Though 18-year-old Michael Beck appeared in the “Hold on Hope” feature of the July/August Road Racer X, that interview took place at AMA round 2, when Beck was still a newcomer to the national scene. Less than five months later, the Graves Motorsports rider is sitting ninth in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship and looking forward to an even brighter 2007 season. We caught up with Beck at his buddy Josh Hayes’ house, where the two were putting in some pedal-time before heading to Road Atlanta for round 10.

Only 18 (and in his first AMA season), Michael Beck currently sits ninth in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship. Andrew Northcott photo

RRX: VIR was a bit of excitement, I’d guess…. Start by talking about that race.
Michael Beck: Well, I was involved in a little incident in turn 1, so I pretty much just tipped over. I qualified 14^th, got a pretty good start, and then going into turn 1 I see [Josh] Herrin just banzai everybody, and he kind of lost the front and—kind of like a pinball action—just took us all out [laughs]. My bike and I actually landed on Shea Fochek’s bike, and we were pretty much just along for the ride…. It was pretty weird. I was one of the first ones to jump up and get on my bike, and there was still dust everywhere so I think people just saw me come riding out of the dust. It was pretty cool.

And you still finished 11^th—that’s pretty impressive. In fact, your whole year has been pretty impressive…. When we first spoke at Barber, your goal was to finish top-10 in the championship, and it looks like you’ll do it for sure. How are you feeling about all that?
Pretty good, actually [laughs]. I feel really good, and we’ve had a lot of support, and going into 2007 is looking great—not only support-wise, but I hope to finish in the top five and maybe get a couple of podiums.

That sounds great. Before I ask more about what you have planned for next year, tell me what your arrangement with Graves Motorsports was this year. You look like one of the regular Graves riders, but you had a much different level of support, right?
Yeah, exactly. Everybody seems to look at me as if I’m like Josh Herrin—as if Yamaha has locked me down for two years or something, and it’s totally not that. It’s just that my dad and Chuck [Graves] go way back. Chuck is just sort of a family friend who wanted to help us out, help us get things rolling, so this is just a sort of back-door Graves thing. We call it “the sideshow,” but it’s going well. Chuck helps us out a lot.

When you say “us” and “we,” you mean you and your dad, right? He wrenches on your bikes?
Right, exactly. That’s correct.

Ok, let’s talk about Miller, where you finished less than a hundredth of a second behind Danny Eslick for fifth place. Was that your best race so far?
Yes it was, by far. Miller was really good—we were there for about two-and-a-half weeks so we got a lot of track time, but not only that, I picked up the track fairly quick. Plus, the weekend before there was a WERA race, and Danny, me, and Perez actually had a great three-way battle, so when AMA came in I felt like we could get another top-five finish. I qualified decent, the race came around, and it worked out very fortunate for us.

With support from family friend Chuck Graves (of Graves Motorsports), Beck used 2006 to prove himself worthy of returning in 2007. Andrew Northcott photo

You’re seeing a lot of the AMA tracks for the first time this year, so your performance at Miller—where you really got to know the circuit—must be encouraging for 2007, in terms of coming back as a smarter, more-experienced rider.
Exactly. Every track we’ve ridden, I’ve just been really focused on learning it as fast as I can and getting up to speed like all the other boys, then coming back.

How have you changed as a rider this season?
I’ve just really learned so much. Riding with the other guys and just watching them—seeing how they approach everything and just hanging out.... You learn a lot not only in the paddock but on the racetrack, as far as lines, approaching corners and setup, the whole package.

What’s it do for your confidence to routinely finish ahead of guys on high-level support teams—guys who are already making a living off the sport?
It’s really exciting, and not just because we’re able to do it on a lower or semi- level of support. I mean, every time I’m out there I’m just thinking to myself, Wow, I have posters of these guys on my wall at home. And it’s just so exciting to think that I really can make a career out of this, and I’m really so looking forward to the next few years coming up.

You sound like you’re having a lot of fun.
Oh yeah, I am. I’ve been training with Josh [Hayes] for the past couple months and it’s like bootcamp, but it’s not like bootcamp as in torture, it’s just—I mean, I just enjoy this stuff. Anything with two wheels, I just love. Just this week I think I put over a hundred miles on my bicycle, my road bike, and I love it.

Is Josh someone who helps you as far as race strategy, mentoring, stuff like that?
Definitely. Josh Hayes is so helpful and such a good friend to me both on the track and off the track, and he’s not only helped us, but definitely helped my progress, everything.

You sort of radiated that “new kid” vibe at the beginning of the year, but now you definitely seem confident that you belong in the AMA paddock.
Yeah, I am. I’m really comfortable just roaming around the paddock with everybody else, and on the track, too. I just definitely feel like I fit.

Most of the AMA circuits were new to Beck this year.... He's looking forward to returning as a more-experienced competitor. Andrew Northcott photo

Great. So tell us about next year.
Well, for next year we’ve got a couple of different brands looking at us, but it’s hard to say. We’ve got a couple more races and hopefully we can get a couple more good finishes and get not only my name out there but maybe even a couple more offers lined up. But either way, 2007 is already looking good and I really hope that budget-wise my parents can actually live their lives and not have to throw every dime and penny at me. And once I’m at the factory support level, hopefully I’ll be able to pay them off and let them live their lives.

So you’re confident that next year you’ll have a new effort and more support?
Yes, definitely. A new effort for sure and hopefully a whole new experience.

And you’ve still got that first podium to look forward to….
For sure [laughs]. I don’t even know what I’d say if I got up there…. I’d probably be speechless and shed a few tears while I was up there, but I'd definitely have a lot of people to thank.

Well, your progress has been really fun to watch this year. Congratulations on that, and have a great rest of the season.
Thanks, Laurel—sounds good. See you at Atlanta!