"I'm Probably Closer to the End Than the Beginning" | Mitchell Oldenburg on His Career 2

As the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross season comes to an end you can analyze any of the rider's years and find positives and negatives. When looking at SmarTop/MotoConcepts Honda's Mitchell Oldenburg's season I see a guy that struggled with starts but quietly had a pretty good season. He finished out the year in 5th place with 3 top fives in the 250 West series that included some heavy hitters including Jett Lawrence, RJ Hampshire, and Cameron McAdoo for a few rounds. His results are respectable and maybe a bit under the radar. Freckle is now looking towards the upcoming World Supercross Championship for MCR. He took some time recently to talk to us about his season and career.

For the full interview, check out the Vital MX podcast right here. If you're interested in the condensed written version, scroll down just a bit further.

Jamie Guida – Vital MX: How’s it going, Mitchell? What have you been up to?

Mitchell Oldenburg: Not much, man. Just hanging out. I had a good day riding, so I’m just kind of recovering now. 

Vital MX: You're training in Texas, right?

Mitchell: I'm in California this week. I've been doing a little bit of back and forth this year. I’ve been getting to spend a little time back home and some out in California.

Vital MX: How do you like doing the back-and-forth? Is that difficult for you or have you adjusted?

Mitchell: It's been a little difficult, to be honest. Having the family back home and being away from them has been a little tough on me and my kids but it's part of the job. Unfortunately, when you're not doing your job or getting the results that you should be getting the team wants you closer to them. I guess having their finger on the pulse a little bit more. The middle of the season hasn't been the greatest, so we had to spend some time back in California and get back to work with them. Denver went pretty well, so it's working now. We just have to stick to the plan, I guess.

Vital MX: Let's talk about 2023 as a whole. You're sixth in the points and have had three top-fives. You've stayed healthy. How do you feel about your season? What have been the struggles and what have you improved on?

Mitchell: Yeah, ’23 has been kind of crazy. Honestly, it kind of sucks. The West Coast series has been racing for one week then taking three weeks off. Race one week and take two weeks off. We haven't really been able to get into the groove this year. So, it's been a bit challenging staying in that racing mindset this year. The most weekends we've had in a row have been two. I’ve been battling that a little bit and there’s been some positives and some minuses from this year. We had a couple of good races and a couple of not-so-good races, but like you said, staying healthy and just trying to be better. I guess now it’s finishing out Salt Lake on a good note and get ready and come out swinging for World Supercross. That's kind of been the main focus here lately. We’re getting ready for that and coming into that championship 100% ready to battle and win some races.

Vital MX: A few weeks ago, when I talked to you, you told me that starts have been one of your biggest struggles. How do you work on that during the week? You can go practice starts but it's a very different environment than in the middle of a race with the best riders in the world on either side of you. How do you mimic or even improve on starts other than just working on technique and hoping it translates to race night?

Mitchell: Yeah, it's kind of a hard thing to do, right? The main thing that I think gets lost as racers is mimicking as close as you can what race night feels like. We all practice starts at the end of our practice day when the bike’s a little bit smoked and maybe the clutch is smoked. So, trying to get back to the basics and start the day with starts, because when we go to the starting line in the night show it's with a new clutch and new tires, and the bike is cold. It's trying to mimic those situations and executing when the bike is how it's going to be going into that race. I think one of the reasons my starts have been struggling this year is the consistency of the racing. We just haven't had that consistency week-in and week-out racing. So, trying to get some gate drops with that and just being ready to go and fire it up has been a little difficult and challenging to figure out this year. Starts are really one of the toughest things to get figured out because you're racing the best guys in the world, and we all know how to do starts. It's not like you're starting against bad starters. We’ve made some improvements and Denver was a step in the right direction. I pulled the holeshot in the heat race and led a couple of laps in that so I’m just continuing to focus on those and perfecting those.

Vital MX: Over the last couple of years, you've done a number of 450 races. This year was it a conscious decision not to because of World Supercross? 

Mitchell: Yeah, basically, the focus for the team is World Supercross. Mike Genova and Tony (Alessi) thought it'd be a good idea for us to do the West Coast series this year to get some gate drops and stay sharp for that. That's the whole reason I tried to get in to do a couple 450 rounds, especially with Dallas being the home race but we decided it wasn't smart to go out there and risk not being prepared. So, we’re just focusing on the West Coast this year and it's been an okay year. 

Vital MX: You're 28 years old and have done 11 seasons as a pro. You’ve ridden for some great teams and have had some respectable season results and been on the podium. I think you were fourth in points last year in the East Coast series. When you look at your career as a whole, how do you feel? What are your thoughts on your career?

