Ken Faught

Ken Faught (born September 16, 1968 in Los Angeles) 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.

Career

Bonneville Salt Flats

He grew up 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,[1] Corona Raceway,[2] Carlsbad Raceway,[3] Indian Dunes, Ascot[4] and Saddleback Park.[5]

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.[6] 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[7] for Outdoor Live Network (now Versus network) and once again found himself in front 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,[8] 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,[9] Racer X,[10] 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.[11] 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.[12] 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,[13] 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.[14] in order to grow the sport of indoor karting in North America. As of December 2013, P2R Karting had six open franchise locations in Jersey City, Dallas, Houston, St. Louis, Syracuse and Buffalo.

Faught is also an experience private pilot and has flown to every corner of the continental United States along with the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Maui.

Television

Jeremy McGrath, Greg Albertyn, Ken Faught, Steve Hatch

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[15] 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.

Books authored

Career highlights

Jeremy McGrath, Greg Albertyn, Ken Faught, Molly Culver

Accomplishments

Charity

Hobbies

Personal life

Ken married his wife Amy Beth Harris on October 10, 1992. They had a baby girl, Hannah Kaitlyn Faught, on March 4, 1996. A son, Wyatt Christian Faught, was born September 19, 2003.

References

  1. ↑ Orange County International Raceway http://silverstone.fortunecity.com/bonneville/218/ociraerial/
  2. ↑ Corona Raceway http://www.vintagemx.us/forgottentracks.htm
  3. ↑ Carlsbad Raceway http://www.carlsbadraceway.org/
  4. ↑ Ascot Park http://www.scrafan.com/racetracks/ascotda.html
  5. ↑ Saddleback Park http://www.octhen.com/labels/Motocross.htm
  6. ↑ Dave Dispain http://www.speedtv.com/programs/wind-tunnel-with-dave-despain/
  7. ↑ Dirt Rider Adventures http://www.dirtrider.com/reviews/141_0310_exc/index.html
  8. ↑ Brosel Design http://www.broseldesign.com
  9. ↑ Makes & Models site http://www.makesandmodels.com/
  10. ↑ Racer X Online http://www.racerxonline.com/
  11. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4182/is_/ai_n16764890
  12. ↑ Pole Position Raceway Site http://www.PolePositionRaceway.com
  13. ↑ http://www.nkn.com/news.asp?item=817
  14. ↑ P2R Karting Site http://www.P2RKarting.com
  15. ↑ CBS 60 Minutes ll http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/03/60II/main556697.shtml