Supercross Lites Penton connection

[Paul Danik]

In watching the Houston round of the Supercross Lites race the name of Ian Trettel was mentioned fairly often. Ian finished 5th in what I think was his pro racing debut, that is pretty remarkable to me.  I am 99% sure that Ian is the son of former Penton MX racer Joe Trettel who "back in the day" hailed from the western PA area. Jack had mentioned to me a while back about talking with Joe and how his son was doing really well in MX, as Ian's finish attests to.

   "Back in the day" I banged bars with Joe and his Penton a few times in MX and hare scramble events before I headed to the enduro and ISDT side of the sport. Joe was quite fast and his name appears in a number of Al Born's " The way it was " columns in the POG newsletters. I am pretty sure that a back injury cut Joe's career short.

   I think there are a few others who frequent this website that banged bars with Joe and his Penton back in the day, and one gentleman may have traveled with him.....

   Anyhow, there is a chance that we will be attending the Daytona Supercross and hopefully we can meet up with Ian and hopefully Joe, it would be great to wish Ian well and catch up with Joe, maybe we can plant the vintage bug in Joe's ear, it would be great to see him on a Penton once again.

Paul

[Gary Roach]

Paul,

According to a forum thread that I found, you're right.

http://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/Ian-Trettel,1045528

 

quote:Anyone know if his dad is the former 70's AMA pro Joe Trettel from western Pa.?

 

quote:Yep. He rode for Penton and mostly raced east coast. Breifly had a dealership/shop in Tarentum back in the 70's. Dad left riding for the family buisness / family. As his oldest son I can tell ya that he really helped Ian develop that strong work ethic and drive to win, and now Ian is really taking it to the next level - we are all proud as hell of him for sure!

 

quote:Thanks for responding. I thought that was the case. Ian is definitely one to watch this year. How is Dad doing ? Does he ride at all anymore ? Your Dad was the first Pro to come out of Lower Burrell back in the day. He was a few years older than us and we thought of him as "The Man". That one little town in western Pa. subsequently produced 5 more(I think) AMA Pro's in the mid/late 70's. Ahhhh........ the good 'ol days

[jeff greenberg]

when I heard the name last year I immediately thought it might be Joe's son. I remember racing with Joe at O.I.R. (Ravenna). Joe(and family) were super nice. Joe was a very fast dude. I kind of remember that they had a bull dog that used to follow me around the pits. Well, If anyone obtains any contact info for Joe, please pass it on. It would be cool if he becomes a POG member.
Jeff

[MikeMurphy]

Jeff,you are right about the Bulldog.His name was Brutus. Joe & I
grew up together and were neighbors. I have been in contact with him
and we might meet at Budds Creek in June. I will ask him to join the POG group and see if wants to do a few vintage races.

Michael Murphy
1976 250 MC-5
Many Rokons
[email protected]

[jeff greenberg]

Mike, too funny. Let us just say that Brutus was quite fond of my leg and leave it at that! May Brutus rest in peace. I sure hope that Joe joins POG. Ian,5th place! Dad 's gotta be proud!
Jeff

[jeff greenberg]

I heard that Ian may have broken a collar bone. Was bummed not to see him racing in Atlanta. can anyone confirm?
Jeff

[Paul Danik]

Jeff,

   I found this mention of his shoulder injury, sounds like he will be at Daytona.

After not showing up for practice in Atlanta, many people have been inquiring as to where Rockstar Suzuki's Ian Trettel was. Unfortunately Trettel will be sitting out Atlanta with an injury he sustained earlier in the week. Here's what we found on his Facebook page.

"So I crashed last week and hurt my shoulder and wont be racing Atlanta this weekend. But I will be racing next weekend at Daytona."

Paul

[jeff greenberg]

Oh thanks Paul! Glad he will be back that quick. I didn't think to look on facebook. I gotta get with the program, Ha!!
JG

[Mike Burgess]

Yesterday at Daytona Ian suffered a truly horrific crash basically being lawn darted into the face of a jump with his bike driving him into the face extremely hard. He has suffered multiple injuries although no spinal issues or breaks but has been medically induced in a coma. From what I've been told he has a lung injury that requied a respirator also, Let's keep Ian and his family in our thoughts and prayers.

