Cycle News

VOL. 52 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 15, 2015 P117 local guys from Tijuana invited me [to be on their team] and we won Class 21; we got the 100X plate in '07. By then I was 14 years old when I did my first Baja 1000. My dad had to sign a waiver saying I was responsible for everything. It was a big thing. He even tells people now, "What was I thinking? I was crazy because I let him race!" My last section at the 1000 was from San Ignacio all the way down to Loreto, and I got the bike at two in the morning. I don't even remember what time I got to Loreto, maybe five in the morning or something like that! I remember I was still a little kid—I was 14 years old! I remember I was by my- self in the middle of nowhere and racing. I remember see- ing the cactus as monsters and stuff! I was afraid; I'm not going to lie. Somehow, I got lost by El Datil and I was there by myself. From far away, I saw a bike coming by; I could see the lights so I waited for him because I was just sitting there and didn't know where to go. So I fol- lowed him for a little bit and I got to Loreto, but my dad, he was like, "What was I thinking?" That was '07; since then I got a little more into the Bajas and I kind of had my own team with my dad support- ing me with just local riders. We invited Shane Esposito [to be on the team] one or two times, I think, and [Mikey] Childress. We got more into it and switched to Class 22 (Open Pro) and I got a little help from [many-time Baja age group winner] Chris Haines—he was providing me bikes—and that's pretty much how my career started down there. I wasn't doing any more motocross; I'd pretty much made the switch to off-road. I was doing WORCS here and there in the Pro 2 class. What does your dad do for a living? He has a trucking company, correct? Yes, it's a family company that's been around for 51 years now. My grandparents started it in '65. My dad keeps asking: "Hey, when are you going to come back and work here?" I have four sisters; three of them work there plus my uncle. It's a full-time family business. At least I have the option I can always go back and keep with the family company when I feel it's the right time to retire from bikes. But now, I'm full 100-percent focused on riding and racing! Do you know how to drive a big rig? Do you have a commercial driver's li- cense? Not yet. I've driven just right there; I've parked the trailers, but I haven't gone out to the highway yet. It's a big job, for sure; I'll be nervous! Some- times when I have to drive the motorhome to the races, I send pictures to my dad and say, "Hey, look what I'm driv- ing! I might be ready!" He just makes fun of me. When you were younger and racing at Barona and other American tracks, was it much of a hassle to get across the border? It was pretty crazy. When I was in junior high, my mom used to pick me up from school be- cause there used to be a track in El Cajon (just east of San Diego) and it was open at nights on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My dad would stay at work and she would take me there pretty much every Tuesday and Thursday—go after school and ride and train and then head back to Ensenada. We were only like—with the border crossing— maybe an hour and a half from there. It wasn't too, too bad, but still, we'd go there then come back at night, just back and forth. We crossed so many times, I can't even count them! I can't thank my family enough for being there for me and still HE TAUGHT ME A LOT OF STUFF AND SHOWED ME HOW TO ACCOMPLISH THINGS. HE WASN'T AFRAID TO GIVE ALL HIS SECRETS UP; HE WOULD ALWAYS HELP AND GIVE ANYTHING.

• Cover