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The AMA Amateur Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s is less than a month away, and Monster Energy/Yamaha Star Racing’s Carson Wood continues to solidify himself as one of the favorites for the Nicky Hayden Horizon Award.
The Florida native swept the 250 Pro Sport class at the Mid-East Regional at RedBud in late May and finished second overall in Open Pro Sport. Wood, who currently sits 12th all-time in the Vurbmoto Prospect National Rankings, returned to RedBud this past weekend for the first of two SMX Next Scouting Moto Combines and added another perfect weekend to his résumé with 1-1 moto finishes.
In Friday’s opening moto, Wood overcame a late-race stall and held off Landon Gibson to secure the win. After severe thunderstorms halted Friday’s schedule, race officials moved a shortened second moto to Saturday, where Wood once again got the better of Gibson to complete the sweep and claim the overall victory.
Following the race, Wood spoke with the media about the win, how racing two rounds of Pro Motocross at Thunder Valley and High Point helped prepare him for the weekend, his plans leading into Loretta Lynn’s, and much more.
We’ve seen you, a little bit so far this season, with two Pro Motocross rounds under your belt. How did that help you prepare for your wins this weekend?
Carson Wood: It helped a lot to learn the pace and how they ride in those longer motos. They push really hard in the beginning and they maintain very well and it was really nice to learn, It helped me a lot for the combine today with the pace, and just remember that pace and try to mimic it here.
Both Motos, you had a ton of pressure from Landon [Gibson] all the way through. What was it like to manage that? Especially as the heat was yesterday kind of wearing you guys down a little bit?
It was a bit challenging because he was behind me, so he can see all my lines and where he’s faster and I can’t see what lines he’s picking. So, it was really challenging to try to figure out what lines he was picking and where he was faster. This heat was brutal today. It was gnarly, but pushed through it.
The end of that moto yesterday, you had Landon breathing down your neck and then lappers were getting in your way. I know you made contact with one and then another laid it over in the corner after. How were you able to navigate through those lappers and not lose the lead? Also: What was your heart rate like knowing that the win was so close but seeing so many guys and so much carnage in front of you?
That last lap, my heart was racing. I jumped this double and then I landed it and then I locked bars with someone else in the straightaway. And then I got past that and then the next corner was someone down the inside and I knew [Landon] was behind me so I couldn’t lose much time. I was just trying to get through that as best as I could and just bring it home.
This might be a generic question, but to win on the 4th of July on a 250th birthday of America, does it have more significance to do it on the actual holiday.
It’s really special. Yesterday there weren’t as many fans, but today it was super special. There was a bunch of people, everyone’s cheering, and to get the race, this kind of race for the 250th anniversary, was really special.
You have already done a couple pro nationals. What was it like stepping back down to race next? What was the decision to do that and what’s your schedule look like for the rest of the season?
There’s a lot less pressure coming into this once you’ve already been in the pro ranks. A lot more confidence to get the race with everyone you watch on TV, then you’re going back down to KG race on a daily. So, it helps with confidence. And I’m racing one more pro round at Millville. We’re just looking forward to that.
What do you learn at the combines with the different coaches and the different schedule versus what you’re accustomed to at Star? What is there to gain from coming back and doing this again?
There’s always a lot of experience. They have the classroom, so they teach you things to do. We have coaches there and they help us out and you get to learn different perspectives and with all the coaches. It helps a lot and it’s really good. It helps you step into the pro ranks so you’re basically prepared.
Did you learn anything in particular from your coach, Kevin Windham, this weekend that you thought was maybe outstanding?
He likes to keep it just our natural thing, like what we usually do on a daily basis, but he helped a lot like picking gates. Stuff around the track that soft or something like that. It helped a lot.
Check out the stats behind Carson’s amateur career via the Vurbmoto Prospect app. Download for FREE on the App Store and Google Play and see YOUR racing statistics and so much more.
Photos: octopi.media
