INTERVIEW
2015 AMA HARE & HOUND NATIONAL, SCORE AND BITD CHAMPION RICKY BRABEC
P222
No. Last year I had a plan to do Best in the Des-
ert only. I planned on doing Best in the Desert and
being on Jim O'Neal's Class 21 team in SCORE
Baja races, but then [SCORE owner] Roger [Nor-
man] took out Class 21, so somehow I got elected
to be Rider of Record for THR in Class 22 [which
is now Pro Motorcycle Unlimited].
Why race desert? What's the attraction? It
doesn't have TV coverage; it seems to tear
bikes up; and going flat out in top gear in the
dust across a valley full of cross grain, rocks,
whoops and ditches seems fairly hazardous.
Desert racing is definitely hazardous. Most des-
ert races, you can't really pre-run the course. The
only off-road series where I think you can pre-run
is Baja, which is still hazardous. But it's just riding
on the edge. It's fun and it's kind of a surprise every
race because you don't know what's coming up,
so you've got to ride kind of cautious, looking way
out ahead. Even the local races are kind of long-
distance. They're not like 20-minute motos that you
get at the local motocross track. I don't think I did
a National hare and hound this year that was under
three hours. I like more of the long-distance racing.
It doesn't seem like desert racing is finan-
cially lucrative unless you're on a factory team
and/or have won a few years worth of cham-
pionships. How do you stay motivated to race
when the economic rewards appear to be so
small?
