Obviously they needed Malcolm to make his decision to have room, but the team has also told me your improvements during this spring has really impressed them, and that’s why they decided you were ready to go now. Has it been going pretty well for you lately?
Yeah, lately I’ve been working really hard to try to get here. Riding’s been going really, really good. When I go out to the practice tracks and I do my motos most of the time I’m out there chasing down the pro guys and sometimes even passing them. It’s definitely outstanding for myself to even know that I’m doing that. I’m like, “Wow, did I actually just do that?” But I could say that [Mike, team manager] LaRocco saw a lot in me when he saw me passing the pro guys out there at the practice track.

What about the spring nationals and the races there a month or so ago? Were there some results there that you were happy about or has it just been more of the practice track stuff?
Honestly the spring nationals didn’t go too hot for me. I didn’t have much confidence going into them. I had those fifteen-minute motos at Freestone. I could barely make it through half the moto without getting tired, yet two weeks later when I finally find out that I might be going to outdoors I can do two 30 minute motos without a problem. So I had a mental problem at Oak Hill and Freestone. I’m really not sure what it was but it definitely boosted my confidence and my mental aspect of everything once I kind of found out about it. Then LaRocco saw the real me come out and he was impressed by it.

Where are you based out of? I know in the amateur days you did a lot of work at GPF and stuff. Have you been in California mostly or do you go back east?
I got a place here in Corona, only about a half a mile away from the GEICO shop. I’ve been living here for six or seven months now and it’s nice because in the mornings I can drive over to the shop. I can get there quick, load my bike up and head to the practice tracks. It’s really easy, but it was definitely a lot better to be out in Georgia. The dirt’s better. The humidity helps out with all that type of stuff. The dirt’s softer, more sand. Out here it’s all hard pack. But if I stayed in Georgia, it’s hard being all the way across the country from the shop because it’s hard to get parts and all that type of stuff. So there’s a best of both worlds out of both of them but I’d definitely choose here [California] just because it’s nice to be close and all that.

"I’m not setting a super high goal because I’m not really sure exactly where I’ll be at but my goal for the season is to stay in top ten every single rounD."

Riding out in California might have been what got you the little boost here to move up a little early because they got to see you all the time.
Exactly.

So you’re just going to stay out there all summer? Is that the plan or will you actually retreat to the east a little bit?
I’m sure once the rounds move over to the east I might head down to GPF or Grondahl’s place [The Nest] or something like that in-between rounds, just so I don’t have to fly all the way back across the country. But that’s kind of what the thought is, but I’m still not sure yet of what I’m going to do.

Obviously GEICO has moved a lot of guys up like you are doing right now. The riders always say it was easier because they were kind of already part of the team long before they were a pro. It’s not like you’re racing with these guys every weekend in supercross, but does it feel like you’ve been a part of the team just by being at the shop and riding with them during the week and stuff?
Yeah, of course. We all get to ride together all the time. It’s nice because you can test your speed against all the other guys that are racing pro. Especially like [Chase] Sexton. He’s the same speed as all of us and he’s a 16-year-old amateur! It’s impressive. It kind of shows that when you ride with all the pros and stuff like that you can get a lot more confidence in yourself.

What kind of advice are they giving you right now? I’m sure it’s one thing to do it right now during the week and it will probably be a lot different when you’re actually in one of those motos.
Yeah, there’s been a little bit of talk about all that. But I’m just kind of going into it with my own thought about it. I’m honestly just going to see how it goes and I’m going to just go out there and put it all on the line.

As far as results go or anything like that, you don’t really have any expectations or numbers?
I’m not setting a super high goal because I’m not really sure exactly where I’ll be at but my goal for the season is to stay in top ten every single round. Every moto, just try to finish in the top ten. If I can get top fives, great, but I want to keep my goal small for the first year and try to stay in the top ten. I don’t want to be like, “I’m going to go and get third.” I don’t want to just say that and expect it. I just want to go in, try to finish top tens every moto, have a good year and learn from it.

Give us a little idea of your background. I know you’re listed from Washington state. Is that where you actually were born and grew up?
Yeah, I grew up in Washington until I was about 12 or 13 and then I moved out to Georgia. I trained with Nario Izzi for a couple years, and then I moved to GPF once I got on big bikes. I was there for four years and then I just moved out here this last year.

I know your big breakout really came in the B class, which would have been two years ago now. What do you feel clicked for you to go from a good rider to all of a sudden getting awards and then getting this ride with Honda and all that? What do you think changed for you at that point?
My whole career pretty much changed. In 2014, I started to kind of go “this is my job now.” It’s not really just doing it for fun. It’s my job now. It’s how I’m going to make money for my future. It just kind of clicked, so I started putting in more and more work. I was doing that up until Loretta’s 2014, and I had a great week. Then I had a couple injuries after Loretta’s in 2014 coming up to Loretta’s 2015. I kind of fell off a little bit, kind of lost my edge. And then I brought it back and I’ve just been working at it ever since.

There are so many guys now at the top level—you could even say Ryan Dungey—that didn’t win from like age six all the way through now. He hit his stride at just the right time. It almost seems like guys are fresher if they’re in a situation like you, or you weren’t putting all this pressure on yourself really until only two years ago instead of ten years.
Yeah.

This has got to all be still pretty new and exciting for you to be at this level.
It is really exciting.

Who do you train with now on the training side when you’re out in California?
I have my workout trainer, John Wessling. He helps me out a lot. We have our own gym here at the GEICO shop. So we get done riding, I come back to the shop. Take an hour or two in-between riding and working out and then I train with him. We get all of our stuff done. And then I have my ride trainer, Jay Wipple. He’s been helping me out tremendously coming up to all this. It’s really been helping out.

Ah, yes. If you’re fast in the Pacific Northwest you hook up with Jay Whipple? That seems like the way it always goes. I remember Josh Hill working with him for years.
Yeah.