To say the least it was a crazy week but none the less a really funny one and action packed. It all started on Tuesday in Southern Cal the Moto Mecca then ending in Nor Cal for round 4 of 2012 monster energy Supercross Championship in Oakland.

The week started out Monday flying to Orange County. During the flight I had an awesome tweet up with all of my followers. That was cool, had a lot of great questions and participation and it was great to see everyone’s outlook and opinions. I look forward to doing these a lot more and interacting with my fans. We landed in the afternoon and the weather was just starting to clear out. The plan was to head to our home base (where we normally stay) and get a quick mountain bike ride in. Next we were going meet Jeff (Emig) up in LA and head up to Buellton for the Fox ride day at Zaca Station. Fox Racing was hosting a ride day with the media to introduce the new V4 helmet and the all new Instinct boot. Fox wanted to have all the media ride in and wear the new product. I was there to give my feedback on the product and talk about my involvement with the R&D of the boot. The ride day ended up getting postponed a day because of the rain they got so it was great time to meet up with a great friend Johnny O’mara and Nicky Hayden for a couple hour bike ride. It was a great ride and we had some good talks as well during the ride. After that I headed to Monster Energy headquarters to visit all the people there, which is always fun, before meeting Jeff at Pro Circuit so we could drive together up to Zaca Station for the Fox ride day. Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t know what it is about Chase Field but I have always enjoyed going there and even when I was racing I always had a great time racing there. That place always produces good races and a lot of excitement and it lived up to its past this weekend. I got in on Friday afternoon in time for our Speed TV production meeting. With the racing as good as it’s been it’s our job to help put on a great show for all the fans watching at home and I really enjoy being a part of the show. After I had a great dinner with Fro and Travis (one of the guys from my video game company 2XL Games).

I really didn’t know what to expect coming in to this weekend other than just speculating off of what I had seen during round one, I just basically wanted to see what kind of reaction the guys would have for the winners of Anaheim. It’s hard for me to predict the weekend’s outcomes early in the season because I don’t feel that everyone is in their groove and are still trying to find their zone and are just too inconsistent for me to make a solid pick. Read the rest of this entry »

Finally here. Opening round of the 2012 Monster Energy Supercross Championship at Anaheim.

After all the anticipation and talk about another great season ahead of us the time was here. I got out there the Wednesday before hand to visit the people at Oakley and Fox which is always worthwhile and great to see everyone. I also to attend the pre race press conference on Thursday before Saturday night’s event.

It was a great start to the weekend, weather was awesome and it was really cool to see all the faces of the sport and the great fans as well, it seems to me that every year the paddock gets more packed with big rigs, sponsors and of course fans which always refreshing to me to see the growth.

With all that said I want to get in to the good part and the part I been waiting for the most and that is race time. As practice got going it seemed that it took some time for the track to come to life, I don’t think it was best track that Anaheim has seen in years past but was still good to see the riders out there ready to race. I watched a few practices from down on the track while I was walking around and really got to see up close how guys looked and how their bikes were working so I think that really helped me on making my predictions for the race and who I thought would be race winning contenders. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite the long flight and five movies later I touched down in Honolulu for Fox Racing’s annual mini-moto surf contest. It’s a really fun event that Fox puts together for all their dealers and reps on the Hawaiian Islands. The headquarters where we all stay is the Turtle Bay Resort on the North shore of the island. It’s definitely a tourist destination for sure but it always is a blast when the whole crew is staying there. Fox also brought some of their other athletes as well such as Jeff Emig, Rusty Malinoski and Parks Bonifay.
Read the rest of this entry »

It seemed far too quick but the time had come for the last race of the year, Homestead Motor Speedway. Even though the track is in the same state I reside it seems so much different and feels like I’m actually in a different state because of the climate and terrain or lack thereof.

