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Randy Yoho - Dade City MX

posted May 17, 2007 to Featured Articles by Frank

Randy Yoho - 2007

By: Frank Buonemani

Many people have heard of Mr. Randy Yoho, owner of the Dade City Raceway. What many people don't know is how he became involved in the racing community. He has played an instrumental role in providing generations of racers including the likes of James Stewart and Ricky Carmichael a family oriented racing facility.

FLmx: Randy, tell us about yourself and how you get involved in this sport?

Randy Yoho: Everybody in our neighborhood had lawn mower mini bikes and Z50's, stuff like that. The rich kids were riding the Z50's and we had a little lawn mower mini bike. We lived next to US19 with a great big field that we rode the mini bike. My dad bought a Ducati 65 with a lawn mower gas tank strapped on to the back with 2 clamps holding it on with 2 cushman smooth tires, an old race seat. The ugliest thing you ever have seen in your life. We couldn't afford it - the guy was selling it for $40 - I wanted it so much that my Dad drove back to ask the guy if he would finance it for us. That was kind of my first chance at a bike, so I rode that bike in the field probably more than any motorcycle I ever had. I would always ride my friend's bikes because I didn't have any money. I would borrow bikes most of the time. Finally 4-5 years later my mom ended up buying me a bike from Cycle Springs Yamaha. Steve Martin, Sr. came down and personally delivered the bike for us. It was my first new bike we had bought and I think that was '71 125 MX. Steve Martin is how we got set up in that. My friend, Stan Yabzanka, who was the best motocross rider in the state at the time, a state champion back when motorcross was just catching on we did a lot of short track and scrambles racing or TT racing. It was great going to Sunshine Speedway and watching the first motocross races that were held over there. Jerry and Bill West owned Cycle Village which promoted the first Sunshine races back then.

FLmx: Was that in your teenage years?

Randy Yoho: Yes, just starting into the teenage years.

FLmx: How long did you race motocross?

Randy Yoho: We probably started racing in '71 and raced to about '82 - about 11 years.

FLmx: When you were racing did you get any support? - what level did you make it to?

Randy Yoho: Remember the first 125 national championships weren't until '74 or '75 - the national's back then, we didn't even know about. Our connection with the real world was through Cycle News. When you are young you don't even think about that. I never bought a motorcycle other than the one my mom bought, but when I first started racing, I started racing other people's motorcycles because we couldn't afford one. So then once I raced other peoples bikes for a while I started getting shop rides from Yamaha Brandon & Cahill's Yamaha and Suncoast Honda, Brandon Kawasaki - just a few of them. But back then all of the dealers had sponsored riders -Cycle Springs had Monty McCoy Tampa Suzuki had Johnny Joyner. Every shop had local guys who rode for their shop. It was a different time. So getting a free bike back then was easier. I never had to buy a bike although I bought a '75 YZ 250 for $1205 dealer cost. I bought it because I wanted to own one.

FLmx: How did the whole Dade City Raceway opportunity come about?

Randy Yoho: I was working at Cahill's Yamaha driving home to Plant City one day when I drove past the Suncoast Honda dealer. I stopped in the median for about 5 minutes, right in the middle of traffic, too afraid to go into the shop. It was a brand new shop, fancy, I thought there was no way could I ever work there. So finally I went in and asked them for a job and they hired me. They realized I raced so they started going to the races with me. Then they started giving me bikes to ride because they knew I had bikes through Cahill's when I worked there. Then the opportunity came up for them to lease Golden Eagles, a motorcycle track in Tampa, Florida off of Linebaugh Avenue. They ended up getting the lease, and wanted me to run it because they knew I understood racing. So I started running the track for a couple of years and they went out of business as far as the Honda shop - so they closed the race track. When they did that, I basically went to Dade City and asked if I could lease the property. Mr. Clayton told me I was crazy because there was a recession in 1979 and thought I probably needed to wait until after the recession, but I didn't want to listen. I figured if I could make it work now, I could make it work when times were good. So they leased it to me - I didn't have enough money at the time so I took on a partner, Pat Leary. He was actually one of the medics at the Golden Eagles track which then I decided I wanted to be a medic. I went to Junior College to get my schooling so I could be an EMT. And then I went on to Paramedic school. I worked for Hillsborough County EMS and working the race track - 'medic'ing, flagging, announcing, trash picking, water the track so we did it all with my schedule working 24 on and 48 off allowed me to do that. Then when Hillsborough County EMS switched to the new service, they wouldn't allow me to rotate my days so I quit and started doing the track full-time. At that point, I told Pat I wanted to run it by myself so I bought him out after 2 years. The lease was $1000 year with a $200 down payment that I didn't have. I worked at Cahill's and made about $90 a week. It was a different time back then.

