Ken Faught
Encyclopedia
Ken Faught has been involved in motorsports for over two decades. He has served as the editor-in-chief of several national magazines. He is also the co-founder of Pole Position Raceway, a chain of indoor kart tracks in North America.
He grew us in Santa Ana, California as a child who loved skateboarding and BMX. It was at the age of 13 that he was introduced to the powerful world of motorcycling through a neighbor named Johnny Posca. Faught immediately found an addiction to the sport and began racing motocross in 1982 on a Yamaha YZ125G at tracks like Orange County International Raceway, Corona Raceway, Carlsbad Raceway, Indian Dunes, Ascot and Saddleback Park.
In 1984 he met Karel Kramer from Dirt Rider magazine and the two quickly began friends. Kramer convinced Faught to start contributing stories and photography to a weekly motorcycle newspaper called Cycle News to earn money to help cover his racing expenses. Faught also worked part-time at a motorcycle shop called Orange County Cycle in Garden Grove, CA performing miscellaneous tasks for the parts, sales and service departments. In 1985 Kramer introduced Faught to Stu Peters, the founder of Continental Motorsports Club, and it was at CMC events that Faught would hone his skills at a photojournalist. He also teamed up with Mike Koger (the co-founder of Smooth Industries) to make Mini Vues at major amateur motorcycle events on the West Coast. Mini Vues are two-inch long plastic cases that contained an inexpensive magnifying glass and a photographic slide of the racers which Koger and Faught sold for $3 each. Mini Vues were designed to be a way that racers could have a tangible reminder of the day's activities.
In 1985 Faught became a test rider for Dirt Rider magazine and was also paid to run miscellaneous errands for the editorial staff. It was during this period of his life when Faught met an amateur motorcycle racer named Jeremy McGrath
. The pair caravaned to amateur races in California, Nevada and Arizona. McGrath would later become the all-time leader in AMA Supercross wins with a total of 72 main event victories in the 250cc class from 1993-2000. Although Faught has competed in over 700 organized motorcycle races including International F.I.M. Six Days Enduro, A.M.A. National Hare & Hound, C.M.C. Golden State Nationals, N.A.H.A. Pro Hillclimb Series, S.C.T.A. Land Speed Racing, he focused most of his attention on education. He began school seeking a degree in business management, but graduated from Long Beach State University with a B.A. in newspaper journalism and an area of concentration in English. During his 10 years of continued education, Faught worked for CN Publishing as the editor of ATV News, assistant editor of Cycle News, and editor of Personal Watercraft Illustrated. In 1991 Faught was hired by Peterson Publisher to be the Moto! Editor of Dirt Rider magazine, the world's largest off-road motorcycle publication. He eventually served as editor-in-chief of Dirt Rider for eight years, and created several new magazines including MXRacer, ATV Rider and the official AMA Supercross program before leaving the company in 2004.
While at Dirt Rider he was also the co-host of Motorcyclist Television on Speedvision (now Speed TV) along with Dave Despain. Motorcyclist was a television magazine that focused much of its attention on motorcycle test, performance modifications, and do-it-yourself tips. After two years working on the Speedvision show, Faught was on the creative team of Dirt Rider Adventures for Outdoor Live Network (now Versus network) and once again found himself in from of the camera. As the primary field reporter for the travel show, Faught ventured to Australia
, New Zealand
, Costa Rica
, Peru
, Zimbabwe
, Canada
, mainland Mexico
and several exotic places in the United States including Hawaii with long-time friend McGrath.
