While attending what I thought was a run of the mill track day in Sonoma (talk about taking life in Northern California for granted) I got the chance to make some new friends. That’s not an uncommon occurrence. Any half-decent human being is going to meet new people at a track day. But its not every track day that you meet a World and National Champion.

As is typical before anyone heads out to a hot track, a riders meeting takes place. You get plenty of dos and don’ts and they’re basically the same flags, etiquette, schedule, etc. At some point—usually towards the end—the service providers are introduced: the photographer, the tire supplier, the suspension tuner, and often times a bike rental outfit. This meeting had all that and after the organizer had finished up with them, he asked a guy named Toni to show himself. Out from beside the Coke machine, previously hidden from view, steps the 2010 Moto2 World Champion and 2017 Moto America Superbike Champion Toni Elias! We learn that he is offering lessons to anyone who wants to retain his services whether it be by the session, half day, or full day. Well, how cool is that?

Later in the day we see Toni walking by the garages so I do the fanboy thing hopefully any of us would do and I introduce myself. Toni is very gracious and obliges my selfie request. I post this to Instagram and let my followers know Toni is here for hire. Minutes later I’ve got an IG message from the man himself thanking me for my post and asking if I know of anyone who wants his help. Because I’m a half-decent person I’ve gotten to know Charger, the gentleman next to me in the garage. He’s expressed interest, but he’s a little bummed he doesn’t quite have the cash on hand for a lesson. I explain this to Toni, and as fate would have it, he hasn’t had many takers yet. I’m pretty sure Toni’s not accustomed to a slow day at the track—not by my standards for certain. We work together on Charger and Toni agrees to work with him at a discount. Charger is psyched and hustles to his van, returning with cash. Toni takes Zelle and other forms of digital payment, but Charger is old school. He later confides to me, “I didn’t know he was going to be here, but I wore my Toni Elias tee shirt to the track today.”

Now, I’m already pretty psyched myself. Toni is a really approachable and humble guy and I got the chance to know him a bit. I’m thinking that’s probably as far as it goes. I text the wife with an update and she replies, “See if you can get an interview with him.” Right. Well, I’ll see if I can set something up for sometime in the future. Or what the hell, maybe now. I pitch the idea to Toni via messenger and he is up for it. “I’ll come to you,” he writes. I’m stoked! I’ve gotten to work with some other racing legends in my past, like AMA Champ Doug Chandler and MA Supersport Champion Josh Herrin, but that was always in the context of working for a bigger brand, certainly not this fledgling self-owned affair. Toni graciously spends 15 minutes with me as I come up with questions on the fly. He’s a personable guy and makes it really easy for me. What you see here was a natural conversation between a couple guys at the track. It happens all the time. Just so happens one of them is a World Champion, and that my friends doesn’t happen all the time.