JOLIET, Ill. – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. joined four-time AMA World Supercross Champion Ryan Villopoto and “Chicago Fire” star Taylor Kinney at Chicagoland Speedway on Thursday to preview the inaugural Pit Bike National that will be held during the June 27-30 NASCAR weekend.
Before returning to Chicagoland to compete in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Camping World 400 on June 30, Stenhouse Jr. jumped on a Yamaha TTR 110 and turned laps with Villopoto and Kinney outside Turn 4 where the pit bike track will be located.
“I rode a lot of dirt bikes and I raced a couple times,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “My dad and I like to ride together and it was something he did growing up. We always had a passion for riding. I raced BMX when I was three years old and started riding dirt bikes when I was four, actually before I started racing go-karts. My first thing with an engine on it was a dirt bike.”
Stenhouse Jr. continues to ride dirt bikes and even has a track on his property in North Carolina.
“I’ve got a little track that I ride at,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “Blake Koch and his son come out and ride and practice because he races just about every weekend. It’s cool to have a place to have some fun with buddies, but also let people come and ride.”
A lot of the drivers in the Cup Series garage follow Supercross/motocross making the Pit Bike National a perfect fit for the 2019 Chicagoland NASCAR Summer Festival weekend.
“I think the pit bike race is awesome,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “When they announced that they were having the pit bike races here, obviously the ones that come out to my house are pumped to see the race here. Hopefully we’ll get a race with all of our competitors out here, or at least the ones that want to do it. I think that would be pretty fun.”
Villopoto echoed Stenhouse’s excitement for the addition of pit bike races.
“The four wheel guys like two wheels and vice versa so it’s pretty cool to be able to do this here and also watch the race over a big three-day weekend,” Villopoto said. “Just to have a lot of fun and watching adults riding around on kids bikes. All the bikes will be essentially be the same other than the bars that they want. Expect good racing.”
While today’s track just had markers for the layout, Villopoto is looking forward to what it looks like when he returns to race in three weeks.
“It sounds like they are going to bring some dirt in to make some little obstacles, jumps and things like that,” Villopoto said. “To be honest there was three of us out there and it was just as fun the way it was.”
Along with Villopoto, Jeff Stanton, Damon Bradshaw, Willy Browning and Carson Brown are currently on the entry list.
Kinney, who will begin filming for the next season of NBC’s “Chicago Fire” on July 12, has attended the NASCAR race in Chicago in the past and plans to return along with possibly making an appearance in the pit bike race.
“I’m hoping to be here and get out there and get a little dirty,” Kinney said.
While he lives in Chicago part-time, Kinney likes to ride dirt bikes back home in Pennsylvania.
“My brothers and I will set up little courses, throw on our gear, helmets some boots and just play around,” Kinney said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Along with riding the Yamaha’s, Stenhouse Jr., Villopoto and Kinney also participated in a golfing contest where they hit balls from the top of the grandstands down into the infield grass. There were three circles marked in the grass, worth 5, 10 and 15 points, and each hit 10 balls to see who could get the highest score.
“I’ve seen other people hit golf balls from tops of stadiums and things like that and I have never done it,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “I’m always jealous when I see people do it. When the competition came up we all stepped up our game.”
Stenhouse Jr. edged Villopoto in the contest, 90-85, and Chicagoland Speedway will present a check for $1,000 to the charity of Stenhouse’s choice.
