Collin Hudson Kicks Off 2022 With A Big Win
Collin Hudson is fresh off a very busy 2021. Finishing 3rd at Pro Slalom Nationals, qualifying and racing at the Red Bull Pump Track World Championships, and snagging the win at the WestSlope Chainless Challenge, he's spent a lot of time on the race course. When not competing, Collin makes time to keep riding fun and posts about it on his instagram. Wasting no time in getting back at it, Collin took a huge win at the Fox Backyard Invitational and brought home a very big check. We're excited for the start that he's had to 2022 and can't wait to see what's up next.
Stan's NoTubes: Looking back on 2021, what was the highlight of your year?
Collin Hudson: Honestly, I think the highlight of 2021 was coming back to Winter Park and getting on the podium. The last time I raced Winter Park I had kind of a life changing accident. To be able to overcome that was pretty special to me.
SNT: What provides you the motivation to continue to improve?
CH: I've always been pretty competitive and enjoy the idea of racing, and the idea of success. I really want to have a successful career to the point that I can support myself and look back when I'm done to say to myself: "Wow, I'm proud of what I did. I left an impact on the sport". It's definitely tough sometimes when the results are not matching the work, but when the results start paying off, it reminds me why we all do it! I also am super lucky to have a local Stan's team member (Trev) that pushes me everyday to suck less. We make a great team and have almost perfectly opposite strengths, which means we each make eachother better in unique ways.
SNT: What are you most working towards in 2022?
CH: 2022 is going to be a bit of a different year for me. I really wanted to go after the King Of Crankworx title, but with working full time, travel restrictions and limited support, I think I will try and start on an entirely new foot. I'm registered for all the BME series and would love to get on a podium before '22 is out. I won't stray far, I'll continue to compete in Pump Track racing and slalom racing, so the Red Bull UCI series, US National Champs, US Open, and Strait Acres. I feel like in 2021 I was just on the cusp of greatness the entire year, so my goals include things like consistently being on the podium in gated racing in 2022.
SNT: You and Tommy Zula are close friends and often find yourselves battling it out in the finals of major events. How do you balance being a competitor and friend with Tommy?
CH: It's a fine line that we walk sometimes - there's definitely highs and lows of competing against a good friend, sometimes we both have great races and find success and other times we both are frustrated with the result. After a little bit of time to cool off, process racing and move forward; we can usually brush off the bad times and take a step back, share a couple of Coors Lattes to remember why we're in the sport.
