Monster Energy Interview: Gavin Towers

If officials at the 42nd running of the Monster Energy AMA Amateur Motocross Championship had an award that represents the ultimate comeback, this year’s would no doubt go to Monster Energy’s Gavin Towers (NSA Factory Yamaha).

Not to mention missing pretty much the entire year leading up to Loretta’s (more on that later), once the injured Towers was finally able to throw a wounded leg back over his bike in order to try and qualify for Loretta’s, he destroyed his collarbone – had it surgically put back together – then raced his Loretta’s qualifiers FIVE DAYS later.

“Man, that sucked,” he’d say.

But the tough kid out of Venetia, Pa., persevered and made it through his Loretta’s regionals this past June. And that act of courage and determination set the stage for his first-ever championship at Loretta’s – the highly sought after 250 Pro Sport title.

Monster Energy caught up with Towers, and the following is his account of one heck of a wild year in motocross racing. One that any seasoned pro motocross racer, or competitive athlete for that matter, can appreciate.

4 podiums… nine top fives… but your very first win comes in your last time racing Loretta’s. How cool is that?

 I think that definitely, over the years, I slowly got better and better at the Ranch. But I was always in 2nd place, 2nd place, and again, 2nd place. Then again, 2021 and ’22 – 2ndplace. And it was like, ‘Oh my gosh! Not again!’ I definitely didn’t want to leave my amateur career there without a win. So this (the 250 Pro Sport title) was really special. I’ve been chasing this since 2010 and I only missed two years. So awesome. Super special.

So we touched on this earlier… talk about how banged up you were this past year leading up to the Loretta’s qualifiers.

To start out last summer (’22) I broke my collarbone, which kept me out of the RedBud Combine. Then after that, I tore my ACL a couple weeks before Ironman (MX National). But I kept riding, until I hit a dip weird, just coming off the track. So it was one last good ‘POP,’ and I was like, ‘Man, that hurt.’ I pulled off and had the guys at the Alpinestars Mobile Medical Center look at it, and they said ‘Yeah, it’s torn.’ ACL, how quickly it was gone, and never even crashed when I did it. Put my foot down coming off the track, after a race, just hit in the right spot to ‘POP’ the tendon. The most I hated about hearing that was that it’s going to be a long recovery period.

So you got through that last fall and all winter, months of rehab, which had to suck – especially since you weren’t riding. Then came time to get ready for your last Loretta’s – and last chance at a title. Talk us through what happened when you made your (initial) comeback. 

Yeah, I broke my collarbone and had to race five days later just to make Loretta’s. And man, that sucked. Lots of little things, in my mind, trying to do the best I could regardless. I had the collarbone pinned back together. My first regional in June. Broke it Saturday, had surgery Monday, and raced five days later. I know people have done it, but I don’t know if they’ve done it that soon. Pretty much no healing time. Had to do what I had to do. Got both my tickets (250 Pro Sport and Open Pro Sport), but after that I just had to let it heal. Broke it pretty gnarly. I took six weeks off, which would have been my main Boot Camp time before Loretta’s. Basically missed my entire training block. So I got in, I’d say, six days of training before Loretta’s. Not ideal, but we got it done. And that’s what makes this one that much sweeter.

We gotta take a knee here. That’s unreal.

(Laughter)

Rewind a bit to last year, 2022 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season. You raced some MX Futures events, scored like three podiums. Got a taste of the big leagues there. How did that help guide the direction of your MX career?

Those SX Futures races are awesome. You can practice a lot at supercross, on your own track, but getting time on a Dirt Wurx track is unreal. Found out real quick how much difference three feet to one side or the other (of a jump) can make. Happy with my results. Ryder D and Chance (Monster Energy racers DiFrancesco and Hymas) were my best competition, but I didn’t have quite as much time as them with SX Futures. I felt the results were fine, but I wish I had more time at supercross.

Talk about the NSA Yamaha Amateur Factory Team. How’d that come about for you, how long have you been part of that program and how’s it been going riding for them?

 The NSA Yamaha team’s amazing. Owner Danny Lewis, Ed Torrance, Jake Butler… I’ve been with them since October 2021 when I parted ways from Team Green. They have been huge supporters. There’s not many teams that’d stick behind you with a six-month injury. They signed me this year and I only raced one race for them. And then my collarbone. I’m sure it was a hard pill for them to swallow. So winning Loretta’s was a nice way to repay them. Awesome, they believed in me. Wouldn’t be in this position without them. They were all super happy, pumped. They said ‘We believe in you’ from Day One, and they’ve got my back. I was able to give back to them with a No. 1 plate. Star Racing’s won the most of them lately, so great to give NSA Yamaha one. Also, it’d be a good time to thank my mechanic, Carter Jones. Carter stuck with me when he could have split with another rider. Stayed here and learned a lot from Jake at the shop. And he (Jones) stuck with me when I got back.

