Get to Know Keith Tucker

Film: Millsaps Motocross | Pearlescent Media

After a solid amateur career with multiple national titles North Carolinian Keith Tucker was on the gate at Arlington last year for his very first Monster Energy Supercross race.  OK, there would be a learning curve and maybe a few missed mains along the way but he’d settle in and become a regular pro SX rider. Or so he thought. But Keith struggled in round one and following a crash at round two in Atlanta his SX season was basically over. Fast forward to this year and Keith is in a very different place.

MTF caught up with Keith earlier this week.

Keith, it seems like forever since you’ve raced, it must have been fun to get out there last week at Cincy?
Yeah, it really was. I had done some Arenacross races two years ago but it was great to get back out there. I wanted to do the early rounds last year but I had knee surgery in the summer and I needed to practice more than I needed to race at that point.

You won the Lites class and were leading the second moto of the Arenacross class for a while there.
I really enjoyed it. Obviously my main goal is supercross but I was trying pretty hard out there. Just made one mistake and finished up 6-2 for sixth overall.

So these Arenacross races are more than just warm ups for you, you’re going out there trying to win?
Of course, I’m a racer! I think they’ll my race mentality and I’ll work on things when I’m out there but I can’t just let guys pass me. I’m going all out for the win definitely.

What’s different about this year in terms of your preparation?
Well I’ve been healthy for a while and I’ve had good practices so my confidence is pretty high. I think I’m physically in very good shape so we’ll see what happens. I’m trying to keep everything in perspective and keep it fun though. We’ll see how it goes.

How many Arenacross events will you do?
The plan right now is to do four and then take two weeks off to practice and then Atlanta for the first East Coast round.