With a Friday night race we rolled in a day and a half early Wednesday evening and headed straight to the Marriot resort in Ft. Lauderdale for the Anheuser Busch/Monster Energy Distributor meeting. These events are always fun and it was at a cool venue right on the water and I had a great time catching up with everyone there. Next day was busy, starting the day off with a meeting with Florida Governor Rick Scott. It was cool to talk with him and after our chat I walked him around the NASCAR exhibit that was set up on South Beach for all the fans. Shortly after that, myself and a few other NASCAR drivers did a Q and A for the fans up on the stage they had set up and did an autograph session for all the fans there. Read the rest of this entry »

As the series winds down for both truck and nationwide series, this would be my last appearance in the nationwide car this year. I was able to race this race last year in the nationwide series as well but this year would be a different story, new car and new pavement and track configuration.

The weekend started out pretty good, we were given and extra practice day basically so all of the teams could figure out the new surface which really helped me out because I haven’t been able to spend much time in the car. It was really nice to have that extra day and not have to be so rushed like normal. Thursdays test/practice day went really well in my eyes; we got used to the track pretty quick and weren’t too far all things considered. I had my same team with me that I have in the truck series so that was a plus no doubt. Read the rest of this entry »

At the Homestead race last year I had the pleasure of meeting Jim Campbell from GM. He said he was working on a couple ideas and wanted to see if I would be interested in working with them on a project they had in mind. Of course I was intrigued and couldn’t wait to hear what that had planned. A couple months went by and we finally got on a call with the design team and they told me their plans for a concept car using the Sonic platform. I really wanted to include some of the elements that I thought fit my lifestyle. I really enjoy spending time at the beach and that was where I began my process. I laid out what I thought would be some cool ideas integrating some of my sponsors while trying to think of what other people like me would enjoy doing with the car.

Read the rest of this entry »

What a week it was. After less than 24 hours at home I was back on the road again and made my way to Vegas to attend the SEMA show for my first time ever. It was like sensory overload at that place, everything you could imagine pertaining to a car was there. For me it was an honor to be there. I was there on behalf of Chevrolet and the Ricky Carmichael Chevy Sonic All Activities Vehicle concept car. I started working on the project with them about 3 months ago and the finished product turned out great, and it seemed to me that a lot of people at the show liked it as well. It was a great experience for sure and I want to thank everyone at Chevrolet and all the people in the design group for all their hard work.
Read the rest of this entry »

Martinsville, a track where repetition is key, not to mention holding your ground and being aggressive when you need to be, a lot like Supercross and motocross. I believe that is why I have always likes racing there and have been able to post some good results there in hold my own.

It was a busy week for me leading up to the race. I had to attend the Suzuki convention and Monster Energy regional sales meeting down in Orlando on the Monday and Tuesday, I was able to bring my wife and kids down with me on this work trip this time which was cool. It’s always a good time attending these functions for me, I get to see dealers and sales guys that I enjoy to seeing when I’m at the races and doing appearances that I don’t get to see very often so it’s always good to see them. Also, seeing the new product and seeing how the year has been is always neat to see and be a part of. The Suzuki convention was cool; I managed to find time to demo some of the new sport bikes and cruisers. The last night there Monster rented out Orlando Grand Prix indoor karting track and I got race with all the sales guys all night, it was a lot of fun and I do have to give props to some of them because they were driving pretty good! Read the rest of this entry »

My crazy month continues…. Since I left for Greece on the 5th I haven’t been home but one night! And thanks to Delta for canceling my flight from Calif it was going to be a few more days before I saw home. After the Vegas races I made a trip to Cali for a goodwill tour. I always enjoy going out to So Cal and seeing all my friends. While I was out there I stopped in to see my sponsors, Fox Racing, Oakley and Monster Energy. It was a great trip and it wasn’t just a quick stop in to say hi trip. All of my sponsors have some really cool things going on and you will all see what they have been up to soon so stay tuned! So after a triple connection to Birmingham I was ready to get to the race track and get focused on racing. We unloaded really fast and was the fastest truck in single runs but as you know at the superspeedways that doesn’t mean much. In the first couple drafting runs is when I knew we had a great truck and I was even more excited to get to the race. We qualified 4th and my teammate was on the pole so we were ready to win this one! Read the rest of this entry »