HEAVY ARTILLERY:
KANNON HARGROVE
Kannon Hargrove made some massive strides last year in the 65cc class after making the decision to begin training full-time at Quick’s Moto Ranch in Kemp,Texas. The youngster began putting in the work and it was more than apparent in his results as he continually made improvements from race to race. Hargrove showed flashes of speed in the first half of the year but he really began to come into his own later in the season, starting with an overall podium finish in the 65cc (10-11) class at The Motoplayground Race at Ponca City. His performance in Oklahoma inspired him with confidence and he carried that momentum straight into Mini Os, capturing a total of four podiums between both supercross and motocross during the week. Hargrove hasn’t lost a step throughout the offseason as he looked right at home on his 65 at the beginning of the 2020 season, putting himself on the podium in both (10-11) classes in what is literally his home race at Spring A Ding Ding. We got on the phone with Kannon after a long day of training down at QMR to bring us up to speed on what he’s been doing during the last few months, making improvements over the last year, and moving up to the 85 classes.
What have you been up to during the quarantine for the last couple of months?
I've been doing a lot of fishing lately, hanging out around the track, riding...that's about it.
eScore says you're from Kemp,Texas. Do you have a house close by or do you stay at QMR?
I actually live in a camper at Quick's.
What else have you been doing during your downtime with no racing going on?
Me and a big group of kids will go swimming after training on the hot days and we've been jumping on the trampoline quite a bit.
When the racing was first called off, did you take some time off or continue your regular training?
We kept riding. I might've missed two or three days after Freestone just 'cause we stayed there and just took a few days off, and after that we were back goin'.
How do you like training down there at Quick's Moto Ranch in Texas?
Yeah, it's really good. We have two tracks so we can ride on the Underground track which is right next door, but we ride on that track maybe once a month -- mainly over on the other track on the Quick's Moto Ranch property. We have a lot of things: a basketball hoop, trampolines, the pond, we can fish and swim in them, so there are a lot of things to do.
How is it for you training everyday with Kyle Regal and Zak Mashburn?
I think they're awesome. I really like both of 'em. I've been training with Zak for a while now and I just started training with Kyle about a year ago when we got here. Me and Zak have been close for a while and I'm good friends with Kyle now. I really like them as trainers, they're really good. We do quite a bit of section work and then we do a long moto at the end of the day, every day. I like both of 'em a lot.
Your results improved throughout the entire year last year until you finally got a podium at The Motoplayground Race at Ponca City. Did that do a lot for your confidence?
Yes, sir. We were goin' for a top-five finish at Ponca and it happened that I had a decent first moto and I just holeshotted in the second moto. I stayed up there for the whole moto and I was kind of surprised. I think I got a 6th in the first moto, so it wasn't like "I'm gonna podium or do really good," I was just kind of like "a top-five would be awesome!" I got 3rd and I didn't really know right after I came off the track and then they called me on the podium; it was really cool!
After that podium, did you feel like you found another gear? You went onto Mini Os and got four more podiums there.
Yes, sir. I just started riding really good after Ponca and just from there on I got a lot faster. I came into Mini Os at least wanting to podium once or twice and I ended up with four podiums, I'm pretty sure, with motocross and supercross. Mini O's was awesome, I only didn't podium in two classes there so I couldn't ask for anything better.
Did you do any Supercross Futures or anything before the spring races this year?
No, sir. Here in Dallas, my brother raced the KTM Jr. Supercross Challenge so we were up late that night with him. We had to get up at like 5 am and go to the track, so we didn't do any of the supercross racing.
It had to be pretty cool to be there and support your brother in the KTM Jr Challenge?
Yeah, it was awesome! He got 3rd actually in the race so he got to get up on the podium. It was just a really fun night. We were there all day and we basically got passes to almost everywhere in the stadium, so we could just walk around and watch from any angle of the track. It was awesome!
That was a pretty exciting Main Event that night, too. Isn't that the night Webb crashed?
It was, actually we were sitting right by that dragon's back!
You ended up with a couple of overall podiums at Spring A Ding Ding this year. How'd things go for you there?
I was pretty happy with it. I've been running 85 bars on my 65 to give me a little bit more room and in the second (7-11) moto, my throttle got stuck wide open. It got wrapped around the bar pad and when I went to turn it back straight, it got stuck wide open and it just shot me right over a berm. So it was just chaos from there, I didn't notice what happened so I pushed my bike almost like one hundred yards until I realized what was wrong. At that point, I dropped back to 20th or something like that and I think there were two laps to go so it was just chaos. I couldn't really do anything, I think I came back to like 14th or somethin'. It was awesome to get on the podium in my other classes though. It was really awesome to be at my home track and do good.
Do you like the layout of the Underground track?
I really do like the layout. I think the jumps are really fun! The corners get so gnarly that you're just trying to make it through on a little 65 -- it works out sometimes and doesn't others. But I love that track!
What do you think about the Super Regionals for Loretta's this year?
I think that'll be crazy. It'll be really gnarly.
Do you know what you're doing this year after Loretta's moving into next year? Are you moving up onto the 85?
Yeah, I've been riding the 85 on and off since I was 9 I'm pretty sure. I'm starting to ride it pretty good now, so hopefully I'll transition fine to the 85 class and just go on from there.
Have you been training on the 85 at Quick's?
I've been riding it for a while, but it actually blew up the other week so this is my second week back on the 65. I've been ridin' since after Spring A Ding (Ding), so I've been on it for a while.