Cycle News

INTERVIEW P74 AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPION BRAD BAKER or I want to be better than Joe Kopp.' Then there's also the Halbert brothers. They are closer to my generation, but having that good of riders close and being able to push myself with them one step ahead of me and me wanting to get up to their level… that was a good thing." While the older duo of Sammy and Jethro Halbert pushed him, it was JD Beach who he raced with most as the two rose through the ranks of flat track racing in the Pacific Northwest. "Probably the biggest influence and help as far growing up and racing around here was JD Beach," Baker said. "Some of the best races I've had to this day have been with JD around here - mainly on 250s and into the 450 ranks. He used to come down to our place and hang out for three weeks or so and all we'd do is ride 100s during the day and then prep the track and ride big bikes later on in the evening. Then we'd race every weekend. He was definitely a big influence on my career and I was a big influence on his career." As for not having ice to race on… that's another positive, Baker says. After all, there's plenty of places to race all winter in the Pacific Northwest. "I'd like to go back and have a little fun with them, but being on the ice is almost like racing on the asphalt – you've got so much traction," Baker said. "It's not like riding on the dirt where you've got to worry about setting Meeting a hero: A young Baker and flat track legend Jay Springsteen. up your bike right and only having a limited supply of traction. Back there it's like riding the best cushion that you've ever ridden… then you're going to show up at Daytona in March on one of the slickest racetracks that we ride on. "They [his rivals back east] don't have a lot of choice and it's awesome that they stay on the bike, but I definitely think it's an advantage to be here. And it's beautiful and it's where I grew up and it's where my friends and family are so I don't see myself needing to go someplace else." As for next year, Baker is hoping for more. Naturally, he wants to win more races and he wants to take the title again. And there's one little race that sits in a natural amphitheater on the outskirts of a town called Peoria… Baker's eyes light up when you mention it. The Peoria TT. He led it for a bit last year and he finished second to the new King of Peoria, Henry Wiles. This year he wants more. "That's probably one of the highest on the list, that's for sure," Baker says of the Peoria TT. "Henry [Wiles] takes a lot of pride in winning that race and if he wins it again that will be 10 in a row and that will beat Chris' [Carr] streak of wins in a row there. To be able to win that race that a lot of riders have pretty much dominated from Chris Carr to Henry Wiles… to take that away from somebody would make it more of a challenge. It's definitely do-able. I don't think it's doable for everybody, but I think there are riders like myself and JD Beach and possibly Jared Mees… Jared has probably been the second most consistent rider at Peoria. As far as up-and-coming riders who have gotten on the podium and have given Henry a little bit to think about… that's myself and JD. I still think we have room to get a lot better there. We still have a lot to learn, but we're already pretty close so I think it's doable in the next two years." Hard to argue that considering two years ago Brad Baker was an 18-year-old dirt track prodigy dreaming of becoming the AMA Grand National Champion. Now he's the factory Harley-Davidson rider, the Grand National Champion and the future of flat track racing. CN

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