GNCCRacing.com: Hey Max, how does it feel to win the Bike Youth Rider of the Year award?

Max Fernandez: It feels pretty good! There was a lot of hard work and effort that went into it. So yeah, it feels good.

Speaking of hard work and effort, what does your program look like?

I ride a lot and go to the gym as well. There’s also a lot of time spent in the garage working on bikes.

Seems like that worked out pretty well for you! How did you get started riding in the first place?

My dad got me into it when I was about 4 or 5. We went to a race right by my house and I loved it! We’ve been racing ever since.

What drew you to the GNCC series – why did you want to start racing it?

I wanted to get better and get more recognition. GNCCs are where the fast people are. That’s pretty much it.

How long have you been doing GNCCs now?

I’ve done races here and there since like 2013, but this past year was actually my first full season!

In that case, it’s even more impressive that you earned the youth overall this season! What were some of best and worst moments of your season?

The best moment was probably Snowshoe, because I felt really good that race and we’d put in a really hard week leading into it, training and getting the bike ready. The worst moment was when I blew up my motor while battling for the win. Even though it wasn’t a great moment, I was able to learn from it though. Overall, I didn’t have too many bad moments this year.

A year without too may bad moments is definitely a good thing! You mentioned that you felt like you rode best at Snowshoe, do you like the more technical courses Although to be honest, I never races on little bikes there, so I guess I don’t really know how much of the tough stuff they throw in for you guys….

Yeah, we don’t really get too much of that at Snowshoe. I do prefer the technical stuff though. I don’t know why, but as fast as you get going on the more open courses … it can get kind of scary (laughs).

What are your plans for next year and what do you hope to accomplish in your first year on a big bike?

I will be doing A 200 on a KTM 150cc in the afternoon race. I just want to learn the basics of the three-hour race because it’s a big adjustment. I want to stay consistent, and maybe try to get a championship if I can.

What is one interesting, non-motorsports related thing about you? This question usually trips people up a bit (laughs)

Yeah, this is a tricky one …. I’m not really that great at things other than dirt bikes. I would have to say school is probably my next best thing though. I’m not homeschooled, I still go to our public school. Right now, I have a 3.7 GPA and I’m in all honors classes. I plan on taking a lot of AP classes next year. I also plan on going to college when I graduate. I’d like to have a backup, in case the racing doesn’t work out.