DETERMINATION:
LANDREY HAZEN
The last couple of years have been challenging for Landrey Hazen as she’s faced her fair share of adversity in the form of injuries. Nonetheless, the sixteen-year-old has relied on her mental fortitude and determination to push through the pain and make the comeback stronger than the setback, proving that she’s capable of exactly that with some strong results last season. Hazen suffered some pretty gnarly injuries at Mini Os at the end of the 2018 season, forcing her to miss the beginning of the year and take some time to heal up before getting back to racing. She returned at Loretta’s and displayed the speed necessary to finish on the box right off the bat, earning a 3rd place result in the first moto of the Girls (11-16) class. About a month later, she showed up at the Baja Brawl and swept the Girls (11-16) class with 1-1-1 finishes in addition to another title in the Women (12+) class. Unfortunately, she suffered another injury last year at Mini Os but has taken the offseason and the quarantine to work her way back into riding fitness and has been back on the bike for a few weeks. Hazen switched up her training program and is putting in the work closer to her home state of Michigan with Dave Kilgore in Lisbon, Ohio. Although she’s still struggling with her leg and nowhere near full fitness, she’s determined on getting back to the same level she was prior to her injury and is aiming to finish on the podium this year at Loretta’s. We had a quick chat with Landrey to find out what she’s been doing during the quarantine, what it was like racing Supercross Futures with her leg still broken, and her plans to hopefully race at the X Games.
What have you been up to during the recent quarantine?
When the racing season started I was hurt so I didn't get to race anyways and then when I got cleared to ride, the quarantine all started so I couldn't ride and now we just started. I've been working out and training with Dave Kilgore in Ohio and we've been there for a couple of weeks. Before I trained at Real Deal and I wanted to switch it up and try that and I'm lovin' training with Dave.
What were you doing to keep yourself entertained during all of that downtime?
We were just in Florida, hanging out by the pool and fishing. Hangin' out basically, there wasn't much I could do especially with my leg being so messed up.
What happened with your injury and how was the recovery process for you?
Two years ago at Mini Os I broke my fibula and tore my ACL and meniscus, so then I was out for like seven months. The next year I raced Mini Os again and I broke my tib and fib so I had to get surgery on that too, and that was another six-month recovery. So it's been a pretty rough couple of years, lots of downtime.
Did you ease yourself back into riding with no racing going on?
Yeah, I'm just now slowly starting to ride more and more 'cause it's still bothering me a little bit. I'm definitely not as fast as I was and I'm still working on it.
Have you been focusing on the big bike or supermini lately?
I have a Husky 125 but I'm more focused on my supermini 'cause I'm faster on them and I feel more comfortable on them and I still have a couple more years in the Girls class.
We noticed you had some ice racing results on the AMA page. Is that something you've done often?
No, I did ice racing in 2018 and that was the only year doing that. I was going to try snow bikes but I was broken so I couldn't, but this year I'm definitely going to do snow bikes in the winter and hopefully try for the X Games.
Have you ever ridden snow bikes before?
No, I've never ridden snow bikes but we have snowmobiles and I ride those a lot.
Last year at Baja, you came away with two titles in Girls (11-16) and Women (12+) with some top ten finishes in the Supermini 1 class. How was the weekend from your perspective?
Yeah, that was awesome. I got decent starts and that never happens and I got really good results so that was pretty good. It was awesome to get two championships there and it's a super fun race, I love racing there!
Were you able to miss the mud motos there last year or did you get caught up in one of those?
Oh yeah, my last moto was a mud moto and I fell two times but I still got the overall somehow. It was terrible, I was so mad. I thought I lost the championship 'cause I got 3rd in the last moto but I went 1-1 before that so I still got it!
You went onto Ponca and got a moto win there and an overall podium in both your classes. What was the weekend of racing like for you in Oklahoma?
Yeah, I didn't ride that good at Ponca. I wasn't very impressed with my results at all but it was still super fun and I'm lookin' forward to this year. I like the track, the ruts get deep and it's pretty rough.
After that, we went onto Mini Os where you ended up with a podium in SX before you ended up getting hurt on the outdoor track. What was the week like for you up until your injury?
Yeah, I was just getting my flow back on motocross 'cause I broke my leg the year before on supercross. I was a little nervous for supercross and for motocross I was feeling really confident and really excited to race, then I went out and broke my leg again, so that was not good.
So you and Mini Os haven't been getting along the best the last couple of years.
No, I don't know if I'll do Mini Os this year. I might take the year off and focus on snow bikes.
Are you excited about that? Those things look like so much fun.
Yeah, I'm super excited about that. They're going to make a women's class and then I'll be able to do that and then I'll be on TV and stuff so that'll be sweet if it happens!
At the beginning of this season you did the Supercross Futures race in Tampa, how did that go?
Well, I showed up there and I was not gonna race 'cause my leg was really broken then like it was pretty fresh after surgery and I was basically going there to get top three so I could do the finals or whatever. I was gonna do it 'cause if my brother finished top three, I wanted to be able to race; I didn't want to have to watch at the finals. I raced and I rolled every jump and I was not expecting to get 3rd, so I was super pumped about that. My leg was still really broken and I was just rolling every jump, but it was still super fun and I was pumped that I did good. The last two years I've done a Supercross race I was broken both times, but Vegas was really fun!
What'd you think about the track there at Supercross Futures?
Yeah, it was awesome! I love supercross 'cause it's tight and technical.
Do you feel like that favors your riding style?
Yeah, for sure. I get a little nervous riding really fast and I don't really like smooth tracks, but rough and technical tracks are my thing for sure.
MX Sports has announced the Super Regional format for Loretta's this year. What's your opinion on that?
I think it's gonna go good. I'm really excited 'cause I'm going to do my first Regional and then I'm gonna do the Baja Regional which is kind of like a home track for me. I don't ride there all the time, but it's close to home so it'll be fun, so I'm really lookin' forward to that.
Do you typically stay back in Michigan during the summer while you're training for Loretta's?
Normally, I trained in Louisiana so I was down there all the time but now that we're training with Dave we'll be home more. We normally come home on the weekends and then we train with Dave all week, so we get a little bit of both of the at-home lifestyle and training. This year I'll be at home all summer then during the winter I'll go to Florida and ride.
Has it been nice to have a new setup where you can leave your training at the track and not wake up with it in your backyard?
Yeah, it's way better. I love being able to come home and hang out with my friends and family and get away from riding for a little bit. It keeps me having fun and enjoying motocross a little more 'cause I get bored of living at the track with the same people all the time. Now I can come home and hunt and fish and do all of my normal stuff instead of just being at the track doing that every single day.
What're your plans for Loretta's this year and what's your mindset heading to the Ranch?
I'm training hard so I can hopefully podium every moto in the Girls class. I'm lookin' for top ten in Women's but it's going to take a lot of work comin' back from this injury, it's really been kicking my butt.