One note of disappointment would be Chris' elimination from any mathematical chance of recapturing the AMA title in 2000 as Joe Kopp solidified his lead in that series and made it impossible for Chris to catch him.

"I finally won a wrenchead.com race. It was pretty cool. It was one of them things where everything was perfect all night long. We had a little problem through qualifying, but we were still fast qualifier. We got things going in the heat race, got the holeshot, led every lap- fastest heat. Got the holeshot in the main event and led every lap. Won the Yuasa Batteries hard charger award and led the 24 laps that followed it. It was like a perfect night, everything went smooth. The only thing that sucked about the night was getting eliminated from winning the AMA championship. That was pretty much it."

How does being eliminated make you feel?

"I hate having to lose a championship because I'm not there, you know? I mean, I knew going into the season that that was going to be a possibility. "

But you're happy with the choice you made?

"Yeah, I'm happy with the choice I made because I know what kind of money I'm going to make by the end of the year, but I'm also hopeful that AMA and PACE will get together and make sure the schedules don't conflict in the future because it's not good for the sport. "

How close was Springer to you at the finish?

"I won pretty easily, I was about a straightaway ahead. "

Was there any question about whether to ride the Rotax or the Harley?

"No, no question at all. It was good for me and we were fast on it, and I was about six-hundredths of a second quicker than Springer in qualifying. My fastest laps of the night, all night long, were in the first three laps of the main event.

"The track they had here in Portland was awesome. It was a traditional, old-style type clay flat track. No banking. The best thing about the whole night was the crowd. We had a sellout crowd, they turned away more spectators for the dirt track race here than they did in the Outlaw (race) three weeks ago. They turned away 1000 people because they had nowhere to put them. "

Emerald Downs approaches, and it may or may not be a decent track this year. What are your thoughts?

"Well, I'm going to try and survive Seattle, to be honest with you. The track's a piece of shit. I knew that going into the season, I think those guys that are preparing (the track) know it, but I also hear that they put a little clay in the place and maybe it will end up being a little bit better. When I get there, I'm expecting the worst. I don't necessarily think the place is dangerous, I think it's a shitty track, that's all. "