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Ezra Lusk: Hanging Out Ezra Lusk has been away from racing for awhile now. After a leg injury in supercross he came back at the Washougal National, only to aggravate the injury. Since then, Lusk has been laying low. With rumors of a comeback floating around, we sat down with him at the St. Louis Supercross. en: What are your plans for the future? Are you planning to come back to racing? ezralusk: Well, I really don't know exactly what I am going to do. There really isn't one particular reason why I'm not racing right now. I mean, I had a lot of things that kind of came together all at once. I had a lot of injuries last year - my brother got hurt really bad. It was just a lot of little things that were telling me I needed to take a break, and it has been the best decision, I think, I have ever made. I've had fun not being at the races and not actually racing; I mean, I've been racing since I was 5 years old. With being a dad I just have a little bit of different priorities at this point in my life. I still enjoy riding. I've been riding a lot. I just want to make sure that I really want to race again - if I race again. I had actually a lot of health problems last year. After I got hurt, it took me a long time. You know, I'm still not completely satisfied with my leg. I'm still going to have to have another surgery to remove the hardware in my leg. So, I don't know what I'm looking at. I haven't woken up one morning and said, "I've got to be back there" yet. en: You mentioned your brother, How has he been doing? ezralusk: He's making progress. He's still not walking on his own, but he's hoping that he will one day, and only he knows. Nobody can really tell him where the road is going to lead. But from the injury he had, he is lucky to be doing anything. en: How did the Ride4AT after the Atlanta Supercross go? ezralusk: Heath, which is the guy who organized everything, is one of my really good friends - a really close friend actually. I've known him and his daughter for quite a few years, and everything that she is going through, it hits home with me also. Just to try to be a part of it and try to be some sort of an effect on somebody's life, it makes me want to do anything I possibly can. Throughout my career, I've had the chance to give kids spirit when they are just at the bottom of the bucket, and I've met a lot of Make-a-Wish Foundation kids and felt like I made a difference. So, this is pretty much the downhill for at least my career - if I race another year, I race another year and that will be it. But I still have an opportunity to affect some peoples' lives, and I'm going to take full advantage of it. en: What have you been doing in your time off? ezralusk: Basically, yeah [hanging out]. I've been riding a lot with Brock [Sellards]; he's been living with me. I've been riding a lot with him and been trying to make a difference with him in his career. He's asked for a little bit of help, and I've been there for him. I've played a little bit of tennis. As soon as I could get around good enough on my leg, I started playing a lot of tennis. A lot of guys, on my wife's side of the family, are involved in tennis leagues, and I did that a lot, but I've been here [at the races] ever since the East Coast started and really haven't been able to play at all. I put my tennis career on hold. en: If you decide not to race. would you like to stili be involved in the industry. like, for example. helping a young rider make it? ezralusk: With anything like that comes traveling each weekend, and obviously for me to be traveling now with Brock [Sellards] and not racing, Brock means a lot to me. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that. I've appreciated all the fans I've had over the years. They are really what have made Ezra Lusk. Like I said in Atlanta when I went out for the opening ceremonies, if nobody ever saw me again, I appreciated them making me what they made me, because if the fans don't like you, and nobody likes you, then nobody wants you on their team. But if I helped out somebody [a racer], I'd really have to like it, and really enjoy it and not really be leaVing the family every weekend. So, no, I probably wouldn't [train a young rider]. I'd just be a homebody in old South Georgia and just do my thing there. Brendan Lutes DoIrtBltIlor1sllNl... Motorcycle news will never be the samet You can access Cycle News Online anytime, day or night, on the World Wide Web at... www.cyclenews.com Wlla". a' "'e leading edge 01 mo'orcycle new'? Cycle News Online! Now you can access instont race results and the latest breaking stories in the world of motorcycling, with Cycle News' home page on the World Wide Web. Updated daily, Cycle News Online provides: 12 MARCH 16,2005 • CYCLE NEWS