Catching Up With Austin Stroupe Vol 2

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Sat, Jan 24 2009 3:13 pm | Comments

Last year, Austin Stroupe won the Houston SX when it was a round of the Western Regional Supercross Lites Series. This year, he’s switched to the Eastern Regional Supercross Lites Series, and so has the Houston round! We caught up with the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider to see how he’s feeling about this year’s championship.

How are you feeling coming into the opener tonight?

It feels good. I’m glad to be here. It’s been a while. I got my first Supercross win inside this stadium last year, so I like it here. Hopefully we’ll have a good weekend.

How’s training and testing been going since coming back from your collarbone injury?

It’s been good. The team has been by my side, and we actually got some good testing done in the past week, so I think we’re all ready. I’m ready to have a good weekend.

Where do you feel speed wise compared last year at this time?

I think my speed has always been there, but I think I’ve lacked any endurance. I believe I have my endurance this year, so hopefully I can put all of that together and put forth a consistent season and take home the championship.

Is a championship your expectations for 2009?

Yeah. I don’t want to toss the championship away this weekend. We have a three-week break after tonight, so I just want to be up on the box. I want to have good practice times, do well in the heat race, and land on the podium in the main event. It’s all about putting myself in contention for the championship.

What else have you been doing besides training and riding?

I’ve been playing Xbox Live a lot. I play a lot of Call of Duty, so that’s basically all I do.

Are we going to do that rap video soon?

(Laughs) I haven’t been working on my skills much, so I’ll need to start working on that.

Why did you go back to the three digit number?

I didn’t like the new number I was going to have coming into this year. My three digit number was what I ran in the amateurs and it was always good to me, so I am looking to have more good results with my amateur number.

What was your earned number?

46.

Why didn’t you like that number? Does it remind you of somebody?

No. I just don’t like 46, so I decided to run 981.