R450: You were talking about Glen Helen, what did you think of the Glen Helen race since it was the first one out on the west coast?
Tim: I thought that it was a good event. There were a lot of good riders out there. We got to see a lot of riders that race the west coast series’ and don’t do the nationals. They seemed a little surprised by the pace of the pros at Glen Helen as opposed to the pace of the pros they see out there. Overall, I think it was a good event, but I wish I would have done a little bit better.

R450: Is there anything about the circuit with the ATVA or the promoters that you might change if you had the chance?
Tim: In a heartbeat I would put the series back together with the TT and motocross together. That would bring back a true Grand National Champion, the guy who was best at doing both. I always thought that was the way it should be, and I was really bummed when they changed it. When you had the factory backed riders back in the 80’s and you had a Grand National Champion. I think that you would have bigger turnouts at every race. It would kind of get everybody back together again.

R450: So how do you like riding for Honda?
Tim: I love it man, it was a dream of mine from the day that I started. I had my early success after the factories pulled out of the race scene. I started the nationals in 1989 and the factories were pretty much all gone at that time. I think that they pulled out in 1988. I fully turned pro in 1991. Through 89 and 90 I raced the four-stroke pro and then began to race 250 pro after that. There were always rumors that they were coming back, but they weren’t making race bikes so there was no real reason for them to come back with an aftermarket chassis. Their engines were in them, but they weren’t really building the engines.

R450: What do you think of the rest of the guys running the circuit, do you and the rest of the guys get along pretty good?
Tim: I would say that we all get along. In the pro class everybody rides pretty clean, for the most part. They’re all pretty good guys and pretty conscious of their actions on the track.

R450: Obviously before last year the Honda 250R was the last race bike built. How do you think the new 450 compares?
Tim: I think there are a ton of improvements that have been made. It’s still a sport machine though and so was the 250R. A lot of it is what you do with it once you get it. People think that a 250R is a racer, but it never was really designed to be a racer. It was capable to be raced and that is exactly how the TRX 450 is. We came into the year eight or nine months behind everybody on the Yamahas and Doug had his Suzuki working awesome from last year. We’ve been playing catch-up but it is a great machine.