How’s it going today?

Oh, it’s going great!

Good to hear! So how have you been staying busy this winter?

I took November and the first part of December off and spent some time with my girlfriend and my family through the holidays. It was nice to take a little break from racing, push the quad up in the corner, let it get a few cobwebs on it and just relax.

Sounds fun! How much riding and training have you been doing since then?

Well, after I took my little break, I started doing some indoor practicing in Ohio when the weather started getting nasty. Indoor motocross is a really good workout. It’s got a lot of Supercross-style stuff that gets your heart rate up pretty quick, and after twenty minutes your arms are so pumped up that you can barely hold on. So, I did some of that, a little bit of gym action, then about three weeks ago I came down to Alva, Florida”†near Fort Myers”†and I’m with my teammate Taylor Kiser, who lives down here. I’ve just been hitting it hard since then with a lot of riding on all the sand tracks here. I’ve been doing all the normal stuff like testing and training, but I’ve also started cycling. I got myself a used Giant road bike. I didn’t really want to fork out the cash for a brand new one, so I got a nice used one and it’s been fun so far.

The road cycling is something that quite a few guys have taken to. Do you feel like it gives a good advantage?

Yeah, I think everyone has kind of found out that being at the gym really isn’t that much fun (laughs). With cycling, you’re breathing outdoor air and you’re in the element of the wind, or the sun, or something similar to what you would actually be racing in. I think that’s a big part of why everyone has started doing it. Plus, you can push as hard and as far as you want to go. You don’t have a machine to push a button to adjust how fast it goes, you have to tell yourself to pedal the thing or you might lose the rest of the group. It’s been a challenge though. I’m really not that good at it yet and Taylor is definitely better but I’ve already hooked up with a good group of guys here that have been cycling for about twenty five years. They’ve taught us how to be aerodynamic, when to push, when to relax and everything like that. This past Sunday we did a sixty-two mile ride and it was pretty insane. There were probably a thousand people and right out the gate everyone was going over thirty miles per hour, which I’ve never done in my life. I held on for about four miles (laughs) but it was fun. It was a good challenge. I was on the bike for about three hours and ten minutes. I think Taylor did it in somewhere around two hours fifty-one minutes. It’s awesome training, being out in the elements and figuring out how to push yourself when you’re not on a race bike.

A few years ago you won the Youth Overall titles on both bikes and ATV’s, how did you ultimately make the decision to go full-time on the ATV side?

It was more or less with Yamaha, Bill Ballance and Randy Hawkins. The people in charge of both teams and corporate kind of told me that whatever I wanted to choose, there would be a job for me there. I just went with my gut instinct and picked the one that I had the most fun on. So then I started working with Bill a little bit as a satellite rider in 2009 being fresh off the Youth ranks. So from there I just kind of started working my way into the team and it ended up being a good choice. I feel like there’s a lot more opportunity on the ATV side. There’s so much up and coming talent on the bikes with five guys every year that could take the title. In my eyes there’s not but maybe a couple of guys on the ATV side that could do it. It definitely wasn’t an easy decision but I just went with where the opportunities were and what I thought I could do the best on. So far, the Ballance Racing Yamaha team has been the best decision I’ve ever made.

Do you think you would ever take the Barry Hawk approach and switch to the bike side some day?

(laughs) Well, we’ll see how bad these 4-wheelers beat me up first. Maybe if I’ve had enough of it here in a few years, you never know. I still like to rip around on bikes even though I don’t actually own one at the moment. If we’re at a track though, I’ll throw a leg over a bike if someone will loan me one and I’ll go out and tear it up. I’ve been working on my whips a little bit again. Back in the day I used to be able to do a little, and now it’s kind of like the fish out of water thing where my body does all the moving and the bike just stays still. It’s still fun though and it’s good cross-training. I’ve just been trying to focus a lot more on the ATV side though but it would be cool to go back. We’ll see in a few years, you never know. My buddy Cory Buttrick mentioned doing an opposite approach with trying to win a few championships on the bike then maybe give the quad a shot in a few years. So you never know, there might be a few people looking for a change in a few years.

Wow, sounds like it could be a fun shake-up! So, take us back through your 2011 season.

2011. Wow. Oh man, it was an awesome season. No complaints. Coming into Florida, I was pretty confident but still kind of unsure because of losing the tiebreaker in 2010 and also coming back to the track I knocked myself out at. Waking up on the back of Hooper’s quad wasn’t much fun. I went in there thinking about just getting through the race with some good points. I got through Florida with a good race; I think I got sixth or seventh overall and the class win. I went to Georgia and it was the same thing. I pushed pretty good and got through to some of the pro guys up front. I caught up with Johnny Gallagher, Donnie Ockerman and Bryan Cook and just kind of rode with them then ended up with the win. I just kind of took it race-by-race and win-by-win. By summer break I had a pretty good points lead and had gotten an overall win under my belt. My confidence was definitely up to cloud nine. So I just went through the rest of the year with the same goal I had at the beginning. I didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself and blow it at the end of the season. At Unadilla I got another overall win and that pretty much motivated me to get out there and push but not overdo it. Loretta’s came around and it was a pretty rough track. I wanted another overall win pretty bad but all the pro guys were pushing really hard to get another win before the end of the season, so I backed it down a notch and took it easy to get that last XC2 win. That’s what Yamaha contracted me for, which was ultimately a championship but they told me before the race that they didn’t care what my overall was if I could pull off an undefeated season. So I got that last win and everyone was pumped. It was a really good season and I think sponsorship-wise it really helped me out for this season to make everyone happy. It was definitely an awesome year and I couldn’t be anymore thankful.

