Kevin Moranz

There's a reason Champion Tool Storage chose Kevin Moranz. It wasn't a spreadsheet decision. It wasn't about reach metrics or follower counts. It was about character — about a company founded by a man who rebuilt carburetors at age five recognizing a rider who has never been handed anything, and never stopped working regardless of what was or wasn't given to him.

The red and black on Moranz's bike and gear are no accident. They're Champion's colors — the deep American red of a company that builds its cabinets at the foot of Mt. Hood in Hood River, Oregon, that holds U.S. military contracts, that serves Boeing and Blue Origin and Audi and John Deere. When that logo goes on a 450SX race bike in front of 60,000 people on a Saturday night, it's on a bike that makes main events. That matters.

Two Americans. Same Ethic.

Kevin Moranz grew up in Topeka, Kansas in a family that was never going to write a check to a training facility or move to Southern California so their son could ride all day. Instead, Frank and Amy Moranz raised a kid who played varsity football all four years, wrestled as a freshman, doubled up on classes to earn his diploma on time, and still made it to Loretta Lynn's Amateur National seven times. Whatever happened, happened. And what happened was consistently impressive.

Garin Buckles started Champion Tool Storage in a two-car garage with his wife and two small children in 2006. By 2007 he had his first military contract with the U.S. Marine Corps. Today his cabinets are in aerospace facilities, automotive dealerships, and production floors across America. Both stories share the same DNA: start with nothing, build something real, never cut corners.

The Underdog Turns Pro

Moranz turned professional in 2018 with Amsoil Arenacross, a format he had almost no experience with. He won his very first professional heat race at his first event in Madison, Wisconsin. He finished the AX Lites West season third overall. He scored three heat race wins alongside factory riders who had spent their entire youth with full programs and factory bikes. He was consistently overlooked.

That pattern — fast enough to run with anyone, invisible to the people who write the checks — followed Moranz into his first Supercross season. He trained at Ricky Carmichael's Goat Farm. He made his first main event. He earned a two-digit number — proof of top-99 professional status. He posted a career best 13th in the 250 class. He came back from a partially torn labrum. He filled in on a Rocky Mountain KTM he'd never ridden and posted an 11th in his final moto. He never stopped.

Going Full Privateer in the 450 Class

Moving full time to the 450 class in 2022 was a financial and competitive gamble that most riders in Moranz's position don't take. The 450SX is the big league — factory riders on works machines with full squads of mechanics, unlimited tire budgets, and engineers analyzing data from every lap. Moranz showed up with a self-funded program and raced them anyway. He made nine main events. He finished 53 national motocross points. And he did it all while building the Moranz Mafia from the ground up.

In 2023, things came into sharpest focus. He transferred directly from heat races at multiple rounds — a sign of genuine 450SX caliber speed. At Round 14 he posted a 7th place finish in the main event. As a full privateer. In the 450 class. That result — achieved without factory support, without a team, without anyone handing him anything — is the kind of result that defines a career. Many factory riders will retire without ever seeing a 7th place on a 450SX main event board.

The Program Behind the Rider

What makes the Champion Tool Storage partnership with Kevin Moranz distinctive is how he has built his program around the same principles that built Champion — quality, transparency, community, and American grit. The Moranz Mafia fan membership gives supporters direct access: name on the bike, weekly giveaways, exclusive content, real paddock presence. The marketing program gives sponsors like Champion exactly what they pay for: a logo on a race bike that makes national television, worn by a rider who will say your name in interviews and wear your brand with pride.

Champion Tool Storage doesn't need the exposure the way a startup does. They serve the U.S. military. They're in Boeing facilities. They don't need Kevin Moranz to make them credible. What this partnership represents is something rarer — a company with shared DNA investing in a rider who embodies the same values it was built on. Made in America. Built to last. Does it the hard way.