INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK: MARSHAL WELTIN

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Going into 2016 Supercross, you likely have not heard of Marshal Weltin, but give it some time. That could all change when the 2016 Supercross 250 East coast series starts. The 20-year-old from Michigan will be lining up with the help of sponsor Justin Barcia. It’s not that often when a factory Pro takes a rookie under his wing by helping him race, but that’s just what Justin Barcia has done. Something he saw in Weltin impressed Barcia enough that he is sponsoring Marshal with bikes, parts, and a mechanic for the 2016 AMA 250 Supercross series. Not just a simple case of a friend helping a friend, Weltin appears to have solid skills as shown during the first moto of the 250 class at Miller Motorsports Park where he finished an impressive 13th. Weltin was also a solid top-ten in moto 2 before the red flag restart. We caught up with Marshal at his parents’ home in Ubly, Michigan.

By Jim Kimball
Photos: Martha Farmer/MEPMX

Marshal, let’s begin with this past summer when you did your first races as an AMA Pro. Sure, Unadilla was my first National. It didn’t really quite go the way that I wanted it to. I got cleaned out at the start of the first moto, and eventually finished 24th. I wasn’t happy about that, but the second moto I started out better and was in 17th place. In my head 17th wasn’t fantastic, so I was trying to move up, but I ended up crashing again. It seemed like my whole day went from bad to worse. Qualifying didn’t go the greatest, and neither did the motos. I carried that frustration into the next race in Utah where I felt a lot better. At Miller Motorsports Park my entire day began a lot better. I qualified better, and then finished 13th in the first moto. Unfortunately, I had a pretty bad get-off in moto two. On paper the first two rounds did not go all that great. I had a couple crashes, but at least in Utah I felt that I showed that I had some speed.

While the 450 class may be considered the premier class, finishing 13th in a 250 moto with all the factory guys is pretty impressive! Yeah, I was really happy with that first moto finish. As you said, the 250 class has a lot more factory-supported riders. The 250 teams are bigger, because they have split Supercross coasts. When the Nationals start there are so many fast guys.

Prior to turning Pro at Unadilla this year you did some of the bigger Amateur Nationals without much significant support, right? That’s true. It was just my dad and I, but then halfway through the year Justin Barcia started helping me out some. He got me a practice bike and paid for any services that I needed done by JGR. For a long time it has just been my dad helping me out and doing whatever he could to get me to the races. Justin helped me near the end of my Amateur career and really stepped in at those two outdoor Nationals. Now going forward, Justin has really stepped up. He is helping me race Supercross in 2016. He bought me a couple bikes and is helping me get the bikes set up.

“I MET JUSTIN THROUGH MOUNTAIN BIKING AND CYCLING. I AM VERY COMPETITIVE, AS HE IS, AND I THINK THAT HE LIKES THAT. HE LATER CAME TO CLUBMX AND RODE A COUPLE DAYS. HE MUST HAVE SEEN SOMETHING GOOD IN ME, BECAUSE HE OFFERED TO HELP ME OUT. NOW JUSTIN IS GOING TO HELP ME OUT IN 2016 SUPERCROSS.”

Let’s go backward for a minute. You were doing well at the top Amateur Nationals, but didn’t have any real sponsorship. Why? I really don’t know. It was very discouraging. Maybe a reason was that I wasn’t a top amateur for years and years like many of the kids. I never raced the big races on an 85 or any other the other little bikes. I only really started racing the top amateur events on a 250 a few years ago, so I didn’t have this long history as a fast amateur. I didn’t have an established name, but I felt that I did show some good speed when I got there. It was frustrating, because I felt that I had more speed than some of the other factory-supported kids that I was racing. I was doing just as well as they were with racing, but I just didn’t have the connections. I did race at the last couple Loretta Lynn Amateur Nationals, but for the most part we just stayed in Michigan. My dad always did the best for me, but we just didn’t have the resources to travel all that much.

Weltin recently received support from his new buddy, Justin Barcia. Note the shrouds on Marshal’s Barcia-bought Yamaha YZ250F.

