Tuesday Toolbox: Nate Kanney

It's been a long season for one of the world's top off road racers, Nate Kanney, but if you want to win one race, it is the Motorcycle-USA Snowshoe GNCC and Nate did just that. Does the win set the stage for Kanney to return from the break as the dominant rider? If history repeats itself, the XC1 class may just have there hands full, because Nathan Kanney shines brightest in the last four rounds.

GNCCRacing.com: Hey Nate what are you up to today?
Nate Kanney: I am actually on the way to work with Theresa Ortolani today. It is a job she got since the book (Endurance) was released. So I am going to go and be a photo assistant for her.

Sounds cool! Are you going to be a subject in the shoot or just help set up some shots?
Probably mostly help set up shots. I know her husband Ian is going to be rigging some of the shots and he may be in some of the photos and I am probably just going to help out.

Sounds like you have a good relationship with the Ortolani's. Have you known them long?
Yea, that is how the book all came about, we were really good friends before it all even started. Now that the book is done we can be really good friends again.

(Laughing) I guess it got a little tense during the time you guys were working on Endurance?
Laughing) I wouldn't say it was tense, but there was a priority there and we all had to kind of work together to just get that book done. It was like when we were together it was for the book, but now when we get together just enjoy each others company. It's nice.

That's a really good book by the way. I know everyone that stops by my house always seems to pick it up and they love it. Everyone loves the way your story is told not only in some words, but more so with pictures. It kind of takes you through the Nate Kanney story.
Yea, the book is really cool. Some of the photos are priceless to me. The tough thing about the book for me was the editor and the writer really wanted some of the really abrasive quotes from me in there. And for the benefit of the book I kind of had to let them do that. It was not necessarily great for my image in my opinion, but it is not anything that I cannot get over. It's good and I'm glad everybody seems to like it and seems to be receptive to it.

Has it made you more popular as a racer to the fans?
I wouldn't say it has made me more popular, but it has given people a different view of me. It has given people more of a timeline of my racing career and kind of a little more perspective into my personal life and stuff which is cool. I think the fans have an easier time of relating to me now, but I wouldn't say it has made me any more popular.

Congratulations on the big win at Snowshoe by the way. How cool would it have been to have had that in the book to kind of cap it all off?
Yea, that would have been nice but at the same time I got my first win in the book which was arguably maybe even bigger than winning at Snowshoe. You know that was my first win and I am sure that Snowshoe will not be my last. I can't complain. Maybe it will come out in another book someday.

So, just what have you been doing since the big win at the Moto-USA Snowshoe GNCC?
Actually I have been doing a lot of work on my house. I moved into a new house in April and my garage was just sheetrock with spackle and a concrete floor. In the last week and a half I have turned it from that to the "Garage Mahal".

(Laughing) So Nate Kanney is not only Motorcycle Racer Extraordinaire but also a Construction Guru?
Before I began racing GNCC in a serious way, I always had jobs. After high school I had a handful of different jobs. I worked as an electrician. I worked as a carpenter. I worked a landscaper. I had a lot of different jobs, so I am relatively familiar with that kind of stuff. But I wouldn't say that I am good enough at to do a job like that myself. In this case I wanted to it be done right, so I had some friends come in and help me it that are obviously a lot better at it than I am.

Would construction be something to fall back on when the whole racing thing comes to its end?
You know when racing is over for me, I don't see myself working in the construction industry. I think there are a lot of other things I am going to be able to do with myself that I think I will be really good at. I don't think construction is going to be it. But who knows? Anything can happen. No one can really see their future.

Being a racer you never really know from race to race if it is going to be your last. What are you thinking as far as the future is concerned?
Well at the moment I kind of have plans to have something going on in the industry. But I think that will be kind of a second job that will not require a lot of my time. I would like to do something else outside the industry as my primary income. That way racing and riding can really become my hobby again. Whether it's racing or riding at least the dirt bike can be a hobby and something I can take a lot of pleasure in participating in. What scares me about working in the industry is that a lot of the people that work in the industry don't get to ride anymore. Or they're involved with dirt bikes but they don't have a personal relationship with the bike. It's just making the parts or selling them or whatever it is, but then they don't ride anymore which is a pity.

So just being on the bike is what it is all about for you?
Yea, racing is really fun, but riding the bike is what really started it all. Racing is a career for me and I am always going to take a lot of pleasure in just going out and riding whether it's a motocross track or trail riding in the mountains.

