From
the lips of an Icon
An interview with Buddy Antunez
By
Eddie Graveline
www.motopress.net
When
you think about Arenacross, who do you envision? If you know anything about it,
you see Buddy Antunez. Buddy has been dominating this series for the last five
years. He has won five consecutive championships and brought the level of what
used to be considered the stepchild of Supercross to legitimacy. The
“Budman” is unique. He has that special combination of talent, maturity,
longevity and likability that not only makes for a great career, but makes a
great spokesman. There’s no doubt about it. Buddy Antunez is to Arenacross
what Jeremy McGrath is to Supercross. The following interview was done in two
parts. The first part was done at Round 12 of the 2001 series in Sacramento
while Buddy was still chasing title number five. The second part was done a few
weeks later in Oakland right after he clenched that fifth title.
PART
1
Q:
Buddy, you’ve been at this for a long time now. It seems as though this
year’s results are just more of the same for you.
A:
Things are going really well. The season’s been going better than expected. I
got my 100th career win this year. My Suzuki’s working great. My
new mechanic, Greg Link is doing a great job. I couldn’t ask for anything
better. I just give it 100% every time I go out there. Whenever there’s been
something that’s a new challenge, I’ve been able to rise up and ride through
it, so I’m pretty excited.
Q:
The truck is bigger this year. The sponsors are changed a little bit. Has there
been any change in Suzuki’s support for you this year?
A:
Well, you know, I’m a full factory Suzuki rider. We just have restrictions in
Arenacross, parts wise. Definitely, everything’s been elevating. We’ve been
getting a lot of TV and press. We have stepped up our program and Suzuki’s
been a big part of that. We also have a lot of other sponsors like Bill’s
Pipes, AXO, RG3. Those are also huge sponsors. I think that the level of
Arenacross is going to continue to grow. I hope it is.
Q:
You have a new teammate this year.
A:
Yeah, this year Charlie Bogart was supposed to be on the team. He got injured
prior to the season and wasn’t able to come back. So we ended up hiring Jeff
Gibson. He’s been doing a great job and winning races. He’s a really good
rider, only 18 years old, and I think definitely the future of the sport.
Q:
Every year it seems like more guys make the switch from chasing the Supercross
and National series to racing Arenacross. Guys like you and Denny Stephenson
were some of the first. This year you get a guy like Rusty Holland in the mix.
Has the level of competition gone up this year again?
A:
You know, no matter what, in an Arenacross situation, the level is always high
because you have to run so many races. You have to ride a 125 and a 250. It’s
tough to be perfect for that many races. I’ve only done it a few times. I
think definitely, with guys like Rusty Holland coming in, Darcy Lange and then
you’ve got the old guys like Josh Demuth, Denny Stephenson Pedro Gonzalez and
Jeff Willoh. Those guys have all run really strong too. Any one of us could win
at any given time. It’s just a matter of getting the start and being able to
ride the laps.
Q:
The AX series is a long one and you do 4 times as much racing in any given
weekend than you would anywhere else. Does the schedule get tough for you as a
family man?
A:
Actually the travel is less for me now because I do Arenacross only. You know, I
only have 17 weekends where I have to race. When I was running Supercross and
Nationals, I had 31 weekends. It’s definitely better now and easier on me. The
racing gets long. I think that’s the main thing. We run two nights on two
different bikes. I think that’s the long part. When it’s all said and done,
I think we have a great time over here running Arenacross. I think everybody’s
happy.
Q:
Last year PACE, which is now SFX, took over as the sanctioning body for
Arenacross in addition to there role as promoter. I talked with you and Denny
Stephenson about it back then and you guys said it was working out well so far.
You have to wonder about a situation like that where there’s one entity that
only answers to itself. How are things going at this point?
A:
Well, I haven’t had any confrontations that would have to be taken to a board,
so I’d say everything’s going pretty good. The officiating must be good
because we haven’t had to take anything that far. We haven’t had any big
protests or teardowns or anything like that. It’s tough to say. I wish there
was somebody a little more on the riders’ side to voice the riders’ opinion
sometimes. But, as it stands, SFX is doing a good job.
Q:
The first round of this series was held over in Switzerland. Do you think that
that might be a sign of things to come, that we may have an international
series?
