Tuesday Toolbox: Shawn Javens

This is Shawn Javens' second year of racing GNCCs. He didn't even run the entire series last year, but this year he completely dominated the entire Senior B (40+) class by winning every single race. We didn't know much about Javens so we called him up for this week's Tuesday Toolbox.

Hey Shawn, we don't know much about you besides the fact that you wiped out the competition in the Senior B (40+) Class. Who the heck are you? I'm Shawn Javens, I'm 41, and  I'm from Newell, West Virginia. Newell is about 40 miles north of Wheeling, W.Va.

Did you start out at the beginning of this season thinking you were going to win every race? It just happened, really.  My goal was to win one national this year. And then after about round 6 I started thinking that I could do something with this.

What was the competition like in your class? Did you have any outright battles with anyone in particular? The competition was good. We had a lot of good guys out there. Our regulars that come to all the races are just a nice group of guys and we're just like a big family. I came across some really good riders this year. Tim Smith and I battled a couple time this year. Jeff Stover and Rick Phillips are also tough competition, but I hate to start naming names because I don't want to leave anyone out. It was just a good group of guys that I liked racing with every week.

Were you training pretty hard this season or doing anything different to make this season work so well for you? I took my training pretty seriously this year. We didn't take a break over the winter and we hit the gym really hard and did a lot of indoor/outdoor riding. I trained with younger, faster people which in turn made me a faster rider this year.

How long have you even been racing GNCCs? This is my second year racing GNCCs. My first year was 2008. I rode the North Carolina race after my son and some of his friends convinced me to do it. It was my first time at the GNCC level and I finished 5^th.  I went about 23 years without racing before that.

Wow! So you hadn't raced for 23 years before the North Carolina race? No, I hadn't.  I hadn't even been back on a bike until I was 40 years old. My son Cody got into it when he was about 15. We took him to Walker Fowler's track and when I was watching him ride I saw a bunch of guys my age riding and I thought I'd like to try. I jumped on one and now I'm hooked!

What does Cody race now? Cody started this year racing College B and was second in points. After Snowshoe he wanted to run with faster guys so he moved to the Pro-Am Class to gain more experience.

So Cody convinced you to race in North Carolina. What did he have to do to convince you? Well, I ran some local races and a couple of CRA races up North and that's when the guys said I needed to try a GNCC race.

And this was 3 weeks before you actually competed? Yeah, I went out and bought a Kawasaki and I just couldn't get comfortable on it. Cody had a Honda 450R and when I hopped on it, I felt more comfortable. I finished out the 2008 season on a Honda 450R in 5^th for the year. I think I ended up racing nine races last year.

So you said you had a 23 year break from racing. Apparently you had raced when you were younger? I rode some local races when I was younger but back then there wasn't that many people racing. It kind of just got old because of that. I knew I still wanted to race something, so in 2001, I raced East Coast four-wheel drive off-road racing. It's off road racing in sand drags and uphill climbs. And I won a championship in 2001 for an uphill hill climb in a Bronco. Racing's just in my blood. I just love to compete.

What are your plans for 2010? I don't know yet. I'm definitely coming back to give it a try one more year. I would really like to run the utility class in the morning. Especially so I could watch Cody compete. We race at the same time so I don't get to see him. But if that doesn't happen, I'll definitely be back on a Honda in the Senior A (40+) class.

So it's pretty family oriented for you. You know it is. It really is. It's a big family. We just love going there and meeting new people every week. It's just a good time. It's just a good family sport that I can do with my son and my wife, Belinda. I don't know what I'd do without her there. She was our pit crew for Cody and I and she is just wonderful. She does it all. She does our pits for us and fuels us.  And we had some help from the Henthorns.(Sp) 15 year old class.

Alright Shawn, I'm sure you have some people you want to thank. I want to thank my wife Belinda and son Cody. I'd also like to thank Josh Fisher. This kid is at the house every Sunday morning to help wash the bikes and whatever needs to be done. I'd like to mention his name. That'll make his day. And JP Cycles from Lisbon, Ohio, they help us build our engines. I want to thank Laz with GT Thunder and Scott Goggles, and the crew at TireBalls, they're always getting our tires ready for us before all the races and Patrick with Rekluse clutches. Patrick is fabulous.  And of course Mark and Tom Notman for all that they've done for me. I'm riding Mark's '08 bike and that was like riding a Cadillac this year. William Yokley is also a big help!