Racer X: You’re finally back on the podium. And out of nowhere! It wasn’t like the previous races you were getting a sixth, a fifth and a fourth. Where did this come from?
Josh Grant: I think it came from a good start. Just one of those things I’ve been battling. Ever since I got hurt in L.A., it was like, “Okay, what are my goals here?” And to be honest, it wasn’t like I expected to be up on the podium just four races back from my injury. Going into the weekend I was just trying to keep building a base for outdoors, because that’s what I’m putting my focus into. The last couple weeks have been tough because I would get ninth place in the heat, and I would automatically get 18th gate pick in the main, and that makes it hard to get a good start, and once you’re in the back it’s almost impossible to make your way forward. So this weekend, yeah, I finally got a good start, tucked my front wheel in there and got into second. I know I’ve been working my butt off so I could do 20 laps, so I just settled into my own lines and my own pace.

So what kind of a boost is this?
Honestly, it was so relieving. I’ve been busting my ass for the last couple of years. When I was on Honda, I didn’t really get a chance to do much because of the two knee injuries I had, they were big injuries and I couldn’t really ride or train much, and that sucked. But since then, the work I’ve been putting in with my trainer, and how comfortable I’m feeling on the Kawi, I just really wanted to do well. To have a good, strong finish, and to feel like I was capable of doing that the whole time, that meant more to me than getting the second place finish. To know I still had the mojo to do it.

To me that’s always been a strength of yours. You always seem to have belief in yourself, and we’ve seen you come back from injuries before and run up front again. But did even you start to have some doubts?
Yeah, you know, it’s like, you know what you’ve done in your life, and what you did that first year in 450s, and you have to live up to that reputation. The last few years have really beaten me up, not just on the racing side, but the personal side, too. I’ve had a lot of stuff happen in my life that I don’t want to talk about here, but I don’t think a lot of people could have gotten through it. I think having my son Wyatt with my wife Ashley, at that time, it helped me get through it, and get back to the person I used to be.

I’m sure you want to turn this all around, so do you try to use this finish as proof that the worst is behind you?
I mean, there’s still stuff that goes on that we have to deal with, but what makes my job easier is knowing I have to provide for him [Wyatt]. He’s the one that makes me want to succeed. I want to be a dad that can go out there and support his child. That drives me more than anything else I’ve ever had. You know, it’s not even close to saying you want to buy yourself a new car or something like that. None of that crap even matters to me. Now I have school to pay for and things like that. That’s my whole motivation.

Back in the day, they used to think having a family was a bad thing for a racer as far as how it would hurt their results, but nowadays a lot of riders have kids and they’re still going fast. You seem to think it’s actually a boost.
I definitely feel that way. Right now is the most focused I’ve been in a long time. He keeps me on my toes. And it’s not like this is a burden or something I only feel like I have to do. This is something I want to do. So you keep plugging away, and it feels good. Even when you’re at the gym, when it hurts like hell, even that feels good when you have this kind of motivation.

So where do we put the expectations now? Ratchet them right back up and expect podiums every weekend again?
No! [Laughs]. For me, having that second was a good way to show I can still do it, but I’m not going to kill myself for another podium this year in supercross. I want to get ready for outdoors. Supercross, this year, it’s over. It’s not worth pushing your limit again just for three rounds. I just want to bring my momentum into outdoors and build a strong base.

So might we see the old Josh Grant for the Nationals?
I can tell you I’m feeling like my old self. I’ve been riding the tracks out here in California and the bike has been feeling really comfortable for me. I’m excited about it. My head is in a good place and so is my body.

I know you were almost rushing to get ready for Anaheim. Did the shoulder injury in L.A., and the time off, actually help your knee?
Yeah it definitely did. I was kind of questioning that myself when I got hurt in L.A. I was rushing, I had only ridden three weeks before Anaheim, and had maybe been on the bike 10 times. But at the same time I thought I should race, and I could make the mains and get my feet back in the door. Then I got hurt again. But that definitely helped my knee recover from that last surgery, in July. It doesn’t bother me anymore. I was struggling going onto table tops with an on off, because I didn’t have the leg strength there to do it. So I was sticking to slower rhythms. Now I feel like I have that intensity and that spark and fire back.

But if you don’t podium at these last few, we don’t need to go crazy. You’ll be ready come Hangtown.
Yeah Seattle is always crazy with the weather. I’m just going to run my pace and see where it gets me. If it’s fifth or fourth, or on the podium or even a win, whatever it gets me is what it gets me. I just want to have fun and be ready for outdoors. But it definitely feels good to have that monkey off my back.

