The article on this interview can be found here.

Some text has been altered from the actual dialogue to improve readability.

Transcript

131: You’ve won the Baja 1000, the Dakar Rally, Hammers, and the Mint in five months. If you had gone back in time to maybe a year ago and told yourself this is what you’d accomplish so soon, do you think you’d believe yourself?

BH: I don’t know. I mean, I’ve never thought about it that way. I look at it like I have all the pieces to the puzzle to go and do it. Of course, the RZR is solid, the whole SCi team is super solid, so it’s all there. It’s just a matter of me pulling it together. So am I surprised? A little. Am I not surprised? A little.

Kind of just one of those things. I’ve had some good results in the RZR since I started, so it’s nice to kind of put it all together and essentially go win some big races.

131: Given your win streak and especially all these big races, do you feel any sort of pressure going into the later races or do you feel that you’re comfortable even with higher expectations?

BH: I feel comfortable. I think it’s a good spot to be in, you know, being that guy. For me, I feel comfortable being in this spot and I enjoy it. It means I’m doing something right. Just been enjoying my time behind the wheel recently and I’m just glad I can stack results with that.

131: Looking at how you did at the Mint, you were basically in front for like the entire day, but how was the course as a whole? Even with how dominant you were, I can’t imagine it was just another walk in the park.

BH: Yeah, that course, it was definitely rough. I’ve raced the Mint in the past so it wasn’t something new, first time doing it in a RZR or UTV. I had fun, course was super fun. Normally I would say there’s more rocks and there weren’t this year, so it made for a lot faster, rougher race, which I enjoyed. It’s kind of like a King of the Hammers sprint race in a way, just obviously a lot rougher, so it kind of fits my style. Starting up front, everyone was behind me, so I just had to get through lappers every lap and just try to set the pace for everyone.

131: How different was racing the Mint in a UTV compared to a truck?

BH: Yeah, it’s different. In the truck, you’re running that second session so it does get rougher. Also I’ve raced it in a 10 car, so I’ve raced it in that Limited Race and done well there. It’s just kind of the same old Mint, nothing new, no new course that I’ve never been on. Overall, it was what I would expect the course to be. I know it changes year by year, but for the most part, it was the same. I always enjoyed racing there, always had good results no matter what I do, so it was fun to get another good result.

131: Besides Max and Cayden, what’s it like working with the other drivers on the team like your old co-driver Ethan Groom at the Mint or Dylan Schmoke or even Bryce Menzies at Hammers?

BH: Yeah, it’s cool. Ethan, he rode with me my first full year racing my RZR. He rode with me all year, I’ve known him for a long time. His dad has been a big sponsor for me growing up, so it’s cool to see him drive in. Same with Dylan, kind of known Dylan for a while, so it’s cool seeing him around. Justin Morgan, kind of never really knew him till this whole thing, so it’s fun getting to know those guys and trying to help them in however way I can and as a whole, hopefully everyone has good results.

131: Going a little further back, how different or similar was racing Dakar compared to what you’re used to in the desert?

BH: Dakar is its own beast. It’s hard to explain Dakar to how it is. It’s just a totally different format of racing, just the course in general of knowing where you’re going. Here at home, we have a trail, probably been around the course once before or you have the opportunity to go around it. Just that alone is a huge difference of roadbook racing, something that I’ve never done. We conquered a lot of miles every day. Throughout those two weeks, we covered a lot of ground, probably more in those two weeks than I do in two years of racing here in the U.S.

A lot of racing, a lot of driving, and I think that’s what makes it fun. It’s a complete challenge just to get to the finish line, let alone do any good.

131: Last year, you had said that the thing that you were looking forward to the most at Dakar was the adventure. Would you say it lived up to your hype?

BH: Yeah, I say it would. I always kind of followed along and (thought), ‘Yeah, it seemed long but it can’t be that bad.’ There’s some road sections and whatnot, but it definitely was way longer than I thought. The first week felt like it took two months just to get through the first week. But after that, the days clicked through pretty quick. We were doing good and getting close to the finish line.

So yeah, it’s everything I expected. It was cool just to see all the other teams there trying to compete, all the people on the support side of stuff and mechanics is gnarly. It’s very cool to go and experience that.

131: I believe you’re the fourth American to win at Dakar and you’ve got pretty big company here like Ricky Brabec, Casey Currie, Austin Jones. How does it feel getting to not only represent the U.S. on such a big stage but to also win while doing so?

