We caught up with him after the race.

Monster Energy: You looked downright nervous from practice on...

Jake Weimer: Well, I mean, nervous, scared... Whatever you want to call it. I mean I was, for sure. I had a lot of fun and I’m glad to be here and I’m glad I did it. But I haven’t raced in a long time. And plus...

And it’s a 450...

Yeah, 450, new class, never raced with some of them, new team... I mean new team, as far as race stuff is concerned. I’ve been with them for a long time, but as far as a race situation, everything’s different.

You never raced against James Stewart or Chad Reed or Kevin Windham...

No. It’s a lot different. I mean, I don’t know if it is a lot different, but just a little nerve-wracking, not racing in around nine months. I mean, I got better throughout the day but in practice...

It looked you got better late in the Main Event, too.

Well, at that point, my heart rate was pretty high and I kind of just had to...

You wear yourself out a little bit?

Well, not really. You know, I got a pretty decent start and there was a lot of chaos going on the first two laps. So, it didn’t make me nervous but it was just real intense right away. And I guess you’ve got to start somewhere.

You were fighting off Windham there from the beginning of the race.

Yeah. So, right away I was pretty intense.

He’s crafty. He knows what he’s doing.

Yeah... I mean, it was good, though. Obviously, I would like to do better, but I’m not pissed.

But it’s good to kind of get one under your belt going into Vegas because you typically haul there, right? Does it give you a better idea of what to expect when you show up?

Well, yeah. I think I pretty much knew what to expect, but maybe I’ll just be a little more comfortable; maybe not quite so nervous. I mean, that’s basically like Anaheim 1 for me, except everybody else is in their groove. They’ve been doing it.

And fresh off of a break, so they all feel good.

Yeah. So, it’s all-good.

Yeah, it wasn’t bad, dude. Nicole [his girlfriend] said something about you joking after the track walk, “I don’t know; the triples even look kind of scary...”

Dude, I swear... I was pretty nervous. Just the one rhythm section, like, that dragon-back section where you jump from the second one over that gap; I don’t know if it’s just because I haven’t raced in a while or what it was, but it was just one of those things.

In the pre-season, I was watching you do that quad at the test track into that turn and that’s big...

Yeah, so it’s just one of those things. You know, it’s almost like you just have to prove it to yourself. Like, “Oh, yeah, I guess... All right, yeah, I remember how to do this.” You just kind of have to prove it to yourself. Just do it. And then you’re like, “Oh, okay. Yeah, we can do this. All right. Okay.”

So what about the whoops?

Yeah, they were tough, and I was struggling a little. I don’t even know that I struggled; I just wasn’t fast...

I think, in racing, if you’re not fast, that’s struggling...

Okay, then I struggled. I was just a little timid. I had never ridden anything like that, and a 450 in whoops is a lot more to handle. I was just a little bit timid.

And there was that crazy gap, like, four whoops into them...

Well, that’s what I’m talking about. That was really the issue. But, I mean, as far as the people that I was racing with, everybody was kind of doing the same thing and I just fell in with them. The track seemed a little bit technical. But I haven’t been racing all year, so I don’t really know. But to me the track seemed pretty tough. Even the dirt made it a little bit tough because it was pretty slick. So, you’re just kind of always sliding and correcting yourself.

Last year you weren’t super amazing here. Maybe because of title pressures and stuff...

Yeah... Last year was... I mean, that doesn’t really have anything to do with it. Because the year before I had one of my better rides that I’ve had here.

Yeah, I remember you were chasing down Trey Canard for the win on the last lap. So, one more week; you’ve got Vegas and then you’ve got to prepare for Outdoors. But short-term, this next week, is there anything in particular you’re going to work on?

It’s just time. I mean, I’ve been off the bike for so long with my back and then my arm that it’s just time that I need. I would assume I’ve done a third of the laps that everybody else has done.

Probably a lot less than that.

I don’t know. I’m sure it’s a big difference. It’s just time and just sticking with it. I don’t know that there’s anything in particular, like, “Oh, my gosh, you need to work on the whoops,” or corners or whatever. I think it’s just time and as I get closer to what I believe is my potential then you kind of start fine-tuning, but I don’t think I’m really there yet. So, it’s just more time and just keep going.