In 2011, Australian Josh Sheehan blasted onto the scene throwing the elusive double backflip at will, and stacked up a Red Bull X-Fighters win, as well as a bronze medal at X Games 17. Unfortunately, during the Freestyle event at XG17, Sheehan dislocated his shoulder, causing him to undergo reconstructive shoulder surgery later in the year. Now, following three months in recovery, Sheehan is preparing for his 2012 comeback, and hungry to attain X Games gold this summer. Recently, we caught up with Sheehan to discuss the injury, the recovery and what to expect in the 2012 season.

What was the highlight of your year?
Easy, my win at the Red Bull X-Fighters tour stop in Sydney! It was my first win of the series, my first time double flipping in a run, and to top it all off, it was my home country with friends and family there! It's hard to beat that.

Getting back to 2012, what events or tours are you confirmed for?
I have the Red Bull X-Fighters series and Nitro Circus Live tours taking up a good chunk of my time. Then some Night Of The Jumps on top of that.

Do you have anything new as far as tricks go this year?
Nothing yet, but I've just had three months off the bike so I've got some catching up to do if I want to get back to the level I was at last year.

Assuming you get the invite, what are your goals for X Games in Best Trick and Freestyle?
Hopefully I can be confident with the trick I wanted to do last year for Best Trick. But I want to give everything I have in Freestyle. If is wasn't for those couple crashes, I think I could have done it last year. But that is okay, because now I want it even more this year.

What does your program look like this year, are you sticking with the same sponsors?
Yeah pretty much the same with Honda, Red Bull, Valyside Apparel, Dragon, Thor and I will be working with the Honda Race Team in Australia. I am still working on a few minor changes which will be finalized shortly.

Racer X: Blake Wharton, great job, second career win. Kind of a weird deal with the start, but you rode great.

Blake Wharton: It was weird! I’ve never seen anything like it, and I don’t know if we’ll race like that again. That kind of thing is few and far between. Unfortunately, if we have them, someone has crashed, and we don’t want that. The regular start of the race was good for me. I worked my way up to third, and then the red flag came out. I’m so used to the red flag rule, you just go back to the gate. Out west, they’ve had a lot of red flags, and they’ve always gone back to the gate. So you kind of think that’s just the way it goes. You know, I haven’t been reading up on the rule book lately, you know, before I go to bed or anything! But I have no problem with it.

Even before the restart you had already passed a few guys so you were already kind of feeling it.

I was feeling it tonight. You have to kind of wing it out there when you’re racing. But you have to stay up at the same time, too. It’s cool, it’s cool to win it.

Pretty uneventful main after that. Roczen went down, you got the lead and kept the guys at the same distance.

At that point I did my own thing. Rode my own race. I didn’t have anyone directly on me, so there wasn’t any direct pressure, but there’s always pressure when you’re leading. I felt like I handled it good, and pretty much did my own thing, like I said. I’m just going to try to carry this forward into the next week and then into the following week.

The whoops looked kind of sketchy.

The whoops were tough, but my bike was getting through them good and I was getting through them good. I wasn’t the fastest guy through them but I got the win and that’s what matters.

Talk about working with Randy Lawrence here with the team. You said you’ve been learning a lot.

Yeah, I’ve actually been living in California, three weeks before Halloween through now. And I’ve been working with Randy. It has been months, and I’m going to keep staying out there even more, to outdoors, and I don’t even know when. I haven’t even been in Texas. We’ve been training, we’ve been riding bicycles, we’ve been doing a lot of stuff. I feel good and I feel strong so I’m going to continue to do it.

Is this a little bit of redemption? The GEICO guys let you go. Maybe they didn’t think you could win again?

No, the GEICO guys are good, they’re good guys. I rode for them for a long time, four years. So I have relationships over there, but to come here is even better, I think. The team is great over here, I have a great mechanic, and the team has been supporting me through all the months and months getting ready for this. They developed a great bike. It wouldn’t be possible without a great bike. It takes more than just a fast lap out there, as everyone can see, it takes a lot of things.

No, none of that. I’m not all about that!

The SCORE San Felipe 250 was the beginning of what looks to be one of the greatest years of Baja racing ever.

Now that you are two races in to the season, how would you say it as gone?

