Last Saturday night before 69,182 fans in Atlanta’s oversold Georgia Dome, Team Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Dean Wilson – in only his second-ever supercross – holeshot and sprinted out front in the lead for the first eight laps of the 15-lap main event before finally becoming winded and allowing Christophe Pourcel, Austin Stroupe and Brett Metcalfe to go whizzing past.

And while the young Scottish-born, Canadian-raised, 18 year-old placed fourth and missed the podium by one step, it was, nonetheless, an encouraging result and certainly built upon the confidence and momentum he had gained a week before by placing sixth in the AMA East Region Lites Championship Series opener at Indianapolis. And so now the 13-time amateur champion and 2009 AMA Horizon Award winner will head east to Florida where he will enter the track’s tunnel and emerge before the Ricky Carmichael-designed supercross track carved out of the grassy infield between the pit lane and the 18-degree tri-oval of the 2.5-mile superspeedway that hosts the Daytona 500.

On Thursday afternoon, Wilson came walking into Monster Beverage in Corona, California to pick up a few things before heading home to pack his gearbag and collect his plane ticket. With a little time to spare, we sat the happy-go-lucky kid down and had him tell us about his first two supercross main events of his career, as well as just what he expects to shake out in Daytona Beach, Florida come Saturday night. Here’s what he had to say.

Dean, what are you doing here? When I texted you this morning I thought you were in Daytona?
I just came to get a couple T-shirts and I figured that since while I was here I might as well see if you were here.

Okay, I guess my first question is when are you leaving for Daytona?
Tomorrow morning. I’m flying out of Carlsbad [California].

On a private plane?
Yeah, my private jet that I have. No, I’m just kidding. I fly from Carlsbad to LAX and then LAX to Orlando. I’m going with my parents.

Have you ever raced in Florida?
Never. I’ve only been to Florida once and I’ve never been to Daytona. Should be cool to go there and check it out again.

If you would, from the gate drop to the checkered flag, tell me about your race last Saturday night in the Georgia Dome?
Before the race I actually felt pretty good. I was calm and relaxed and I felt pretty good. I felt pretty confident going into the race. I knew I could get the start – I got the holeshot in my qualifier – I just knew that if I got a good start that I could do pretty good. I holeshotted and led for the first eight laps and then kind of just stopped breathing and then I just got really tired and almost hit a wall at like lap 10 and just tensed up really bad and got arm pump and kind of ruined my race. At least the fist eight laps went good. It would have been nice to pace I had going the whole moto and I think I could possibly could have won it, but oh well, it was a learning experience.

Obviously, you’re quite new to this discipline of the sport. Did you lose your rhythm and start riding supercross like motocross?
Supercross IS more rhythm, but no, my lap times were good the first eight laps and then once Stroupe got by me, if I could have just stayed with him and could have just kept the pace that I had, I think I would have been fine. My heart rate got really high and I had really bad arm pump. It was just because I was leading. I’ve never really led before. This is my second supercross so it’s a learning experience, I know what to expect next time I lead.

During those first eight laps and before you hit the wall, how did you feel? Were you relaxed? Were you focused? Were you hitting your lines?
I felt pretty good. I didn’t know what was going on behind me. I could hear the crowd, but I was just pretty much just trying race smooth and smart and I even made a couple of mistakes. I didn’t jump one of the triples two laps in-a-row and that, but I felt like I was riding pretty smooth at first.

What’s it like to lead a race before 70,000 fans? Not many riders on Planet Earth have experienced that sensation…
I don’t know… It’s different. I like it. Supercross is like a show and outdoors is more grueling. But it honestly doesn’t bother me. I think it’s cool. It doesn’t make me nervous or anything. I just have to go out there and ride my best and that’s all I can do. The fans don’t really pressure me too much or anything.

When did Metcalfe get you for third?
He got me around the 11th or 12th lap while I was doing my fade. He kind of stuffed me through same hay bales. I completely stopped. I went from running 57 second lap times to a minute and three so I was just pretty much going backwards and waiting for that checkered flag. It felt like forever.

When you got off the bike and back into the pits, how did Mitch and the team feel about your race?
They were happy. They definitely weren’t angry or anything. It was a good stepping stone for me to finally get out and lead and they were pretty happy with that. I’m just kind of working out the bugs and getting my endurance a little bit better and hopefully next time I’m in that position I should win it.

You were right there on pace with Pourcel, Stroupe, Metcalfe and Barcia. I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but I wouldn’t think you were too intimidated by the speed they displayed…
Yeah, not really. I feel like I can run their pace, no problem. It’s just a matter of doing it for 15 laps. And I think that’s where some riders can gap others – they can run that pace the whole time.

Steeping back a bit, at Indy, you placed sixth in your very first supercross race. Did the result give you some confidence?
Yeah, it kind of just showed me where I was at. I mean I definitely felt like I should have done a lot better, but at that race I just kind of wanted to get through it safely and have some points. It was alright. I really expected myself to do better there, but I think it was good for me to work myself off of what I got there and go to Atlanta with a different perspective and now I’m going to Daytona with a different perspective. I feel pretty good. I kind of always expect myself to be the same pace at these guys, but at the beginning of the season it’s hard to say how you’re going to do because I’ve never competed with any of these guys. Now that I have. I mean I feel like I belong on the podium and hopefully we can get there this weekend.

Let’s bring up racerxonline.com and take a look at the Daytona Animated Track Map. You think it’s going to be gnarly with all the sand and ruts?
Probably (Wilson watches). This track always looks gnarly. Long whoops. Double double. The track looks really long. It looks pretty good. It’s just hard to tell what parts are going to get all rough.

Anything look out of the norm other than it’s a long track?
No, not really. It just looks like Daytona when I watched it on TV – like it did last year. It’s just going to be rough. I think it’s going to separate a lot of guys so it should be good.

A number of my colleagues think you’re going to do real well here on Saturday night. What do you think?
Yeah, I hope so. A lot of people always tell me, “This is your track, you’ll do good”, but I don’t know. I’m just going to do my best and that’s all I can do. I mean it’s kind of more of an outdoor track and people say I’m more of an outdoor rider than supercross, so I just want to get a good start like I did last weekend and see what happens.

What’s your goal?
Definitely to be on the podium, I mean that was my goal since the beginning and I’ve yet to reach it. So if I get on the podium, I’ll be happy. The goal is to be on the box every weekend.

As far as an athlete, how do you feel now being a big-time professional as compared to, say, a year ago when you were still an amateur?
Yeah, it’s crazy. A year from this time I was getting ready for the Lake Whitney amateur national and to be where I am now is pretty crazy. I never really thought I would be here, but it’s a great feeling. I’m really happy to be here.

Okay, may man. While you were born and started racing in Glasgow, Scotland, you and your family moved to Canada where, essentially, you were raised. I have to ask you: Did you watch the Olympic Gold Medal game between Canada and the USA last Sunday?
Oh yeah! I watched it. It was a good game – especially in that overtime. I don’t know, I think the Canadians, we’ve got the hockey down. That’s our sport. America has football.

I think ALL of Canada would have been heartbroken if Team USA had won, huh?
Yeah, it did not look very fun for Team USA standing on the ice after they just lost while Canada just celebrated.

So what do you have planned for the rest of the day, anything?
No, not really. I’m just going to go see my trainer and then get some clothes packed and I leave bright and early tomorrow for Orlando.

Sounds good. Have a good trip and good luck getting on that box Saturday night…
Thanks, EJ.

By Eric Johnson