Kory Ellis #53

Born: Feb 13 1977
Grew Up: Longview WA
Lives: Murietta, CA
He’s been racing the GNC since ‘94

Favorite Track - High Point, PA (lots of off-camber corners and it's nice and wide for a lot of passing) and Washugal, WA where he raced when he was starting out
Hates: Narrow, out of the way tracks with no place to pass!
Favorite Movie – Next Friday
Favorite Ride Film – Dirt Riot
Favorite Reality Show – Pimp My Ride
Favorite TV Show – Chapel Show
Favorite Band – Bad Religion / Blink 182
Inspirational Riders: Gary Denton & Rick Johnson

ory Ellis 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.

He grew up in Longview, Washington and lived there until he was 19. At 19 he moved out to Murietta California where he lives today. 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.

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 tippling 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 this year, 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.