Hard work on and off the track leads to the path of success and many paved that path in the Pro Am ranks in 2011. Though the road was rough in the beginning for some, dedication helped smooth it out as the season progressed. No one knows the woes of being not fully prepared than Pro Am Unlimited class champ Jeffery Rasstrelli. The new season hype posed Rastrelli as the one to beat, however self-admittedly under prepped he struggled to reach full potential in the early season and cost himself the premier Pro Am Production class championship. Did he learn a lesson? Find out just how serious this rookie pro is as he preps himself for the biggest step of his life.
Photo By: Dave Smith - Raceday Pix
Madl, Martin, Rastrelli on the podium
Jeffery Rastrelli: Just driving home from working up in north Florida all week.
Oh yeah, what are you doing up there?
Me and my dad were working in a rock mine hauling rock in a dump truck.
You drive a dump truck?! (Surprised)
(Chuckling)Yeah, Yeah!
That's a little different than driving a quad isn't it? (Laughing)
(Laughs) A little bit.
So no wonder I couldn't get hold of you sorry to call so late?
Yeah, we've been pretty busy but it's no big deal at all.
Tell me a little bit about your job, what do you do?
I just run equipment. You know like a tractor grading and I run a dump truck in the mines. We haul rock from the back of the mine to the front of the mine where they crush it and make it really fine for putting down for roads stuff like that. It's in Don Blue's pit. You know Don Blue from Blue Roc Racing. We're working in his rock mine.
How long have you been working up there?
Well we go up every two weeks and we have been up here since Monday. We worked Tuesday through today. Now we are going home and we've got some work at home.
Nice! So you guys work for him under like a contract basis?
Just when he needs us really, he will call us and say "come up here we need some rock moved." So we go up there and do it.
Wow that's interesting. So how are things going on the racing side for you?
Pretty good, I am just working into it. I have been riding here and there and starting work out a little bit and go on a diet and stuff like that. It's going to be a little more serious this year. It will probably be the first week of December that I will go to one of these tracks in Florida and stay there till the first race. I will probably move around some but at the beginning of the month is when it all starts.
Photo By: ATVRiders.com
Joel Hetrick's early season problems and late season explosion may have opened Rastrelli's eyes to what's next in AMA Pro ATV Racing.
So as much as anything you have been just getting ready for the first of December?
I have been riding like twice a week and once a week I have been going to this training camp and I am going to see a nutritionist next to get my blood work all figured out go on a diet. I am going to lose some weight and get in shape.
What does your program look like for next year?
We are going to be back with JB Racing again riding Suzuki. The same thing we did last year. FMF, ITP and pretty much identical to what we did last year. I think we are going to have a little help from one of the youth rider's dads. We're not positive about that y
Photo By: ATVRiders.com
#55 Brian Johnson is prepping for his big step into the Pro Am ranks.
et but I am pretty sure that he is.
Who is going to be riding on the team with you?
Brian Johnson is coming back I think and is going to be the Pro Am this year.
You have to be pretty confident coming into the season as a rookie AMA ATV Pro. You seem really well adjusted to the program.
Oh yeah. We will be ready. I have been doing the same thing the last two years. We have the bike that's fast enough to go out and win the pro class. We have the equipment that's more than good enough and now it's all up to me. If I don't do good it's because of me. It's nobody else's fault.
You had some ups and downs but all in all you had a good season though as a Pro Am?
Yeah, I wish I would have done better in the Pro Am Production of course but it seemed like I could never put it together in that one, just too much bad luck. I figured Casey (Martin) and Mark (Madl) would have some bad races like I did but it never happened.
Personally I knew I was capable of being the fastest one out there. I knew I was. But it was that fact that I wasn't in the best shape at the beginning of the year which ruined it. We didn't have the funds to get a practice bike together for me in the beginning of the year.
So after Millville Minnesota I went to Hetricks and I stayed there till the end of the season and you could tell. You go from the beginning of the year to Millville then see what my results were from then on. It was 110% better.
You are right you did look different. You even looked a little more trim and it was obvious something was starting to work right for you.
I rode quite a bit. Joel was a big help that's for sure.
Photo By: Mike Roth - Event Pix
Rastrelli will be training with ATV fast guy and T.O.P. Performance Training's Chad Weinen
Yep! I am going to be training with Chad Weinen. I called Chad and said that I don't know what I am doing because I really don't. I don't know what it takes to be at that level. I don't know because I haven't been there yet.
You know how Joel did. At the beginning of the year he was a fast rookie but he wasn't as fast as he was at the beginning of the year. He didn't know what to do and he wasn't ready. He really wasn't. Then he changed bikes of course but he changed his mind-set and did his homework and at the end of the year you see how he got better. I want to go into the first race knowing that I am fast as Chad Weinen and Joel Hetrick. And can last as long as they do.
Do you think it a question of the speed or a question of the endurance for you?
Endurance, because I was only a second and half off the top pros lap times last year and next is endurance. That second and a half comes with endurance. I know it does.
Have you been working with Chad already? Is that who got you lined up with a nutritionist?
No, I am just doing that on my own. For some reason it doesn't matter how hard I work or how well I eat if I don't know what the body needs to lose the weight. I remember a few years ago Chad told me he went to a nutritionist when he was riding on a Kawi and he dropped like 20 pounds. You see how skinny he is now for how big of a guy he is. He only weighs 195 pounds. I weigh 175 but I am 6 inches shorter than he is.
Is the little extra weight an advantage or disadvantage?
It's a disadvantage. It actually has its advantages and its disadvantages but for me I need to lose weight and gain muscle which I will. I don't need to bulk up, I need endurance muscle. Ask Joel how he hangs on that bike for 25 minutes? Think about it. Joel is a tiny kid.
My biggest problem is arm pump and I don't know how to get rid of it. So I am just going to ride my ass off and train with Chad. I am going to do everything Chad does. After Christmas is when he is coming down and I have got a whole month to prepare for what he's going to make me do. I am going to have a whole month to myself to go to the gym or whatever and get my whole routine down. And I am going to ride a minimum of four times a week.
You're sounding pretty serious about things and that's what you have got to be if you are going to make it. This is where it all really begins now.
I am good friends with Devin Heimes. He too went into this past season and he wasn't in near good enough shape to go out there and run with them. He could qualify, he would qualify top five easy most times but he would go out on the track and pace himself because he knew he wasn't in good enough shape to go full throttle for 25 minutes. I am not willing to do that again. I did that too this year in Pro Am and I don't want to do that again. I know I could have won my championship if I was able to last.
Good stuff. Thanks Jeff!
