Page 14 - GRID4

14 GRIDMOTO • JULY 2017
“LEGENDS NEVER DIE”
“REMEMBERING THE KENTUCKY KID”
“RIDE ON KENTUCKY KID”
“It’s amazing how people connected to Nicky, even at a very young age. When I moved to Erion Honda in 2000 and replaced him when he moved up to the factory team, I felt like I was defi- nitely in an odd spot. I was never the cool kid in school or any- thing like that, so being on a team with Kurtis Roberts, Nicky, and Miguel Duhamel -- I definitely felt a little out of place. Back then we’d do those big dealer meetings in Vegas and all these crazy things. I can remember going to these things and there’d be like ten people in my line, I think most of ‘em felt bad and wanted to take my picture ‘cause they were takin’ everbody elses. Then you had Kurtis next to me who had a pretty big line, he was the reign- ing FX Champion and was riding really well at that time. Then Miguel’s line would be out to the door, it would be just huge ‘cause he was a superstar at the time, but then there was Nicky...Nicky’s line would go around the block and he’d just be sittin’ there with his Kentucky drawl and his leopard print haircut, just kinda gigglin’ and laughing. I remember girls being in line just crying, seriously crying like “I love you, Nicky!” It was so outrageous to see, y’know, it was amazing to me at that time how much people connected to him. It seems that never really left him -- when he went to Europe, he took that with him, and it just continued to grow. You see what’s happening now and history will only tell, but it really seems on par with when Ayrton Senna passed away, y’know, like the world over has been taken aback. It’s pretty amazing to see how much one person can have an effect on so many people’s lives.”
-JOSH HAYES