With New Racers, New Classes And A Champion's Boots To Fill, GNCC Racing Is Blowing Up!
Yogi Sighting!
Lusk Steps Out Of The Shadows For A Moment
At Suzuki's recent RM-Z250 intro, a number of former yellow racers were on hand to support the brand. We saw Mark Barnett, Travis Pastrana, Damon Huffman and-believe it or not-Ezra Lusk! Since retiring a few years ago, Yogi has been all but invisible to the motorcycling community. We had a few words with Lusk to see how life without motorcycles has been treating him.
Ezra, We Haven't Seen You In Ages. What Have You Been Up To?
Basically, man, just raising a family. I have been playing a lot of tennis lately, too. I did that when I was younger, but I obviously didn't have much of a chance with it because of the racing, since I was at that for about 13 years. Other than tennis, though, I haven't been doing much of anything. We are getting ready to build a new house, and I have just been enjoying being a dad and being normal.
Your younger brother, Shane, was injured pretty badly a while back. How's he doing?He's great; he is really lucky. He spent a lot of time in rehab. He got kickstarted on his therapy, and now he can walk on his own with a crutch, though he gets a little tired. Now he is in his second year at Florida State University, and he is a really hard worker. He's impressive.
Are You Still Connected To The Industry?I really haven't been keeping track of the racing. When I arrived at the intro today, I had to ask the people at Suzuki who is leading the Nationals! The races came down to the wire in the 125s, but I didn't know. It is really cool to see young guys, the 16-year-olds, in the 125 class, because that is the way it should be. I followed the battle between RC, Bubba and Reed a bit, but not too much. I've been busy doing my own thing. That part of my life has passed me by; I follow tennis tournaments now!
Do You Have A Bike Still?
Yeah, Brock Sellards comes over every winter, and we train with Davi Millsaps. We ride a little then Brock leaves, and I'm ready to take another 10-month break. I have other things on my plate that I enjoy doing, and riding just takes a back seat.
It sounds like you are pretty happy with your life now. Tell us about your kid.He is three months old. We're going to talk about having another one after we get settled in our new house. I like being a dad. It's a different experience, for sure! Having a kid goes above and beyond what I expected of it. If you aren't an adult, you sure are after that happens