If you have attended a race in District 6 in the last several you can’t help but notice the Mt. Holly Racing Race Team. With matching team gear, sponsors, and team graphics as well as a professional-looking pit area, Mt Holly racing is one of the most organized shop sponsored teams in the northeast. We spoke with team manager Steve Lewis about the organization.

Tell us a little about the shop and the race team. Well, Scott, our store name is Mt. Holly Kawasaki-Suzuki-Triumph-Polaris-KTM. If that seems like a mouth full try answering our phone all day. We are a full service 5 line dealer. We carry street bikes, dirt bikes, dual sports, minis, jet skis, ATVs, and side by side UTVs. We are located in Vincentown, NJ on rt. 206. I think that the thing that we are best known for is our massive parts and accessory inventory. I can safely say we have more parts and accessories in stock than any other dealer around. We have based our reputation on having that certain part in stock when you need it. We have a huge off-road following as well as a great sportbike clientele. We run a very large race support program under the Mt. Holly Racing.com banner.

Whose decision was it to create a race team to help support the shop?

My son and I came up with the idea a few years back. We were looking for some support for ourselves and thought that a team from the dealership would benefit some of our loyal customers as well as us.

How long ago was that? This was about 10 years ago. Then in 2001, we came up with the Mt. Holly Racing team idea. My son built a website and we used it to promote our sponsors as well as our dealership and race team. We also try to look the part of a team. We supply our riders with matching riding gear and bike graphics. And Scott as you know I like the colors to be BRIGHT! There is no mistaking when you see one of our riders on the track.

How many riders are currently on the team? At last count, I believe we have 57 motocross riders signed up for the 2008 season.

Do you feel that rider support is important for your business? Absolutely! These guys are like 57 extra salespeople for the dealership. I rely on them to do their best to refer friends and customers to us all year long. Whether it is for a new street bike or just a sparkplug

What other types of racing does Mt Holly Racing support? We have an off-road team as well made up of about 15 enduro and hare scramble racers. We also have a few Drag racers we support. And even our store owner Taylor Toussaint races Supermoto.

Do you see your support stepping up nationally or staying local? It has been a personal goal of mine to one day see this team get to a National level. This summer we are planning to send a few of our A riders to Canada to compete in a few rounds of the Canadian Outdoor National. I hope this will be the first step towards that goal.

Who is part of the race team? Well with over 50 riders I can’t fit them all into this interview. A few of our more widely known riders are Jason Harper, Ryan Gainey, Ronnie Stewart, Bryan Wallace, Pete Devlin, Bob Malkiewicz, Taylor Murphy,  Frankie Lettieri, Ryan Patterson, Joey Peditto, Mic Sowa, Bryan Weimer, Eddie Graham, Richie & Ryan Trevelise, Tyler Betsch, Tony & Anthony Maladra, Zach Obert and Brett Lightner. I hate to leave anyone out. For a complete list, you can visit our website www.MTHOLLYRACING.com

What sponsors help you make it all happen? We have a great group of sponsors helping out the team. NO FEAR, Bridgestone, Motul, Renthal, FMF, Hinson, Work Connection, Dragon, 661, No-Toil, Liquid Performance, MOTOGRAPHX, and ASV. Most of them have been aboard with us from the start. We stay loyal to all of those that have been generous enough to help us. And we promote all of their products through the dealership every day. We also receive some factory help from Suzuki, Kawasaki’s Team Green, and KTM. These manufacturers have been very helpful in supporting our team. I am currently working on a few outside the industry sponsor ideas to help finance our pro team for the summer Canadian rounds. If anyone out there is interested in supporting the team with this venture please feel to email me at slewis@mthollyracing.com

Any closing words? Thank you, Scott, for this interview. I hope this will let a few more people know what we are all about.