JAN 28–DANNY SMITH INTERVIEW

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Many people might not know it, but Yamaha of Troy’s Danny Smith is quite the character to talk to. The Idaho native not only represents the land of potatoes, but he is currently the highest placing Yamaha rider in the 125 West point standings in a tie for fourth place. We caught up with Danny and in between talking about the new hot movie ?Napoleon Dynamite’ and video games (he’s a Madden fan) we asked him supercross-related questions (sort of, anyway).

Is the season going as expected?
So far I’m sitting right in contention. Obviously the first race was a little crazy, but I need to pick it up a little bit and be more aggressive. I’ve been working on my starts a little bit and trying to change the bike around a little bit more.

What suites your style more, the faster style tracks like Phoenix or the tight and technical tracks like Anaheim II?
I just keep an open mind on all of the tracks. I look at getting all of the advantages that I can. The game plan is simple for me. I need to go out and be aggressive, get up front and go fast. There are a lot of good riders in my class and it’s always going to be that way. I just concentrate on putting together 15 fast laps. Going 15 laps isn’t a problem for me, it’s that I need to pick up my intensity at the beginning of a race. Before I know it the white flag is out!

Can you tell us the biggest difference between last year’s Yamaha of Troy 250F and this year’s bike?
As far as this year goes, we run a completely different suspension package, which is a great improvement. Also, motor-wise things have changed and the team is always looking at finding more horsepower. Chassis-wise we’ve made big improvements with the bike and it’s a lot easier to ride. I’m totally healthy and last year was a rebuilding year for me. I was hurt coming into the season and I had to battle through the injuries, but this year is good.

Being from Idaho, do you fly back home during the week or do you stay in southern California?
I stay down here in southern California with friends all winter. I can stay back home and ride all but two or three months during the year if I wanted to in Idaho, but I need to ride with fast guys and train hard. Lately I’ve been staying back in Georgia with Ezra Lusk and Brock Sellards and we all just ride together and try to improve our speed. I choose to stay down here and stay focused. When the weather gets nice up in Idaho I’ll go back for the outdoors and spend time up there in the summer, but for now I’ll stay in southern California.

What do you like to do in some of the spare time that you have? You can’t always be riding and racing.
Like you said, it’s not my entire life, but it’s a short period of what I do right now so I’m busy with it. I like to hang out with my dad and we do a little bit of bird hunting and I also fly planes quite a bit. Other than that I like to mountain bike. Up home I just like relaxing and doing outdoor things.

A lot of racers are getting into flying airplanes, you included. Why do you think that is?
If anyone tried it they’d like it. For me it gives me a lot of freedom and it’s relaxing. It opens the door to a whole new experience. You get to go out and see a lot of different things you usually don’t get to see and get a different perspective on everything. A lot of people that ride pick up flying really easy because you’ve got to have coordination and quick skills. For some reason it goes well with guys who ride.

What kind of plane do you fly?
I have a Super Cub and it’s good for sightseeing. I’ve had a lot of fun with that, and really if I’m not riding I’ll fly or mess around the house.

Are you ever going to fly to any races by yourself?
Maybe. I’d like to buzz up to Washougal or Sacramento. I’ve flown that far before, but usually I’m with the team and testing. We’ll see, you never know.

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