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HOME: El Cajon, CA Status: Married & 1 Kid Machine: ALBA Suzuki LTR-450 Nickname: Steve "the body" Beilman Birth Date: 10/13/65 Years Racing: 30 on and off 2006 Goal BITD Championship 05 Glen Helen 12 Hour - Champion Career Highlights: 3-Time Vegas To Reno Winner 3-Time 24-Hour Off-Road Champion 2-Time Tonopah 300 Winner 2-Time Terribles Town 250 Winner

steve Beilman
BEST IN THE DESERT, WORCS
Representing ALBA / Factory Suzuki in 2006

Steve Beilman has been a regular fixture at Alba Action Sports longer than we can remember. The name "Beilman" in fact, is usually mentioned with the same inflection as "Neuman" from Seinfeld. In fact Steve is probably more well known than most of the employees here. He's one of the original Team Alba Racing members and lives just a short distance from Alba so he is quite a regular around the shop. Weather he's working on one of his race bikes, helping one of the other racers or just telling everyone how misinformed they really are, one thing is for sure, Steve is a great representative of Alba... not only is he one of the strongest supporters of Alba's desert racing program and one of the best connected people in the industry, he's one of the fastest riders out there.

Interview by Willie Daniels 2/18/05

When I found out that I was going to be interviewing Steve, the first thing that came to mind is “oh man this is going to be sooooooo fun!” I’ve pretty much known Steve since I started working at Alba, and he’s one of the funniest, blunt, and sarcastic people that I have ever met. He can crack jokes all day long, about anything and everything that you can think of, and if you do something really stupid or clumsy, trust me, Steve will be the first to let you know.

WD: Ok Steve lets get this show on the road, let’s see first question, do you remember back far enough, when you got your first bike?

SB: OH yea funny, funny Will. Yea actually I can, as a matter of fact I remember ever single bike I have ever owned period.

WD: Just tell me about the first one...

SB: HAHA yeah but for real, (still laughing a little) umm lets see, I got my first bike when I was 6 and it was a Yamaha MX60

ND: Did you take it off any sweet jumps?

WD: Ok Ok, Did your parents ride to or did they just randomly decide “hey little Stephan needs a motorcycle!”

SB: Yeah they both rode dirt bikes, so of course I wanted a bike. We used to take weekend trips to Saddleback, LaGrange& Hollister Hills which I always really look forward to.

WD: Did you start racing when you were that you young or was it something that came later on down the line?

SB: Oh yeah for sure. I rode that MX60 like it was nobody’s business and loved it!

WD: And as you got older were there any riders at that time that you looked up to?

SB: Shoot you wouldn’t even know, these guys were riding before you were born, youngen. (commented Beilman while taking a drag off of his corncobb pipe)

WD: Yeah but I'm a great pretender

SB: HA….Lets see Bob Hanna rode for factory Honda then, and there was Marty Smith and Rex Statten.

WD: As a matter of fact, I know all of them personally, and we hung out last week downtown…(ha)

SB: Ya Shut up!..haha

WD: So you started racing when you were 6 all the way up to now….

SB: No No, I raced but when I was in HS I went through the sports thing, and riding really wasn’t a part of my life, I kind of just gave it up because I was interested in teenager stuff ya know.

WD: Heck ya I know, I think when I was a teenager nothing short of girls, snow boarding and basketball encompassed my world. Well that and my skills of drawing animals?

SB: Huh?

ND: Yeah Li-gers, I used to draw Li-gers...its only the greatest animal, ever!

SB: Hahaha oh goodness.

WD: See you should have never started this Steven..ha…… Ok OK Interview, interview. Where were we, oh yes, High school, and riding… when did you start riding again.

SB: Well pretty much after high school, I wanted to get back into again, so I go another bike and starting riding with my girlfriend.

WD: What kind of bikes were you guys riding?

SB: I was riding the king of the desert at the time, the KX500 and I went out a bought her a 250R the first year they came out.

WD: So how do you go from riding a KX500 to an ATV?

SB: You know what, when I rode my girlfriend's 250R it was such a blast, that I never really had to make a decision to get a 4 wheeler over a dirt bike. I rode it and I wanted one. I got one and after that I was hooked. And ya, I took it off some sweet jumps..(laughing)

ND: Lucky

WD: HAHA… Oh man. Ok so what made riding an ATV so much more fun to you then your dirt bike?

SB: I guess its all about preference. There are a lot of people that really enjoy riding dirt bikes more than 4 wheelers but as soon as I got on a quad, I just loved it. I would say it’s the same as snowboarding and skiing. Both get you to the bottom of the mountain, just two different ways. It’s all about what you prefer.

