Chris Clark will not participate in professional road racing in the 2015 season and will instead focus on his education and professional career outside of racing, the former Yoshimura Suzuki rider told Roadracingworld.com Tuesday.
Clark, age 23, started road racing in 2006 and won the AMA Horizon Award (recognizing the rider at the AMA Grand Championship Road Races who has the most potential for a successful AMA Pro career) in 2008.
He began his professional racing career in 2009 in the AMA Pro Supersport class before moving up to the AMA Pro Superbike class in 2010. Clark raced Yamaha Superbikes for his father’s Pat Clark Motorsports team in 2010 and 2011, before using sponsorship from his father, Pat Clark, to join the Yoshimura Suzuki Superbike team for the 2012-2014 seasons.
Clark co-rode with Team Zyvax R1 to the 2010 WERA National Endurance overall Championship, but he had his most successful season in 2014, when he took fourth in the AMA Pro Superbike Championship with one podium appearance and five top-five finishes.
“This year I had an incredible season,” said Clark. “I think my conditioning had a lot to do with it and everything I brought to it. I’m still going to continue that side. This has nothing to do with the training or that side of it. Mostly, it’s the timing with everything and where I want to be in the future, and it [racing] doesn’t really line up with everything.
“I did this [racing] because I have a passion for it. If it turned into a career, that’s fantastic. Hopefully, it gets back to a point where people can make careers in the sport and it does provide people with futures. For me, I don’t want to keep putting things off for the hope that it might come back around.”
Clark says his plans for the immediate future include finishing his college education and going to work for Nevada Beverage Company, the company his family owns in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“My goal is to get in with the company,” said Clark. “We’ve made some changes to take it in a new direction. So I think [it’s good] for me to get in at the beginning of a new direction so I can learn and grow with that structure and not have to start over a few years down the road or from the side. So for me it’s exciting. The thing I’ve been able to enjoy a lot recently is spending a lot more time with my dad. I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m really enjoying life.
“I’m fortunate that I have this opportunity to go elsewhere, but it wasn’t something that I was forced into or given an ultimatum. It was really just me sitting back and looking at everything and deciding what I felt was going to be best for me and my life and the direction that I want to head.”