Wonder Warthog Racing (WWR) was a unique organization created in 2004 by computer engineer, Scott Kandel, and former professional motocross racer, Steve Bauer, to better the sport of motocross. The significance of WWR was that it allowed under-resourced racers (the "privateers") to thrive with non-traditional forms of support for their careers.
WWR was composed of two distinct entities: (1) the Team Warthog Foundation, created to conceptualize, fund, and execute meaningful programs aimed directly at supporting the privateer racers; and (2) Wonder Warthog Enterprises (WWE), which focused on merchandise and entertainment products based on the Wonder Wart-Hog comic book character.
The Team Warthog Foundation distributed nearly two million dollars in resources and was run as a completely volunteer effort. WWR was supported by many of the top racers in the sport of motocross, including Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart. WWR began with a simple program to reimburse the $150.00 entry fee of any privateer that qualified for the 80-rider field at each round of the 2004 AMA Supercross Series. They later expanded to include other programs, such as giving $1500 cash awards to riders chosen as "Privateer of the Week". Northern California rider, Scott Davis, was the initial winner of Privateer of the Week honors and paid tribute to the team by wearing the Wonder Warthog cape while racing in the Main event, creating quite a stir among AMA race officials. The sanctioning body later disallowed the wearing of capes during a race, but agreed to allow the Privateer of the Week to wear the now infamous red cape during the sighting lap. The Warthog cape went on to become a symbol of hope for the underdog privateers.
Founders Kandel and Bauer were named co-recipients of the 2004 AMA Supercross Series Humanitarian of the Year award by Clear Channel Motorsports. In 2009, with the addition of Jamie Allen and Gus Decker to the teams management, the team had over 40 riders contesting the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross National Championship, making them the largest team to ever race the series. They also had 6 female riders under the same canopy that season. As a result of their unyielding effort, the AMA presented Warthog Racing the 2009 Team of the Year Award.
The 2010 season was the last for the team, the result of unfulfilled sponsor commitments and poor business decisions, coupled with the failing economy. Wonder Warthog Racing and Scott Kandel will be greatly missed within the sports of Motocross and Supercross as a beacon of hope and safe passage to the races for so many privateer racers over the years. Many of these riders have gone on to become household names: 801 Jeff Alessi, 800 Mike Alessi, 911 Tyler Bowers 2011-12 Arenacross Champ, and 565 Preston Mull, just to name a few.