Just watching from home I could tell that the dirt was entirely different than the first go-around in San Diego in which you finished fourteenth. Did that affect you at all?
Yeah, the dirt changed a lot. It changed because of the Monster Trucks series and it’s been really warm here. The surface was a bit harder and slick. I thought the track was a lot of fun, especially in qualifying. When we went across the start and then the triple into the sand was pretty fun. It was good. I was bummed on how the night went because I had a lot of family and friends there. I wanted to get back on pace and have a strong finish, but that’s the way racing goes. We’ll have a good week this week and try to finish up strong before the break.

It seems like the tracks that you have to be patient at and deliver good throttle control are the ones I’m best at. I’m patient when I ride and offer more finesse than out of control. I liked the track because it separated guys. It was just one race and we’re healthy, so we’ll move onto the next one.

Let’s allow people to get to know you a little bit more. Not only are you sponsored my Motoworld, but you actually work at the dealership too. How did that come about?
I’ve been working down there off and on for the past three years. It’s a neat group of guys that work around my schedule. They give me two bikes for the year, which is huge. Without that happening there is no way that I would be able to buy two bikes, or make it happen that way. They are a big part of my program. Also, the guys over at Maxima have been sponsoring me since I was on 50s. I even took five years off of racing at one point and still maintained a relationship with them. They’ve always offered to help me and they even put me in touch with the JGR guys. Now I have a great motor for my bike and I’m trying to build a good relationship with them. I have some good stuff going for me.

When you first started working at Motoworld did you just go in and fill out an application like any normal guy?
It’s funny because I think I was nineteen at the time. I was detailing cars and one day a week we’d detail them in Motoworld’s parking lot. Once a week we’d go there and wash all of their employee cars. I had known the GM there for quite a while, just from racing, and we live in the same town. I was getting ready to have my knee fixed, so I wouldn’t be able to detail for a while. I was in the store telling the guys about my surgery and they said that they were looking for a salesman. They said that if I wanted to sell bikes when I was able to crutch around that I could. I took them up on it.

When my knee started to get better I took up riding again. I did some Pro-Ams and got my pro license. Then in 2013 I started to do supercross and they helped me out with a bike. I just worked there in between racing and other downtime. I don’t race the outdoors because I can’t afford to do them so during the summer I continue to work there and ride. It works out good. I work with a good group of guys and I have fun doing it.

I look at guys like Alex Martin, or certain guys who have been racing since 2009. Some of them are just getting a chance at a factory ride.

It sounds so simple, but that is a really good way for a privateer to make some money and continue to live their dream.
Yeah, part of the sponsorship came about because they saw how hard I worked. It went a long way with those guys. They had a team before in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They understand racing and they want to help me out because I’m a local guy. Even if I didn’t work there now I think they would help me out. They want to be a part of my program because we have such a good relationship. There are a lot of dealers that don’t do this anymore, so to be in this position with them is huge.

You definitely have to go out and get it in this world. You can’t just sit at home and wait for the phone to ring.
Oh, I know. There are so many good guys and a lot of it is getting involved with the right people. You also have to have the results to back it up. I just approached them and told them I wanted to make a run at it and they were into it. It was cool. Everything that I’ve gotten up to this point is just awesome. The relationships that I’ve built with the people helping me out are just incredible. I’ve got people helping me out as far as gear and goggles that helped me out when I was a kid. When I started riding again they sent me boxes of product. Fortunately this is why I still can make a run at the sport.

You keep mentioning the time that you gave up racing for a bit. You went to public high school and lived the life of a normal kid for a bit. Tell us a bit about that time period.
Yeah, around middle school, sixth or seventh grade, I was home-schooled. That was about the time that I needed to make the move to big bikes. I needed to figure out if I was going to be a fast B rider and make a go at this as a career. The last year I raced an 85 it was a struggle. I remember I went to Loretta Lynn’s and it didn’t go too well. I kept crashing and struggled throughout the entire year. After that I got a 125 and I think I did two races on it. I don’t know, I was just over it. My family didn’t have a lot of money and my parents sacrificed a lot to take me racing. When I felt like I was done with it I told them I didn’t want to waste their time or money. It was tough. We had invested a lot into it. When you’re younger and you want to give up something you don’t actually realize what your parents might be going through with it. I think going back to regular high school and then working a lot of nine-to-fives I know what reality is. I’ve seen the other side of things, so it makes you appreciate it a lot more.

I don’t have a trainer. I do all of my training and dieting myself and I work on my bikes during the week. A lot of the program comes down to me being motivated and organized. That’s what it takes to get it handled. I was just burned out at the time. I took a year and a half off where I didn’t even touch a bike. Then I got a used bike and would ride in the desert. It wasn’t until I was 20 or so when I tried to make a go of it again.

Well, it’s good to have you back in the sport and making a good run. It seems like you’re name is always in the mix of things, so like I said this was long overdue. What do you really want people to know about you?
Well, the tough thing about our sport is that people see what happens on Saturday. They don’t see what happens during the week. The week is the hard part! If you’re organized and ready to go then racing is the easy part. The stuff during the week is tough. Your bike is breaking, you need parts, and you’re trying to figure out where you’re going to spend the money. You also pay $55 a day to ride the public supercross tracks on top of working. There are a lot of guys doing that I suppose. If you want to know about just me I’m just a laid-back guy who likes to spend his free time bass fishing and mountain biking.