Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1193082
2019 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK TWINS CHAMPION BRIAR BAUMAN P118 Interview home his first Mile win and com- plete a career dirt-track grand slam. That was until he went into the airfence at turn one in a multi-rider incident that included his brother on the second lap of the main event. "I went into the weekend and knew I had to get a top-three to [clinch the title]," he said. "I had a pretty good year at that point, and I had confidence that I could do it. When Bronson went down in front of me, I didn't really an- ticipate things to go the way they did. That was about as big of a U-turn you can do. For a minute, I was pretty positive that I wasn't going to get to race. My bike was mangled. That thing was destroyed. At the same time, the track was just as mangled as my bike was. If I have another roller coaster emotional night like that, I'm pretty much guaranteed to have a gray head after that. It was brutal." Once they realized that they could get the bike back togeth- er, his team got to work to get him ready to go for the restart. Starting from the back of the grid with his title rival up front, it was more about mitigating the damage. Well, unless you are Briar Bauman. "Michelle and Dave and the team got the bike back together in time to race," he said. "Right before we got going, Shayna said, 'Just get some points.' I thought, 'Man, we came too far only to come this far. Let's just finish it off.' I knew if I got going again, I could hopefully make a pretty good charge. Fortunately, we were able to do that. It kind of made the story a little bit sweet- er. It gives me something to really talk about when I get older." After clinching his first-ever AFT Twins Championship, Bau- man was very emotional. "I think I would have been emotional no matter what," he said. "I've dreamed of it my whole life. There's always a struggle for everyone at some point, I had some myself. So you think back on all of that, think how it's really what made you. Then on top of that, to have that night, to crash. I mean, the last thing I saw be- fore I went into the air fence was me rolling my brother over. That was the last thing you ever want to think of when you're racing a mile. Everything was just so piled up on top of it. The stress while we were waiting for the track and the bike to be put back together, it's overwhelming." " I've always said in my career, just give me an opportunity. Give me a shot, and I'll try and make everything I can of it. " Tuner/team owner David Zanotti was the perfect match for Bauman, and the pair had success early. Photo: American Flat Track/Scott Hunter