VOL. 52 ISSUE 20 MAY 19, 2015 P75
Argentina seemed like it
was really crazy…
That's one thing that drew
me into the GPs was the atmo-
sphere—the fans, and everything.
It's awesome. They're so into
it. Even when I'm having a bad
weekend they're still like, "you'll
get him next weekend." They're
really positive. They're awesome.
Do you have kind of a plan
mapped out for the next few
years? Or are you just playing
it by ear?
I change my mind quite a bit.
I'd like to go back home and
race Supercross and all that
because that's what I've grown
up dreaming about since I was
five years old—racing Super-
cross and the outdoors in the
U.S. It's hard for me not to want
to go back and do that. But at
the same time I've got a pretty
sweet deal going here. Just kind
of playing it by ear. See how the
rest of the season goes and then
make the decision.
So you really love the GP
scene and stuff, huh?
I do. I love the racing and ev-
erything. The one thing—I'd rather
live at home. I wish I could go
home every week. But I do love
the racing and everything here…
What do you feel are your
strong points and what do you
think are your weak points?
My strong point is probably
that I'm just pretty relaxed. I
don't get too crazy and crash a
lot. Just more smooth and not
get too crazy out there. And
my starts have been strong this
year, so hopefully I can keep that
up. Pretty much just got to keep
my starts up.
My weaknesses are probably
when the tracks get really rough
and blown out at the end of the
second moto is when I tend to
struggle a little bit.
Have you built up a fan
base yet? You go to a differ-
ent country and the fans are
going, "there's the young
American?"
Yeah. I like to think I do. I've
got a lot of fans just because I'm
American. Americans have built
up that name because we've been
the best for so long. So I'd like to
think I have quite a few fans over
here now, but also a lot of people
back in the U.S. who maybe never
even heard of me before racing
amateurs there. They tune into
the GPs and see how I'm doing,
which is cool to see.
I was at Enduro two weeks
ago and everybody on Sat-
urday, all the mechanics
had their phones out and
they were looking at the GP
qualifying and stuff. So I think
what you and Villopoto have
done for the sport over here
was bring more attention to it
back home.
For sure. Especially with Ryan
coming over here, it's like it
brought life back to the GPs. Put
the spotlight on them a little bit.
That's cool to see. The cham-
pionship, it's for sure tough. It's
hard. I think it deserves quite a
bit of respect. It's cool to see it
getting some more attention. CN
"IT'S HARD FOR
ME NOT TO WANT
TO GO BACK AND
DO THAT [RACE IN
THE U.S.]. BUT AT
THE SAME TIME
I'VE GOT A PRETTY
SWEET DEAL
GOING HERE. JUST
KIND OF PLAYING
IT BY EAR."
