Jean Turner | July 20, 2017
Randy Hawakins took his AmPro Yamaha team back to basics for 2017. His success with team racers Josh Toth and Ricky Russell indicate that his grassroots formula still works.
Randy Hawkins is just as successful running a race team as he was a racer.
“It’s always been a passion for me to help develop younger riders to become champions,” said Randy Hawkins. Never short on words, Randy Hawkins of Travelers Rest, South Carolina, was happy to talk about the history of his AmPro Yamaha team, a factory-backed off-road program he started in 2004 at the end of his own lucrative racing career. “Over the years, we’ve been able to do that with guys like Paul Whibley, Charlie Mullins, Thad Duvall—just what I call grassroots, really working with up-and-coming riders. I’m really proud to say that we brought some of these guys their first championship. They’ve won multiple championships in other programs, but we were able to give them their first.”
Hawkins’ AmPro Yamaha team is a fixture in pit row of the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series, where he, himself, spent much of his own prominent racing career. With a focus on passion, hard work and growth as much as on winning, his race team has a healthy track record of churning out some of America’s best off-road racers. But the Southerner admits that in recent years, his program started drifting away from what he considers his own core values. About a year ago, he decided it was time to change up the program and get back to what he knows works: focus on cultivating the young and hungry, and ultimately get his team’s mojo back.
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Photography by AmPro Yamaha
His decision led Hawkins to sign two fresh faces in the GNCC pro ranks: Ricky Russell (XC1) and Josh Toth (XC2). The reboot also brought back a familiar face in Paul Whibley, the New Zealander making his return to the U.S. racing scene as the official trainer—and part-time XC3 (125cc) racer—for AmPro Yamaha. The results thus far speak for themselves, with Toth on a winning tear in the XC2 division, even getting on the overall podium at Snowshoe, and Russell showing consistent results and steady improvement in his sophomore year in the premier class. Russell even got his first taste of victory in 2017, taking the big win at Snowshoe to share the overall podium with his XC2 teammate, Toth.
Hawkins’ N-Fab/AmPro Yamaha GNCC team is made up of young up-and-coming stars Josh Toth and Ricky Russell.
The team’s turnaround started nearly a year ago now, and Hawkins explained what went into the AmPro reset.
“After our summer break in 2016, I was needing to fill a spot on our 250 program—basically the last four rounds at that point—and then we would make a decision for 2017,” Hawkins said. “Josh Toth kind of caught my eye and reminded me of what we’d done in year’s past—looking at riders, not necessarily having a name guy to be a winning program.
“I did my homework, checked him out, and he really represented himself really well. I saw he wanted to work hard, but he never really had an opportunity, never even stood on a podium. I thought, ‘Well, let’s give this guy a shot. And then if it doesn’t work out, that’s fine. That gives us time to make a decision for 2017.
“We brought Josh in, he spent three weeks here with us and he was like a sponge. Basically put him on a motorcycle that we were told couldn’t win; we took him to his first race, and he wins the race. I thought, ‘You know what, you give the right guys the right tools and they give you the hard work, shows you what could happen.’ That inspired me to go back to what worked for me in the past; it still works.
“That led to the direction with Ricky Russell. I know he’s been around for a while, we seen him here through Jason’s [Raines] program, but I know he’s a hard worker. With that work and that attitude, and also with the respect that Ricky and Josh showed to the mechanics in our program, just made things completely fit.
Hawkins’ seven AMA National Enduro titles came over a 16-year period, from 1988 through 2004. Now he cleans other people’s goggles.
“So going into ’17, we brought Ricky and Josh on board—two guys that some people had overlooked. It just really lit a fire back under our team and it shows. We got Ricky sitting fourth in the points and Josh leading XC2.”
Along with the motivation is the direction of the hard work going into the program, and that is steered largely by Paul Whibley. A two-time GNCC champion himself, “Whibs” knows what it takes to win, and the New Zealander also has a reputation for being one of the hardest-working riders in off-road. After retiring in 2014, Whibley returned home to New Zealand, but came back to the States in early 2017 at Hawkins’ invitation.
“Paul is like family here,” Hawkins said. “I came up with this idea with Paul. I said what about maybe coming up here, spending a couple months [in South Carolina]? Here’s these fresh guys I got, do you have the time to come spend a couple months with these guys just to help get them in the right direction? That’s how that started.”
For Randy and the AmPro team, it was like slipping back into an old shoe. Ricky and Josh took to Whibley’s training regimen like ducks to water. And speaking of water, Whibley brought a somewhat unique part of his training to the team—the Monday swim.
Hawkins enjoys being at the races with his sons.