Mitchell: It's kind of cool to think about, right? I feel like I've been in every position there is in this sport. Starting out as a privateer in the back of the van for a couple of years, traveling to the races with my brother and my now wife, and then getting that factory fill-in spot to becoming a factory rider. Then losing the factory ride and having to start back over and riding for some really good satellite teams. I've got to experience every position possible as a racer, and I've gained a lot of knowledge from it and feel I've learned a lot in a lot of different aspects. Especially from working on my own dirt bikes to helping test with factory teams and learning that side of it. It's been pretty dang cool. I’m looking to continue to grow with that. I know I'm probably closer to the end than the beginning, so I’m just trying to soak in as much as I can and enjoy this time while I can and have fun with it. I feel I have a lot more to do still, but however that shakes out, I'm just trying to enjoy it. 

Vital MX: I remember reading an article where you said when you were an amateur, you were a third or fourth-place guy. Your rookie season the rookie class included Jeremy Martin, Justin Hill, and Zach Bell. What were your expectations as a rookie? Did you exceed your expectations or maybe fall a little short?

Mitchell: It's kind of tough to say. Looking back as an amateur I really was just naive. I thought I was better than I was. Racing Zach, Joey (Savatgy), and JMart growing up, I was always kind of one step behind those guys. In my head, I could beat those guys and I could run with those guys. So, I expected to be right around them. From day one, when I decided to turn pro, my dad made it clear, we always kind of joked around about it, but making the main event was showing up for work. That was kind of the attitude and the mentality when I turned pro. If we're not making the main event, we're not racing dirt bikes. It's just not going to happen. I guess I kind of expected to be here. You know, there was never a doubt in my mind growing up that I was going to race dirt bikes and be a professional dirt bike racer, and there was really no other option in my head. To be doing it for as long as I have is pretty crazy to think. It seems not that long ago I turned pro and that was 11 years ago now. So yeah, it’s pretty crazy to think that I'm still around doing this competitively and making a good living. Doing it is pretty awesome and I'm super grateful that the people in my corner have supported me this long because there's been a lot of ups and downs. We stuck to it and we're still kicking ass at it. 

Vital MX: You mentioned earlier the scope of your career and being a privateer and some of the satellite teams. In ’15 Jimmy Albertson’s ARMA Energy Drink team picked you up. Was that your first experience with a team where you had some support?

Mitchell: Yep, in 2015 I did Supercross with the Jimmy Albertsons deal. 

Vital MX: What was that like? How eye-opening was that to have a little bit of help and maybe get some parts? I'm sure it was different than doing it out of the van with your brother.

Mitchell: I mean, it wasn't too much. We had Jim Lewis with Merge Racing doing our stuff and he'd been doing my stuff the year prior. I’d been around Jim and Jimmy for a good bit there. Obviously, getting to fly to the races was a big deal for me. In my first two years in ‘13 and ‘14, we were driving in the van, so flying to the races and having stuff taken care of was really nice. Then I got the fill-in deal with TLD in the summer of 2015 and honestly, that was more of an eye-opener to me than anything. I think there's this misconception that you get that factory ride, and you've made it. In my head I made it. I got on that factory team, although it was a fill-in deal for the time being, and I’d made it. It's not all sunshine and rainbows as people think, right? You get on that factory team and now this is your job and there are expectations. If you don't meet those expectations, you're gone, right? So, that was more of an eye-opener to me than anything. When I was doing it on my own if I had a bad race, I'd be pretty bummed, but I wasn't really letting anyone down. I didn't have people putting that pressure on me to perform. I've never experienced that before, even with growing up. My dad never had any expectations for us or anything. 

Vital MX: Then in ‘18 you got the Star Yamaha ride. Was that similar to TLD? Bobby Reagan has a lot of expectations. 

Mitchell: It was pretty much the same thing. They have expectations for you, and I was more prepared for it going into Star just because I had been with TLD for a couple of years. I had a couple of podiums and expected a lot of myself and unfortunately just couldn't stay healthy at Star. It's hard to get better when you're sitting on the couch and everyone else is racing. If I could go back and change things, I'd put a little more emphasis on staying healthy.

Vital MX: Then in 2020, you end up at Penrite Honda, where eventually you go race overseas in Australia and find some success. Was that your first time overseas? How was that? It’s probably pretty exciting to get to travel the world and it just adds to your career.