How did your relationship with Justin Barcia form? I was living in South Carolina at ClubMX, and would go back and forth to Charlotte to JGR where they were doing my suspension. Also, I did a lot of mountain bike races in Charlotte during the week for training. I met Justin through mountain biking and cycling. I am very competitive, as he is, and I think that he likes that. He later came to ClubMX and rode a couple days. He must have seen something good in me, because he offered to help me out. Now Justin is going to help me out in 2016 Supercross. We kind of talked about me racing the West coast, but I am just not sure I would be ready, so I will do the East coast. I’ve been staying with Justin the past couple months training, and then going back and forth between his track in Florida, and the JGR track. Justin has definitely done a lot for me, and I appreciate it.

You guys became good friends, but obviously if you didn’t show skill and speed, Justin would not be helping this much. I agree. I definitely don’t think he would be doing this much for me if I was just his friend. He sees what I can do on a track.

How will you be getting to the races? Is there a chance to have one of the other Yamaha-supported teams take your bike? Justin actually got me a mechanic a couple weeks ago that will be working with me. As far as getting to the races, we have not really finalized anything. There are some things up in the air right now. The worst case will be my mechanic and I driving to all the races, which will likely be over 10,000 miles in a van. If that’s what we have to do, my mechanic and I will saddle up and do it. I tried to see if one of the other teams could help me out with getting my bike to the races, but everyone seems so full.

Speaking of the other Yamaha teams, if someone got injured is there a chance that you could get a fill-in ride? If something opened up then it would be great, not that I’m hoping anyone gets hurt. Justin said that he wants what is best for me. He told me that if anything happened where I could get a fill-in ride then it would probably be the best thing that I could do. We’ll discuss that if it happens. I know that Justin wants want is best for me, and if a great opportunity presented itself he would be all for it. If it will better my career then he is for it. It’s awesome to be in this position, and I am definitely very fortunate.

How does your race bike compare to other Yamaha-supported bikes? I don’t think that it’s at the level of a Star Racing Yamaha bike, bit I do feel that it’s comparable to one of the other satellite team Yamaha bikes. The guys at JGR have really helped me a lot as far as suspension and engine work, and I know it’s competitive.

Are you nervous about racing Supercross? I have never raced Supercross, but I have been riding Supercross at either Justin’s Florida track or the JGR track for a couple months now. While I don’t have experience racing Supercross, my time riding with Justin has been very helpful. He has been able to guide me by watching me ride. We have also watched some of the 2015 Supercross series videos. He has been pointing a lot of stuff out to me that I probably would have never noticed. I’m sure I’ll be nervous when we get closer to round one in Atlanta, but I’ll just have to overcome it. We still have about 70 days before the East coast 250 Supercross series starts, so there is some time.

Will you need to race Arenacross in order to get enough points to earn your Supercross license? No, I actually got my Pro license for doing some Pro-Am races. I got that right before the rule change requiring you to race some of the “Ricky Carmichael Road to Supercross” Arenacross races. So I got grandfathered in. I have my Supercross license; I just haven’t raced any yet.

What are your goals for Supercross? Honestly, I want to come out of the gate swinging and be up front. If I get a good start near the front I want to stay there. As hard as I have been working, and with Justin’s help, my expectation is to be near the front. I think that my big strength is endurance. I never struggle with how many laps we do. I feel that I need to improve in the whoops a little bit, as on the smaller 250’s tend to bog a little more. For the most part, I feel that I have been adapting pretty well to Supercross, but it is hard for me to judge. In January I will probably head out to California to stay with a buddy to get more training in and check out some of the Supercross races. My mechanic and I will probably head out to Milestone and Pala to ride. It will be cool, because Justin will be out there until the series moves to Atlanta when he will likely move back to Florida.

Before wrapping up Marshal, is there anything that you want to add? No, I think that’s pretty good. I hope I did okay, because I haven’t done many interviews!

You did great, Marshal. Good luck to you. Thanks, Jim.