A:
You know, Switzerland was something that I had to do. It was part of the series
so I went over there and did it. The crowd was great. The racing was good. I
have no idea what they have in mind. I know that it’s not in our budget to
have too many races over there so I doubt, well, I can’t speak for them, but I
doubt that it would be too much of a part of the series. It would be a separate
series probably.
Q:
Are there any guys on the circuit that have been at it for a while, but this
year seem to have stepped it up a level?
A:
We haven’t had any surprises, so to say, as far as anybody stepping up. I’ve
been there the whole time. If you could point one person out, I think Rusty
(Holland) has been a good addition to the series. It’s been a lot of fun
racing with him and he’s a tough competitor.
Q:
You’ve been racing for a long time now. You’ve dominated this series and
continue to do so. How long do you plan to continue racing and do you plan to
finish your career riding the Arenacross series?
A:
I’m not sure. I’ve got another year on my contract with Suzuki. I’ll have
my 125cc eligibility back by then. I might go ride 125s, you know. I’d like to
race maybe another two years at this Arenacross and then maybe go back to 125s
for a year. That would be three years total. I’m just playing it by ear. I’m
riding really well and really strong, I’m really fit. Things are going really
well, so we’ll just have to see how everything goes. I like riding motorcycles
right now and I’m going to do it until I’m not having fun.
Q:
Do you see yourself staying in the industry after you retire from riding?
A:
I don’t know much else, so probably.
Q:
I know that you and Denny Stephenson are really good friends. I assumed that you
guys would remain teammates, but he’s riding for the St. Louis Powersports
Kawasaki team this year. Did he just get an offer that he couldn’t refuse?
A:
Yeah, you know when you get to where me and Denny are now you’re looking to
make money. He’s not an 18-year-old kid that can stay with a team because he
likes the bikes better. He needed to get over to Kawasaki and make some money. I
believe that’s what his deal was. I think it’s good for the whole sport in
general because everybody starts moving up on the pay scale. Second place starts
making more. Third place starts making more and so forth. That’s the way
things grow and it’s definitely showing some progress. I think it was a good
move. Me and Denny are still best friends, for sure.
Q:
We’ll keep an eye on you and the series. Hopefully we’ll see you win your
fifth consecutive championship.
A:
That would be great. Thank you very much.
PART
2
Q:
Buddy, you just nailed down your fifth Arenacross title in a row. Asking you how
it feels is a lame question, but I have to ask it.
A:
It feels awesome. It’s unbelievable. I put a lot of pressure on myself this
season to win. Suzuki stepped up and paid me a big salary so I felt a lot of
pressure to win. I rose to it. My Bill’s Pipes/AXO/RG3 Suzuki’s were
incredible this year. I owe it all to my mechanic Greg Link, my team manager
Billy Whitley, Bill and Jeff from Bill’s Pipes, Ron Hendricks at RG3 and
everybody down at Suzuki. It’s been an incredible year and I’m right there
on the win list where I want to be with a hundred career wins. I’m on top of
the world right now in my book. I’ve done a lot of things right and I want to
thank God for it. He’s been by my side.
Q:
It seems like this series gets tougher and tighter each year, yet I think this
is the earliest you’ve ever clenched. You’re just getting better with age.
Will this ever get old or do you plan to keep doing this as long as you’re
winning?
A:
I don’t want to lose what I’ve got. I have another year on my contract with
Suzuki. I’ll definitely be back next year. I’ll train harder next year and
put in the same effort that I did this year. If I do that and come out on top,
that means I’m riding well and everything’s clicking. We’re just going to
finish out the series now and go after wins and see what we can do.
Q:
With the way you’ve dominated this series, comparisons are going to be made
between what you’ve done and what Jeremy McGrath’s done in Supercross. There
really isn’t much difference. How does that make you feel?
A:
Truly honored to be mentioned in the same sentence with Jeremy McGrath. He’s a
great rider and ambassador of the sport. I do have my own little thing going on
over here in Arenacross and it’s been very lucrative to my career financially.
I want to leave my mark in motocross, any mark that I can. I’ve given my whole
life to it. Anything I can leave behind, any kind of legacy, I’ll definitely
be proud of. Like I said, to be mentioned in the same sentence is an honor.
Q:
It’s really nice to see truly good guy persevere and do so well. I hope to see
more of the same in the future.
A:
Thanks a lot. I hope to be there. Thank you very much.
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