Johnny Gallagher Interview
Johnny Gallagher GNCC Pro Racer
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Johnny Gallagher GNCC Pro Racer |
Daytona, FL
(2/27/2014) - Johnny Gallagher is very well known in the GNCC Racing Series. Not only is one of the fastest races in the Pro Class, Johnny Gallagher is known for being a great role model.
We got a chance to catch up with Johnny Gallagher while he was doing some winter training in Flordia with fellow racer and friend Chris Borich.
ATVriders.com: What’s your program like this year?
Johnny
Gallagher:
The program is basically the same as last
year with the backing from Yamaha, GBC, and
HMF, the same people who had been helping
us out and behind me for many years. We haven’t
made any significant changes to the program
from last year. The changes we’ve made are
just working a lot harder and stepping up
training and pushing harder and looking to
put in some great runs early.
ATVriders.com: Last year you had a podium at the second round, are you planning on being back on there again this year?
Johnny Gallagher: You can’t really ever plan out where you’re going to finish, in terms I want to go out there and push as hard as I can and come away with the best finish I can. The ultimate goal is to go out there and line up and come away with a win, but as far as putting and expectations on a number of podiums or when they will happy I’ll steer clear of that and I’m just really ready to go and I think it’s going to be a tough class this year. Everyone comes out swinging at the beginning and everyone is going to be strong and we’re just trying to look at the whole thirteen race long season at this point and I think it’s just going to be a great season.
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2013
General GNCC Pro Podium (left to right)
Walker Fowler (2nd), Chris Borich (1st), Johnny Gallagher (3rd)
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ATVriders.com: I think at this point, you’re the oldest guy in the Pro class.
Johnny Gallagher: I’m the oldest guy in the class by a long shot and I think with Bill (Ballance) retiring a couple years back and William (Yokley) retiring a few years before him, those were the last two that were from my “era” I guess you could say and it’s nothing I really think about until someone brings it up but down here with these guys, Chris (Borich) and I are definitely the two oldest.
I don’t look at age as a crutch or an excuse and I guess Chris is only a few years younger than me and he’s still out there whipping on everybody so there’s no excuse or reason why I can’t step my game up and win races if I put the work in. I’ll be thirty six when we line up for the first time this season as my birthday is that Friday at the track. I feel as good as I ever have, but if anything I think you get a little more mentally tough over your years and the things that you thought were going to kill you at twenty, you realize at thirty five you’re going to live through them. So you just have to keep your head forward and keep grinding.
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Despite being the oldest racer in the GNCC Pro class, Johnny Gallagher can still hang with the young guns. Gallagher is ranked seventh in the GNCC Pro Class |
ATVriders.com: Each year that you get older you’ve been getting a lower number.
Johnny Gallagher: I keep getting a lower number each year as I’ve been going and I would definitely like to keep up that trend. I was a little disappointed with the way things turned out last year. The number seven is the best one I’ve ever had since 1998 its not so much the number I’m sad about its just with a couple rounds left to go I definitely had an opportunity to capitalize on some other people’s misfortune and was riding much better earlier in the season and as the season went along I made a few mistakes. I think I was good early in the season with the program help from Chris but after I got home I think I didn’t keep up the intensity on my part so I let myself and a lot of people down with not doing all that I could do.
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For 2014, Johnny Gallagher is once again aboard a Yamaha YFZ 450R backed by many of the same sponsors including Yamaha, GBC, & HMF |
ATVriders.com: What were you really trying to push for this last season, you got the seven, but were you really trying to bust up into the top five?
Johnny Gallagher: I don’t really have a number in my head but I think to be top five I think that’s what a lot of people aspire to be, and especially on the ATV side, those are the spots that I think people want to be in. The four guys in front of the fifth spot are always there and that’s why I think the fifth spot gets all of the attention
