Team Geico Honda's Blake Wharton
Team Geico Honda’s 17-year-old prodigy Blake Wharton immediately made his mark with a fifth-place overall at his AMA professional debut in Millville, Minn., late last summer. Now with his first overall at the recent St. Louis round of the 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Lites Championship, Blake proved that he can adapt indoors as well. By finishing fourth overall in AMA Supercross Lites points, this unassuming kid from Pilot Point, Texas, looks at racing in a logical manner.
Q: Blake, I first have to say congratulations on capturing your first AMA Supercross win at St. Louis the other week.
A: Thank you. It feels very good. I’m just trying to do my best every weekend, and that weekend, I happened to win it, so I am really happy about that. Now I am just looking forward to the next race, and trying to do it again.
Q: Has it all sunk in yet?
A: Yes and no. I know that winning these races is tough, but I did it (in St. Louis), and I know that I can do it again. You cannot win them all, so doing the best that you can is always the right way to approach it. Each weekend is a different race, and a different track. You have to look at them all that way -- be positive, and see how it ends up.
Q: In spite of you racing since you were a little kid, I am sure that Supercross is new to you. Is racing the stadiums as you expected?
A: Nothing really caught me too much off-guard, Jim. I’ve been around Supercross for a long time, as we would often come out and watch, so you can see it. But, still, you don’t really know what it’s like until you actually race it. Racing is racing, and racing is tough. If it were easy you would see a lot more people doing it! I do have a Supercross track at my house now, but before that I’d never really ridden it. We always did motocross, so racing outdoors is much more natural and comes somewhat easier for me. I think that everyone has to work harder at Supercross. But for my first year I think that I have done well so far. I am glad to have won in St. Louis. I want to finish out these last Supercrosses well and go into motocross healthy.
Q: Has the season gone as you planned?
A: Well, you never can really know your plans. I guess you can make plans, but often they will not go the way that you wanted. What’s the saying? “If you want to make god laugh, tell him your plans.” That’s very true in racing. I don’t really set to many goals. I mean, I do have goals, like “I want a top three” or “I want a top five,” but when you show up to race it’s often different than what you think. That actually goes for everything, the riders, the track and all that.
Q: Switching over to AMA Motocross, last year you raced the last couple rounds. How do you feel about this summer’s AMA Lucas Oil Motocross Championship?
A: I know that motocross will be double the riders, and the tracks will be a lot rougher. It’s just a totally different deal! But since I did the final three rounds last year, I’m really looking forward to it. As I said earlier, it’s more natural to me. I think that I will fit in right away. I’ll do the best that I can. Getting some holeshots, some podiums and staying off the ground would be great.