by: Jared Bolton
Tuesday, December 2, 2014 | 3:40 PM
After finishing 2nd in the final point standings of the WXC class in 2013, Kacy Martinez came away as the 2014 WXC class champion in her first year making the jump to the Factory FMF KTM team. We caught up with Kacy to talk about her 2014 season and more.
GNCCRacing.com: How's everything going today?
Kacy Martinez: Everything is going great today! It's raining so that’s a good day in California right now!
So did you enjoy the banquet a couple of weeks ago?
The banquet was wonderful. Getting dressed up, seeing everyone dressed up and having a good time. I barely get to see everyone at the races so it was good to actually talk and hangout with everyone.
What was your favorite part about the banquet?
I had two favorite parts at the banquet, one was seeing Rory Mead up on stage receiving his Bad Ass Award and the second was definitely the after party. It was so cool to see everyone dancing and just having a good time. I really enjoyed dancing with my friends and taking photos in the photo booth.
So congrats on the championship this season!
Thanks! I’m pretty happy that I was able to make it happen.
How did it feel to wrap the title up so soon?
It was an awesome feeling to wrap up the championship so early. Definitely a relief also because it was pretty nerve-wracking with the new team! (laughs)
You had big shoes to fill after Maria Forsberg retired but you definitely filled them. Was there any pressure coming into the season?
Yeah, I’ve always looked up to Maria and she is an amazing racer and friend. I was pretty nervous coming into the first round with the new team and not really knowing anyone yet. Every race got easier and my nerves definitely calmed down. Everyone under the KTM tent is great and really fun to be around.
Did you expect to come away with the title before summer break started?
No I didn’t expect that at all! Honestly I didn't really even know that it was a possibility until I got to Snowshoe, but being able to make that happen was pretty awesome.
Speaking of moving to the Factory FMF KTM team, last season you stayed on the east coast while this year you flew back and forth from California. What's it like traveling back and forth each race?
Traveling back and forth gets a little tiring but it's not so bad. I travel to the east coast on Fridays then usually leave Sunday evening and get home around 11pm, or sometimes I'll fly home on Mondays.
How do you stay entertained doing all that traveling?
I always make sure I have a good movie uploaded on my iPad that’s at least 2 hours long. Sometimes I'll read a good book also. That definitely makes time go by pretty quick.
Going back to this season, what was the biggest highlight of the season for you?
My biggest highlight of the season was getting the gold medal at X Games in Austin the Friday before John Penton, then racing John Penton on Sunday and not only taking my class win but coming away with the morning overall win on top of that. That’s was a great weekend!
What was it like racing the A class at The Ironman?
It was definitely different. I had a great time racing it and those kids are really fast. The most difficult part for me was not knowing where I was at in position the whole race. The course was great though and I enjoyed having some more technical sections in the race.
So you'll be back for 2015, what do you hope to accomplish?
For 2015 I hope to capture another Championship in the WXC class and to be consistent and healthy for the entire season.
What about beyond 2015, what so you hope to accomplish down the road?
Down the road I hope I can be lucky enough to come away with many more GNCC Championships and to focus more on Endurocross one day to hopefully achieve an Endurocross championship too.
Alright, before we wrap this up, who would you like to thank?
There’s so many to thank, this all would of never happened without my Mom and Dad so I’d like to thank them first. Then my awesome team, FMF KTM Factory Racing, Motorcycle Superstore, Bell Helmets, Leatt, LipZipz Lip Balm, Thor, Oakley, Sidi, Maas Bros, Motion pro, Acerbis, Dunlop, Renthal, and I can’t forget my training partner, best friend and boyfriend, Travis Coy!