Last year at Buckwheat, you made the move up to the XC1 class. At that race and the ones after, you ended up on the overall podium in every race. What do you think helped you perform so well right from the start? Were you expecting to get those results right away?  

Yeah, moving up to the xc1 class happened a little sooner than we had planned, with me having knee surgery last year while trying to defend my XC2 championship. But it definitely went a lot smoother than I thought my 4 podiums were definitely awesome. I really enjoy the 450 and like this bike a lot I think it really suites my riding style a lot I'm not one to really rev a bike a lot. It also helped that I had been riding the 450 for the first half of the year at the us sprint series. 

Racing is demanding. Results at the pro level are demanding as well. It’s all about “What have you done lately?” Now that you’ve had those podium performances, how do you focus on repeating those and eventually throw your name in the hat for some race wins?  

Yeah, definitely, this is a very tough sport and physically demanding, and now I have proved I can do it, I now have to keep proving that I can. So, it is just about surrounding yourself around people that want to help u succeed and since last summer, I changed trainers and now I have been working with Zach Osborne. This has totally changed it for me and my outlook on a lot of things. Zach has not only been a trainer for me, but he has also helped me a lot on the bike with transitioning to the 450. We have worked our asses off all winter and leading up to this year, so hopefully, we can showcase this. 

With Kailub Russell coming out of retirement and now joining you on the AmPro Yamaha Off-Road Team, you’ve got a teammate with a ton of experience and success in the GNCC series. What’s it been like working with him, and have you been training with him during the offseason?

Yeah, it's cool to see Kailub coming back to racing, and yes, I have been training and riding with him this winter. 

What race are you most looking forward to this season of GNCC racing?  

My favorite race is Buckwheat GNCC or the Mason Dixon. These are the closet races to home for me, but I also really enjoy the track conditions. Buckwheat GNCC is a place I like to consider home track. 

Enough about racing! When you’re not at the track or training, what do you like to do for fun?  

When I'm not at the race track I like to enjoy time with my wife 2 boys it's cool being a part of them and watching them grow up. Cami, the youngest one, I got him a dirt bike last year and he’s really taken a liking to racing to which brings a lot of enjoyment into also for me, so most weekends we are at the race track. 

Finally, I know you don’t do this thing alone. Who are the people and sponsors you’d like to thank?  

Big thanks to this whole AmPro Yamaha race team, everyone at the shop and Yamaha USA. My mechanic, Derek who grinds nonstop to have me the best bike ever weekend. My wife Nikki, she is the back bone to this she always is there supporting me and making sure I am always 100% ready to go and taking care of everything else. All the team sponsors thank you, and my personal sponsors: Kari Resources, Scott Googles, Jennings Excavating.