MXA MINI-VIEW: DAVI MILLSAPS

Davi Millsaps is a veteran in the motocross world. The native Floridian started his career in 2004. Two years later he won the 125 East Supercross Championship while riding for factory Honda. While Davi hasn’t won a championship title since, he placed second in both the 2012 and 2013 Supercross championships. Millsaps has only raced Supercross the last few years, and while he isn’t running in the top five consistently, he is a great starter and fan favorite. After dealing with multiple injuries and a few brand switches, Millsaps has returned to racing in natural light. Instead of racing the AMA Nationals, he opted to race the Canadian Motocross Nationals.

How was your first round in Canada? It was good. Definitely different. It has been a long time since I raced an outdoor, so I’m just getting my feet wet and trying to finish the whole season. It was definitely good going 2-1, but there is still a lot of racing left.

Was it the fame, the glory or bike that drew you to Canada? That is the number one question I’ve been asked so far. Why Canada? There are so many different answers that it is hard to pinpoint one. The fact is I am already signed for part of next year, but I didn’t have a ride during the summer. I had a Supercross-only deal, and my contract left the summer open. I was going take the whole summer off to train and do a bit of testing here and there.  Then I got asked about doing the Canadian Nationals for KTM. KTM had done a lot for me, and so did Forrest (Butler) from the BTO Sports team. The best way to stay in shape is to keep racing. I wanted to keep racing, get strong and have a good base going into the off-sesaon so I can be stronger for next year.

Davi Millsaps was practicing for the Canadian Nationals at Milestone recently.

Do you plan on fighting with Mike Alessi for the holeshot? You both are great starters, after all. No. Everyone there is a good starter and if they are out front, you just gotta go by them. They all are pushing hard and I’m pushing hard. Everyone wants to win, so whether they get the start or I get the start, we all charging the whole 35 mins.

How was your experience with BTO? BTO was great. Like I said earlier, my contract ended with them right after Vegas, so I am not riding with them at the moment, but I will be next year. They have been awesome to me and great to work with. They did me a big favor, and I can’t thank them enough for the opportunity. Hopefully next year will be better than this year was.

Davi Millsaps (18) and teammate Justin Brayton (10) racing Supercross this year.

Was it a radical change going from a Kawasaki to a KTM? Actually, it’s a pretty big change from any bike. The biggest change for me was the aluminum frame versus the steel frame in terms of how it feels and reacts. All in all, I like the bike and am pretty pumped to be on it.

You are a prankster from what I’ve heard. Sure, why not?

And your most frequent victim? Whoever I am talking to, really. Anyone surrounded by me. We all give each other crap, but all in all it is just about making it fun. Joking and clowning around and making it a good day makes the day enjoyable and not so boring. I don’t really have that one victim. I’d say the guy who got the most of all through the years would be Martin Davalos, just because he lived with me for so long. Don’t let him fool you. He is just as bad.

Dane Millsaps watches his dad Davi give a fan a photo.

Your son seems to be very fascinated in what you do. Are you going to keep him from racing?  I would like to keep him away from racing. It’s not because I don’t love the sport, but just for the fact that I don’t really want to go through it all again. I don’t want to do the whole amateur thing all the way up to the Pros. The problem is, there aren’t that many people who can make good money at this. You could spend your whole amateur career trying and trying, but then not go anywhere. It’s not fun to let yourself down like that. I would like to let him do whatever he wants. I am just hoping it doesn’t have anything to do with an engine and two wheels.

Does the family travel with you to Canada? Not every time. The wife went with me the first weekend. Hopefully we can get our son to a few of them. He doesn’t have a passport now so we are working on getting that and we will see how it goes. Right now it looks like it’s just going to be me at a lot of them.

Davi at Glen Helen.

What are your thoughts on Southern California tracks? They’re horrible. They have actually become much better with them watering and ripping them pretty deep. When they don’t rip it and just decide to water, it leaves it hard and the tracks are not that fun to ride. All in all, it still is a track and you have to appreciate what you have. It is not like riding back East for sure.

Did your bike setup changed when you went to Canada? No, not at all. It is the same bike, just with different numbers and graphics.