Billy Bear Carpenter’s first shot at motocross racing would have been the last for a lot of kids.
At 9 years old he was more Cub than Bear.
He was too small for his XR-85cc at the time, and the four-lap hare scramble at Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area in Tracy lasted around two hours for most of the contestants — far too long for too-small, too-inexperienced riders.
Carpenter barely drudged his way through three laps, but he didn’t come away empty-handed.
“I went out and bought him a little trophy and said, ‘You earned this, but this is the only free one you’re going to get,’” his father, Bill Carpenter, recalled.
Now 16, Bear is through racing for free.
(As an aside note, his name really is Billy Bear, attributed to his father’s Native American ancestry).
After taking nearly a year off from the sport, young Carpenter picked up right where he left off in late May and now aims to race professionally.
“Once I started riding again I was back to where I originally was,” said Carpenter, a junior at East Union High. “I was riding with a lot of the faster guys and I started doing better. The guys I looked up to as a kid are some of the ones I’m starting to beat now.
“I wasn’t even thinking of going pro at all until the last couple of weeks.”
Everything started to change on May 28 during a Friday Night Motocross Spring Series event at Sacramento Raceway Park. That was Bear’s first competitive race since his layoff, and he won the 250cc intermediate race.
At Sacramento Raceway, intermediates can qualify to compete for cash against professionals in the Pro-Am division, and it was shortly after that that Carpenter began earning some money.
“Why race for plastic?” as his dad put it.
Carpenter originally took a break just to take a break.
He spent years winning trophies and plaques from individual races to season-long series. Most were earned at Sacramento Raceway, Carnegie, Club Moto in Livermore and Los Banos Fairgrounds.
One of his biggest achievements to date was placing eighth out of 18 in the 12-15-year-old 85cc division during the 2008 Amateur National Arenacross Championships, which coincides with the U.S. Open, at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Bear was in contention for a top-five finish, but a crash knocked him out of contention.
He was invited for a return appearance in 2009. He didn’t place as high, but he did qualify for three final races with his best finish being ninth.
“He just got burned out from the sport a little bit,” Bill said. “He’s a kid and you have to let him be a kid. He would still ride, but it was once in a great while. We weren’t doing any real racing or anything, and finances were kind of low.”
The hiatus originally lasted about six months, but bike-related injuries to his wrist and a knee kept him out of action even longer.
“It actually helped him,” said Ernie Fernandez, one of Bear’s trainers. “He, who took six months off, got the level to where he was at after just one day of riding. That is almost unheard of in this sport.”
Motocross is like any other discipline, though. Natural talent and desire can only take one so far.
“What’s funny is that people often would go, ‘Why do you have to train? You just ride a bike.’ This sport is so demanding on your body, and a lot of people don’t realize that,” Bear said.
Fernandez’s son, Matt, 25, a former American Motorcyclist Association Pro, is Carpenter’s chief mentor. The Fernandezes, along with Bill Carpenter, who serves as the mechanic, make up the Bear Racing team.
Matt Fernandez often works with Bear on Bill’s 5-acre lot, which has its own motocross track, on the outskirts of town.
“They’ve been a huge help,” Bear said of the Fernandezes. “I’m not really sure if I’d still be racing without them. They helped me get a lot faster and they take me different places to ride.”
Bear mainly rides his No. 801 Honda CRF-250, but he’s taken a liking to Matt’s 450cc bike. For a growing kid his age the 450cc is too much to handle. Carpenter, to some level, has managed to tame the beast.
On July 24, Bear won both the 250 cc Intermediate and 450 cc Intermediate races at the Stanislaus County Fair in Turlock.
“I’ll continue to bounce back and forth (between the 250 cc and 450 cc) and see what’s best for me,” Bear said. “That (450 cc) bike has twice the power, and the suspension is really hard. And the bike overall is a little bit heavier.
“On that bike I could only do maybe four laps hard, whereas on my 250 I could do 10.”
Bear Racing no longer places regional series titles as its top priority. The lack of money coupled with Bear’s focus on school makes it tough to race every week anyway.
The main challenge now is for Bear Racing to get the money through sponsorships to race professionally. Malott’s Honda/Yamaha in Manteca is one the primary sponsors but mainly helps with parts.
Bear has come a long ways since his first race at Carnegie, but much like the two-hour marathon he never finished there is still some ways to go.
“Our bike costs in the neighborhood of $6,500-$7, 000,” Bill said. “Pros in the AMA are riding bikes that have $20,000 worth of suspension alone. This is what a lot of kids have to fight coming up the ranks.
“The fact that he’s going pretty darn fast on the bike we have is pretty unreal. You can’t help but wonder how well he’d do on those faster bikes.”
