Written by Andrew Swain:

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 23, 2014) – Brad Baker insists he will be ready to ride come May 25, 2014 when AMA Pro Flat Track heads to Springfield, Ill. for the legendary Springfield Mile at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. The defending Grand National Champion crashed and broke his left arm at Colin Edwards’ Texas Tornado Boot Camp last Tuesday, April 15, and underwent successful surgery the following morning. AMA Pro Racing got a chance to have a conversation with Baker today regarding the incident.

AMA Pro: It’s pretty early in the game, but do you have an estimated time as to when you think you’ll be back on the motorcycle riding at full strength?

Baker: My goal is to be ready for Springfield next month. I don’t see myself competing in any races between now and then, simply because I want to give myself the best chance at being healthy for it. The timeframe for this type of injury is typically 4-6 weeks but I think I’ll be on the lesser end of that if I work hard and do the right things.

AMA Pro: What different steps will you take to get yourself back into racing shape by the time Springfield rolls around?

Baker: It’s going to take a lot of determination and physical therapy but I feel that I can get back in shape pretty quickly. It’s only been a week since surgery and my arm surprisingly feels really good already. I get the staples removed this Friday and will begin physical therapy next week. I plan on getting on the stationary bike; doing massive amounts of cardio, and utilizing the stress ball to build my strength back up. I’ll also do a lot of stretching to help get the proper movements back into my arm.

AMA Pro: Who was in attendance at Colin Edwards’ Texas Tornado Boot Camp? And more specifically who and what caused the accident to occur?

Baker: JD Beach, Jake Johnson and a bunch of MotoGP riders were there. There were a lot of amateurs there also. One of the amateurs came down into my line as I was going through traffic on a turn. He lost control of his motorcycle in an off the throttle slide out. Since he was leaning to the inside and was off the gas he pretty much fell right into me. When I hit his bike I went over the bars slowly and hit the ground. My bike ended up landing directly on my arm which resulted in the break.

AMA Pro: Does this give you a newfound respect for competing at the professional level as far as having the assurance that most professionals won’t make those kinds of mistakes?

Baker: Absolutely. I rode that whole week with JD (Beach) and I don’t think that wreck would have happened if he had been the one riding next to me. As professionals, we kind of just expect each other to stay in our lines and there’s never any doubt that we will.

AMA Pro: Do you think you will be gun-shy at all heading into Springfield if you are in fact healthy enough to ride?

Baker: No. there’s nothing to be gun-shy about, if anything, I’ll be more eager to go fast again next month. I’ll just feel the need to make that much bigger of a statement performance.