I was going to ask you how you were spending the big $10,000.00 bonus from Snowshoe, but I guess it's obvious a lot is going into the "Garage Mahal".
(Laughing) Yea! Absolutely! I put a lot of the money already into the garage and now I am kind of in the market for a new road bicycle too. So some it of may go into that. We will see, I really want to put as much of it as possible into my savings account as I can. But, I'm a "Toy Boy" and it's time for a new road bike.

I want to see pics of the garage!
I don't want you to get your hopes up now! It's only a one car garage. It's not the FMF KTM Team Race Shop or anything. The fire inspector may only allow maximum occupancy of 3 or 4 people. So bare in mind it might be the smallest "Garage Mahal" you will ever see. ( Laughs)

I heard you had a look of shock when they handed you the actual $10,000.00 Bonus Check after the race. What meant more to you at Snowshoe, the win or the bonus?
The win meant more to me absolutely. I mean the money is an important factor because it is my livelihood. Racing and winning is how I make my living. But after the way the season has gone it was a personal vendetta for me. I had to overcome all the bad luck and all the non-sense that has been happening this season. So I will say the money was secondary.

You were in contention for wins in the races leading up to Snowshoe, what was the difference that helped you finally seal the deal?
I think that there were a lot of things that played a part in it. One of the things is that is was like a real off-road race. I knew to practice "off-road" riding not to go to the motocross tracks everyday. Predominantly that is what the guys are practicing these days. In about 80% of the GNCC courses you can get away with just practicing motocross. Even motocross set ups on your bike works well in most cases. But here it was different and we had a real off road race all of a sudden and I was able to foresee what we were up against and I found the places to ride and dial my bike in for this kind of race and my balance as well.

What are your plans for the break?
I'm not sitting and gloating in my victory anymore. I am past that point and I've already started building my program to be ready for the last four and set my sites on hopefully winning on the way out of the season. My plans are to take this week and organize everything around my house and in my life for the next six weeks till we race at Unadilla.

You seem to always do well at Unadilla, are you excited to be returning there first race after the break?
It kind of burns me out ever since last year that I lost Unadilla. That's on my mind. I have not won there since 2006 and I have gotten 2^nd two years in a row and that does not thrill me. So I have a lot of motivation to win Unadilla. And you know I really like the last four races altogether, so I want to make up for what I missed out on in the first eight races. You know, try to do at these last four what I did at Snowshoe.

Good luck with that, I know you work hard to reach your goals so it is likely that it could happen!
It's a blessing to be able to do this for a living. You know every day I can go do what I got to do and I can say "who has it better than me?" and there's not that many people that do. I'm happy to do what I do and I am happy with the people I have around me and it's time to do a better job at what I do.

I heard you and Chris Bach were riding together before Snowshoe, is this something you two do often?
That was actually the first time I have ever ridden with him. I only met him this spring when he was doing well at the beginning of the season. He struck me as a good quality person. He works hard and knows what he wants. To tell the truth I saw a lot of myself from when I was a privateer in him. He works hard and he's smart and he's got a really good approach to what he is doing. I think he has a really good future in racing.

I want to throw one thing is as a side note though: I would like to rub it in that no matter how much smack he talked, I did back up what I said to him about beating him at Snowshoe. The score is now Bach -1 and Kanney -1. The smack all started before Ohio and he beat me by default at Millfield when I did not cross the finish line.

Are you guys developing a personal rivalry?
Uh, Yea! It's pretty intense actually; there might be a blood bath after Unadilla!

I know you need to go to work with Theresa, but before you do is there anyone you want to say thanks to before you go?
I would like to say thanks to the whole FMF KTM team. Dunlop Tires / Bell Helmets / SCOTT Goggles / Sidi Boots / KTM Powerwear. My mechanic J.R. and all the guys on the team. Donnie, Anti, all the other mechanics, Allen, Hollywood and Tony. Just thanks to all those guys, they have all been so supportive this year and it is nice to be able to give back to them with a win finally.

Any parting shots or Nate Kanney Smack to throw out there before you go?
Yea sure! (Laughs) I don't know how to break it to everyone, but I'm going to win the last four rounds and then it will be Kanney-5 and Bach-1.

(Laughing) Sounds good! Go have fun and I will see you at Unadilla in September!
Thanks Rodney!