That’s excellent. Back to Loretta’s. Your opening moto for the 250 Pro Sport moto was on Wednesday, looked like pretty good conditions. You pulled the STACYC Holeshot and led the race. … Take things over from there.

 Yep, got a good holeshot after I’d pulled the No. 14 gate pick. Then I was passed quickly. Didn’t have the same speed as Julien (Beaumer/KTM) at the beginning, tried to push behind him, break away from the people behind me. It definitely sucked because I didn’t have the pace – especially early on in the week. Felt I rode good, and my speed was alright, so it was nice to be on the podium (3rd) in the first moto.

The two guys that finished ahead of you in the opening 250 Pro Sport moto, Beaumer and Mark Fineis were riding well. Fineis caught you later in the race for 2nd place. Talk a bit about those two and what strategy you’d need to put in place in order to finish ahead of them in Motos 2 & 3.

 Those guys were running awesome. Again, I kind of didn’t have it for them in the first moto. But I knew a 3rd in a three moto race meant you were in the hunt. For the next motos, I knew I really had to get a good start. That’d be my main strategy. If I didn’t (pull the start), charge as long as I could and keep myself in the fight.

Fineis grabbed the holeshot to open Moto 2. The conditions were brutal. What was going through your mind as you got out in a sea of mud roost?

 That one I can’t quite remember. Super bad slough mud, and went from that to being dry, or somewhere in between. I came out (of the start) in the top ten, moved up to 2nd. They’d dropped the moto time from 25 to 20 minutes. I made it up on 2nd, then, got passed at the end by Dax (Bennick/Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha). I could have been at 2-1, but instead was at 3-3. Not ideal, but I was still in it.

At the point where you’d made your way up to 3rd, then eventually to 2nd – past Brad West in the mud - were you thinking ‘I’m from the Midwest. I should be used to this stuff?’

 The track was starting to turn around a little bit, definitely better than earlier in the day. A soon as I got into second, tried charging as long as I could. Knew Mark (Fineis) was gone, with a very comfortable lead. I tried to salvage a 2nd, but it ended up being 3rd. I was irritated that I let Dax by, but from that point he was riding really well. (I) had more pace at that end, just didn’t have it for Dax.

So Fineis had pretty much checked out with the win, but Beaumer ran into some trouble – and ended up underneath his bike for a bit. Were you aware, during Moto 2, that the Moto 1 winner (Beaumer) had gone down? And how did that sit with you?

 I don’t think I knew. He was behind me at that point. Really had no idea. But after, I knew it’d be between Mark and I for the overall.

Right. Bennick had ended up catching you for 2nd. So you were at 3-3 heading into the deciding Moto 3. Fineis had the lead (2-1) heading into Saturday, but you were no doubt wired and checking the Weather Channel app every five minutes. What was the night like prior to Saturday’s finals?

 The main thing was just calming myself. Get a good night’s sleep. Don’t think about all the what ifs. I knew it was going to rain. Pour, no matter what. Get prepared for mud, keep your vision clean. And we woke up to an absolute mess. Lot of drama, either good or bad. I needed three points and mud made it a little easier. Caused a lot of shakeups, with the bikes, crashes, everything.

HUGE STACYC Holeshot to open the third and final 250 Pro Sport moto. How’d that feel?

 Oh, I was ecstatic. We sat on that gate for like 20 minutes. That’s where the nerves came in. Had one eye on my watch, the other on my heartrate monitor. I was the only guy on gate without a scoop tire. When the gate finally dropped, I came out in first, mainly because there was hard dirt underneath the slop. There was one kid just sending it – I let him go. Then Julien got by. I got hit with so much water, I pitched my goggles. The kid in 2nd went down, and I was able to keep it on two wheels. I saw Fineis getting lapped. And I thought, ‘This is mine!’ The track was crazy, so much water. The leader (Beaumer) was gone, but I knew I could salvage 2nd. Two lap board came out – and that was the longest two laps of my life.

What were your thoughts when the checkers finally flew, and you knew you’d won your first Loretta’s championship?

 Right when I crossed the finish line, there was a big sigh of relief. A giant weight lifted off my shoulders. It was the best feeling.

Has it sunk in yet, the fact that you’re a Loretta’s champion?

 It’s crazy to look back on it. It’s definitely, over the last week, settled in a little more. I was like, ‘Wow, finally.’ But it took a while for it to sink in. Holding up the No. 1 plate, I thought, ‘Is this even real?’

What’s your plans for the rest of the summer?

 I have a general plan, but no Pro Nationals. At least, probably not. Just keep training and, especially, get healed up. Work with my trainer, Gareth Swanepoel, to get my fitness back. Get back what I had before I got hurt.

Awesome. Any parting words?

 Thanks again to everyone at Monster, and a shout-out to the rest of my sponsors: NSA Yamaha, Bell Helmets, Moose Racing, Alpinestars, 100-Percent, Dunlop, Dirt Bike Kids and Ethika.