SSB: What was your first real bike?
MS: I had everything. I had a VFR750 I used to wheelie all over the place, and then I got a Yamaha FZR1000. I was like, "This is crazy-they shouldn't sell anything this fast to people. Police? What police? Woo-hoo!" You couldn't wheelie that bike too much, though-I went through like five engines! Then I got an R1, and that's when I could really start tearing up shit. I was speeding, hitting the rev limiter all the time, wheelies, and it would still start up and idle good. That's the bike I took to the track and started racing on.
SSB: How did you get started racing?
MS: I got a late start. I was 28 when I got my roadracing license, in September 2000. I was just street riding in Chicago then, racing up and down Lakeshore Drive. I got tired of riding in traffic. I'd seen guys fall, and I didn't want to fall. I knew some racers and decided go with them and check out the track. My first season I crashed 17 times! We were totally ghetto-someone would tell me I needed the VP or Nutec race gas, and I was like: "Hey, how much?" When they said $15 per gallon, I was like: "F*ck that! Go back to the Clark station and get that shit with the ethanol in it. That's gotta have some extra power, right?" That's how we did it, but we did good, though, we won a lot of races and got some good sponsors, and it took off from there.
SSB: How did you get involved with Michael Jordan?
MS: I met him riding on the street in Chicago. My friend Noble-he's a cop-he called me one night, woke me up at 1 a.m. and said he was down at a gas station with Michael Jordan, who wanted to meet the fastest guy in Chicago. I showed up and there was MJ on his Ducati 998, wearing dress pants, silk socks and loafers, gloves with no fingers and a f*ckin' flip-up BMW helmet! You gotta be kidding me! We talked for a while, became friends, and rode around on the street a bunch of times before we even talked about road racing. I've got to say that MJ's the most enthusiastic rider I know. He's just like a kid-he gets on the bike and he doesn't want to get off. We go down and ride in the mountains in Georgia or rent a track and ride. That's how this team started-he's such a big racing fan, and he just wants to be a part of it.
SSB: How has life as an AMA Pro been treating you?
MS: It's been good. I knew it was going to be humbling. And I knew that I'd have to learn all over again. I had no pipe dreams. An AMA national race is a different animal than a club race. It's a long race, a GTO-length race, only the speeds are turned up two or three times! These guys are so good, and the bikes are so much better that these factory guys can do stuff in the corners that shouldn't even be possible. My best finish this year (at press time -Ed.) was 18th at Road America, and I used to win club races there. But that 18th place against these guys almost felt like a win to me.