Brad Baker, Youngest Motorcylist To Win Grand National Championship, Tries To Push Ice Racing Into Winter X Games

Really, it’s always on a local track. It can be anywhere from inside a hockey arena to on a quarter-mile to a half-mile surface. Usually on a half-mile, we can get up to 100 miles per hour, but all the time, whether it’s on a short track or it’s on a half-mile. It’s really close side-by-side racing, usually anywhere between 10 and 18 riders on the racetrack in the final and sometimes two or three riders [are] side-by-side. There’s a lot of lead changes and just really interesting fast-paced, close racing. We really virtually ride very similar bikes that we ride on flat track on the dirt except for we run studs in the tires, so basically sharp screws that you screw under the tires so you can hook up on ice, and then some really good fenders to cover up the tires so you don’t buzz saw somebody’s arm off if you get into them.

It’s about the same risk factor really, other than if you fall down in flat track or road race you don’t got buzz saw tires coming along to run you over, so that’s probably more of the risk factor on it, which actually makes it quite a bit more intense really.

Really, I haven'€™t been training for it. Basically we just did a exhibition ride up in Michigan last Saturday. We'€™re really just pushing to try to get ice racing to be a part of the X Games, to be a medal competition, so if that happens for next year this will be training for a big time, but the main goal is to get ice racing a part of the X Games. The fans can get involved by going on Twitter and using hashtag #XGIceRace in whatever Twitter post they make to get their opinion on ice racing out there, and hopefully this comes to the Winter X Games.

We'€™re using the new Street Harley-Davidson 750. It'€™s a whole new revolution for the motorcycle. It has the new revolutionary X engine, which is actually water cooled now, it'€™s a lot smaller, it'€™s meant to meet the demands of city, basically city commuting and urban environments, but also has real nice smooth power that'€™s too slow for the ice. It'€™s actually a lot smaller than what the typical Harley-Davidson is. It handles really well as far as maneuverability and is really nimble and agile. So really Harley-Davidson has stepped up tremendously to get involvement in ice racing and the X Games. It's going to be really cool. We're excited to get to show a video that we did from last Saturday during the X Games at night. I believe it's going to be on at 7 p.m. CT, so everybody, all the fans can check out that video and see what it's all about.

No, I’m not. Just pretty much here to enjoy everything. I actually just met Tim Reed, who is kind of the organizer of all events in the X Games, so I’m not doing anything other than trying to get ice racing involved and get motorcycles involved in the Winter X Games and really looking forward to tonight. They got the Snowboarding SuperPipe basically final and then they got the Snowmobile Freestyle Super Final as well coming up tonight so just looking forward to getting all the action in and enjoying that.

Yes, sir. I got Jared Mees, the 2012 Grand National Champion and his wife, Nicole Mees, who is also a Grand National Flat Track racer and one of our top female racers in the series, so pretty much those were the two that I was riding with to put this video together that’s going to be aired on ESPN tonight.

My dad, Kip, got me into racing when I was about five years old. Flat track has really always been my main focus. I’ve cross-trained with road racing and motocross a little bit, but always a flat-tracker. I was a five-time amateur Grand National Champion. I moved up to the pro ranks when I was 16 and won my first year as a pro at 16, then moved up to the expert level at age 18 in 2011 and that’s the highest, premier level. It’s like the NFL of flat track racing so to speak. [Won] Rookie of the year, backed it up with a top five and a championship the next year in 2012 and now, this past year, I was 2013 Grand National Champion, the youngest rider to do it in history.

You know, there’s a guy around here helping out who’s setting up the Harleys for this ice racing deal, and it’s Scotty Parker, and he’s the all-time winningest rider of flat-track. He’s had nine Grand National Championships. He’s the record holder of our sport, so pretty much setting my goals high, unless something like, say, ice racing takes off or another sport takes off that branches me off. I want to try to beat his record and become the all-time best flat track racer there ever was. I’m only 20 and I got one out of the way, so if I have a long healthy career, that’s not out of the question. I just want to retain number one as much as I can, have fun and just try to help out the sport as much as I can. Last weekend, I went to Barcelona, Spain and did a big event over there called Superprestigio with the MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez and a bunch of other GP riders, so really, I’m young and I want to try to help grow the sport of flat track and now ice racing especially. Trying to get ice racing involved in the X Games would be amazing as a part of that.