Christian Craig has recently cleared two big obstacles in his career. He locked up a 250 supercross championship, and he’s inked a full-time 450 ride for the future with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna. While Craig has moonlighted in the 450 class in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross before, now he comes in armed with extra confidence on his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing machine, and it showed at round one, where he snagged his first-ever 450 overall podium. He spoke about it with the media after the race.
We know you’re full-time 450 right now, and what a transition today. First things first – lived up to the expectations that we were looking for today.
Christian Craig: I’m pumped. My first 450 podium. To do it at my home track, hometown. I’ve gotten so close so many times, but especially coming off the supercross championship it’s all about just keeping the momentum and the confidence I have. Comfortable with the bike. Just happy with the whole setup. It’s something I’ve worked for my whole life. I checked that one off the list.
We talked about the conditions of the track just a moment ago. A bit slick in some areas, hard underneath. You were letting that bike move so much. You put that thing inside one time, and you didn’t even realize it, basically ran off the track and then right after that went down. We couldn’t quite see it, but we saw you get back up unfazed. Was it easy to keep the concentration and keep the momentum up and keep calm? It seemed like you gave up a couple spots and got back on the track and was able to find that pace again and pick up some positions and put yourself back where you were.
Yeah, it sucked going down, but I got up pretty quick. I think we lost a few spots. It was all about riding the lines, being patient with the track. If you tried to push in spots, it would bite you. It was all about being patient, push where you can and then obviously pick the right lines. So, I felt comfortable on this dirt and obviously it’s a home track for me. I felt right at home.
You’re built for a 450. You’re so comfortable on that thing. The transition for you was obviously seamless.
Obviously, this is where I’m going to be full-time, finally. Better late than never. It took a little bit longer, but we’re here and ready to have some fun with the big dogs and challenge for some podiums and try to get closer.
Learned a little bit about yourself and the competition today?
Yeah, of course. I got to battle with some legends. I battled with Dungey both motos, Cairoli, and then had my teammate, Tomac, behind me that whole second moto. It was fun. You kind of go from, “Wow, I’m battling with these guys,” to “I belong up here.” Definitely some confidence for the season.
Fox Raceway 1 - 450
May 28, 2022| Rider | Hometown | Motos | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Chase Sexton | La Moille, IL  | 1 - 1 | Honda CRF450R |
| 2 |  Ken Roczen | Mattstedt, Germany  | 2 - 2 | Honda CRF450R |
| 3 |  Christian Craig | Temecula, CA | 3 - 3 | Yamaha YZ450F |
| 4 |  Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | 7 - 4 | Yamaha YZ450F |
| 5 |  Ryan Dungey | Belle Plaine, MN | 5 - 5 | KTM 450 SX-F |
Coming into the season I think you were a little bit less talked about than you probably should have, maybe something went wrong. I feel like you maybe should have talked up a little bit more. So, is a result like this a little bit more validation of how you felt coming into the season?
Yeah. Just not talked about, and that’s fine. I knew how I felt. I wasn’t in the limelight out here where a lot of the media is. I was back in Tallahassee just doing motos and I know how I felt. So it was good to do and to finally put that together and that [podium] is something I’ve been working on for quite a while. I got close a few years ago. To finally do it and get 3-3 for third, it’s something to build off of and it’s a goal I’ve checked off. All in all, I’m happy.
Can you talk a little bit about your mental state going into this race? Did you ever feel that you weren't up to par, or you were a little intimidated by coming to the 450 class? Were you surprised that you got on the podium this first race?
After that supercross season, I felt relief. From January to May, to finally get my first supercross championship, it was so much stress. When I finally did that, it was just ride with no pressure, not worrying about making little mistakes or getting hurt in practice. So, I think that just made me ride better. I’ve obviously done this before. I guess it’s different, though. I’m full-time. I’m not going back to the 250. I have a future in this class. So, I’m excited to build and battle with these guys. It’s a lot less hectic, I would say, than the 250 class.
Christian, today you answered some questions for yourself. Got some things to work on this week. Got a plan already for next week?
Of course. I think everybody does. Everyone is trying to work on something. Everyone’s on the line, so we all go back, work on our weaknesses and what we struggled with today and try to get a little bit better at Hangtown. Next two rounds are a lot of fun. So, we’ll see if we can get back up here.