In 2004 Faught turned his attention to his passion of photography and focused most of his attention on Studio 38, Inc. Some of his clients included Anheuser-Busch, Hyundai, Saleen, Brosel Design, Medieval Times
, Wild Rivers, American Honda, American Suzuki, Kawasaki Motor Corp., Yamaha Motor Corp, KTM Sportmotorcycles, Parts Unlimited, Troy Lee Designs, White Bros., Pro Circuit, FMF, Xtreme, Chuck, Big Gun Exhaust, AXO Sport, Fox Racing, Jamie Little, Go Rhino!, He's also contributed to over 150 international magazines (including FHM, Makes & Models, Racer X, Australasian Dirt Bike, Sport, Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Orange County Register), written six books, and helped produce three instructional with Donnie Bales. In 2005 Faught signed a two-year contract to become Team Makita Suzuki MX PR Coordinator for riders Ricky Carmichael, Davi Millsaps, Broc Hepler, Ivan Tedesco and Sebastien Tortelli. In 2005 Faught also created High Stakes, Inc. with Jason Williams. Faught met Williams in 1988 while practicing motorcross at McGrath's house in Sun City, California. The pair would produce calendars, poker cards and a variety of enthusiast-driven products before embarking on their biggest endeavor of their lifetime.
In 2005, Williams and Faught created a high-performance indoor kart track in Corona, California called Pole Position Raceway
. The pair funded their entire project with cash by selling stock to friends such as McGrath and other celebrity motorcycle racers including three-time World Motocross Champ Greg Albertyn
, 8-time ISDE
Gold Medalist Dick Burleson
, off-road legend Steve Hatch, X-Games Gold Medalist Mike Metzger
, and freestyle rider Trevor Vines. The success of Pole Position Raceway was immediate and within a year they had a second track in Oklahoma City which opened in September 2006. The following year the team opened a third facility in Murrieta, California and a fourth track in Las Vegas, Nevada. For the Vegas track, Faught and Williams partnered with Brad Mark, a former General Manager for Richard Petty
Enterprises who ran a NASCAR
driving experience course that allowed customers to speed up to 160 mph in a real race car. After many discussions on long-term growth, and a deep recession in 2008, the trio formed a franchise company called P2R Karting, Inc. in order to grow the sport of indoor karting in North America.
While at Dirt Rider, Faught was also involved with the creation of Motorcyclist on Speedvision, a network that is now known as Speed TV. Motorcyclist was a television magazine that documented motorcycle tests, product reviews, and mechanical tips. In 2002, Faught helped created Dirt Rider Adventures for the Outdoor Life Network. This was a travel show that took Faught off-road motorcycle riding in New Zealand, Australia, Costa Rica, Zimbabwe, South Africa, mainland Mexico, Peru, Canada, and more. It was also during this time that Faught appeared on CBS' 60 Minutes II with AMA Supercross champions Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Johnson and Ricky Carmichael. Along the way Faught has also appeared on ESPN, NBC, CBS, KTLA & Fox. He was also a stuntman in a motorcycle movie titled Winners Take All.
Career
In 1984 he met Karel Kramer from Dirt Rider magazine and the two quickly began friends. Kramer convinced Faught to start contributing stories and photography to a weekly motorcycle newspaper called Cycle News to earn money to help cover his racing expenses. Faught also worked part-time at a motorcycle shop called Orange County Cycle in Garden Grove, CA performing miscellaneous tasks for the parts, sales and service departments. In 1985 Kramer introduced Faught to Stu Peters, the founder of Continental Motorsports Club, and it was at CMC events that Faught would hone his skills at a photojournalist. He also teamed up with Mike Koger (the co-founder of Smooth Industries) to make Mini Vues at major amateur motorcycle events on the West Coast. Mini Vues are two-inch long plastic cases that contained an inexpensive magnifying glass and a photographic slide of the racers which Koger and Faught sold for $3 each. Mini Vues were designed to be a way that racers could have a tangible reminder of the day's activities.
In 1985 Faught became a test rider for Dirt Rider magazine and was also paid to run miscellaneous errands for the editorial staff. It was during this period of his life when Faught met an amateur motorcycle racer named Jeremy McGrath
Jeremy McGrath
Jeremy McGrath is one of the most popular American Motocross/Supercross champions in the history of the sport. He was most active in the 1990s earning the title the "King of Supercross." His tricks during jumps on the supercross track, the most famous of which he called the "Nac Nac", helped spawn...
