As the gate fell at the final round of 125 Eastern supercross, I was more nervous than I've been since I raced the 60cc class at Loretta Lynn's. Wanting to win but knowing I only needed a seventh for the championship turned out to be a severe mental challenge.

Going by my mechanic, Lee, on lap two, the pit board read "fourth place." It was good enough, but it surely wasn't where I intended to finish. My nervousness was wearing off as I started to focus more on the course, but with every second that passed I became more and more baffled. Rarely had I been in a position where losing was still winning. Should I ride a mellow race, or attempt to pass a very aggressive Mike Brown? Not to mention that by doing so I would be sandwiched in between Brown and Ramsey's teammate, Nick Wey.

As Ramsey continued to pull away, I couldn't take it anymore and decided to chance a possible catastrophe and go for the win. I could just picture the headlines saying, "Pastrana too stubborn to settle in; Ramsey wins title." Breathing a sigh of relief, I made it to second and started riding at my fastest "comfortable" pace. The problem came when I realized my speed wouldn't be fast enough to take the win.

With five laps to go I twisted the throttle like there was no tomorrow. Within a lap, I was on the ground. Luckily I managed to remount without losing a position and finished a strong second. Everyone was ecstatic that I had won the "war," but I couldn't have been more disappointed with my performance. It wasn't until then that I finally realized exactly what David Bailey was trying to explain to me just a few months prior.

You see, David Bailey and I had a long discussion at the start of the 2000 SX season about what he believed I needed to do in order to become what he is: a champion. I have all the respect in the world for David and frequently watch the ESPN telecasts simply to hear his insight about the races and, of course, the racers. During our conversation he asked me two questions that I had been asked quite frequently in the past. But then David did something that no one else seemed capable of - he gave me the answers.

Why do I ride my best when it's do or die, and what will it take for me to ride that way at every race? Jeremy's been telling me for a long while that I need to focus more when I'm at the races. Like most people, he believes that I have too many distractions like freestyle, videos, BMX, etc. Maybe his suggestion holds some truth and seems logical to most of our industry, but I don't feel it's correct for my situation. You probably would never know my mindset before a race, but I know that the harder I try, the worse my performances turn out. I also know that I always perform best after a fun week of jumping with Kenny Bartram.

David's theory, on the other hand, holds merit with my personality. Bailey realized that I needed an exact goal to accomplish before the drop of every gate. Since his suggestion, I've found that when I set a position goal I tend to make fewer mistakes and find more opportunities than I ever could by merely trying to ride my fastest. The goal-setting idea isn't as easy as it sounds, however. At the beginning of the supercross season, I set a goal to win every round. The problem was that I knew it wasn't essential to win every round. Consequently, I started back at square one. I now realize that merely wanting to win isn't always good enough. I have to convince myself that I need to win. In the last two rounds of the East Coast supercross season, I knew that winning wasn't essential to clinch the championship and therefore didn't make things happen. Of course I hate to lose more than anyone in the world. But in a sport as competitive as ours, we can't afford to pass up a good opportunity or go out on a whim with time left to spare.

If any of you are wondering if corporate Suzuki is still skeptical about freestyle, this should answer your question. The heads of Suzuki Japan had freestyle ramps designed and built for me to perform "aerial acrobatics" over a newly-designed car at the New York auto show. I will have to admit that I was skeptical that it was some prank call at first. I almost didn't believe my eyes when I saw the ramps set up on the third floor of the freshly-carpeted convention center.

I received some rug burn, something I've never gotten before from a motorcycle crash, when I misjudged the landing and slid to a halt. Then I was accidentally blasted with the pyrotechnics that were supposed to fire from the take-off after I had taken off. The funny coincidence is that this was the second No Fear jersey that had holes burnt through it in less than two weeks. The first was scorched and holed up when Kevin Windham decided to fire an entire handful of Roman candles as I jumped the triple on his supercross track. For the record, fireworks are dangerous and should not be shot at anyone you don't intend to hurt.

P.S. If you ever have a chance to talk with Kenny Bartram, ask him about his experience with Roman candles.

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