BH: Yeah, I think that’s a big part of it. You look at that side of things, of the fact that you’re one of a few Americans that are racing. As we won it, I think Max said something like, “You know, it’s wild. We’re the only Americans bringing home a number one trophy this year, which is cool.”

It’s really cool to look at it and in that aspect of things. I know my little town I’m from, El Centro, was super proud of me and Max. They gave us a certificate, a recognition certificate, so it’s kind of cool seeing the support on that side of things. Obviously, looking at the bigger picture and who you’re representing: Polaris is an American brand and to have an American driver and co-driver, it was big for them. It was cool around representing them.

131: Even though rally isn’t exactly the same as desert or rock racing, was there anything you picked up from or learned from Dakar that you felt you were able to apply to Hammers or the Mint?

BH: No, not really. Our cars are slower there, so I wouldn’t say it made me a better driver or anything, I don’t think so. It was good just trying to push the car every day to its limits and enough to stay up front. Back here, we race a lot faster cars. Top speeds are a lot higher, everything’s a lot higher.

Going there, it was like going to a K1 track essentially, after you get in trouble and they turn your kart down and you’re going slow. [laughs]

I mean, they still obviously go really good, but just kind of comparing apples to apples.

131: Obviously your focus now is going to be on SCORE, but could we possibly see you run it back at Dakar next year or in the future?

BH: I’m not fully positive on future Dakar stuff, but it’s definitely top of my agenda. It’s something that I want to go back and do. It’s just a matter of trying to put everything together and hopefully be able to go do that. If I could go do more rally races, that would be cool along with racing here in the U.S.

131: Talking about Polaris in general, obviously they’ve been killing it with you and the team, Can-Am’s got their thing with the Maverick R, and then you also got like Honda, SPEED UTV, and even Kawasaki. What are your thoughts on how UTV racing has grown lately?

BH: It’s definitely the place, the class to go race. It’s fun having the different manufacturers battling it out. It makes it a lot of fun. Competition is competition and there’s a lot of people racing the class or all the UTV classes. They’re all fairly competitive.

It’s cool to see how far Polaris and RZR have come, especially with these new race cars. Anyone can go buy my same exact race car and go race against me or go beat me. That part’s kind of cool—I mean, I’m saying that now until I get beat by one and it’ll probably be different. [laughs]

But overall, I would say the competition is probably one of the most stacked classes that I’ve ever raced in, especially in the desert. It’s cool just to try to go and develop a car every time we’re out there and make the Polaris RZR the best Polaris RZR it could be.

131: During the Mint, you went up against a bunch of Class 10s as well and then Max at the 1000 [editor’s note: it was the Baja 400] raced in Class 1. What are your thoughts on how UTVs have been keeping pace and even surpassing those other classes?

BH: The Baja 1000, I think I… I guess I should know this, but Aaron (Gaspar) will correct me. I think I got seventh overall.

AG: Yeah.

BH: That shows a lot of where these cars are nowadays. Some of the races, we start behind a lot of slower classes or behind classes that I think we’re faster than nowadays. We waste a lot of time trying to pick through the classes and whatnot, so I’d be curious to hopefully, maybe at some point, get the opportunity to try to go race under Class 1 or something like that. I just want to go out there and show people how fast these Polaris RZRs are and try to go compete for things that people think is impossible.

131: Looking at the next month, I’m sure you’ve seen the course for San Felipe that dropped a few days ago. What do you think of it?

BH: I haven’t looked at it too much. I think it’ll be fun. It seems like we’re going to run pretty much every San Felipe wash that there is. Looking forward to it. I don’t really look at it too much ahead of time. It’s just more so I play the cards that I’m dealt with once I’m there and see how the track is, just take off the start line and try to do what we need to do and hopefully have a good day.

131: You won the UTV Open title last year by I think it was just one point. Even with how close that was, how confident are you that you can win it for a third year in a row?

BH: It’s always good to win the championship. My first two years, I was able to do it. But for me, it’s going to be to just go race by race, and if I do everything right along the way there, then maybe there’s a good chance of winning it. For me, it’s just going to be… yeah, just going race by race, trying to do the best I can do, and I hope everything works out.

If it all works out to plan then hopefully, we are able to compete for that again.

Interview on YouTube

Featured image credit: Julien Delfosse / DPPI