FIVE QUESTIONS WITH CORY WEST Cory West raced for Team M4 Suzuki in 2008. West, from Arkansas, performed well in his first season on the team. But due to circumstances beyond anybody’s control, West decided to move on despite the team’s August 2008 announcement that he would return in 2009. West explains what happened in this quick interview. Q: What’s up with Cory West for 2009? Cory West: I just did a deal with Mark Junge to race with Vesrah Suzuki in the WERA National Endurance Championship. I’ll be riding the endurance bike with Tray Batey and John Jacobi. And I’m also going to get to ride a GSX-R600 and a GSX-R1000 prepared by Mark to do the WERA National Challenge Series sprint races that they do on Sundays. I think it will be a fun year. I also plan on doing three AMA events with the Vesrah Suzuki team and hopefully I’ll be able to keep my name out there to land something good in the AMA Series for 2010. Q: What happened? Team Hammer, racing as M4 Suzuki, issued a press release in August stating that you’d be back for 2009. Cory West: That was the plan, but the current state of the economy and the way sponsors cut back on all their racing programs at the last minute, plus having to pay about $42,000 per rider for tires this year kind of left the team in a tough spot. All the sudden they weren’t going to be getting as much money, expenses were up and they knew they couldn’t run a three-rider team like they’d done in years past. They let me know that it might not be able to work. It wasn’t just me, they laid off three full-time mechanics and had to lease out one of their semi-trucks so they could keep up the payments on it. They kept me informed the whole time and it was a disappointment not getting to ride for the M4 team again but there were always other options out there for me so I never felt let down by those guys. They kept me in the loop and I ended up having a choice of riding for a new AMA support team or taking the Vesrah ride. The Vesrah deal worked better on the financial end so I took it. I have a pretty good ride for this year. Q: Will you be running the 8-Hours At Daytona with Team Hammer again in 2009, after being part of the team’s wins in 2007 and 2008? Cory West: Yeah, that’s the plan. That’s still quite a ways away but they said I’m still welcome to ride for them in the 8-Hour deal. They paid me for riding in the 8-Hour in 2007 and 2008, so not only did I get all the money the team was obligated to pay me under my contract, I got paid extra money for also doing the 8-Hour. Q: What about the team signing Jason DiSalvo for 2009 after downsizing to two primary riders. Do you think you should have gotten that seat? Cory West: I need a certain amount of money to make my living as a professional racer and before anybody even started talking to DiSalvo I knew the team couldn’t pay me what I needed. I knew what was going on and it wasn’t personal. Q: After announcing a deal with DiSalvo, the team then announced that it was supporting Kris Turner in the age-restricted AMA SuperSport class. If they couldn’t afford to pay you, how were they able to do that? Cory West: There’s a difference between being a paid primary team rider with a full-time crew and being a support rider with your dad as your crew. The team has a history of helping out deserving kids with technical and bike support one way or another and I’m OK with that. Loaning somebody a good bike and keeping their engine fresh isn’t the same thing as signing them to a paid ride with a paid crew. Somebody has to help kids coming up and when I was on my own the team helped me some, like loaning me an engine after mine blew up one time at Road Atlanta. I’m OK with it and I wish the team nothing but the best. I could end up riding for them again if the economy turns around. I’m still friends with those guys. They did the best they could for me and I appreciate it. We all just have to survive 2009 and hope for better days in 2010 and beyond.