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/128360
Travis Preston finally got that break he always wanted when Team Honda came calling. Unfortunately, not long after signing on the dotted line, the former 125cc Supercross champ got another break - but this time it was one he definitely didn't want. While testing his new works CRF450R, Preston broke his collarbone. We recently chatted with him about his recovery. en: First of all. how did you break your collarbone? travispreston: It was December I - I was just riding at the Honda track and just clicked neutral and went over the bars in a bad section. You step up onto a tabletop and you jump off, and I went to jump off and I was in neutral, so I landed on the face of the next jump. It [the collarbone) was sticking out - it was real ugly. 50 I just had surgery, because you start riding sooner and it [the injury) doesn't look as bad. en: It seems like forever since we last saw you race. travispreston: Yeah, I think my last actual race was the Atlanta 5upercross [February 28, 2004). en: How will it be for you to start racing again after such a long time? travispreston: I don't know. I definitely feel refreshed and ready to race, that's for sure. I've been racing for a while, so it's not like something I don't have experience with. I'm not really worried about it. I'm just going to race like I always do. en: Have you ridden since you broke the collarbone? travispreston: I actually rode my 70 this last weekend for the first time. I'll probably start riding the 450 this week some time. en: 50 how does It feel to be on a full-on factory team now? travispreston: It's been good. The bike is just awesome, really good. We've been doing a lot of testing, or at least I was doing a lot of testing. There are a lot of people there, and I get along with everybody. The only difference I really feel is that it just makes you want to work even harder. You know, Cliff [White), Erik [Kehoe) and all those guys, all the mechanics, everyone just puts in a lot of hours, and no one complains about how hard the job is or anything - so it just makes me want to work that much harder. en: How's the transition from the 125 to the 450 been going? travispreston: The only problem for me - from just not having ridden for so long - is getting in shape. The speed and everything is really good. I feel real good on the bike, everything feels good - it's just that the 450 takes a little bit more energy out of you. en: When will be your first race back? travispreston: I'm going to try to come back for the third Anaheim, I think. I don't know how good shape I'm going to be in, but I'll be out there. I'm pretty much going to race myself in shape. en: Are you looking forward to racing Ricky Carmichael. Chad Reed and those guys in the 250cc class? travispreston: I think it's going to be fun. It's not like the I25cc class, where you kind of never really know what the guys are going to do - it's kind of sketchy. The 250cc class, you can really trust the guys you're racing with. You're racing with the top guys in the world, pretty much. Chris Carr: Certified for 2005 Even with six series championships and 68 Grand National wins to his credit, don't look for AMA Flat Track reigning Champion Chris Carr to slow down any time soon. Just the opposite, Carr phoned Cycle News to chat about being back in the saddle for 2005 with renewed sponsorship from the Quality Checked Certified Pre-owned division of Ford Motor Company. He also announced a noteworthy addition to his team. en: 50. Is this your third or fourth year with Ford backing? chriscarr: It's our fourth. I'm really happy to be with the Quality Checked Certified Preowned Ford program for 'OS, and I feel very fortunate that they have seen enough value in our program to allow us to continue to run a two-rider team. I look forward to even better things in 'OS - from both our riders. en: Your flat track sponsorship continues to "beat the street:· so to speak. outperforming the series as well as the rest of your competitors. chriscarr: I guess it does. A lot of people are still surprised that Ford is getting the value out of its investment in the nat track community, but I think that as a value, nat track is still a hidden gem, and certainly at the top level it is the most affordable of all the disciplines when you consider what it takes to put a Ricky Carmichael on the racetrack versus a Chris Carr on the racetrack. It's quite a bit different. It's a different sport obviously, but to be competitive in nat track you don't have to have a multimillion dollar salary for the rider, nor do you need a multimillion dollar budget for a team. en: Do you see It being more or less difficult to retain the championship than in years past? chriscarr: I think that any championship is going to be difficult to win, and I don't look at this season any differently than the last one. I still have to do some very key things, and the first is to have a good team around me. I'm back this year with Kenny Tolbert, and he is a big reason for my success. We're winning this title as a team, and I feel that we have the best team in the business, and we have a chemistry that is hard to put a value on. en: Who Is else is on board besides Kenny Tolbert? • chriscarr: We have retained Willie McCoy as my teammate, and we have Bubba Bentley back with us to be Willie's right-hand man. I'm also happy to announce that we have acquired the services of the recently retired - although Daytona is his last race - Terry Poovey to be on the team as well. Terry has a wealth of experience from his years of building his own equipment as a nat tracker. He is very good with chassis, and he is very meticulous, like Kenny Tolbert, so I expect him to be working right alongside Kenny, taking care of the chassis and also a lot of the stuff that he can do to take the load of Kenny' a little bit.