Continued

Q Can we talk about money in general terms?

A Euros, or dollars?

Q Dollars. You're 21 years old. Are you set for life in terms of money?

A I don't know. I don't really spend too much money. I live at home and everybody kids me that I'm real tight. But I don't know, I just don't really get into it. But yeah, obviously, racing's been good to me. I would like to think that I've got set up pretty good. I've saved pretty much everything. I don't know if I'm exactly set for life, but for sure I'm not complaining. I've got a good start.

That's the thing that's so great about it, for me, it's just racing.

I'll tell you a story. I was flying somewhere, in London, and sitting beside this guy speaking English. Actually, at first I was trying to sleep and the guy wouldn't stop talking, he was just yapping and asking me all these questions. But he turned out to be pretty cool, and I'm telling him where I'm going, what I'm doing, he's asking questions, I'm doing this, I race, I'm going to this country, and why, and how great it is, and I love it, this and that, flying business class. And then right at the very end, right before we get off the plane, he's like, 'So, man, that's awesome, you must love it and everything'. And then he asks me, he said, do you get paid? Do you ever make any money?

And I was like, it made me think, here I am, this guy's thinking how great I have it, and he didn't even know I got paid either.

And that's what I think sometimes. I mean, God, they pay me to do this? It was kind of silly. It was like, sometimes it's hard, maybe, doing the little things, but some guys would think, 'I get paid for it too'. I'm sure one day I'll sit back and think I'm glad I made that money, but, I'm not too concerned with it now.

I'm not the kind of guy who ever thinks, "Oh, if I'd only got second I'd have got a little bit more bonus money" or something like that. I've actually heard riders say that, and I'm just like, "What?" Because that never crossed my mind. Sometimes, somebody asks me what my bonus was for something, and I swear I won't even know. I'll ask my manager later. Because I feel like maybe I ought to even know. (laughs)

Q Many pro-golfers become part owners in their equipment sponsors. Paddock lore has it you own a part of your leathers sponsor, Joe Rocket. Can you say?

A Yeah, I definitely own a part of it. It's been unreal. Joe Rocket's grown fast. I've been in since the beginning. Now we're going over to Europe. They're moving worldwide, selling their clothes and got a lot of new things happening, so it's been a really good company. They take good care of me, and I definitely own a percentage.