That’s definitely the kind of season everyone wants to have. What did it take to grab those two overall wins?

I’m going to go with a lot of luck. I don’t know, everything fell into place those days. I got a good start at both of those races and got up front early. I think at both races, the pro guys had some issues that slowed them down on the first lap, so I was able to catch them early and kind of latch onto their pace. Once I got their pace, I was pretty much good to go for the rest of the day. That last lap was tough after being wore out from running their pace. My wide open pace and their wide-open pace are completely different but I just dug down deep. I think that’s what I’m going to have to do this year in the pro class to run that pace for thirteen races, not just two.

What was it like to finish up the season undefeated?

It was really relieving to say the least. Throughout the year I never even thought about going undefeated until Rodney mentioned that I was the only undefeated rider left. That really hit home. I knew then that I couldn’t blow it. I thought it would be cool to be the only rider all year to go undefeated. I tried not to think about the pressure or anything that could get me unfocused mentally. Once I crossed that finish line and the bike was still running good, everyone was pumped. My mom, my dad and my mechanic were all excited. It was relieving and really gratifying for sure. With all the hard work that the Ballance Racing Yamaha crew put in throughout the season, I think that was a good way to end the season.

Looking ahead to 2012, what kind of plans do you have at the moment?

Right now I just want to get into the best shape that I can. I think I’m getting close to the best shape I’ve ever been in. I think 2012 will be more of a learning year. I’m not going out there with the mentality of actually getting a championship. I’d like to be consistently on the podium even if it’s third place, I just want to be there. I want to figure out what it takes to do what the front-runners do. I guess it will be similar to last year where I just take it race-by-race. I’m going to try a few different things out, whether it’s get out and go and get a lead, or jump in the middle of the pack then make some moves on the last lap like Borich does. There’s so many different ways you can attack a race and I’m just going to have to learn the ways. So far Taylor has been a huge help as far as being mentally prepared and physically what it is going to take.

What do you hope to accomplish in 2012?

Like I said, I mostly hope to be a consistent podium finisher. As long as I end up with number 5 back on the bike, I’ll be satisfied, I don’t want to go backwards for sure. I’m really proud of that number 5 right now. Of course, the only way to get better is to go forward so it would be really awesome to end up with a 3 on the bike. I basically want to learn a consistent, seamless speed. Hopefully it all works out then in 2013 I can go out there with the championship drive. This year will be the time to learn, and then go out there in 2013 with bigger goals.

How do you feel about your chances against everyone else coming into your rookie season in the XC1 class?

I know everyone’s rookie season can be a struggle. If you go back and look at Brandon Sommers, he had the speed, the talent and everything. He had good races but he didn’t get any wins. Then with Brian Wolf, he had the speed to win races and did win a few but the consistency wasn’t really there. So, I don’t really know. I’d like to think I’m going to get a win or two, but I don’t know if it’s going to happen. Those guys out front, they move! They don’t slouch around. They’ve got a number 1, 2 or 3 on their bike for a reason. I’d like to think I’m going to be a contender but I’m not going to go in there with a chip on my shoulder like I’m going to dominate this year. Those guys are going to make sure I know my place really quick. I mostly just want to fit in and get a grasp for everything. I definitely don’t want to make anyone mad or make any enemies early. So, I’ve just got to respect them. Hopefully I can go in there and get some wins, some good finishes and some confidence.

What’s it going to take on your part to chase down guys up front?

Definitely endurance. I’m going to have to keep up with the gym, the cycling and everything. That’s a huge part of it. Obviously, I need to ride more. I need to do a couple days of training a week and just get on the quad a few days a week as well. It’s going to take a lot more effort on my part, and I’m definitely going to have to learn some more mechanics of the machine. I can’t really have my mechanic or Bill Ballance or Taylor working on my stuff all the time, so hopefully I can start figuring this stuff out on my own.

Obviously the level of competition has gotten higher and higher the past few years, where do you see the competition level going from here?

It’s only going to grow for sure. You’ve got at least seven riders right now, starting with number one, we’ve got Chris Borich, Adam McGill, Taylor Kiser, Chris Bithell, myself, Brian Wolf and Johnny Gallagher all capable of putting in good races and good finishes. With that many guys out there going at it, it’s only going to make the pace faster and make the races even more exciting. Every year there’s always progression. Look at any sport: car racing, cycling, fishing, anything. When the competition is there, it’s only going to get bigger and stronger. There’s always going to be progression. The day that the sport doesn’t progress anymore is the day we all need to sit home on the couch eating Oreo’s.

That actually sounds like my off-weekends. All right, before we wrap this up, who would you like to thank?

Definitely want to thank the good lord, Jesus Christ for blessing me and everyone around me. I want to thank the Ballance Racing Yamaha Team, my parents and the rest of my family for sure. Maxxis, Lonestar, Ohlins, Tireballs, Moto-Xperts, Cycra, Fastbars, FMF, Fly Racing, Scott, Gaerne, Precision Stabilizers, G4 Graphics, Rath Racing, GYTR, Yamalube, Hyper, Antigravity Batteries, Vortex Ignitions, IMS, Waynesburg Yamaha. Anybody else I’m forgetting, thanks to them too. We’ve got a few new ones we’re working on for this year so hopefully in the future we can thank all of them too.