Cycle News

BRABEC VOL. 51 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 16, 2014 P225 I would say yes, only because there's obviously a lot more sponsors back [east for the GNCCs]; there's factory sponsors and aftermarket spon- sors. I guess they only know back there because they don't follow the things out here when they should be because hare and hounds are definitely picking up their game with the coverage and me- dia and stuff. I don't know, it's hard to say because I don't know what's back there and they don't know what's out here. Do you like the way desert racing is going and what its future looks like? Yes and no. Desert racing itself is good. We've got people out there doing media, but it takes more than peo- ple doing just media. We need to get more families out there, kids out there. What Erek Kudla's been doing with the Youth National Hare & Hounds is awesome because the kids didn't really have anywhere to race in the desert before. I can see it growing a little bit, only because I actually saw Ty Davis out at the last National hare & hound with his kid just checking it out. That's pretty good, to have an older desert racer that was once number one everywhere looking and seeing if it was good enough for his kid. I think it's growing. We'll have to see next year, but I think it's really growing. I know there's going to be a few more pros next year. If you hadn't become a desert racer, what other kind of racing would you be doing now? I'm not sure. I was born into riding motorcycles and bicycles; I'm not even sure what I'd be rac- ing now. I raced Over The Hump on my mountain bike last year. Over The Hump's this mountain bike series, but if I wasn't desert racing, I'd definitely be trying to race with my dad in his off-road car. I really want to do speedway! I'd like to try to do speedway, but I don't know anyone who has a speedway bike. That looks fun. I go to the Orange Show [Fairgrounds in San Bernardino] and Costa Mesa to watch when I'm not racing that weekend. What is it about speedway that you like? In the Best in the Desert Series, there's a lot of fast roads and there's some corners that you can really flat track pretty good. The feeling that you get when you're sliding around corners clean, it's just so awesome! Speedway is kind of the same thing—you're just sliding around the corners. I don't know what it feels like, but I'm sure it feels pretty good to slide around the corners. Have you ever watched a half-mile or mile? No, I want to go; that looks fun, too. What was your fa- vorite or most mem- orable race of 2014 and why? Oh man, my first win. I think it was at round four, the So Cal M.C. in Lucerne. That was most memorable. It was my first hare and hound win and it was freaking crazy, because Ivan [Ramirez] and Jake [Argubright] and Nick [Burson] and myself, we were going back and forth all day long. It didn't mellow out until the last three miles, I would say. Ivan would lead, then I was in the lead, Jake got in the lead, Jake tipped over, Ivan was back in the lead. It was freaking back and forth all day! Not boring, always keeping you on your toes. Do you model yourself after anyone in par- ticular, like is there anyone whose riding style you try to emulate? And do you have a role model off the bike when it comes to dealing with the public and sponsors? When I was a kid trying to race desert, I was looking up to Mikey Childress, because I was like, "Man, he's bigger, like me, and he's doing good." I started getting into it more and I started talking to [2010 Hare & Hound Champion] Kendall [Nor- man]. I think as a role model, Kendall's a good guy. He's smart; he helps me a lot. CN "RIGHT NOW, THOUGH, NO FACTORY RIDE OR NOTHING. JUST DOING PRIVATEER LIKE I DID THIS YEAR. THINGS LIKE THAT MAKE IT HARD TO KEEP YOUR HEAD UP."

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