Troy Dog
One of the teams that is trending up in the pits is Bubba Pauli’s Madd Parts Kawasaki team that houses John Short (and his mustache), Freddie Noren, while also helping Richard Taylor and Josh Cartwright on the side. The team is in its fifth year and already has a big presence in 2023 in the 450 class.
Pauli is a veteran in the sport, at 29 years of age. He started this team originally with the help of his big brother figure and friend Michael Akaydin. In 2018 the two put a small program together to help cut down the costs on the road.
“We started racing together and realized that putting a team together, and having the right resources made more sense than doing it on your own,” Pauli said.
Riders on this program have done well in the past. Logan Karnow had top tens in the 250 class and this past season with Joan Cros having the best finishes of his career. This year Pauli is excited to work with Noren and Short as they all get along really well and he said that they all share similar values and goals.
One of the most impressive aspects of the now Madd Parts Kawasaki team is that Pauli said that his team has grown organically, meaning that he hasn’t had to put a single dime of his own money into it. This has helped him over time because the leaps they did take weren’t too big to take on, they were manageable for the program, team personnel, and riders involved.
For instance, before the season started, Pauli had the option for a full 18 wheeler but had to pass. However, with only a few days before the team had to leave for Anaheim 1 their transportation plans changed due to “a scary accident outside of their control’. The team’s main sponsors Jonesboro Cycle and Madd Parts stepped up to get the hauler and boom, everyone was able to work together to make big things happen. Instead of the team being stranded they now have a huge presence in the pits.
“A lot of teams bite off more than they can chew and that’s something that I’ve never wanted to do,” Pauli said.
The support from Jonesboro Cycles and Madd Parts has been integral for the growth of Pauli’s team. The two entities are actually partners as one is the dealership while the other is the parts/online store portion of the dealership. Madd Parts has a huge goal of growing to be a MotoSport or Rocky Mountain type of player in the industry and the company just moved into a big state of the art building in Arkansas.
“I usually tell the guys whatever they need just to let me know,” Pauli said. “Jonesboro Cycles and Madd Parts’ Josh Foster (parts manager) helps a lot.Whatever parts we don’t get from sponsors we get from them. He makes sure that we get it as quick as we can. We cut costs and don’t cut corners.”
For Pauli, he does in fact wear a lot of hats on race day, but at the same time his job is to race, which is how he gets paid. Bubba makes his living off of the sport by racing SX in the winter and by racing fair races and coaching the rest of the year. He does not make a penny off of the race program.
“It’s possible to do it (make a living off of the sport), I figured it out,” Pauli said. “I wish more riders would do that and I think the sport kind of has a bad rap for that. A lot of people say that you have to be top ten to make a living and I wish that wasn’t known because a lot of riders give up too soon or they just don’t figure it out.”
With that being said he still makes sure everything on his program is dialed in for everyone. He used to make travel arrangements for everyone, but now he just gives each rider a budget and they make their own plans.
“I need to make sure the riders are happy, make sure the riders are getting paid, we’re getting the resources that we need, and the bikes are good, Pauli said. “We’re doing it on a smaller scale, but stepping it up each year.”
For 2023 the Madd Parts Kawasaki team has Ryan Koontz as the team manager and four mechanics on the payroll. The team is only committed to racing Supercross, but Pauli didn’t rule out a move to the outdoors in the future if the support for it came around.
“Realistically we need to triple our budget to get these guys racing outdoors,” Pauli said. “They might race on their own or with another team, but our contract is supercross only. If we do get some funds together and more sponsors want to get on board then we will do an outdoor program for those guys.”
Pauli said that he would like to race for another five years. He wants to continue growing his team and seeing how much ROI he can get and how many more sponsors he can bring to the table. His goal is for everyone on the team to make as many main events as possible. Noren is sitting in 19th in points and Short is in 25th as we head into Tampa.
An overlooked claim to fame for Pauli is that up until he tore his ACL before Daytona last year he had signed up and competed at 104 straight SX races. He was only a few behind Chad Reed’s record. It’s a record that Fowler’s Facts own Clinton Fowler found in his data.
Although Pauli is a veteran, he still feels like he’s getting better and he’s more comfortable with Supercross each year. He said that with age comes wisdom and experience and that 20 years old SX terrified him, but now he doesn’t even think about it.
One of the biggest offseason gains for the team was the fact that Noren and Short enjoyed the bike when they first got on it. Pauli said that both of them have had the chance to ride a lot of bikes over the years and to say they liked his setup was a big compliment. Both riders know a lot about bike setup and that will only be valuable to the program in the long run.
One thing that you can count on is that the Madd Parts Kawasaki team will be in the main events. They’ve been a strong presence already this year and should only get better as the season rolls on. If you’re at a race make sure to stop by and see the nicest guy in the sport Freddie Noren, John Short (and his mustache), and of course Bubba Pauli, the man who made all of this possible.
Main image: Jessica Reed
