Tracing the Bullet: a Brad Baker Profile Part 2

Six months go by before I see Brad Baker again. Despite the broken leg, a lot has happened. Most notably he's beaten World Champion Marc Marquez at the 2015 Superprestigio, the international "all-star game" of the flattrack world. A few weeks after his Superprestigio win, I visit with Brad at his Eatonville, WA home.

It’s a cozy place, on a small piece of wooded land. Stepping inside is like entering a race museum. Brad’s framer racebike sits front and center. Surrounding it are an army of trophies, plaques, medals and other honors. His Rookie Of The Year award from 2011, the checkered flag from his first Grand National win, some trophies stand nearly as tall as Baker himself. And, of course, the newly-won #1 plaque from the Superprestigio. “That one’s still got champagne on it!” Baker laughs, pointing out the streaks.

"The Superprestigio is dirt track against the world—everybody wants to see an American win," Brad says. "It's televised in 10 countries and the crowd in the stadium is electric," he continues. "The fans over there in Spain seem really intrigued; they're just more into racing period. There are more two-wheeled vehicles in Barcelona on a normal day than Bike Week in Daytona," he says. After his 2015 Superprestigio win, it seems 2016 will be full of possibilities for Brad.

As it turns out, the Superprestigio win will be Brad's last major victory until the end of 2016. His 2016 season with the Harley-Davidson factory team is marred with one disappointing mechanical incident after another. Complete engine failures put him at the end of the pack in four races, with other mechanicals affecting his results in several other races.

Redemption comes in the last race of the 2016 season when Brad handily wins the Santa Rosa mile. He is the only rider able (or willing) to take the high-line, running wide into the turns at the ragged, hay bale-lined edge of the track. As the Santa Rosa race unfolded, I thought of a story Brad told me about one of his mentors, Kevin Atherton, a Harley factory racer for 14 years. As Brad recalled: “Kevin taught me the mental aspect of racing; how to be a madman on a motorcycle. He always said to me, ‘Brad, not too many people will ride high, wide, and handsome clipping the hay bales. But, when the race is done, do you want to eat hamburger or steak?’”

Brad certainly rode the high line to victory at the Santa Rosa Mile. His steak dinner came a few days later in the form of an announcement that in 2017 he would join the Indian racing squad.

Coming off the Santa Rosa victory, the season comes full circle for Brad as he again heads to Spain for the Superprestigio. By now the phenomenon of the Superprestigio has gone beyond Europe to become a household term among motorcycle race fans in the US too. Brad confirms, “It’s the race that I hear about the most when I talk to fans.” This is reflected in Brad’s approach to the Superprestigio; he takes it upon himself to be part ambassador for the sport, part competitor.

He flies to Spain over a month before the race; it’s a time for training but also for nurturing friendships. He rides for days on end with Spanish dirt track champion, Ferran Cardus. This is the first year Spain has even had a dirt track championship, and it’s intrinsically entwined with Brad. Brad has raced in the series and regards Ferran as a good friend, as well as a serious competitive threat. Brad is a master at this friend/competitor balance. It’s as though he is single-handedly expanding the American “flat track family” vibe to the emerging scene in Europe.

Brad continues his ambassador role at Valentino Rossi’s famous “Ranch” flat track training ground in Tavulia, Italy, where he pops over from Spain for a weekend of riding with the Doctor. The two have been online friends, Rossi having texted Brad an “atta boy” for Brad’s victory over Marc Marquez in the 2015 Superprestigio. Two weeks after the Rossi Ranch visit, Brad is back in Spain training with Marquez and cultivating that relationship. Brad manages to be a friend to all.

When this year’s Superprestigio finally arrives, Brad is less successful as a competitor than he has been as ambassador. He delivers a third-place finish, with Marquez taking a solid victory. It’s clear Brad loved the race, but felt pressure as the only American in it: “The pressure to win and to produce for [American] Flat Track, it gets more intense every single year, everybody else gets better,” he says after the race. But, typical Brad, he takes an all-boats-rise philosophy, “I’m just thankful to be a part of that and that Flat Track is here and the Superprestigio is getting bigger and everyone else is growing with it,” he says.

This is one of the qualities that defines Brad; he thinks more about the good of the sport than of his own raceday result. At Brad’s house, I’d asked where he saw flattrack in five years. “I see it with 20-25 Nationals on the schedule. I’d like to see it not be a surprise when ten- to fifteen-thousand people come to every race. And I’d like to see more manufacturers on the grid,” he responded. I then asked him where he saw himself in five years. “Basically doing what I’m doing now, only with a couple more championships hopefully,” he smiled. Going into 2017, Baker’s schedule prediction is coming close, with 18 races slated. His hope for more manufacturers is unfolding in grand fashion with Indian returning to racing. Only time will tell on his personal goal of winning a few more Championships. One thing is certain; you would be hard-pressed to find a rider with more heart and potential.