I feel like I have made some good improvements in my riding, but I’m not satisfied. And what I mean in that is I’m going to keep pushing until my results are where they need to be. Because at this point even though I have had some good speed, and had good moments, and been off the bike before these two races because my last race was St. Louis last year. I know that it takes a little while to get back in to your groove, but I feel good right now on the bike but my results haven’t been what I’d like to see them be. I know what I am capable of if I go out and perform the way I train to.

How do you feel on your new Suzuki?

I think the bike is great. I wasn’t with this team (Rockstar Suzuki) last year, but I have been with them long enough now to know that they have made some really good improvements over last year’s stuff. They put a lot of effort in to this bike and a lot of good things have been done to it. It is tough to find horsepower these days and there is a lot of competition with the good teams out there. But this team has put in a really good effort and they have equipped us with good bikes. And I know this, because I have gotten some good starts this year and I have ridden good bikes before, so I feel like the Suzuki has always suited me, because I rode them for several years in the amateurs and I have always liked them. I am happy with the bike and what the team has done for me, and now it is a matter of time for me to put in the results. Unfortunately, it sometimes takes longer than you would want, but I have taken away some good things in these last two races.

Did you come in to this year with a more aggressive mindset? It seems like this year, especially at Dallas, that every Lites rider on the track is bouncing off one another.

I think that the East happens to look pretty gnarly with dudes running in to each other for whatever reason. It is surprising because you never know what the first round will bring, and it came and went with dudes hitting each other and I got hit a couple times. I felt like I was riding aggressive and my style has gotten more aggressive. I am going out there to win races, and I haven’t won a race yet. We are two races in, but that is the goal. There is a certain amount of aggressive riding that is good and certain amount is overkill and unnecessary. Everyone else is pretty aggressive so you have to be. There is only so much you can let slide before you get in there and bang bars, too. In the amateur days and early on, my style was a little different than that, I would get good starts and was able to ride a certain way. Everyone finds and niche and sticks with that and some people win because they are fastest and some people win because they are smartest, and you have to have a mix of that. And as the season pushes forward I’m sure the aggressive riding isn’t done. You have to be ready for it because someone will hit you and you will go down, which is unacceptable. You have to be on your toes and prepared for anything with these guys, because there are some dudes that seem like they just like to hit stuff.

In your heat race at Dallas, when you were getting bumped around, does it aggravate you and make you race harder or do you brush it off?

I think with it was the first round and everyone going, “Whoa, what’s going on here? I just got bumped.” But to say that it can bring me down, no, not really. Some you expect because you know a certain amount of that will happen. But I’m never really satisfied when I am getting bumped around, because that is not the goal. The goal is to win, and if I can go out in the next race and win, I have gotten my, not revenge but my redemption. I’m there to win the race, not play bumper cars with everyone. I would rather not see anyone on the track, just get the holeshot and leave them all (Laughs). But that is easier said than done, because there are a lot of fast guys. I feel like I have upped my pace, but the competition is always upping themselves. You just have to go with it.

While there have only been two races, you have been consistent in both and are currently third in points. You are fourteen points off of Justin Barcia, but now that you are coming in to St. Louis and other tracks that you are used to, how do you think these next few weeks will go?

A lot can change in one or two rounds, so it is really hard to say. I have done well at St. Louis before and I won my first and only Supercross there in 2009. I will go in with the same mindset I always have, but know that I have done well there before and that I can do it again. There is not much room for error in this class right now and you cannot go out and make fifteen mistakes and get away with it. A lot of guys are riding pretty clean laps and are putting fast laps down so consistency is key, but you have to have the speed and have to risk it every now and then. You have to run the fine of the two. I feel good going in to this weekend; it is the third round and I’m not going to rest until I get the results that I want.

You have been in the Lites class for four years now, but because you didn’t score any points in the Nationals last year, how much longer will you have Lites class eligibility?

It seems like the rules are always changing. “You can ride this long. No, wait, this is the age.” I don’t know what the rules are or what they will be next year. All I know is and the last I heard was it was a set amount of points each year for three years straight, then you point out. If you win a championship, you have one year to defend it and then you are out. My first year of Supercross, I didn’t point out because I missed it by two points. The second season I missed it by four, and then last year I missed it by a few because I didn’t race the last round at Vegas. So as of right now, I haven’t pointed out a year yet, so I have three years of Lites class left right now. But that is how it works now and we will see how the season goes for me. Hopefully you point out, because that means you are finishing high and I have been close the last few years. I like racing the 450, but I am content with the Lites class. I’d love to the 250 and 450 in the same night if they would let me. Just spread my heats out and I’ll do it (Laughs).