| ALBANY -- Last fall, Mar-Shon Guthrie finished dead last in a motocross race. He expected a poor performance -- it was one of the first times he had ever ridden a dirt bike. He had never seen jumps before.
Never maneuvered a banked turn.
Never negotiated bumps.
He couldn't even make it to the start of the race at the former Pepsi Arena without crashing. "I flew over the handlebars in practice," Guthrie said.
His mechanic, Andre Lewis, didn't care what place Guthrie finished in. He just wanted his friend to survive. "It was crazy," Lewis said. "I was praying for him."
It was an unusual way to start a racing career. How many riders compete in front of more than 5,000 fans when their only experience is a few laps around a small field? But that's the thing with Guthrie, a 19-year-old Albany resident. He doesn't do anything the usual way. He does it his way. And it works.
Guthrie is back in his hometown this weekend. He's competing in Arenacross on Sunday at Times Union Center. The race will mark his one-year anniversary in racing and serve as a celebration of the unusual path he's taken to get here.
"I can feel myself getting better every week," he said.
Guthrie grew up around engines. Big blocks. Small blocks. All shapes and sizes. His father raced drag cars at Lebanon Valley Speedway and the wrenches were always turning in their garage on Albany Street. Guthrie would poke around, playing with tools and asking how different parts worked.
He was sucked in at an early age. He wanted to race. But not cars. Dirt bikes were his thing. In the summer, he would ride his bicycle from downtown Albany to Phibbs Motor Sports on Albany Shaker Road. It's a four-mile trip. Mostly uphill. And he wouldn't even go in the store when he got there. "I would just stare through the window for hours," Guthrie said.
When he turned 17, Guthrie got a job with Nelson Brothers Contracting and saved every paycheck for more than four months. He bought his first dirt bike, a Kawasaki KX125, in September of last year for $1,200. He rode in a field near his house for the next month until a construction crew started building on the site and kicked him out.
That's when Guthrie saw a commercial on TV for the Arenacross event. He signed up not knowing what to expect and found himself on the starting line a few weeks later.
Guthrie was hooked after the first ride. He's traveled up and down the East Coast for races every weekend since -- except for being sidelined for four weeks when he broke his femur. "It was no big deal," he said. "It was only a hairline fracture."
Improvement came almost immediately. He beat a few riders in his second race. Then half the riders. Then many of the riders. His best finish came on Oct. 28 when Guthrie finished fifth in a field of 45.
Lack of practice time has been the only thing preventing Guthrie from an even quicker ascent, he said. There aren't any racetracks near downtown Albany. So the only time Guthrie gets to hone his craft is during the four practice laps every rider has before each race and in the races themselves. "I couldn't even shift at first. Now I can take off with my eyes closed."
He's still working on other skills. Before each race, he grabs another rider and asks them to watch every moment of his run, looking for weaknesses. He also watches professional mechanics, sometimes for hours at a time, hoping to pick up tips on bike modification.
His pursuit has required as much ingenuity as it has dedication. Some riders roll into town with trailers worth more than a house. Guthrie gets his bike from track to track in the back of a pickup truck. He'll fit in soon, though. He just bought an old bread truck from Freihofer's and is transforming it into a garage on wheels with a bunk for sleeping.
Despite being a new face around the racetrack, Guthrie has made some impressive connections. The mechanic for champion rider James "Bubba" Stewart has done work on Guthrie's new bike, a Kawasaki 250F, free of charge. He also has seven sponsors that give him free goodies and parts at half price, though he said his favorite sponsors are "mom and dad." Guthrie may have caught the eye of someone at Thor -- maker of dirt bike parts and clothing. He recently received a Thor jersey in the mail. He doesn't know who it came from. His number -- 661 -- appears on the back along with his nickname -- Showtime.
Guthrie is busy away from the track. He is a student at Hudson Valley Community College and still works for Nelson Brothers. That will change in April when Guthrie begins a 48-week training program as a dirt bike mechanic at a Kawasaki school in Florida. He wants to learn more about his bike as part of fulfilling his master plan -- turning professional.
For now, he's only concerned with Sunday. At least 20 family members and friends will be in the crowd. They won't see a tentative teen rolling over jumps and finishing in last place this time. "Oh, no," Guthrie said. "I'm going to put on a show."
David Filkins can be reached at 454-5456 or by e-mail at dfilkins@timesunion.com.
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