I just wanted to give it a shot. I had been racing a long time, since I was young, and we grew up in a really intense generation. I felt like there was something still left on the table,” he shared. Wharton’s initial run as a young professional was obstructed by injuries or illnesses, some of which sidelined him for major parts of entire seasons, but time away from the sport allowed his body time to heal and he to grow as a person. “In my older age, I’m a little bit stronger and more developed as an individual, so I thought I would give it a shot. I have a lot of experience from the past, so there’s no shortage of that, and my body feels good now that I’ve healed up a couple of things from the past,” he continued. “It was a combination of things, really a lot more than that, but those are the basics to what got me back. And I’m still fast, you know.”
There is no denying that Wharton has always been one of the more introspective riders in motocross and that’s certainly the same not only as a man in his mid-twenties but one that has seen another side of the life than what he might have originally planned. “As you get older, you learn more and get to travel and see more things. Racers, they travel a lot, but they don’t see a lot of things,” he pointed out. “I was able to do some traveling that was moto related, but it wasn’t racing, and I was able to learn a lot from that. I got to do things that I was never able to do before and it developed my character more, as well.”
But a racer is always a racer and that became clear when we asked if his outlook on motorcycle riding had changed with age and time away. “You appreciate things like riding, and you look at the sport in a more interesting way. I think about how I can get better, how I can get faster. There’s an art to it, really,” he reflected. “I do appreciate that sort of racer’s mindset that it takes to get better when returning to the sport. I have a different perspective and appreciate different things, that happens the older that you get. I’m sure Chad Reed would say the same.”
Does a return to the sport bring back expectations of race wins, championship chases, or long-term team contracts? Not quite, because Wharton said his goals are all his own. “I don’t feel like I have anything to prove to anyone in particular, because I have already done it,” he stated. “There are always things you want to prove to yourself, both as an athlete and a person, that you’re capable of accomplishing things. But really, I’m trying not to worry about that, and I just want to be on a dirt bike and go as fast as I can. That was my mindset when I was racing originally.”
Our last topic was on the sport as a whole, if he can spot massive changes from his rookie run in 2008 to now, eleven years later. Although Wharton acknowledged that there are differences, he feels it’s still largely the same and that a more developed look would come as time goes on. “There have been some changes, for sure, from the way television airs the sport to the way bikes have changed. The tracks have changed a little, but it’s still just the fastest man to the checkered flag and I try to keep that in perspective,” he noted. “It’s changing, but it’s the same. I’d say the longevity of the racer’s career is getting longer and riders are getting smarter. There have been changes that have happened, but it’s nothing huge. Maybe we will see it when we look back over ten or twenty years.”
