Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 2007

Driving the Toyota-United Prius team car will be only a memory
for Toyota-United Team Director Kirk Willett after this weekend.
Portland, Ore. — Kirk Willett will trade his responsibilities as Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team Director for a backpack full of books following this weekend’s races in North Carolina.

Willett, 37, begins medical school at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland after he directs Toyota-United Saturday at the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium in Charlotte and Sunday at the Hanes Park Criterium in Winston-Salem, N.C.

“It’s always exciting to move on to new things and new challenges,” Willett said. “But at the same time, I’ve spent so much time investing and learning in one aspect of my life that I’m saying goodbye to something that’s been a part of me for 20 years.”

His plan to become a physician dates back to his pursuit of a career in medicine in the late 80s and early 90s. But he put the schooling on hold to start a career in racing that included time with the U.S. National Team (both domestically and abroad), as well as stints with the Nutra Fig, Mercury and Prime Alliance cycling teams.

Willett took a break from cycling after spending three years (2000-2003) as team director for Prime Alliance. After graduating summa cum laude with a degree in general science from the University of Oregon, he accepted Toyota-United Team Owner Sean P. Tucker’s invitation in January to get back into the sport as co-director with another former racer, Harm Jansen.

“The opportunity to bring Kirk on board – with his experience as both a racer and a director – was one that we could not pass up,” Tucker said. “In addition to being a tremendous tactician and motivator, he helped create camaraderie this year that is not one often seen in a sport that tends to focus on individuals. He will definitely be missed.”

Willett said he would like nothing more than for Toyota-United to send him out a winner. The squad is locked in a fierce battle with Health Net presented by Maxxis for the lead in the team category of the National Race Calendar standings.

“Not to sound greedy, but winning this weekend would go a long ways toward winning the NRC,” Willett said. “We have a lot of guys who are motivated to lay it all on the line. Win, lose or draw, I’ll be able to say we gave everything we had to winning.”

As part of his new endeavor, Willett and his wife, Tina, and their two young sons, Liam and Noah, have moved from their longtime home in Bend, Ore., to Portland. Willett said commuting to school by bike means he won’t be saying goodbye to the sport for good.

“Hopefully, I’ll get out to a local race once a year,” he said. “For sure I’m going to be involved in the sport in some way for the rest of my life. But who knows exactly what form that will be. We’ll have to see where my education takes me. I’ve done it for so long, it will always be a part of me.”