. The pair caravaned to amateur races in California, Nevada and Arizona. McGrath would later become the all-time leader in AMA Supercross wins with a total of 72 main event victories in the 250cc class from 1993-2000. Although Faught has competed in over 700 organized motorcycle races including International F.I.M. Six Days Enduro, A.M.A. National Hare & Hound, C.M.C. Golden State Nationals, N.A.H.A. Pro Hillclimb Series, S.C.T.A. Land Speed Racing, he focused most of his attention on education. He began school seeking a degree in business management, but graduated from Long Beach State University with a B.A. in newspaper journalism and an area of concentration in English. During his 10 years of continued education, Faught worked for CN Publishing as the editor of ATV News, assistant editor of Cycle News, and editor of Personal Watercraft Illustrated. In 1991 Faught was hired by Peterson Publisher to be the Moto! Editor of Dirt Rider magazine, the world's largest off-road motorcycle publication. He eventually served as editor-in-chief of Dirt Rider for eight years, and created several new magazines including MXRacer, ATV Rider and the official AMA Supercross program before leaving the company in 2004.
While at Dirt Rider he was also the co-host of Motorcyclist Television on Speedvision (now Speed TV) along with Dave Despain. Motorcyclist was a television magazine that focused much of its attention on motorcycle test, performance modifications, and do-it-yourself tips. After two years working on the Speedvision show, Faught was on the creative team of Dirt Rider Adventures for Outdoor Live Network (now Versus network) and once again found himself in from of the camera. As the primary field reporter for the travel show, Faught ventured to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, mainland Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and several exotic places in the United States including Hawaii with long-time friend McGrath.
In 2004 Faught turned his attention to his passion of photography and focused most of his attention on Studio 38, Inc. Some of his clients included Anheuser-Busch, Hyundai, Saleen, Brosel Design, Medieval Times
Medieval Times
Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament is a family dinner theater featuring staged medieval-style games, sword-fighting, and jousting performed by a cast of 75 actors and 20 horses. Each location is housed in a replica 11th-century castle, with the exception of the Toronto location, which is housed...
, Wild Rivers, American Honda, American Suzuki, Kawasaki Motor Corp., Yamaha Motor Corp, KTM Sportmotorcycles, Parts Unlimited, Troy Lee Designs, White Bros., Pro Circuit, FMF, Xtreme, Chuck, Big Gun Exhaust, AXO Sport, Fox Racing, Jamie Little, Go Rhino!, He's also contributed to over 150 international magazines (including FHM, Makes & Models, Racer X, Australasian Dirt Bike, Sport, Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Orange County Register), written six books, and helped produce three instructional with Donnie Bales. In 2005 Faught signed a two-year contract to become Team Makita Suzuki MX PR Coordinator for riders Ricky Carmichael, Davi Millsaps, Broc Hepler, Ivan Tedesco and Sebastien Tortelli. In 2005 Faught also created High Stakes, Inc. with Jason Williams. Faught met Williams in 1988 while practicing motorcross at McGrath's house in Sun City, California. The pair would produce calendars, poker cards and a variety of enthusiast-driven products before embarking on their biggest endeavor of their lifetime.
In 2005, Williams and Faught created a high-performance indoor kart track in Corona, California called Pole Position Raceway
Pole Position Raceway
Pole Position Raceway is a chain of indoor karting facilities located in the United States. According to their website, the company plans to operate dozens of future locations "within the next decade"...
. The pair funded their entire project with cash by selling stock to friends such as McGrath and other celebrity motorcycle racers including three-time World Motocross Champ Greg Albertyn
Greg Albertyn
Greg Albertyn , is a former World Champion motocross racer. He is now a real estate developer in Riverside, California....
, 8-time ISDE
International Six Days Enduro
The International Six Days Enduro is the oldest 'off road' motorcycle event on the FIM Calendar.The ISDE was first held in 1913 at Carlisle, England. It has occurred annually, apart from interruptions due to World War I and World War II, at various locations throughout the world. The early...
Gold Medalist Dick Burleson
Dick Burleson
Richard Burleson was one of the top American motorcycle enduro competitors in history. He is remembered for winning a record eight consecutive AMA Enduro National Championships. His domination of the national enduro series earned him the nickname King Richard.Burleson began his competitive career...
