WASHOUGAL — As he does before every heat of every race he rides, Port Angeles’ Bryan O’Neil will make sure to double-check the gas gauge on his Yamaha YZ450F motorbike one final time before heading for the starting line Saturday.
“I have to check my gas levels,” O’Neil said. “I have to pull the gas cap and check the level every time.”
The reason behind the superstition/compulsion is entirely understandable.
“When I was 7 years old I made it to the last lap of the amateur national at Washougal and I ran out of gas. And I have been checking ever since.”
O’Neil is getting a taste of the world of professional motorsports this weekend when he races in Saturday’s Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series’ stop back at that same Washougal MX Park.
It’s the same series that produced famous motocross racers such as Travis Pastrana and Poulsbo’s Ryan Villopoto.
O’Neil, age 24, has been riding motorbikes since he was 4, introduced to the sport as a member of a motocross-mad family that has held membership in the Olympic Peninsula Motorcycle Club for decades.
“I was raised from the ground up at that facility,” O’Neil said of OPMC’s course off Deer Park Road.
O’Neil is just getting started with his professional motocross career, having made his debut at the 12-stop Lucas Oil circuit’s opening race outside Sacramento, Calif. in May.
He didn’t advance past the qualifying heats in that first race but he performed well enough to be encouraged enough to keep trying to chase down that childhood dream.
“This is my first year [riding professionally] so I’m getting my feet wet, going through the program and making sure we have everything covered and working on the riding as we go.
“I’m racing these two races this year and next year I’m hoping we can add races in Colorado and Minnesota to Sacramento and Washougal.”
O’Neil trains for racing by riding both a motorcycle, a road bicycle and a BMX bike.
A machinist at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, O’Neil commutes from Port Angeles to the Bremerton area, parks at a friend’s home due to the lack of parking near the shipyard and rides a bicycle 45-minutes each way.
He also said he practices twice a week for hours at a time and competes in OPMC-sponsored rides.
“The reason I continue to ride is I enjoy learning and constantly improving,” O’Neil said. “Whether it’s by racing results or figuring out a new way to have fun on a motorcycle and being able to share that with others.”
O’Neil also said setting a good example for youth riders from the Olympic Peninsula is important to him.
“When they have somebody they have seen compete at this level it shows them it is realistic and not a fairy tale,” O’Neil said.
O’Neil had a mentor himself in Jake Anstett, a former pro motrocross racer on the same circuit, who, after suffering an “estimated 50 broken bones” transitioned to motorcycle hill climb racing.
Anstett won a bronze medal at the X Games Aspen last January in MTX Snow Hill Climb.
“Locally, specifically, Jake Anstett. He’s four years older than I am, so the whole time I have been riding I’ve been looking up to Jake and chasing after Jake. He’s shown that good things can come out of small towns, for sure.”
O’Neil does have help, with his dad Dennis serving as mechanic and crew chief, Brad Reandeaux pitching in everywhere else, including providing in-race updates on a white board as O’Neil passes.
O’Neil said riding is both stressful and a stress reliever.
“When I am waiting for a race to start it is the most exciting, nervous and focused time in my life,” O’Neil said. “I can’t compare it to anything else…you feel so many emotions all at the same time. And when the card goes up to warn you the gate will drop that gets you into a zone where you are alone with your bike and free from other stresses.”
O’Neil is focused on making it through qualifying and riding in the final.
“Being able to qualify and participate in the main event is my goal and dream ever since we’ve been going and watching the big guys ride,” O’Neil said. “Another goal is to learn where I am at in the sport and share it with friends and family so everybody can be part of this great experience.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
Port Angeles motocross rider Bryan O’Neil waits to race at the first stop of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series in Rancho Cordova, Calif., in May. O’Neil will ride in Saturday’s series stop at the Washougal MX Park.
Port Angeles motocross rider Bryan O’Neil, left, and his dad, Dennis O’Neil, pose with O’Neil’s motorcycle before a race.