WD: So you got your quad and you’re stoked on it, but at what point did you get into racing again?

SB: Well back then there weren’t really a lot of choices where you could go race. Most the races that were worth racing were held down in Mexico at soccer stadiums. Let’s see, they had the Sucro Race, TJ Supercross, Ensanada Supercross, Mexicali Supercross and there was an outdoor race in Ensenada

WD: By the smile on your face it sounds like it was a pretty good time. Did things ever get pretty chaotic down there?

SB: It wasn't super crazy or anything but sometimes things did get a little chaotic.

WD: What’s the craziest accident you saw or were involved in down there, I know there had to be a few.

SB: I haven’t been in a ton of accidents, but I saw a few. Umm let’s see, Oh Oh, I got one. OK there was a race that was ending and the flaggers let us on the track to go setup at the starting gate. Well to get to the starting gate you had to go opposite of how the track was ran. The race before us was over, but what we didn’t know is that there was a guy that had lagged back in the race and he was still on the track.

WD: Oh no, I can imagine.

SB: Yeah yeah, so we are going to the front gate and this guy come blaring around the final corner and he was into it a little to hot. Well there I was like a sitting duck. Next thing I know the guy wrecks right into me.

WD: Sounds like that made for a fun and glamorous weekend, did you die or what?

SB: Nope didn’t die, I still raced, though.

WD: Dangggggggg. We’re going to start calling you Iron Man Beilman, Tamer of all ligers! HAHA. Ok so you still raced, how well did you do? And how long before you got yourself to the hospital?

SB: Dude, I raced a 45 minute moto, got third

WD: Damn

SB: Loaded all my stuff and took off to a hospital in Mexico. Ok so this is the best part, check it out. I get there and they tell me my arm is broken BUT……they didn’t have gauze there so they wrapped my arm in guess what!

WD: Umm, seaweed?

SB: Worse….toilet paper! Can you believe that? Freakin toilet paper, dude.

WD: HAHAHA………

SB: Oh no…….it gets better. My cast, wasn’t a normal cast. It went all the way up to my shoulder, and, (pause with a grin) you know how when you get a cast on your arm, they give you a sling and it makes a triangle with the strap from your neck to your wrist then to your elbow. Well imagine that but completely filled in with plaster.

SB: Yeah, so basically I had a GIANT triangle cast from the tips of my fingers, to my elbow and shoulder and back down to my fingers. I mean this thing was HUGE, and it weighed a freakin ton!

SB: The funnest part though was went I got back home and got myself to a doctor up here and when the nurse came in to see me, she was like “what the heck is that? Oh my goodness..hey come here you guys got to see this!” Yeah so I sat there while everyone had there fun with my homemade tissue and building plaster cast on, until they cut it off and set me back up in something normal.

WD: Yeah I think that’s what I was looking for. Good story. Good story. (yeah I was laughing the whole time)

WD: Ok so we left off where you were racing in Mexico how long did you do that before getting into the BITD series?

SB: Well Micky Thomsons went out of business and that killed the series, so after that I got into racing at the track and desert racing.

WD: At what point did you get involved with Alba and how did your sponsorship and support from Alba come about, did they approach you or you approach them?

SB: Oh I came to them. Greg Stewart and I were going to race the Vegas to Reno and the Raptor has just come out at that time, so we wanted to get our hands on one to race with. So we went to Alba and basically that’s how things started with them and it’s been great being affiliated with them ever since

WD: How did you do in your first Vegas to Reno with Alba’s support and your newly tuned Raptor?

SB: Oh dude let me just tell you, WE CRUSHED EVERYBODY! Not even by a little bit. I mean we dominated that race. It was 550 miles, we had 11 flats total, and we won by an hour and 45 minutes. It was probably one of the best races I had ever ran. Greg Stewart and I both rode so well in that race and the bike ran awesome, I mean that’s the combination for success. I don’t care how good of a rider you are if your bike isn’t performing there is only so well you can do and on the other hand you can ride the fastest bike out there but not ride well and you’re not going to do well. But when you mix the best of both together, you win. That race we definitely won.

WD: So do you think Alba definitely contributed to you wining that race?

SB: Oh for sure they did.

WD: And what would you say is probably your favorite thing about riding for Alba?

SB: In one word “KNOWLEDGE” They know their stuff. The techs here are amazing. They know these bikes inside and out. When they build a bike for me not only does it run, it runs great and its reliable. It’s nice having peace of mind when I take my YFZ or my LTZ in after a race, knowing that when I get it back, it’s going to be better then brand new.

WD: Sweet dude well it’s been nice talking with you on a more “professional” level.

SB: Yeah whatever, Ill see you tomorrow.

WD: HAHA, I hope not.