“Paul has a lot of ideas, a lot of outside the box,” said Hawkins. “Swimming was a big thing for Paul, especially Mondays, after the races on Sundays. He’s still about swimming for an hour, hour and a half, just stretching your muscles out, low impact, getting everything moving again, getting all the blood going. So that’s really a big part of his program. After a Sunday race, Monday is a swim.”
Whibley’s return just so happened to correspond with the newly introduced XC3 (125cc) class at GNCC—a happy coincidence for the team.
“I didn’t realize the new XC3 class was coming about,” said Hawkins. “Paul’s old mechanic, Cory McDonald—he’s my lead mechanic now—said, ‘Well hey, if Paul’s coming over, maybe for fun, he can ride a couple races.’ He rode those races and had a ball. Just really completely enjoyed himself.”
Racing is in Hawkins’ blood. He’s fast at anything he does, like racing a UTV in a GNCC with Cody Miller, nabbing second place.
It all amounted to a welcome return for Whibley who had endured a family tragedy just after his retirement. In December 2014, Paul lost his wife in a car accident, only days before their son’s second birthday.
“Miss Katherine; she was a wonderful lady. She was the backbone of Paul’s program,” said Hawkins. “That was another reason I reached out to him. You can imagine how horrible that is to deal with. He really needed to see four new walls and some old friends to help with that. I just feel so fortunate that I had the opportunity to help make that happen for him.”
Whibley brought his son, Colton, to help him with his training duties. According to Hawkins, the youngest member of the AmPro team is looking rather promising.
“Colton, he’s a character. I already told [Paul] I’m going ahead and sign him now as a junior contract because he’s going to be tough like his dad! He’s pretty much a chip off the old block.
“We made jokes with my son Mitch, I said ‘you’re management in training and right there is your rider in training.’ So who knows with another 15 years, we’ll still have the AmPro Yamaha with the Hawkins and Whibley program.”
Family and harmony are hugely important to Hawkins in building a winning program. Making his team function as a unit was a major priority in 2017.
“These guys mountain bike together. They go kayaking together—they work super hard, but then I say, ‘You work hard but you guys got to play hard to enjoy also.’ I don’t care who you are, you got to enjoy what you’re doing. These guys are doing it. The other week we did a 5k run as a team, and we’re scheduled to do some triathlons together, got some mud runs we can do as a team. I’m really big on the team-building side of things, where it ain’t like, Ricky goes in that corner, Josh goes in that corner and mechanics over here. That is important for me and these guys. We are a team and we function as a team and we’re better as a team than we are individuals. So we really work hard on that.
A lot of the AmPro testing and training happens just outside Hawkins’ front door of his house in North Carolina.
“I can see it in the mechanics, they’re enjoying their jobs better. I’m enjoying it better because I’m not dealing with any kind of dramas. The racers are enjoying themselves, they’re working hard, and it’s true that chemistry in a program like that is huge.”
It’s a stark contrast to what some might expect from a factory team, where riders live and work their own training programs during the week, but Hawkins sees far greater benefit from the cohesiveness from a team that works and trains together, even if it doesn’t appear as “factory” as his competitors’ teams.
“We’re a little bit looser,” Hawkins explained. “Can I make our guys wear certain t-shirt on Friday and wear warm-ups on Saturday and you got to wear this hat on Sunday? Not a problem. We could make that happen, but we approach things a little different. I wouldn’t have it any other way. And I think sometimes people see us at the race, and they’re saying this group looks a little shabby or not as inline as the others, but what they’re not seeing is behind the scenes, what else are we doing.
“Here’s a good example. We don’t go to the track and spend two days building our race bikes. The other two teams, that’s how they set up. You can look at them and say, ‘Oh wow, that’s a factory team. They’re building their bike right there.’ To me, what’s factory about that? We build our bikes in our race shop. Only thing is when we come to the track, our bikes are race-ready. Our guys are sitting around talking, shaking hands and speaking to the fans and answering questions. It’s not like they don’t have time because they’re building a race bike. We just choose to build ours on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, not Friday, Saturday.”
Hawkins prefers working with hungry up-and-coming racers like Josh Toth. Toth was a relatively unknown until joining the AmPro Team and then winning the first five GNCC races of 2017 in the XC2 class.
While the AmPro Yamaha environment is a bit more relaxed and fun this season, one few uncompromising requirements remain: hard work and respect.
“That’s all I ask for,” said Hawkins. “That’s what I’m getting from these two guys. I’m very pleased with that effort. When the riders show that kind of effort, you get 110% from the mechanics and everybody in the program. Everybody in the program respects everybody and is willing to put a helping hand out, not trying to tear anybody down, or he did that or she did that. We don’t have any of that.”
