FEBRUARY 6, 2006
photo Scott Clarke/ESPN Images
RXC: First of all, congratulations on another gold medal, Blair!
Blair Morgan: Thanks. It was good. It was kind of unbelievable for a little bit there, with the way things were going, but whatever, that's how it goes. That guy [Levi LaVallee] is known for crashing.
Tell us what happened in the main?
I had a decent start; I was fourth or fifth. Right off the start, Levi and Robbie [Malinoski] were gone. They kind of came together and Robbie crashed really hard and it sent up a bunch of yellow flags. Where Robbie crashed, we had to almost stop there and then Levi was gone. He was six or seven seconds ahead after two or three laps. I had a battle with a few guys at the beginning and that kind of slowed me up. By the time I got into second, it was lap 11 and he was gone. But I reeled him in pretty fast; I think that might be why he crashed. At one time I was 13 seconds behind, and by the time he crashed, I was only three or four seconds behind him.
I guess he must have known you were there?
Oh yeah, because they have headsets in the helmets, so he would have known I was coming.
Do you have a headset in your helmet?
I don't have it, but the other guys do. I don't know, I don't think I'd want someone talking to me all the time when I am out there. It's kind of like NASCAR. But we are going to try it next week because I think it is a bit of an advantage, because we can't pit board or anything.
So what happened to LaVallee on the last lap?
He got all squirrelly in this little rhythm section before the finish line and it just threw him off. He is notorious for crashing, that kid.
It was a longer race this year; I guess that format worked out for you?
Yeah, it was a 15 lap final. We were supposed to be doing 20 laps, but our fuel tanks aren't very big on the machines so we weren't sure if we were going to make it, so we did 15. It was pretty much perfect. He crashed when the white flag came out so … I was like, 'thank you.'
Were you expecting to ride that well coming off of another injury?
Well, not really. My thumb actually healed really fast; I got the pin taken out just before Christmas and I was riding over Christmas. I felt really comfortable, but the first race I went to, I think I had kind of over-trained a little bit. I was pretty tired going into the first race we had in Minneapolis and I didn't do that well. Then the next weekend, we had another race, I felt okay and I actually ended up winning the Open final. I pulled the holeshot and just rode away, but I just didn't really feel well. Then, going into the X Games, I felt really good. I was riding well and it seemed like I was kind of picking up some speed a little bit. Yeah, I felt great up there. It's high elevation and it's a little hard on the lungs. And then this week, I feel great, I feel awesome.
That's good timing to start feeling good again, right as the X Games roll around.
Yeah, exactly. It was perfect. It's been kind of weird. Our Ski-Doo contract is up and we are trying to negotiate with them for the next few years and stuff. They weren't sure if I was going to be back and healthy so it's all kind of falling into place now.
Morgan said the pressure surrounding the X Games can be pretty intense.
photo Scott Clarke/ESPN Images
This is your fifth Winter X Games gold medal. Did it feel just as good as the last four?
It did. It was a little bit more unbelievable this time. When I was riding around in fourth, I kept looking over and I could see him already on the next straightaway, and I was like, there is no way I am winning this. But I just tried to catch him and then once I was in second, I just poured it on anyways, because I thought maybe I could catch him. He's kind of notorious for getting tired and making mistakes. I am kind of glad I did, because he got up pretty fast, so if I hadn't poured it on like I did, I think he would have been able to hang on to the lead still. But as soon as the white flag came out and I saw him on the ground, I was just like, 'no way!' It was kind of weird. It felt maybe a little bit better, because last year I just got the holeshot and rode away. I battled with Tucker a little bit but… It's just a long few days there. Practice started on Friday, qualifying was on Saturday; the race wasn't until Tuesday night at 8 o'clock. I had a long time to think about the final, so it's pretty nerve wracking. It's such a huge race to win, for everybody, for the team, for bragging rights. There's so much pressure; I was just glad to get it over with.
What do you win?
You win the medal and some pretty good prize money. But it's almost priceless. Now Ski-Doo was happy to sign me, so it's worth a whole lot more than that. It's pretty cool. The prize money and stuff is just kind of a bonus; it's just a really cool event. I was on Sports Centre on ESPN, they took a tour of our truck, and did the whole ESPN bit.
So the whole team was pretty happy?
Oh yeah, they were so excited. We actually had five guys on our team who made it to the X Games so we had about 20 crewmembers. We had some bad luck with some of our other guys, like Steve Taylor, who didn't make it all the way through; they were riding really well and they deserved to be in the final. They had four qualifiers and only the top four went on and the other four were just done for the weekend, no LCQ, nothing. So that's what happened to Tucker, he got held up in the first corner and was way back, then he fell again and he was just done. I was in the last qualifier, and then I saw Steve not make it, yeah, the whole weekend was just nerve wracking. I just needed to ride clean and fast and make it.
You've had plenty of wins in your career. What makes the X Games so special?
It's really exciting there. The track is really good and the whole atmosphere is really fun. We worked hard at it. It's not like we didn't deserve to win it. Everyone was saying we got handed the win [after Levi went down]. Robbie's crew was saying he should have won. It's just like, whatever - you guys have not been around racing long enough. It's kind of weird. I am so glad I have my motocross background. You know, it takes hard work to win. In snowcross, there is just a little bit more luck involved. Someone can get a holeshot and then go on to win.
Was the track much different this year?
They tried to make it a little more technical and they didn't really have the huge jumps they've had in the past. But ESPN told them to fix it up for TV. For our final, we had a pretty big 110-foot triple.
Do you know what your plans are for the summer yet?
No, I haven't heard. I was going to give Rick Rundberg a call; I heard that Morgan Racing got the Yamaha deal. But I know all the Yamaha guys aren't even signed yet, guys like Kyle Beaton. So, I don't know what's going on, but I'm hoping to be back with Yamaha again. Everything is always last minute with Canadian motocross. (laughs)
Thanks Blair and good luck with the rest of the season.
Thanks.