At 9 years old he was more Cub than Bear.
He was too small for his XR-85cc at the time, and the four-lap hare scramble at Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area in Tracy lasted around two hours for most of the contestants — far too long for too-small, too-inexperienced riders.
Carpenter barely drudged his way through three laps, but he didn’t come away empty-handed.
“I went out and bought him a little trophy and said, ‘You earned this, but this is the only free one you’re going to get,’” his father, Bill Carpenter, recalled.
Now 16, Bear is through racing for free.
(As an aside note, his name really is Billy Bear, attributed to his father’s Native American ancestry).
After taking nearly a year off from the sport, young Carpenter picked up right where he left off in late May and now aims to race professionally.
“Once I started riding again I was back to where I originally was,” said Carpenter, a junior at East Union High. “I was riding with a lot of the faster guys and I started doing better. The guys I looked up to as a kid are some of the ones I’m starting to beat now.
“I wasn’t even thinking of going pro at all until the last couple of weeks.”
Everything started to change on May 28 during a Friday Night Motocross Spring Series event at Sacramento Raceway Park. That was Bear’s first competitive race since his layoff, and he won the 250cc intermediate race.
At Sacramento Raceway, intermediates can qualify to compete for cash against professionals in the Pro-Am division, and it was shortly after that that Carpenter began earning some money.
“Why race for plastic?” as his dad put it.
Carpenter originally took a break just to take a break.
He spent years winning trophies and plaques from individual races to season-long series. Most were earned at Sacramento Raceway, Carnegie, Club Moto in Livermore and Los Banos Fairgrounds.
One of his biggest achievements to date was placing eighth out of 18 in the 12-15-year-old 85cc division during the 2008 Amateur National Arenacross Championships, which coincides with the U.S. Open, at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Bear was in contention for a top-five finish, but a crash knocked him out of contention.
He was invited for a return appearance in 2009. He didn’t place as high, but he did qualify for three final races with his best finish being ninth.
“He just got burned out from the sport a little bit,” Bill said. “He’s a kid and you have to let him be a kid. He would still ride, but it was once in a great while. We weren’t doing any real racing or anything, and finances were kind of low.”
The hiatus originally lasted about six months, but bike-related injuries to his wrist and a knee kept him out of action even longer.
“It actually helped him,” said Ernie Fernandez, one of Bear’s trainers. “He, who took six months off, got the level to where he was at after just one day of riding. That is almost unheard of in this sport.”
Motocross is like any other discipline, though. Natural talent and desire can only take one so far.
“What’s funny is that people often would go, ‘Why do you have to train? You just ride a bike.’ This sport is so demanding on your body, and a lot of people don’t realize that,” Bear said.
Fernandez’s son, Matt, 25, a former American Motorcyclist Association Pro, is Carpenter’s chief mentor. The Fernandezes, along with Bill Carpenter, who serves as the mechanic, make up the Bear Racing team.
Matt Fernandez often works with Bear on Bill’s 5-acre lot, which has its own motocross track, on the outskirts of town.
“They’ve been a huge help,” Bear said of the Fernandezes. “I’m not really sure if I’d still be racing without them. They helped me get a lot faster and they take me different places to ride.”
Bear mainly rides his No. 801 Honda CRF-250, but he’s taken a liking to Matt’s 450cc bike. For a growing kid his age the 450cc is too much to handle. Carpenter, to some level, has managed to tame the beast.
On July 24, Bear won both the 250 cc Intermediate and 450 cc Intermediate races at the Stanislaus County Fair in Turlock.
“I’ll continue to bounce back and forth (between the 250 cc and 450 cc) and see what’s best for me,” Bear said. “That (450 cc) bike has twice the power, and the suspension is really hard. And the bike overall is a little bit heavier.
“On that bike I could only do maybe four laps hard, whereas on my 250 I could do 10.”
Bear Racing no longer places regional series titles as its top priority. The lack of money coupled with Bear’s focus on school makes it tough to race every week anyway.
The main challenge now is for Bear Racing to get the money through sponsorships to race professionally. Malott’s Honda/Yamaha in Manteca is one the primary sponsors but mainly helps with parts.
Bear has come a long ways since his first race at Carnegie, but much like the two-hour marathon he never finished there is still some ways to go.
“Our bike costs in the neighborhood of $6,500-$7, 000,” Bill said. “Pros in the AMA are riding bikes that have $20,000 worth of suspension alone. This is what a lot of kids have to fight coming up the ranks.
“The fact that he’s going pretty darn fast on the bike we have is pretty unreal. You can’t help but wonder how well he’d do on those faster bikes.”
