On The Pegs February 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 2 | Page 89
On The Pegs
On The Pegs spoke with Thad just
after the last round in Alabama to
get his thoughts on the year.
Vol. 3 Issue 1 - January 2018
P 89
up to speed this year riding the na-
tional enduro series again?
Yeah. I rode national enduro I think
maybe ’10 and ’11 for sure, and then
Tell us how big getting this factory I rode a little bit in 2012 with Honda
ride was for this year? How big of a
and John Ross. It was never really a
change was that for you?
first choice for me. I really struggled
To get the factory ride for 2017 was a at them. I wasn’t really having fun
big change for me. I’ve been on the fac- with them. So we kind of stepped
tory teams, but it’s kind of like I’ve been away. When (team manager) Timmy
on a support factory type deal thing
(Weigand) approached me about the
with Honda in ’13 and ’14, and then
deal with Husqvarna, that was part of
with KR4 and Husqvarna in ’15 and ’16. the deal was national enduros. I didn’t
But I’ve never really been underneath
really know what to expect. During
a semi since 2011. So, it was kind of like the 2016 summer break I went and did
a breath of fresh air a little bit. I didn’t
the Ohio national enduro. I went there
really know what to expect. I’ve kind of with no expectations, just go have fun,
been out of the whole semi type deal
and I ended up winning it. But I think it
thing, but luckily these guys opened
was just different because I didn’t really
their arms and welcomed me in. I just
have a lot of pressure on me. It was just
became part of the family quick. When kind of like I went and did it for fun. It
we got to do a lot of testing earlier this was only 40 minutes from my house,
year it was kind of like, all right, these
so it was really familiar. We came to the
guys are putting in 110% and I need to first round at Sumter and I got smoked
as well. It was kind of like a breath of
by Kailub and Stew, so it was kind of
fresh air for me and something for me
like, wow, all right, maybe I’m not up to
to go home and do my homework and speed yet. Then we went to Alligator
work really hard to maintain it. Luckily
and I really struggled that day for sure.
I think I proved a lot of people wrong
At the end of the day, I think the Alliga-
this year. It’s definitely a breath of fresh tor was kind of a step in the right direc-
air.
tion. For me to do so bad, it was kind
of like, all right, I’m going to go home
When you rode for Randy Hawkins and I’m going to do some homework
at Am Pro Yamaha, you rode a lot of and figure out how these guys are go-
national enduro, but up until this
ing so much faster than me. What are
year you kind of got away from that. they doing different? I think that was
Was there a period of getting back
kind of like the changing point in the