Personal History
My name is Phil Hughes. I am 43 years old. I've been married to my wonderful wife Kristen for 17 years and we have 2 boys Ryan 13.5 and Aidan 12. I'm currently a Transportation Manager and have spent my entire professional career in the trucking industry since graduating from Washington State University in 1996. I also received my MBA in June 2010 while working full time. This was a huge accomplishment for me.
I have been a motorcycle fanatic for as long as I can remember. I still remember being 6 years old and looking at a Honda Z50 brochure that I picked up from a local shop and dreaming about having my very own motorcycle. Seven years later my dream became reality when I purchased with my allowance a used 1982 RM 80. My brother and I rode every chance we had, ripping around all over Whidbey Island where I grew up. Riding motorcycles has been a part of my life and I want my boys to grow up with that same great experience. It’s such a great family sport!
Riding Goals
I have a lot of goals for 2016. My #1 goal is to get out and ride. My family and I had to sacrifice riding while I was going to school to get my MBA from 2008 to 2010. I finished up with my degree in June 2010 and was able to race at the Washougal Amateur National in July. It was an awesome experience and something I had wanted to do for years. I finished 16th of 32 riders. I was happy with that since I had a cold for 2 weeks before the event and didn't get any riding in. I've started working out and training to try and get back into good physical shape so that when I ride and race I can be competitive.
My oldest son Ryan just moved up from an 85 to a Supermini and 125 and he is starting to get really fast on them. My younger son Aidan is on a YZ85 and is also getting fast on it. I want to continue working with them on fundamentals and help them continually improve as riders.
I also have a goal of starting a race team with my 2 sons and racing in some series events around Washington State. We purchased a fifth wheel toy hauler in August and I’m looking forward to getting some good use out of it this spring and summer. I am looking forward to the sponsorship opportunity through MX Sponsor and am hoping that this will help make this dream a reality. I have plenty room for sponsor logos on my toy hauler! As any racer knows how expensive this sport can be. Every little bit helps! I really like what MX Sponsor has done for the sport and hope that it will help create relationships with my current and future sponsors.
As far as race results, I would like to be in the top 10 or 50% for my division in every race if not better.
Competitive Highlights
I am a very competitive person. Ever since I was a kid competing on sports teams I’ve always had a passion to be the best and win. When I was a junior in high school I began running track and cross country. I joined cross country have way through the season and qualified for the state cross country championships. Realizing that I had a natural talent for running I opted not to play basketball my junior year (I had played on organized teams since I was 9) and train for the upcoming track season. I ended up beating the long time champion in districts in the 3200 meter (2 mile) run in the last hundred meters. My senior year of high school, I qualified for state again in cross country and won the district meet in the 1600 meter run (1 mile) and going to state in that event. I also ran the 800 meter and 3200 meter run to help the team gain valuable points which led us to an underdog win the district track meet.
When I began racing motocross at the age of 28, I always raced with a goal of winning a trophy. In 2007, in my first and only WORCS race, I landed in a hole off of the very first jump. I came down hard on my left side, but didn’t crash. My left foot and shoulder hurt but I continued on for the hour. Little did I know that I had hit my cross bar so hard I had a concussion. I continued on delirious and managed to finish 12th of 25 riders. After the race I took an ambulance ride to the local hospital…I was happy with the result, but I was getting passed left and right at the very end, so it’s in my nature to wonder what could I have done if I hadn’t gotten hurt at the very start of the race? The older I get the more I realize it’s more about finishing the race and having fun, but deep down I still want to be one of the guys on the box!