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Peoria Times
SPORTS
February 3, 2022
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Supercross’ Deven Raper, Chris Blose anticipating local race BY BRENDAN MANI
Peoria Times Staff Writer
The Valley’s Deven Raper and Chris Blose will hit the dirt on their home field for the Monster Energy Supercross Championship tour at State Farm Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 5. “It’s super fun,” said Blose, who graduated from North Phoenix High School in the Paradise Valley district. “So many fans and friends and family come and watch me do what I do. And something I get to enjoy with everybody.” The Glendale appearance marks his last tour in his storied career. The 34-year-old started racing Supercross in 2006 and earned a bronze medal at the X Games, a ninth-place finish at the 2019 Western Regional 250SX Class; a 2019 Australian Supercross SX2 championship the 2016 AMSOIL Arenacross Championship runner-up; eight AMSOIL Arenacross overall wins (250AX Class); six Monster Energy Supercross 450SX Class top 10 finishes and 13 Monster Energy Supercross 250SX top 10 finishes. Last season, he landed in 11th place overall on the tour with four top 10 finishes. “Since this is definitely my last year, I’m trying to enjoy all the moments,” he said. “When I sit on the line, I see all the fans around me. It’s those little moments that I’m trying to take in. I want to do the best I can and have it be my best year yet. I want to go out with a bang.” This season has a different meaning for the 31-year-old Raper, a Red Mountain High School graduate. It’s his first tour since suffering a broken pelvis and two broken vertebrae in a preseason crash in November 2019. “That was one of the biggest injuries you can have in motocross, for sure,”
Professional supercross and motorcross racers Deven Raper, left, and Chris Blose will head to their home field for the Monster Energy Supercross Championship tour at State Farm Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 5. The event, kicking off at 8 p.m., is one of the most competitive and high-profile off-road motorcycle racing series. (Submitted photo)
Raper said. “It was a bad one. And I always thought if I had a big injury like that, that I would probably just call it. But I didn’t want to let it go. I wasn’t ready yet. So, I worked hard to get back into shape, and it took me four months of doing physical therapy every day to be able to just like walk alone. Once I healed, I went back to racing, but it was still like a very big mental block to kind of open back up and go to speed.” Raper, who has been racing professionally since 2009, has had his best season start. “In years prior, I’ve haven’t peaked in the season until after the halfway point,” Raper said. “So, with Phoenix being the fifth round (of the tour), it’s pretty soon, but I’ve got everything kind of lined up. And I think this year is the year where I can make my first
main event in my hometown race, so I’m really looking forward to it and really just working towards it every single day.” Blose and Raper come from motocross families. Blose started pushing the pedals at age 3, while Raper started at 8. Raper’s father and older brother are professional riders. However, Raper has financially supported his efforts, and that motivated him. Qualifying for the main event in Phoenix may seem like “doing the impossible, but (it’s something) I’ve done before” being a privateer on this stage. A privateer is a racing entrant who is not directly supported by a manufacturer. He strives to use this platform to influence the next generation. “I want to find somebody who has the passion and the talent to go as far
as I have just being a privateer with a small budget with the best in the world,” he siad. “I would love to be in a position to make a living running a team and giving someone else like me as a kid the opportunity.” Blose is considering what he’s going to do next. “I’ve been doing this since 2006, so it’s definitely taken its toll on me,” he said. “And now I have a wife and two kids, so I want to be home more and experience that life with them. I started my own dirt bike suspension company just recently on the first of the year. So once the season’s over, it’ll be full on with that.” Like Raper, Blose wants to inspire SEE SUPERCROSS PAGE 19
