Adam Cianciarulo Interview: Daytona Press Day
March 01, 2024
Welcome back. How does it feel?
Ah, it feels good. Yeah. I didn't wanna miss this race. Daytona. I've never raced on a 450 actually. A lot of really good memories here though; I grew up about five miles south, so a lot of friends and family. I'm excited.Does that bring additional stress sometimes racing in front of the friends and family?
No, not in terms of actually racing. I mean, I think trying to sort out tickets and stuff like that is the most stressful part of it, but we handle that early in the week. So no, I'm really happy to have everybody here. As a kid racing amateurs it's such a family affair and then growing up and doing this professionally, it becomes your own thing and they don't get to see you race all the time. So, I mean, it’s exciting to have them around.What do you think of the track design this year?
This is really the first I'm seeing of it. I've actually been watching those MX simulator races where they do the replica tracks. It's been pretty fun watching that, but that's all I've seen so far. First impression, just looking at it today, I think it's a lot of sand. I feel like it's clay capped a little bit less than it normally is, so it's gonna break down a lot. It's gonna look like a completely different track this time tomorrow.Does the mx sim racing give you some ideas?
[laughs] No, it's hard to tell because on the game they just build those tracks based off the track map and sometimes it changes a little bit here and there. But no; if anything, it's been making me want to get a PC set up and try it out. [laughs]How's the hand feeling?
Which one? [laughs] No, it's okay. The left one is the break. It still gives me some pain, but it's fine. Nothing that's really gonna hold me back. Haven't been able to get a whole lot of time on the bike, obviously. Just a couple days on Supercross, but I didn't wanna miss this one, you know, I'd rather kind of race my way back into race shape or whatever. Just be out here; I always hate missing time.You've been through a lot in the last couple years injury-wise. How has your mentality shifted? It seems like you're genuinely happier, but I don't know if that's a front you're putting on… [laughs] not to call you out on anything; just curious.
[laughs] No no no. I mean, there's been times in my life for sure I've put on a front. You grow up in the sport and always have this feedback from fans. It's easy to start like playing a character almost. But as I've gotten older, I've always tried to be true to myself as much as I can. And yeah, I think I've always had race winning speed, but it's been other things that I've had to work on; even from a mental side of things to calm it down. And really, I'm just at a point in my life where I feel grateful. If I come out here and get 10th or I win, it's not gonna change my life much. I'm still really motivated, still love to compete, so don't want anybody to think I’m cashing it in and I'm just riding around. I take this stuff dead serious and I try just as hard as I ever have, but obviously I have some health limitations that hold me back. When you go through something like that, something that frustrating, it can definitely change you. In my case it's been for the better I'd say.
