has been racing quads since he was 10
years old and is among the first generation of racers who
actually grew up riding on four wheels from the start. From
the very beginning he showed a natural talent and ability
for handling quads and has continued. Surprisingly his first
race was on a LT250 – which was a little too much to
handle initially, so they backed it down with a RM 80 motor
for something that was a bit more manageable. Once his parents
realized that he may actually have some talent for quad racing,
they bought him his first new quad, an LT80. Kory quickly
mastered this quad, kept winning races and finally outgrowing
it. His dad had a 250 that Kory "borrowed" and ran
every chance he got, enjoying the extra power and improved
suspension.
 Kory
grew up in Longview, Washington and lived there until he was
19. When he was 10 he and a friend entered an AMA flat track
flat track race. The course was simple, with one jump. But
that wasn't what got him into racing. The following weekend
there was an ATV motocross race, so he and his friend decided
to give it a try. From that weekend, Kory was hooked on motocross
and began competing regularly. At 19 he moved out to Murietta
California where he lives today.
Of all the quads
he's raced, his favorite was a Laeger YZF400 that was the
very first one that Laeger built, and he still has it this
to this day. The quad was so different than anything he had
ridden and it was one of the first 4-stroke race quads. He
liked the power and loved the balance and the way it felt
and said that there was nothing else like it. After competing
with the Laeger he became a support rider for Cannondale and
ALBA on his High Performance Cannibal 440.
Cannondale wanting to get into racing hooked up Kory with
ALBA, a Cannondale dealer known for their successful ATV race
program. Kory loved working with Cannondale, they were passionate
and really hands-on as was Cory, the owner of ALBA. Together
they helped Cannondale earn some respect in the ATV world.
The relationship
with Cannondale was very successful however their demise prompted
Kory to switch to a Team Alba Suzuki LTZ400. For the 2003
GNC season, Kory was the only rider to compete successfully
in both the GNC Pro and GNC Pro Production class on the same
quad. Kory wanted to prove that he could win on a “stock
framed” LTZ400 (he won the Anaheim Pro Quad Stadium
race that year). Toward the end of the ’03 season, Ellis
became the first rider to race the YFZ450 for Yamaha. He’s
still racing on the ALBA YFZ 450 and has worked extensively
with Team Alba Racing's performance department on the development
of a race motor and several other race mods including the
Kory Ellis Signature Edition Pipe kit.
 Kory
Ellis is one of the most recognized names in quad racing.
Gracing the pages of almost every ATV magazine, Ellis has
a riding style that really captures attention. Most ATV race
photographers agree that they love shooting photos of Kory
and comment that the camera just loves him. He's also very
impressive to watch on the track, which is evident from the
reaction of the crowd when he launches off a jump or makes
a bold pass in the whoops. From an early age, Kory was very
good at jumping and recalls his first race, which was a flat-track
oval with one big jump.
"I loved
that track," Kory commented, "every lap
was about setting up for the jump and gaining as much distance
as I could." Things haven't change that much, as
jumping is something that today in the Pro MX circuit, Ellis
is known for. Kory gains a lot of ground in the air. He is
just be able to jump farther than any other rider, sometimes
tripling a jump that every other racer will double. This has
lead to some exciting races and a fan base that exceeds any
other pro racer.
In addition to
the support he gets from sponsors and Team Alba Racing, Kory
credits his parents for being a big part of getting him to
where he is today. Kory's parents have been there from the
beginning with technical, financial & moral support. His
dad is to be credited to hauling his race rig to all the races,
most of which are half a continent away in the East. Kory's
mom is perhaps best known for her cooking, specifically for
feeding about half of the entire GNC pro race group at the
races.
Kory said he is
looking forward to the day that Quad racing becomes more popular
and more available and expects to be the number one Pro Quad
MX racer in the world when that happens. And he believes that
it will happen very soon. He comments that when the Factories
start getting behind pro racing, like Factory Suzuki has with
Doug Gust, and Factory Yamaha along with ALBA for Ellis, the
competition will become more fierce, resulting in better races,
and hopefully increased exposure and increased popularity
of the sport. Until then, he just plans on being as competitive
as he can.
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Kory
Ellis #53