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250MX AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPION ADAM CIANCIARULO P150 Interview TOMAC AND CIANCIARULO So now, Eli, myself, and the entire Kawasaki team are totally preparing for Anaheim. I've been around Eli a little bit here and there since I joined the team. He came out the couple weeks be- fore Monster Cup, and he's been awesome. He's been a great teammate so far. I have nothing but great things to say about that guy. You have a guy of his caliber on your team, it's a pleasure to be on the same team and to be able to learn as much as I can. It's been nothing but positive so far. I'm really excited to be his teammate, and hopefully, we can put the two Kawasaki 450s up on the podium quite a bit this year." 450 GOALS "I think for me with this first year on the 450, first and fore- most, I want to be at all the races, do all the laps, and just gain ex- perience. I think the challenging part of it—and this is highly publi- cized—is how long the season is and how grueling the schedule is. Long season, a lot of laps, I think that's all something that I'll need to adapt to. However, and at the same time, I feel like I've been mentally preparing myself for this moment since I was a little kid. I feel like I'm prepared as I can be, and I think the next couple months is about getting the bike the absolute best we can have it going into Anaheim. And also myself, just getting into long motos and making sure that the speed is there." GRATEFUL "All of this is a dream-come- true for me. It's really easy to get caught up in it all as a racer at this level. We are all focusing on the results and focusing on winning and winning champion- ships, and that's our job. That's how it should be. At the same time, every now and then, you have to stop and reflect on how lucky you are to be doing this. You know, for the amount of guys that started off in this sport as amateurs, there are not too many people who make it to the position that I'm in now. I'm riding for factory Kawasaki in the premier division in the most popular racing series in the entire world. From that perspec- tive, I'm just grateful to be here, and I think it's good for me to have the perspective that I do, as well. It calms my nerves a bit, just knowing that I'm already in a great spot. Basically, the way I look at it is a bonus. That's not to say I'm going to try any less, I can assure you that. It's certainly a nice feeling to have, and I'm very grateful." CN One simple fall kept Cianciarulo from winning the 250SX West title. Instead of dwelling on that, he used it as motivation going into the outdoor nationals. Photo: BrownDog Wilson