2019 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK TWINS CHAMPION BRIAR BAUMAN
P120
Interview
It was undoubtedly a dra-
matic finish to the championship
battle, and for Bauman, it was a
statement as to who they are as
a team.
"For it to end up the way it
did, to win it after all of that, it
was kind of like an exclamation
point—we weren't going to quit,"
he said. "As long as we have the
opportunity, we weren't going to
be denied. I've always said in my
career, just give me an opportu-
nity. Give me a shot, and I'll try
and make everything I can of it.
That's what happened that night.
So yeah, emotions were flowing
at the end of it all."
The enormity of it all took a
little while to sink in, but now that
it has, he wants to get back out
there racing.
"I kid you not—it probably took
it a good three or four weeks,"
he said. "It didn't feel real. You
dream of it your whole life. It was
a long season, so it's one thing
to have a successful night, but to
be able to do it every weekend
and be relevant every weekend,
is really hard. We have some
great racers, and they make it
really difficult on you. It's sunk in.
Now all I want to do is get back
to the track with my friends and
my family. I miss the competi-
tion, going to the racetrack with
everyone and doing our normal
deal."
Once you've won your first
championship, you want to win
more. Looking ahead, Bauman in-
tends to build on his success this
season and improve as a racer.
"Next year's goals are to
beat myself," he said. "Last
year, everyone was like, 'you
got to beat Jared.' That was
my mentality, too. He is one of
the greatest of all time in our
sport. But I think that for me
to prove that I'm a racer rather
than a rider, I need to focus
on bettering myself more than
trying to be better than anyone
else. There was a lot of room
to improve last year. I kind of
had a send-it mentality, and
that got in the way of being
a good motorcycle racer. So
that's the goal for next year. To
improve in areas that I strug-
gled with and hopefully get a
Mile win. To try to be a bet-
ter racer and a better person
every weekend." CN
The Factory Indian Motorcycle Flat Track Team celebrates the championship: (L-R) Dave Zanotti, Clayton Gatewood,
Michelle Disalvo, Paul Langley, Bronson Bauman, Dean Young, Gary Gray, Briar Bauman and Brad Baker.
