AMAP: Where are you from?
CC: I’m from Freemont, California. It’s located in the Bay area, between San Francisco and San Jose. I’ve lived here my whole life. Lodi Cycle bowl is just about an hour away from me; a lot of really good riders grew up riding there, so I got the opportunity to go there a lot when I was young.

AMAP: How did you get into riding motorcycles?
CC: Well, I started riding when I was eight years old. My dad has always been into riding and racing of different motorcycle riding disciplines. I never actually wanted to start racing, as I was into baseball and other sports. He bought me a motorcycle and I started competing in races. At first, I was kind of scared to do it, but eventually took to it and loved it ever since. I’ve always been into all different kinds of sports, and it seemed like in the off-season, if I wasn’t racing, I was into something else. I was 100% into baseball when I was doing baseball and 100% into racing when I was into racing. Many of the guys that I race with have been all about racing their whole life, so it’s kind of nice to try my hand out a bunch of other sports. I think it makes me more well rounded.

AMAP: Do you ride motorcycles in your down time to stay in race shape?
CC: I love to ride, and I do a lot of trail riding mixed with motocross. After starting my own team this season, I haven’t been on the motorcycle as much as I would’ve liked to. I actually had surgery in the off-season, so I couldn’t get a lot of riding in, but it’s pretty much back to flat track and two-wheels. In all, I like to do a lot of cross training by going to the gym and stay on the motorcycle as much as I can.

AMAP: So this is your first year having your own team? Fill us in..
CC: This will be my fourth season as an AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Expert rider. I tried my hand in the first three seasons by being on a team, and I can’t thank everyone that’s helped me out enough along those three years to get me where I am now. This season, we kind of wanted to take a little bit different direction where I can have my say in what I ride and everything in my program. With that said, I’ll be on my Kawasaki 650 in the twins class and my Honda CRF450R in the singles class. With the help of all my personal sponsors, family and friends, I’m at where I am now. The official team name is CRC Racing, and we’re excited to build momentum going into the rest of the season. Springfield is a track that suits my style, so I’m excited to go out, make a name for myself and go from there.

AMAP: Tell us about your experience at Daytona Flat Track.
CC: It’s kind of been same struggle for what I’ve been dealing with over the past few years. It seems as if I do really well in qualifying, but the races are what I have to get down. Daytona was good. We qualified in the top-10 and were there during the heat race, but I don’t know if it was the off-season jitters, but we went down in the heat race and semi. I felt fast and felt like I could run up there, but I think we just had some bad luck hit us. As the saying goes, you make your own luck, and I’ve been working hard over the off-season. Come time for Springfield, we’ll be ready to go.

AMAP: Talk about your experience at Springfield.
CC: I love going to Springfield. I’ve raced there in the amateur nationals with many of the guys I currently race against in my class. In the short track and TT, I don’t think I’ve qualified outside the top-three. It’s a good place for me, but also hasn’t been up to my standards as far as turning qualifying results to race results. I feel like I might be one of the guys that haven’t quite ridden up to their potential and put in the finishes they’re supposed to. That’s what we go there for each year, and I hope Springfield is much better to me this year. I know I’m capable of standing on the podium.

AMAP: How do you feel you’ve progressed as a rider in the AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Expert Class?
CC: Each year is definitely a learning curve. I think that each race is really a learning curve. We’re all so close and there are so many little things that you do to your bikes and setup that all add up to good results. You have to look at each race as a new race and kind of have a short term memory loss if you did well or poorly at the last race. Having a new team, I’ll be able to do the things that I want to do to the bikes and have the say as to what’s going on and off around the track. I feel like I’ve settled in around the other pro riders and am ready to win some races.

AMAP: What are some of your expectations going into the 2012 season?
CC: I try not to put any expectations on anything. I have goals for sure though. Like I said, I’d like to get my first podium this year, and if it’s right, I’d like to go for a win. The goals is to be top-10 in points at the end of the year and learn off that. I want to learn from each race and help build my team so I can have a great team and solid program in the future.

AMAP: What track format do you think fits your style of riding the best?
CC: I’ve always done better on the short tracks and TTs. That’s what we ride out here on the West Coast. We don’t have very many half-miles and miles. I do like riding the larger tracks, and hopefully with my Kawasaki, I’ll like them even more. Jimmy Wood actually raced it last year and raced it to some success. I hope it’s the same case for me so I can say I like all tracks equally.

AMAP: What draws you to the sport? The thrill, competition or the speed?
CC: It’s a little bit of everything. The competition in flat track is not like any other form of racing out there. I don’t think any other form of motorsports is as competitive as we are. You’re tenths of seconds off from first to last place. Each rider excels on their own different type of track and there are 10 or more guys that can go out and win on any day. The track and conditions are constantly changing, and so I think it’s the competition that drives me. It’s a really cool atmosphere. On track, we’re worst enemies, but off track, we’re best friends. That’s kind of a cool thing about flat track. It’s tight racing that requires a lot of trust at over 100mph. You’re trying to beat them, yet trust them at the same time.

AMAP: Who's your racing hero?
CC: I didn’t know too much about flat track when I got into it. Just from racing at Lodi and having Chris Carr from the same area, he’s always been a guy I’ve looked up to. He does so much for our sport, is well spoken and is so talented. As I got into the sport, Henry Wiles is an amazing talent and is a like a brother to me as I’ve come through the ranks. He’s always there for me if I’ve ever needed anything. He’s probably a real life hero of mine. Jake Johnson is a great representative of our sport, and I’ve always liked his riding style. He’s a really good guy too. Those three guys would have to be my heroes.

Click here to view pictures of Chad on AMA Pro Flat Track's facebook page

Chad would like to wish all the mothers a belated Mother’s Day and his girlfriend Jennifer a Happy Birthday. He is very thankful to have his sponsors back him for the 2012 season: C.R.C Racing, Arlen Ness, Bell Helmets, Reynolds Bros., Utopia, Motion Pro, Top Soil, Southland Suspension, Oneal, Lightshoe, Amped Apparel, CP Pistons, Web Cams, Spider Grips, American Supercamp, Vieria family, A&A Racing, K&N, Saddlemen, Mike & Anna Dobbs and Jennifer Bacosa.