, off-road legend Steve Hatch, X-Games Gold Medalist Mike Metzger
Mike Metzger
Mike Metzger is an American Freestyle Motocross rider. In the 2002 X-Games he won the Freestyle and Big Air events and got second place in Step Up, earning him an estimated $100,000 in three days. In 2003 he also got first place in Big Air...
, and freestyle rider Trevor Vines. The success of Pole Position Raceway was immediate and within a year they had a second track in Oklahoma City which opened in September 2006. The following year the team opened a third facility in Murrieta, California and a fourth track in Las Vegas, Nevada. For the Vegas track, Faught and Williams partnered with Brad Mark, a former General Manager for Richard Petty
Richard Petty
Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...
Enterprises who ran a NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
driving experience course that allowed customers to speed up to 160 mph in a real race car. After many discussions on long-term growth, and a deep recession in 2008, the trio formed a franchise company called P2R Karting, Inc. in order to grow the sport of indoor karting in North America.
Television
Books authored
- Jeremy McGrath, Images of a Supercross Champion (Published by Motorbooks International)
- Pro Motocross & Off-Road Riding Techniques (with Donnie Bales, Published by Motorbooks International)
- 10 Days in the Dirt (with Russ Rohrer, Published by Motorbooks International)
- Yamaha YZF & WRF Performance Projects (Published by Motorbooks International)
- Dirt Rider Riding Tips (Published by Motorbooks International)
- The Great History of Supercross (with Xavier Audouard and preface by Jeremy McGrath)
Career highlights
- ATV NewsATV NewsATV News is the newsgathering arm of ATV in Hong Kong. It provides news programmes to both its ATV Home and ATV World.On April 11 2011, ATV News unveiled its new title sequence, which was turned out to be a copy of a personal conception of BBC News title sequence published by on YouTube...
- Editor - 1987 - Cycle News - Associate editor - 1987-1991
- Personal Watercraft Illustrated - editor - 1989-1991
- Dirt Rider magazine - editor-in-chief 1991-2004
- ATV Rider - co-creater & editorial director
- MX Racer - co-creater & editorial director
- Racing Solutions, Inc. co-founder
- Studio 38, Inc - CEO
- Team Makita Suzuki MX PR Coordinator (Ricky CarmichaelRicky CarmichaelRicky Carmichael is a racer known for his success in Motocross. He is currently competing in NASCAR. He drives the #4 Monster Energy Chevrolet Silverado for Turner Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series and the #30 Chevrolet Impala part-time for Turner Motorsports in the Nationwide Series...
, Sebastien Tortelli, Ivan Tedesco, Davi Millsaps & Broc Hepler) - High Stakes, Inc. - President & Co-founder
- Pole Position RacewayPole Position RacewayPole Position Raceway is a chain of indoor karting facilities located in the United States. According to their website, the company plans to operate dozens of future locations "within the next decade"...
, Inc - President & Co-founder - Race P2R, Inc - President & Co-founder
- American Indoor Karting, Inc. - President & Co-founder
- P2R Murrieta, Inc, - President & Co-founder
- N.I.K., Inc - President & Co-founder
- P2R Karting, Inc. - President & Co-founder
- North American Hillclimb Association (board of directors member)
- P2R Las Vegas, LLC - President & Co-founder
Accomplishments
- Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts of America
- 1984 CMC Golden State National Champion in the Junior Class
- Member of Team U.S.A. at the 1994 International Six-Days Enduro in Tulsa, Oklahoma
- 2004 - Set three motorcycle land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah for Team Falkner Livingston
- 2006 Motorcycle Hillclimb World Champion in the media class in DeCazaville, France
Charity
- Toys for TotsToys for TotsToys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve which donates toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas. The program was founded in 1947 by reservist Major William L...
- The Full Circle Foundation - David Bailey's All Star Extravaganza
- Michelle's Place
- Firefighter Fundraiser for families of U.S.F.S. Station 57
- Pediatric Brain Foundation
Hobbies
- Motorcycling
- Karting
- SCUBA Diving
- Tournament Pistol Shooting
- Precision Riffle Shooting
- Mountain Biking
- Adventure Travel
- Photography