Bruce Stjernstrom | Monster Energy Kawasaki’s 2020 Vision

INSTAGRAM | @racekawasaki

I spent a good portion of Saturday afternoon, between the end of practice and the start of the night show, in conversation with Bruce Stjernstrom. An integral part of the industry for decades thanks to his stints at Kawasaki and Monster Energy, he returned to the motorcycle brand a few years ago and now leads the company’s racing operations in America, which views professional motocross as an area of the highest importance. Kawasaki has experienced its share of success in the last few years, thanks to Eli Tomac’s time under the factory umbrella in the 450 class along with the numerous wins that Adam Cianciarulo and Austin Forkner scored in the 250 class through the Pro Circuit part of the program, but the green team wants more in 2020. That is evident through the contracts that were given to Tomac and Cianciarulo, the new names at the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki 250 team, and other assorted staffing hires, but Stjernstrom emphasized that the company is determined to add another 450 Supercross title to their legacy.

Pro Circuit will have two new riders (Jordon Smith and Cameron McAdoo) and two young guys (Austin Forkner and Garrett Marchbanks). What did Kawasaki look for when scouting talent?

From our standpoint, we want to hire guys that we know but we have to go outside once in a while like we did with Jordan this year. We really like the idea of growing our own talent and for us, there is a reason for it. When you meet these kids at a young age, you get to know them and their parents, their good habits and bad habits. As you move these guys up it costs more and more money so you want to make sure the people you are bringing in are the right fit for the team, meaning the talent will be there long-term and not just that they won a race two years ago. We also look at what they won, Supercross or motocross. It’s important for us to have good knowledge of the riders, their families, and all of the pertinent people that are around them.

Young talent is what you always work with in the 250 class, but if you watch other motorsports, it’s becoming the trend to have young racers. Is that because you can mold them the way you want to? And is it risky when there is not a deep pool of results to judge from?

The first year is a tough go for the guys, when they come out of amateur racing and into the 250 teams, like Garrett had last year. But Garrett has been with us a long time, in our Team Green program, and he’s someone that we know has skills and talent. He’s very young and it takes some time for those guys to adjust. A lot of those kids in amateur racing, they don’t have a training program or anything significant, although we try to help them with that. The other thing is that you don’t want to burn the guys out at a young age, so there is a balance that you’re trying to keep. We look at not just speed and results, but intelligence. And I’m not talking about if they went to a four-year university; I’m talking street smarts and being able to quickly assimilate and problem solve. Because for someone that is looking to get to the 450 level, you cannot succeed without that.

Team Green has been around forever, and Kawasaki has done very well with it. Look at the success story that’s outside the truck now (Adam Cianciarulo’s Monster Energy Kawasaki). But you’ve also had some shortcomings and issues. Kawasaki has pretty much set the tone for an amateur program, so how important is it still to Kawasaki’s racing program?

It’s a huge part. Team Green at Kawasaki, it serves a bunch of different masters, really. We have dealer programs associated with Team Green that offer local riders discounts through local dealers for bikes, and that network is really big; it’s something like 400 to 500 riders. We use that to look for anyone in that talent pool that we want to bring into our Team Green “house” program. Ryan Holliday, who manages Team Green, is a very good talent scout. He’s done a great job for Kawasaki determining which guys have the talent, skill, intelligence, and all of the things we look for. Not everybody makes it, we know that, but it doesn’t deter us from continuing. What’s the other alternative? This is the best way and the top management in the company believes in it and that’s what we do.

Your newest 450 rider has been a Team Green guy practically his entire life. How rewarding is it for the company to see him come to this level and be this good right away?

It’s a positive for the company because it shows that it works. It’s not a 100-percent guarantee, but from a standpoint, he was a big priority for us. It was something that when we were able to put the deal together, it was our first priority.

I know that he was very sought-after…

He should have been [Laughs]. We liked that.

There was never any chance you were going to let him go?

No.

Going along with that, earlier you told me you’d like for him to be top-five overall in his rookie year and progress from there. Looking at what Kawasaki did with James and Ricky, there’s no reason that shouldn’t happen again.

What we’re looking for is consistency and growth. This race is different for a lot of reasons and when you go to Anaheim One, it’s completely different. We look for him to race 17 times somehow, he has to find the way to do it, he has to make adjustments, and he has to improve. It’s unusual that you can find somebody now that we’re running 20 minutes plus one lap and the races are 23 to 24 minutes. Back when we raced 20 laps, the race was 16 or 17 minutes. They’ve made it even harder, but for the seasoned guys like Roczen and Tomac, it’s a big advantage for them. That makes it even harder for the younger guys that are coming and can only go eight to 10 good laps. They might not be ready to do the rest of it, but the idea for us is how they will grow. If they can do 10, then next week they should be able to do 12 or 14 and continue to grow.

With Eli, re-signing him this year was huge. I never had a doubt that he would be anywhere but here. He and Kawasaki are going into year five and there’s still no Supercross championship, and everyone is working to rectify that problem next year. How important is it for Kawasaki has a whole? Do you live and die by this title?

It’s not about us living and dying over him getting the title; It’s about us living and dying over Kawasaki winning the title. It’s our priority and there is no other priority. I know people want other things to be our priority, but they are not. I don’t care what it is, what race or what series. It doesn’t mean that those aren’t important, but for us, the number one priority is to win Supercross. Without a doubt, no question that anything else is close. My boss, the Japanese boss, told me, “You will win Supercross.”

Really. Was that recent?

“You will win Supercross.” [Laughs] And I’m not that good of a rider.

What will the team do to make that happen?

We think we have the right guys. From Eli’s standpoint, singularly, he’s won more Supercross races in the last four years than anybody by a longshot. And our expectations for AC are not that, but who knows? He has the talent and has exceeded a lot of expectations throughout his career. So, I wouldn’t count him out of anything. I look at who we have to race against, and with all due respect, I think we have two guys that are very good and give us a good chance to do that.

You’ve been at this so long. You left and then came back. What is it about being in this position that keeps enticing you to do it? What is it about racing, that even if it is the most stressful job on any given weekend, makes you think you have to be here?

It’s not the most stressful job. For me, it’s something that drives me. But more than that, I wouldn’t do it if Kawasaki wasn’t 100-percent committed. I wouldn’t do it. It would be a waste of my time. But they are 100-percent committed, so that to me makes it fun because we have the tools, the resources, and the staff that we’ve built over the last few years. We have a good group and I think we have all of the pieces to get it done. It doesn’t mean that we will, but we have the pieces to do it. I don’t want to say, “We will win,” because you never know what can happen, but I believe we’ve put ourselves in a place to do that.