With new champion Thad DuVall out of the XC2 class and moving to XC1, the door was open for someone new to win in the Lites class. Turned out the someone new was someone who has been around, Monster Energy Kawasaki's Scott Watkins. After finishing second in last year's XC2 title chase, Scotty broke his arm days before the 2008 GNCC Opener in Florida and found himself fighting to get back to his old form. After winning over the weekend at Power Line Park, it's clear that he's back. But what about next year?

Interview by Jason Weigandt
Photos by Jason Hooper

Scotty Watkins

Well done, Scotty. What got you to victory lane over the weekend?
I think it was the hometown fans pushing me, and finding my talent.

So did they give you talent or did you just find what you had?
It's in there but it doesn't always come out. I think it's like certain moon phases or something like that.

What difference does having those fans really make?
You know for me it's more personal. I had a lot of people I know come out to the race and when I got into the woods, when you have people cheering for you it makes a big difference. It's like Kanney when we go to New York, he probably had a couple thousand people cheering for him there. When I got to a mudhole, people started cheering, and if I got stuck people were ready to jump right in and help.

Do you wish you had this boost a few months ago?
Yeah, because if you have a good result at the end of the year it doesn't do the same for your contract situation as a win before the summer break. If a guy is doing good, especially before the break, there's a better chance of him getting a ride next year than a guy who wins the last two races. By then, budgets are spent.

What are your plans for next year?
I don't know. Things are tight. I can guarantee you that, on the majority, people aren't getting as much next year. Even guys that are doing good don't have rides for next year.

Well, I've heard Whibley doesn't have anything set yet.
Exactly. He was a guaranteed top five guy, and nowadays a guaranteed podium, really, and he's still trying to get a ride for next year. It really depends on how the industry and the economy are doing to get some help.

Does it help that you've been with Kawasaki for so long?
Yeah, I've been with them for so long that it's an investment for them now, so I probably have a better chance of getting support from them than someone who doesn't ride for them. It's like Yamaha, they have an investment in Thad. So I'm hoping to get a deal and sponsorship from them next year, but they're trying to look at how many bikes we can help them sell.

Kawasaki has tried a lot of different things, they had Steve Hatch run a team for awhile, then Freddy had a team, now you're on your own.
They gave me the tools to do well. I have good equipment and stuff like that. For sure, it makes a difference having a truck there and having guys just helping out there and having a presence. You know, Webb comes and works with the Suzuki boys, and he's there to push them and to help out. For us, Andrew (Matusek) and I, we're on our own. I don't want to use that as an excuse for not doing well, but I do think there's a chance that I could do better if we had more help.

Watkins, like many GNCC pros, is trying to make a deal for next year.

Does it help that you've been around before?
It does. Its definitely not my first year, I've been around as long as a lot of guys. So I know what most of the tracks are going to be like, I know what to expect at the races and I know how things are going to go. So that experience helps, and I'm lucky for that. But I still wish I had more track support.

What's it like down there in Ohio.
Our camp, lately, is Jason Thomas, who lives with Fred, and Whibley stays with Fritz, the Smith Optics rep. So we ride together all the time, and it's funny because all three of us had podiums over the weekend. And Jimmy (Jarrett) he lives 15 minutes from me, and he comes riding with us sometimes, too, and he had a good ride, too. Whatever we're doing must be working.

What about you and Freddy? You guys are still cool.
Yeah. I've known Freddy for so long that we'll always been friends. It's just business, and now we have different colors.

That's a lot of fans!

So what about next year? Can you get a ride?
There is still hope. But Kawasaki, I can tell you they're not going to have a semi next year or anything like that. They're really focusing on contingency, they've upped the contingency substancially. So it's good for the average Joe, who can go out and buy a Kawasaki and go and win a couple of grand. That's great. For me, I'm hoping to still get some factory help. My boss, Jason Smigel, says there is still some hope. Everyone is just crunching the budget.

You've always been a Kawasaki guy. How did that start?
I was always on them, from when I was racing minis. And I knew Fred, who rode Kawasakis. So there was never any real reason to switch, and through the amateurs I was able to just keep the program going, just slowly bringing it to a higher level. And last year was my first year really as a pro. Year by year it has kept getting better. Right now I'm just hoping the relationship continues.

Compare XC2 last year to this year. Is it getting tougher?
Absolutely. Just look at the numbers, I think now XC2 has more riders than XC1. You're always going to have those top five guys, but then you have a guy like Ryan Echols, who finished third at Millfield, beating a lot of factory riders. So you have a lot of wildcards. But then you have the same five who are always there, Cory Buttrick and Kailub Russell are riding well, Dustin Gibson was sick at this race but he's always there, Jason Thomas is obviously riding well. By no means can you just say “I can be top three in every race” because it's hard.

Would you consider racing XC1 next year?
At this point, hey, if they're paying money, I'll ride with Levi Straus jeans and a jean jacket with an open face helmet if someone tells me to.

The way it is this year, can you make money racing XC2?
Yeah. This year was good and last year was good. But for the average pro guy to go down south for the winter, you leave in January, and everything is out of your pocket because you're not racing GNCCs yet so you're not getting big bonuses. So out of pocket, to live down there all winter, and to race all year, you're looking at 20-30 thousand dollars. That's just doing the sport. So if I guy can do more than break even on that, you've had a good year. This year I was able to get over that line. I've been chipping away at it, and next year I hope to do better than I did this year. But we'll just have to see.

Well, at least you have a win now.
Yeah, I have that little bit of extra pull! 

Watkins hopes to win again at the Ironman.