FLmx: Is your whole family involved with the Raceway?

Randy Yoho: Yes, my dad, before he died, graded the tracks and maintained the track. I probably did it for 4 or 5 years and then he took over and worked for us. My mom has worked the concession stand since the beginning.

FLmx: When did you take over Dade City?

Randy Yoho: 1979

FLmx: This industry has grown over the past 20 years and now there are a lot of other motocross raceways throughout Florida, what makes Dade City so successful?

Randy Yoho: The hamburgers at the concession stand! That's been my theory. I've thought about it a lot of times. Is it the location? Is it the dirt? There is something magical to me about Dade City - I feel comfortable there. I know when I go to other facilities that we've been to, I really like them because they are new to me, but I think when riders go away then come back they realize how special this place is. You have to remember, we put a lot back into our program. We were one of the first tracks to be on computers. We just put the new timing systems in Dade City now. There are a lot of new programs that we've come up with through the years, so I think it's a combination of everything. Back in the day we didn't have our own tractors, we didn't have anything. Now that our budget has increased because of the people coming, we put a lot back into our facility. We realize it's the riders that make Dade City MX. I come up with these ideas for programs and the riders support it. It snowballs, every year has been better since 1979. Our attendance has grown every year. We are waiting for that to level off. This year we are up 100 riders over last year per event which is just crazy. The awards banquet is also very special. We were the first track to do our own awards banquet. In the beginning we spent $1500 on the banquet - total cost. We were one of the first to start the track cards to raise money for the banquets. We were an outlaw track not an AMA track. I was real cautious about taking people's money - I had everything itemized to the penny. In the beginning when we started we spent about $200 in phone calls and got about $100 in product. When you are first starting on no body wants to help you, you're nobody. Now we have national sponsors that have been with us for 25 years. It's phenomenal to see people like Motion Pro and Scott and Dunlop that have been there since Day 1 with us. That means a lot to me!

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FLmx: You have witnessed some of the world's best motocross racers from the time they were hardly old enough to walk, including James Stewart and Ricky Carmichael, what was that like?

Randy Yoho: It was pretty exciting. The Florida riders have always been really good. Maybe it's the year round racing or the sand or having to learn so much body English to ride on rough race tracks. First off you have to have a good grasp of the race program. Back in the day with District 8 which is probably before Carmichael and James' time. Bill & Jerry West from World Sports were running the motorcross scene. There are a lot of reasons but with Ricky, I really think it was his Mom. Jeannie really paid attention to everybody, what we were saying as far as our schools at the time, going up to Ezra Lusk's place and working with Mr. Lusk I think Ricky was probably the most influenced (of course this is my opinion) - but the little bit I talked to Jeannie I think she thinks Mr. Lusk really helped him a lot. Carmichael and Stewart were both great but there was no way you would know how far they would go. One thing about both of them was you never had to ask them to ride - they wanted to ride - they would be the first on the track and the last one off the track. I think the drive that these people have is special. There were willing to doing whatever it takes to get the job done. So many people ride, but it's the heart that you can't teach. As an instructor, I can teach you technically how to ride but I can't put that fire in you. That just comes from within.

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FLmx: Do you have a favorite Carmichael story?

Randy Yoho: Well, Ricky started racing on 3 wheelers. I can remember Big Ricky in the father's day race and Jeannie in the mother's day race watching them come off the 3 wheelers and getting on motorcycles. Jeannie use to work in our concession stand. I can remember Big Ricky dancing at the awards banquet. He had a real good time. There were so many great times.

FLmx: How about a favorite Stewart story?

Randy Yoho: James Dad raced our track in 250C Class before James was born. We had a special class on Tuesday nights that we invite people to come out. Watching James we would build tough sections for him, normally we have a tame track, back then we didn't have private tracks, everybody rode at Croom. That's where James, Ricky, Vince, and Paggio would ride. Tuesday night evolved from Kyle Chisholm. We invited the best riders on Tuesday night for about 7 years. So watching James crash in the whoops and go back time after time to learn that section just right. And watching James learn from his mistakes is probably the best memories. How excited they were when they finally got those sections right. So many top riders would come out on Tuesday nights, Ricky Renner, Colton Maynard, Tyson Hadsel, my son (Kenny Yoho) the list goes on and on.