Mitchell: Yeah. It was awesome. That was my first time overseas. During the summer of 2019, I found out Star was going to go in a different direction and wasn't going to re-sign me for the following year. My wife and I got on Instagram, and we started DMing some teams over in Australia to try and keep the dream going. We got in contact with Yarrive Konsky with Penrite, which now is Firepower Honda. We went over there for a couple of months, did the Australian series, and it was another eye-opener. Supercross over there isn't like Supercross here. The layouts are more basic and it’s really easy to go fast. They are short races and going to different countries is hard in itself, but racing some really good guys at their home is even harder. I got my butt kicked over there a couple of times and learned a lot. It was kind of nice because going into World Supercross this last year, I had an idea of what I was getting myself into after racing the Australian series. It was a blast, and I can't wait to go back to Australia. It's a really cool place to visit.

Vital MX: I would bet when you go into a series like that, you're thinking, “I'm an American Supercross rider and I'm going to clean house.” When it goes a little differently than you expected it could be a kick in the gut.

Mitchell: It's more culture shock. It’s getting used to the way they do things over there. For instance, the very first race I raced, it was two main events, but you picked your gate for the first main event and that was your gate for the second main event as well. I didn't know that. So, I went to go switch my gate for the second main event and they were yelling at me like, “No, no, you have to take the same one.” Well, I found out from the first main that that gate was probably the worst gate out there. So, it's just kind of a mentality thing. I thought, “Man, I kind of blew this one before the gate even dropped.” There are also different formats they do every weekend. Not every weekend is a 15-lap main event or a 15-minute main event. Some weekends they do three, seven-lap main events. Some weekends they do them back-to-back. I didn't know anything going over there and expected it to be like Supercross here and it wasn’t, so I got caught with my pants down and learned a lot from it. Again, I’m not taking anything away from the riders over there. When they come over here, it's kind of the same thing, right? It's not as easy as they expected it to be. Regardless, I had a ton of fun, won a couple of races, and got to live in Australia for two months, so I can't really complain about that.

Vital MX: Currently you’re with MotoConcepts. How has it been working with those guys and doing World Supercross last year? The bikes have always been pretty good. Are you happy with them and the resources the team has?

Mitchell: Yeah, for sure. It's been a good couple of years with them. We've had some good results and some not-so-good results. I think a lot of the not-so-good results come back to me and just not performing the way I should. We've been working really hard lately on trying to develop the bike and get it just a little bit better. I've really kind of gotten into Formula 1 quite a bit in the last couple of years and the way they go about things in that sport is really interesting to me. It seems they're always trying to make the car better and not always pointing the finger at the driver necessarily. I’m not saying I’m trying to point the finger at the bike but I'm trying to get the best overall package for me and for my riding style. It's been challenging, but I feel we've made some really good strides in the last couple of weeks. Really since Phoenix. Tony's been going above and beyond for us trying to make the 250 the best we can make it. I think we have it in a good spot and I'm happy with the progress we've made. The plan to make it better in the coming weeks leading into Worlds is going to be exciting. Come July 1st in England will be ready to battle for wins and hopefully be in the championship fight for that.

Vital MX: Yeah, that series, if it goes as planned, has a lot of good rounds. I'm sure your goals are to go in and win.

Mitchell: For sure. I've given up on the outdoor dream for me. I think that's gone for me. The suffering that comes with the outdoors is a little much for me nowadays. This new Supercross series with getting to take my wife to a couple of rounds and seeing the world and racing my dirt bike is something that I've always wanted to do. I’m excited to see this unfold and see where it goes from there. I'm a competitor and I'm going to go there and try to win. That's the goal and to be honest, the expectations for me. We'll just see how it shakes out.

Vital MX: I really wonder if this World Supercross is successful, if they're able to keep it going, what effect it ends up having on the outdoors. Riders are already choosing WSX or injured. There's not a lot of money in the outdoors for privateers. I just wonder if this World Supercross is going to almost kill the great outdoors at some point.

Mitchell: I don't know. It's kind of tough to tell. I can only speak from my experience and for me, to be brutally honest, there is nothing fun about racing two 35-minute motos in the middle of the summer. The only thing fun about it is getting the results and if you're not getting the results, it's really miserable and is it worth it? For me, at my age and where I’m in my life with the family, it's just not there for me anymore. I'm excited about the World Supercross because I feel like I can maybe extend my career a little bit longer. I'm not much of an outdoor guy. I don't really enjoy it. Supercross is fun to me, but racing the 250 for nine races a year, it's kind of hard to pay the bills the rest of the year. It makes the most sense for me. I hope it doesn't cause any conflicts because I'm a true fan of the outdoors and I love watching it. As a racer WSX is kind of a no-brainer for me.