Three-time AMA National Motocross Champion Doug Henry returns to the ESPN X-Games Aspen Snocross Adaptive track this weekend with high hopes of adding a fifth X-Games medal to his extensive motorsports trophy case.
Henry is no stranger to the X-Games. The New Englander has won a SuperMoto gold medal in 2005, and a bronze the following year. Four years later, Henry returned to race Snocross Adaptive, earning a bronze in 2010 and gold in 2011 in the paraplegic class.
“It feels great to go out and compete on a world-class track against a field of talented riders like Paul Thacker, Mike Schultz and Jim Wazny, who did not let their circumstance keep them down,” said Henry in a release issued by Yamaha.
As the name implies, Snocross Adaptive rules allow riders to modifty their sleds to adapt to their particular physical abilities, with separate classes for amputees and paraplegics (racers with a spinal injury resulting in lower body paralysis).
Henry turned to longtime friend Steve Seragini at Fab-U-This to develop a pivoting swingarm seat for his Yamaha FX Nytro race sled. The setup allows him to lean into the corners as well as hit the big doubles with confidence.
“Everything at X-Games is bigger than you’d find on a normal track,” Henry explained. “Steve and I have been refining the suspension design of the seat to soak up the impacts and big landings. We have that dialed.”
Aside from the special seat, Henry’s Monster Energy/Yamaha FX Nytro has some additional bracing and chassis reinforcements to make it suitable for top-level SnoCross competition.
“Yamaha has always been good to me,” said Henry. “The snowmobile guys have been great to work with and have really helped me get my sled ready to race.”
“As a lifelong race fan, I love seeing Doug line up for the green flag on any Yamaha product,” said Yamaha Snowmobile Racing’s Eric Josephsen. “But to have him competing on our four-stroke FX Nytro carries a special meaning to us, as the racer who single-handedly proved to the world that four-stroke engines can compete and win at the highest levels of motorsports competition.”
The Snocross Adaptive final will air live on ESPN at 1:15 p.m. (Mountain time) on Sunday, January 27.
