Interview:
Harold Goodman - Honda TRX 450R Pro ATV Racer
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#708
Harold Goodman - Quick Facts |
Birth
Date: |
7/13/1978 |
Weight: |
150lbs |
Hometown: |
Brownstown, MI |
ATV: |
Honda TRX450R |
Occupation: |
Real Estate Inv. |
1st
ATC/ATV: |
Honda ATC70 |
Started
Racing: |
7 Years Old |
Favorite
Food: |
Steak |
Favorite
Drink: |
Dr. Pepper |
Hobbies: |
RC Cars |
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Harold
Goodman has been involved in ATV racing for
the last 22 years. Harold is a well-rounded
racer that has raced in just about every event
there is and done well. He has won many amateur
titles along the way and in 2007, won his first
National Pro ATV Championship in the Duro Tire
Extreme Dirt Track Series.
This
year Harold is defending his EDT Championship
and is also racing the entire series of the
AMA ATV Motocross Nationals, where he has
also been doing quite well. Harold recently
scored a podium position at round 8 of the
AMA ATV MX Nationals at Muddy Creek, which
has put him one point away from being in the
top five in the points race. Harold is also
the only Pro who is competitively racing in
both the EDT and AMA ATV MX series’.
We caught up with Harold after round eight
of the motocross series to see what he has
been up to and to find out what he is hoping
to accomplish for this season. Here’s
what he had to say:
ATVriders.com: You’re currently
the only Pro that is competitively running
both the EDT and AMA MX Nationals, how do
you feel about that?
Harold Goodman: I’m happy that I’m
still running both, but I wish there was a
few more guys from the motocross side that
would race in the EDT. I do know that there’s
a couple guys that are planning on coming
out to try a few, like Sage Baker and Chad
Wienen.
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The
last time Harold Goodman was on the
Podium at an ATV Motocross Nationals
was in 2004 at Southwick when he finished
3rd Overall on his Yamaha YFZ450 |
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Harold
Goodman is the current Pro points leader
in the Extreme Dirt Track Series |
Some
of the big Pro’s like Shane Hitt aren’t
racing this year. Do you know what was behind
that decision?
Shane was at the last round watching. He said
that he felt he had been doing it long enough
and decided to just give it a rest for now.
He is thinking about doing a couple of events
later on this season.
You’re
a pretty well rounded rider and seem to do
well no matter what type of racing you do.
What do you attribute that to?
I think mainly because the series’ used
to be together and I used to race both. I
did take a couple of years off and when I
came back the series had split. It was easier
for me to pick back up on the TT side of it,
but I was slowly getting better and quicker
at the motocross side of it. Every year I
do a little bit better, and I hope that continues
through to next season, especially after 22
years of racing.
Have
you had any major changes in your support
for this year?
The only major change I had this year was
that I changed exhaust sponsors this year
to HMF and that’s working out really
well. Other than that, it’s almost the
same program I had last year. I think one
other thing that changed and has helped me
this year is that I don’t have a tire
sponsor this year. That’s allowed me
to run whatever tires that I feel work the
best.
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Harold
Goodman & Wayne Matlock won the
SCORE San Felipe 250 in March on a 450R,
but they will be racing the TRX 700XX
for the Baja 1000 in November |
What
other races are you going to be doing this
year besides EDT and the AMA?
I’ll be doing the Baja 1000 this year
with Wayne Matlock’s team, which is
part of the SCORE series. We’re hoping
to get the championship there this year. I
ran the first race of the Best of The Desert
series in Parker, Arizona also with Wayne
Matlock and Marc Spaeth, and we won there.
I believe there are about 4 more of those
races and I’ll be racing those as well.
Will
you be racing the new Honda TRX700XX?
Yes, I will. I’m looking forward to
it because I haven’t got a chance to
ride it yet. Hopefully I’ll get a chance
soon when I go out to California to do some
testing so I can try and get use to it.