Greg Hancock – Still Grinning, Still Winning

“You know what, I feel as good as ever. Some guys hit the gym every morning, some go running or cycling but for me the most important thing is staying flexible. You don't need to be a muscle man to ride a speedway bike, you need to be elastic, you need to get the bike to where you want to take it."

“I go running and I cycle but it’s about staying healthy and fresh. You need to eat well and sleep well, that’s crucial – eat the right food, get the right energy and sleep good. There’s no big secret to it, you’ve just got to live a good lifestyle.”

“These young guys really take care of themselves and they work so hard. They’re quick learners and pay close attention to what we’re doing, they look at us and pick up a lot of things but I do the same with them. I’m the old school and they’re the new school and you have to marry the two together, I can’t ride like they do but I can pick things up from them."

“I can’t do what they can do, but I do what works for me. Sometimes I disagree with the way they do things and they disagree with the way I do things but that’s how it is, I’m from a different era. I’m probably the last of the old school really, there aren’t many of us still racing, so I’ve got to fit in with the younger guys and do my thing. I can’t just be seen as the old guy, I’ve got to have a young head too. I have my own style but you have to move with the times as well.”

He says: “I’m a nice guy by nature, that’s just the way I was brought up and I can’t really be a mean guy. I always try to see the good in everything,that can be a downfall sometimes because you realize that not everyone is a good person, sometimes things are bad, but that’s just how I am."

 “I’m all smiles on the inside but when my helmet goes on I just want to win. Sometimes I get angry or frustrated on the track but I take that as a challenge and a motivation to try and overcome it. Sometimes you disagree with something someone does on the track but then I just become more determined to win, but to win the right way."

“If I get angry I just think ‘why?’ I take a deep breath and then I want revenge by winning. I’ve had some good sports psychologists in the past and they’ve helped me to focus on the right things, I’m always looking for new tools and the brain is your biggest tool. Sure, I’m a nice guy but I want to win as bad as anyone and that drives me on.”

“I would love to stay involved with the sport, I know it well, probably too well, but I have stepped back a few times and tried to learn from other sports and people. What Monster Energy has done for speedway has been huge, having a big name behind our sport has made people really sit up and take notice and I’ve learned a lot from being around it."  

“The last five or six years I’ve spent a lot of time with Joe Parsons (Monster Energy Director of Special Projects across EMEA) and he’s taught me a ton about marketing and different ways of building a brand, so I’d love to take that into something when I finish. I’ve always tried to be different and to think outside the box, like when I started the team back in the 90’s with Billy Hamill, and I do it because I want to expand the sport."

“I try to watch and learn from other sports and see how they do things, take a piece of this and a piece of that. What can we do? What can I do? For example, I currently sell each individual suit to different sponsors for each GP and that was just an idea I had in the shower one day, just trying to think outside the box. The speedway bubble is great but it could be bigger and that’s what I want to do, make it bigger.”

 “My love of the sport and my will to win is what inspires and drives me everyday. I ask myself, do I want to wake up and go racing or wake up and go to the office? It’s grueling, it’s a lot more hours than people realize, but I love it. I just want to win, that’s what drives me. I put my heart and soul into this and all my efforts go into achieving my dreams. That’s all I need to motivate me.”

 “As soon as you win one you want to win it again straight away, and when I won the first one I was thinking about winning again. Then when I won the second one I wanted the next one, and if I win a fourth one then I’ll want to win a fifth one and so on. Numbers don’t bother me, winning is all I care about."

“People talk about guys like Ivan Mauger and Tony Rickardsson, who have both won six world titles, and I don’t ever think about joining them. I look up to them, but I never look at myself like that. It’s not about winning four, five, six, it’s just about winning for me. I don't know how far this tour is going to go but while I’m still on it I want to win, as long as I feel I can do that I’ll still be here giving it my all.”

“Do you know what, I am what I am. I’m a happy go lucky guy and my motto has always been ‘Grin to win’ – I have done it all with a smile. I don’t like to fail, and if I do fail I don't want it to be my fault. I don’t want to look for excuses, I want to do everything right and if it goes wrong either I screwed up and I fix it or it wasn’t for me."

“Luckily, speedway is for me. I’m still creating memories and I’m not done yet.”