In 2008 Spy Optic
enjoyed what was arguably its finest year ever as a goggle
manufacturer when it routinely held a higher percentage of top
ten supercross and motocross riders in the standings than any
other goggle manufacturer out there.
Pretty cool stuff for everyone at Spy, yeah. But the company's
not going to pat itself on the back too much. The gate drops
on Anaheim 1 this weekend and all the great things that went
down in the '08 competition season will soon be forgotten as
the new Spy Optic SX racers get after it at Angel Stadium this
Saturday night.
Leading the Spy Optic supercross contingent, as he has for
some time now, will be veteran racer and fan-favorite Kevin
"K-Dub" Windham (Geico Powersports/Honda). The
good-natured and fiercely fast Louisianan has helped Spy and
co-founder Jeremy "Showtime" McGrath elevate the Spy
Optic Magneto and Alloy model MX goggles - each of which
feature the legendary riders' signatures in the pro model
line.
"I've been with Spy forever and look forward to another
great year with them," said Windham. "Both the Spy
pro model Magneto and Alloy goggles do a great job in all
kinds of conditions - which everyone who rides and races
motocross are well aware of. Nothing's worse than having your
goggles fog up or scratched, get saturated with sweat, allow
dust into your eyes or have a strap that won't stick to your
helmet. Spy's got all these departments covered well and
that's why I run 'em."
Teaming up with Windham this year will be defending 2008 WSX
Lites champ Jason "JLaw" Lawrence, along with
veteran supercross racer Nick Wey. Running Yamahas under the
new Boost Mobile/ampm/Monster Energy/Troy Racing banner,
Lawrence not only brings with him a title to defend, but a
spark to the Spy Optic SX program that'll for sure deliver a
lot of fans and traffic to www.spyoptic.com
based on Lawrence's HUGE legion of loyal followers.
"Spy's sick, man. I ran them for a long time - am pumped
to be running them again - and, if all goes right, we'll bring
another Lites title to Spy - just like (Trey) Canard's last
year," said Lawrence.
Wey, who put up factory KTM's best numbers ever in the 450
class last year, is always a top-five threat in the SX class
and as consistent as they come over the course of a 16-round
supercross season. "Spy's always had that 'cool edge'
that a lot of the other goggle manufacturers tried to produce
- but could never quite get," said Wey. "I think
it's because of McGrath. He turned Spy into gold back in the
day and people have never forgot it. And I'm looking forward
to representing with them this year."
Rounding out the major factory and smaller privateer team
efforts for Spy Optic's supercross program will be the
newly-formed Atomic Racing/Cernic's Kawasaki team. Led by last
year's top supercross privateer, Paul Carpenter, and featuring
his fellow New Yorker buddy Bobby Kiniry and cousin, Jack
Carpenter, the NY locals have a shot of getting Spy Optic an
extra couple guys in premier class' top 12 standings.
Up first for the Spy Optic-backed supercross racers is the
opening round of the 2008 Monster Energy Supercross Series at
Anaheim's (Calif.) Angels Stadium (Jan. 3).
About Spy
Spy Optic designs, develops and markets premium products for
the action sports and youth lifestyle markets. Spy's principal
products, sunglasses and goggles, target the action sports
market, including surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding,
motocross, wakeboarding and skiing, and the youth lifestyle
market within fashion, music, and entertainment. Spy's
innovative proprietary products utilize high-quality
materials, handcrafted manufacturing processes and engineered
optical lens technology to convey premium quality,
contemporary style, and progressive design. Spy is a
wholly owned subsidiary of Orange 21, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORNG). www.spyoptic.com