Flanked by her parents, Matt and Anita, and mechanic Carlos Neves, Elena Myers sits on the grid at Mazda Raceway. “I want to advance myself in whatever field I choose,” she said, “and if going back to school means I’m going to learn more and do my job better that’s what I’ll do.”
Team21Motosport owner/rider Elena Myers Court finished fifth overall this past season in the MotoAmerica Superbike series, the best placing by a woman in the 39-year history of the class. Despite that significant achievement, Myers, 22, announced last weekend via social media that she would not contest the 2016 championship.
It is with regret that I must tell you I have been unable to secure enough sponsorship to race in MotoAmerica this year. I know a lot, if not most of you, were wondering what my plans were so I thought that I would now let you know. This is by no means the end of my racing days, but for now, I must be realistic. I plan to pursue other career avenues that will hopefully keep me in touch with you all. Who knows, perhaps in the future if the right deal or offer came my way you’d see me back on the grid. For all the love and support, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart! Myers may be best known for her two AMA Pro Supersport (now Superstock 600) victories, the first coming at Sonoma Raceway in 2010 and the second two years later at Daytona International Speedway. In 2013, the popular 5-foot-3 Californian recorded the best-ever race finish by a female—ninth—in the Daytona 200. Myers completed six seasons of professional road racing.
Congratulations on your recent marriage. Where did you and your husband, Dean, honeymoon? We had a week at a resort in Escondido, California. Unfortunately, we were sick and lost a couple days, but we had a great time. We also rode at Pala MX with Melissa Paris and Josh Hayes. They let us use their bikes, which was really cool. We also rode flat track at their house. We had an intimate wedding—only 40 people—at a really nice golf course in Granite Bay, about an hour and a half from where I grew up. Dean’s parents and a couple of his friends came over from England. My whole family was there, which was great.
Why did you decide to step away from racing? It really came down to money. At the end of the day, I wasn’t able to secure enough funding. Last year I struggled getting through the season. This year, I didn’t even have the funding that I had in 2015. I didn’t want to go into debt again. This is a professional sport. If I can’t make a living between running the program and being a racer, I need to start working on another career so I can make a future for myself. I wanted that to be racing, but it’s just not in the cards for me right now. The financial part was hard. Running the team wasn’t more difficult than I thought it would be, but with training and all, racing is a full-time job, and I didn’t have time to do both. I feel fortunate that I was competitive and able to race all year. It was hard, but we made it work. McGraw Insurance was my title sponsor, and that was where I got the majority of my funding. The rest of it was from smaller sponsors, my fans, and a few people who really wanted to see me race. Without them, I wouldn’t have finished the season. I think McGraw got more than they expected. Things are changing within that company, and they just couldn’t do it again in 2016. It didn’t have anything do with our relationship, which is still really good. Their marketing budget was cut significantly.
Racing nose to tail with the late Bernat Martinez at Barber Motorsports Park: “It’s a tough thing for me to talk about,” Myers said, “but I got fifth in the championship because someone who should have been there didn’t beat me to it.”
Were you satisfied with your rookie season in Superbike? My learning curve was really steep. Riding the 1000 was harder than I thought it would be. The Suzuki is a big bike, and it was a handful. The 1000s that I had ridden in the past didn’t have anywhere near the power that my bike had this past year. That was pretty eye opening for me, especially at the beginning of the season. We had rain at every track except for one or two. The first half the year we only had a few dry sessions, and riding a 1000 in the rain was a bit sketchy for me. I wasn’t sure what the bike was actually capable of doing. The biggest thing was getting used to the power and the tire wanting to spin everywhere. I used way more rear brake this year than I have in the past. I didn’t have traction or wheelie control. I had an EM Pro and some Dynojet stuff. That was it. We didn’t have telemetry. We didn’t have data acquisition. It was a Superstock 1000 bike with Superbike wheels. A lot of the Superstock 1000 guys had better components on their bikes than I did. Trying to balance everything at the beginning of the year was hard, but overall, I don’t think the season could have gone better for me. I crashed once, at New Jersey Motorsports Park, but I picked up the bike and finished. I stayed healthy and was able to pick away without feeling too much pressure.
If you had to choose between rider and team owner, which job would you prefer? That’s an easy one: a rider, for sure. Doing both was hard, as I’m sure any team owner/rider would say. The racing part is why I’m in the industry, but I’ve always been interested in the business side of things. Moving forward that’s what I’m going to pursue. I had a moment before Barber when I didn’t know if this is what I wanted to do, but I had a great race weekend. Those little victories—not necessarily winning but steps in the right direction—make all that effort worthwhile. My parents have been behind me 100 percent since day one. When I was growing up, they didn’t have a whole lot of money. Racing is expensive and not something they could support. When we connected, John Ulrich helped take a lot of that burden off my parents. This past year my mom drove cross-country with me and was my hospitality manager. My dad was a mechanic at a couple rounds, which saved me some money. I couldn’t have finished this past season without some pep talks from my dad. Now I need to start looking at my future. Even though I’d love to stay in racing, this might be the time to make some money.
If you never race again, what do you consider your finest moment on the track? I would say this past year because of all the adversity. Being a rookie, I didn’t think I would take to Superbike as well as I did. Finishing fifth in the championship is not something I feel I will ever be able to do again without a factory bike behind me. That was pretty special. I felt that I rode better last year than I had in the past. I started coming to grips with the GSX-R1000 in the second half of the season. Part of me still wants to see if I am capable of more on the big bike. There was definitely a long way for me to go on the Suzuki. Being a woman has been helpful gaining notoriety and sponsorships. Every racer wants to win, and that’s all I’ve ever been about. The fact that I race against men is just part of my sport. People are bummed out, but everyone has been unbelievably supportive. That is pretty cool. If I come back, I think the 1000cc class is where I want to be. I went to the track, raced, went home, and then went to the next track. With more testing and time to understand the bike, I would do even better. I felt like was just getting started.
Story courtesy of MotoAmerica.com.
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