With the confidence that he is back on the right path, Hawkins’ program is a challenging one, with not a lot of room for latitude.
“If you’re not sold with the program and it’s not in your heart, it doesn’t make any sense. What I have seen time and time that works, especially with the younger guys, you bring a program to the table and say okay, these are the tools that will make you better. You give me the effort and I will show you the results.
“I think this newer generation of riders need more direction in a program. Our side of it is, if you’re willing to be a winner, we’re going to show you how to do it, but if we’re committing to you, to bring you the best possible tools for you to win a championship, you got to commit to us. Because as much as we’re having fun and how it looks, we’re as serious as anybody about winning a championship.”
Right now Hawkins is confident in his program, and confident that he is getting the effort and the respect from his team. As for what the future holds for his riders Ricky Russell and Josh Toth, Hawkins says it’s in their hands.
Hawkins was more than happy to snatch up young gun Ricky Russell who finished fifth in the XC1 class in 2016. He’s currently fourth in the championship.
“Josh is riding super well, but winning doesn’t mean every time that you’re always the hands-down fastest guy. Sometimes you can win a race that the other guy’s misfortune. But you have to be there to win it. That’s what Josh has been doing. Has he been getting great starts? Not really. But he’s been working hard, he’s charging to the front. And week in, week out, he’s putting himself in a position to win and those opportunities have opened the door, and when they did, he took full advantage and he stepped through the door and won events.”
As for Ricky Russell, “We’re happy with Ricky. He never actually had full factory support like he has now with a full mechanic who takes care of everything—practice bikes and all that. It’s been a change for Ricky. He’s had to be the mechanic, the driver, everything else with his program before, so this year it’s taken a little bit to get a grasp on it. Sometimes you got to tell him, ‘Ricky, you come in the shop and I’m going to put white gloves on you. I don’t need you to be in here working on the bike.’ But on the other side, he’ll jump in and he can do anything.
“He’s getting faster and better every event for us. So he’s really knocking on the door with starting to be a consistent podium guy. Ricky will do a great job for us. I’m expecting to see his results continue to get better.”
Retired GNCC and OMA champ Paul Whibley is back with the team as mentor, trainer and part-time racer.
The overall GNCC Championship might be a ways off at this point, but Hawkins is happy to have his team back to where he feels it functions best—something he plans not to move away from again.
“I am very pleased with the direction that we’ve moved into 17 and I don’t see it changing from the future of how we do things. I’m truly blessed to be around a company and the racers and guys that I am, as well as the fans and the people involved with off-road. It’s been a wonderful ride for me and I plan on being around for a while.” CN
The Hawkins Perspective
On the rider-mechanic relationship…
“Do the mechanics and riders always agree? Absolutely not. And there’s nothing wrong with that. And the key is if you disagree, you still have the dialogue to communicate. If you disagree and one goes to one corner and one lives in South Carolina and one lives in Washington, you don’t talk for two weeks and then you show up to race, what kind of results are you going to have there? I’m good with the mechanics questioning riders, riders questioning the mechanic, but we sit down and talk about it.”
On Yamaha’s off-road effort…
“I’ve been with Yamaha for going on 18 years now, and we’re at a point where I’m so proud of them. They’ve caused me to pull my hair out when I was a racer, and I would have loved to have all the tools that we have today when I was racing. We had great options then and we won races and championships, but to me [the options today] shows you Yamaha’s commitment. When you look at the Japanese side of it, they’re the only company that’s still invested in the off-road to the depth they have.
“Do they move as fast as the European companies? Absolutely not. They’re a lot more tactical. I’ve been with them, I’ve tested with them, been in meetings. They really strategically try to move in directions. I would like to see them move faster, but they are moving.
“Right now from Yamaha, we have a platform now that is much broader than it’s ever been since I’ve been involved with them. Now, where the European companies have so many models, we have basically a model that will match anything that they have. And I do believe that you will continue to see Yamaha slowly march in that direction.”
On Destry Abbott’s DA8 team joining the Yamaha family…
“Me and Destry are friends that go back, way back. From the days we raced and Six Days. I consider Destry a true, good friend. Actually when all this was going for him, making this move to Yamaha, we talked quite a bit. I reached out and told him anything that we can do here, if that’s the direction that’s going in Yamaha, we would help. Even offered if he wants to send some of his guys back east that we would take care of him.
“Destry’s super smart on what’s going on and has way more experience on the west than I do. But I think they’re doing a great job. The leadership with Destry, they couldn’t have found anyone better in my opinion. It wouldn’t surprise me, in the next few years, if not now, [that DA8 Racing will] be one of the premier teams for Yamaha on the West Coast.”