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FLmx: Many people know you offer a Saturday morning motocross school at Dade City Raceway, but many people don't know you have a private training facility located next to Croom in Brooksville, Florida. What is your private training facility like?

Randy Yoho: We wanted to open to the general public but it's not working out with the county at this time. Politics! It's kind of an invitational thing for certain riders that are trying to get to the next step that don't have a private training facility. We currently have a Supercross track that is irrigated for the high end guys like Tim Ferry, Kyle Keylon, Troy Adams, and Camilo Gomez.

FLmx: What is a typical training day like with you?

Randy Yoho: My theories for doing this so long and mistakes I've made with Kenny (Yoho) and the mistakes we've watched other parents make is basics. It's just theory; you've got to remember I told the Carmichaels' that they were crazy for pursuing 100 % into racing, so everything I say isn't always right (laughs). I think I missed on that one! The bottom line is you need a foundation to build from - good body position- you can go fast with bad technique but you can't go consistently fast. When we watch kids that start out with us, they are somewhere around a 2 minute laps in running 10 laps. There lap times are off up to 8 seconds a lap. If you bring Tim Ferry out there, Timmy will run within a second and a half for 30 minutes and never be off that. So you cannot do that with bad technique and bad body position. It takes about 3 months to learn basic timing 3 hours a day 6 days a week. When we work with kids that want to become professional, that's what we do. I wouldn't work with you unless I could get that much time out of you. I need that time to put you into involuntary movements - riding movements without thinking. That's the key to a long term good rider. If you come and do a week long class, it's good but it's not good enough to make you a good long term rider.

FLmx: How does someone contact you for private training?

Randy Yoho: This is not offered to general public. I'm not really interested in doing anymore than I am doing so it's just for the select few. Until I can build the facility the way I want it, all the tools, the shops, the A/C space for the parents, the locker rooms and everything that I think needs to happen, I don't want to do it. That's why we do Saturday morning class to give the kids an idea of what it takes. You need a good personal trainer to get where you want to go. Look at baseball, football they all have coaches. Why would anyone think you don't need a coach for motocross? The Keylon's are great personal friends of mine. When we go back and watch Kyle (Keylon) ride we know he still needs adjusting. We know what it takes it's just a matter of enforcing it. The parents need to learn as much as the kids. A lot of times when I do a school, I won't train a kid unless the parent it with me.

FLmx: What advice can you give to a family just getting into motocross racing - entry level?

Randy Yoho: It depends on what your goals are. It needs to be a hobby first. Mine just happened to evolve into a career. I don't think you can go out there and say I'm going to be a professional motocross racer. Just get out there and start doing it, come to Dade City on a Saturday night, I think we have one of the best entry level program available. There is always great compition! Starting out - take it slow, go to class, get the basics down and don't go and get above your head with the competition. You don't want your kid getting whooped every week. The theory that we use - you hang around good riders and you become a good rider. It's not uncommon to see Ferry, Reed, Troy Adams, Jason Thomas and the Butler Brothers Team using our facility - a lot of younger kids like Kyle (Keylon) get to hang around those guys. If you want to be a great rider get around the right people.

FLmx: What is Dade City's future?

Randy Yoho: Well I just signed a new lease for another six years. The fair board is so good to work with. I think Dade City MX will be there as long as the fair wants it to be there, but I hope even after I'm done that somebody runs it because one of the neatest things about Dade City is seeing people that I haven't seen in fifteen years come up and tell me, Randy this is the best time I have ever had with my kids at Dade City. We have an old facility. I wouldn't call it the best place, but I think we've got the best program that's offered and the history of saying I've one the same Championship that Carmichael won, that Stewart won, that Chisholm won, Tyson Hadsel, Paccaroba, Kenny Yahoo, Ricky Hampshire all the people that have one these Championships, it just goes on and on. Back in the day team green had five of their riders and they were all previous Dade City Champions. When I was growing up, they were all coming out of California. They haven't come out of California lately; they have come out of Dade City.

FLmx: Thank you Randy!