It’s December again and the pre season rumor mill is working overtime! With Kawasaki rejoining the ranks of the ATV Racing world, and Suzuki in their second year with a machine proven to win another championship it’s anyone’s guess what will take place.

Here at AEM we don’t talk much in writing about the Pro ranks, but at times it only makes sense when discussing racing. Who is going to ride what and who is going to stick with what they know works? Those are questions that people in the industry and media hear on a daily basis. But who really knows?

Let’s face it; we all want to know who is going to be doing what. I’m still not sure why the human mind requires empty information to fulfill a need for drama, but it does. In the game of racing there are too many players to count as credible. There are too many people giving false information to throw people off the path and there are too many friends of the Pro riders that always think they know too much.

If you spend much time in the forum world at all you know exactly what I am talking about here. At first a small comment is made about a certain Pro switching to a new color. Then you hear about who his replacement will be. Then you hear about all the reasons for the move. 10,000 people might read all that, and yet there are probably less than 10 people that know the truth. That’s less than .001% that may actually know the truth about any given subject. Sure there could be a huge group of guessers that get it right, but the upfront and true fact holders are few and tight lipped.

So is this bad for the sport? Hell no! In fact I love the racing rumor mill. As long as people are talking about quad racing that is a good thing. It keeps the season alive all winter and it always provides something to keep people wondering. How much of it do I believe? Well let’s just say this: The moment the gate drops or flag goes up at round 1 this year is when I’ll say ‘dang! I guess so and so had it right!’.  Until then let’s all try to remember that until the contracts are signed nothing is official. There is no sense in putting any stock into info that you are not handed directly from the rider or factory. It can change, and it can change quickly.

Chuck DeBault
Chuck DeBault is the editor of AEM and an experienced photographer in the ATV world. You can find other information by Chuck in magazines like QUAD, ATV Insider, Quad & Jet and ATV Racin Extra. You can find his photography in most mainstream ATV magazines, advertisments and race reports around the world.