News: Byrner is on Butler Bros

From BTOSports.com - The BTOSports.com/Butler Brothers MX race team is pleased to announce their acquisition of Motocross/Supercross Veteran Michael Byrne. “Words can’t express the level of excitement we have regarding this right now!” said BTO Sports owner Vince Arimitsu. “Michael Byrne is a big and exciting addition to our team, and we are looking forward to putting in our best season yet!”
Michael Byrne has been racing professionally in the USA since 2001, when he started racing under MX Legend Jeff Emig’s Kawasaki team. Since then, he has proven to be a top dog in the sport, with many podium finishes and legendary battles. Byrne has jumped around from some pretty big name teams over the years, such as: Amsoil Honda, Factory Chevy Trucks Kawasaki, Rockstar Suzuki, and Factory Rockstar Makita Suzuki.
Since his stay with Factory Rockstar Makita Suzuki, Byrne had unfortunately been hit with some bad luck and injuries, but who hasn’t in this sport? All we know is that we are stoked to move forward with him, and watch him put in a great year with the BTO Sports team.

I am a fan of Michael Byrne. He's a fast rider with a very soft spoken style. I watch this guy on TV and think "I'm probably as fast as him, right?", when the truth is that he can absolutely crush me, obviously. He also is listed as living in Park City, Utah by the AMA, I have noticed, which is one of my favorite places in the world, so good call on his part. I was always psyched to see Byrner get a good ride, and that being said, I don't know how to feel about this. I was bummed when he had nothing last year, then psyched that he got to Valli via JGR. So I guess he is off to a better start now, but I gotta express my concern with this team. I know it must be tough to compete with the factories, but the Butler Bros team has not exactly killed it in the past. They had Kyle Cunningham not too long ago and he did pretty well, but other than that, it has not been too great. Jason Thomas is a lifer over there, I guess, even though he has never really done well, ever. But maybe this move with Byrne will represent a mutually beneficial relationship, as I'm sure both parties are hoping. I'm willing to bet Byrne took a pay cut and a half to go there (although he probably wasn't commanding too much last year as a replacement rider all year), so hopefully he's got a sweet ass bonus program set up.