[Paul Danik]

We were pretty much right across from where Ian crashed, it was a very scary crash and resulting impact by Ian.  Below is some information that his brother posted on another site.

Paul

 Folks - I'm Ian's older brother Zep (Joe Jr) and I'm also a brain doctor by training, in route to Daytona now to be with Ian and my parents. I am going to post some info here periodically to keep all of you informed because I know there is much legitimate concern about Ian right now.

First off I'd like to say that he needs your best wishes right now. He remains in a medically-induced coma and will be for several days. The rationale behind the come is to keep the degee of brain swelling to a minimum - to keep the metabolic demands of his brain as low as possible. The next 48 hours are critical; he had a good night last night and this morning showed no additional signs of brain edema. Very positive indeed! The velocity of the impact was enough to cause some bleeding in the brain, which ia a serious concern. Right now he is in stable but critical condition. By the end of the week we should have a better grip on how well he will do in terms of prognosis.

It goes without saying that this is a very serious injury but we have good reason to remain hopeful and cautiously optimistic - as many of you know Ian is a bright, healthy and motivated kid and we all love and care for him tremendously. The staff at Halifax is doing exactly what needs to be done to ensure he has the best outcome possible. At this point, your best wishes and prayers are needed. We will remain by Ian's side, with him and supporting him.

The road ahead is difficult if not impossible to predict this early but again, we have good reason to be hopeful. The next 2 days are huge - yours thoughts and concerns are welcome and myself and the medical staff at Hailfax will be doing all that we can to get him into the recovery phase ASAP.

 Ill be glad to offer what I can without breaching Ian's and my family' privacy and integrity in this difficult time. Ian is in good hands and your thoughts and prayers are all important. - Zep Trettel

[slvrbrdfxr]

Hi all,
Below is an update posted 3-8-11 on Ian's condition. Keep him in your prayers !!
Dave McCullough

http://www.vurbmoto.com/news/3097/ian-trettel-out-daytona/

Update 3/8:

On behalf of the entire Trettel Family, thank you all so much for your support and concern for Ian in this very difficult time. I am going to keep this brief and to the point, again without compromising our families privacy but doing what we think Ian would want us to do right now. However, you can expect an official family statement to be released in the next day.

Ian remains in a medically-induced coma to protect him from the ill effects of post-traumatic brain swelling. On Monday afternoon he underwent a surgical procedure to allow his brain additional room to expand until the swelling resolves; the bleed in the right side of his brain is also stable and unchanged. This morning his condition was stable and the surgery appears to have been largely successful. Now we all just have to wait and stay hopeful.

The ICU staff at Halifax continues to monitor all of his vital signs and adjust his moment-to-moment care as needed. At this time it remains essential for Ian to be in a quiet and calm environment so that his brain can rest, and we are doing our best to respect that need. As I have said before, we remain very positive but cautiously optimistic as Ian's road ahead will be long and difficult. It is far too early to think about a prognosis but we have good reason to be hopeful.

Your continued support and thoughts are so greatly appreciated. Stay positive everybody and let's get Ian through this!

- Joe Trettel Jr., on behalf of the entire Trettel Family

[slvrbrdfxr]

Hi all,

I have not seen any new info posted about Ian's condition lately but pray all is going well for him. If anyone knows anything please update this thread. The SX Lites broadcast on Speed TV from DFW last weekend said that there are wristbands for sale and that donations are also be accepted to be used for his recovery. The website to buy the wristbands or make a donation is http://www.road2recovery.com/. Click on the support/donate tab and then click on injured riders. Thanks !!

Dave McCullough

[Paul Danik]

Below is an update on Ian from the Racer X website dated Tuesday, April 12, 2011 | 11:50 AM.

Paul

Here is an update on Ian Trettel courtesy of the Rockstar Energy Suzuki Facebook page from Karen Hewitt.

"Ian update he is in his second week of rehab, he still has some struggles he has to over come, he is awake and he does know what people are saying to him. We still need to support him by going to Vurbmoto.com to buy wristbands and T-shirt he has a long road ahead of him. Don't forget about ride day April 23rd at Pala.....Thanks Karen Hewitt"