Brian Boyd has been making the trek from Wisconsin down to Dayton, Florida for about ten years now. He longs for the days when you raced the 1000s in the Daytona 200. He no longer races the 200, since he feels out of place on the smaller bikes, instead opting to focus on the Superstock class. CJ managed to catch up to Brian a couple of hours before he took to the track for the Superstock race.

RRX: How’s it going so far?
Real good. It’s a tough field out here. The boys are flying, that’s for sure. For us privateers, it’s hard to keep up with them, but we’re doing all right.

Is this your first time in Daytona?
No, this is probably my tenth year down here. I’ve done quite a few 200s in the past, but once they downsized it to the 600s, I stayed on the big bikes. The little bikes don’t suit me.

Where do you normally race?
Mostly in the Midwest. I mean this year I’m going to try to file about three, four, to five AMA events around the country I’m going to try to do. And then the Midwest, I try to stay with.

What’s your home track?
My home track would be Blackhawk Farms.

What’s your favorite track?
My favorite track would be Road America. It’s fast, flowing; it’s a home track—get lots of laps there. It’s great and close to home. [Laughs]

When did you start riding?
This is my sixteenth year of road racing.

What would you say is your highlight of your career so far?
I would have to say the 200s—the Daytona 200s.

What did you like about them?
I just like the longevity, the prestige of them. I think there was more prestige in it years ago than it is now, because [now] anyone with a 600 is starting to do it. Years ago, it was a lot harder to get in. You’d see 120 or 130 bikes show up for 80 grid spots. Now-a-days, I don’t even think there’s 80 bikes trying to get into the field. Years ago, it was a lot tougher.

Is there anything that’s better about it now, or do you just remember the good old days?
I just remember the good old days—as far as the 200. I mean, Daytona is still Daytona. That’s why I still come down here.

What do you mean when you say that?
Daytona just has ambience. You’ve got the bike thing going on and of course you look out here and you’ve got the grandstands. It’s just an awesome place to be.

Much bigger deal than most of the races you do.
Yeah, exactly. The AMA races I do follow around, the prestige is all there. But still, Daytona is Daytona. This is the Superbowl.

Have you been checking out some of the bike week activities happening on Main Street?
Once in a while. Over the years I’ve done them all. Now I just kind of focus on what I’m doing here. We don’t like to fight the crowd. Once you’ve done it once, you’ve done it.

When did you get down here?
We pulled in Monday afternoon.

As a privateer, how does the process go?
Tuesday was a complete setup—you get the trailer in here, you get the bikes prepped, tires changed, make sure you’ve got the right gearing and everything and get ready for Wednesday morning. I was first on the track yesterday morning, at 8 am. The bike has to be ready to go. You have no time to do anything because the gates open at seven [Wednesday], and you’ve got to be ready to go. Yesterday was a busy day. You had practice, qualifying, and today you have a little practice and then the race this afternoon.

Do you have much help working on the bike?
No, mostly myself. I have a buddy down here, and of course my wife and child are here, but they try to go toward the beach during the day. [Laughs]

What are your goals for this year?
This year? Well I’ve done this long enough that I’m just trying to have fun. As long as I still have fun, it usually helps the pocketbook. When it becomes not fun, you know, it hurts the pocketbook. We get a little help with parts here and there, but besides that, this is a true privateer effort.

What do you do for your regular job?
I have a flooring company. My brother and I own it.

So you have flexible hours.
Exactly, which is a must. He—my brother—used to race, but he doesn’t race as much any more. So he’s home manning the business right now.

Do you have one favorite Daytona memory in particular from over the years?
I would say it was probably the 1999 Daytona 200. I finished 26 th and my brother was 27 th. Right there together.

Were you riding together throughout the race?
At the beginning, but then we lost each other during the pit stops. That was probably one of the best memories.

Well, hopefully this will be another one.
I hope so.

Thanks Brian, and good luck.
Thanks, Chris.

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