VOL. 50 ISSUE 49 DECEMBER 10, 2013
Even as a part
time dirt track
racer, JD Beach
puts up some
good results
racing against the
top guys in the
Grand National
Championship.
P69
"
YEAH, I MEAN SINCE I GREW UP
RACING DIRT TRACK IT'S KIND OF HARD TO
STOP. ESPECIALLY SINCE WE DON'T HAVE
A TON OF [ROAD] RACES A YEAR. IT'S NICE
TO BE ABLE TO STAY ON THE BIKE AND BE
RACING A LOT.
"
But I don't think it's going to be
too hard.
You said at Pomona that
your dirt track plans were set
and that you were working on
road racing. Does your dirt
track plans change with the
new gig?
I'm still kind of working on that.
I've got a Yamaha 450 now, that
me and my dirt track team got all
set up. TJ Burnett helped fund it
and James Hart built it, so we're
set and ready to go as far as the
450, but we're still kind of working on the twins. Trying to figure
out what we're going to do and if
I can race one.
When did you start riding
and racing?
I started riding a motorcycle
when I was three because my
dad raced dirt track and so he
was racing so I wanted to start.
So I started riding when I was
three and I started racing dirt
track when I was four and raced
that until 2007 when I started
road racing when I was in the
Rookies Cup. And then since
then I've been doing both.
Was road racing always in
the plans? Or was it a case of
getting into Supermoto and
going, "Hey, I like asphalt,
maybe I want to do road racing?"
No, I actually kind of just fell
into the whole road racing thing.
Really up until I raced the road
race bike in the Rookies Cup I
was more focused on dirt track
and that was my plan, to just
race dirt track.
What was it like going over
to Europe?
I think when I went over there
I was 15. It was kind of different
because I mean I never went over
there with my mom or dad. I kind
of just got thrown in the deep end
really.
Both you and Beaubier got
some help from Casey Stoner
when you were over there…
He helped us a lot when we
were staying over there. Giving us
a place to stay and helping us get
from race to race and stuff. Stoner
was cool. He was super fast, but
not too much older than us. So it
was cool working with him.
Who were your racing heroes growing up?
I would definitely say Chris
Carr. He has helped me a lot over
the years from when I first started
going to American Supercamp.
And then Eric and Ben Bostrom
helped me a lot too when I was
starting out. So they were always a big help. Also, I would
have to say Josh Hayes and Cal
Crutchlow.
There's a pretty good dirt
track talent pool that comes
out of Washington. What was
