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TJ Gulla doesn't pretend to be a complicated guy - he likes action.
Growing up in Vermont he was particularly fond of anything with wheels, from his first Honda 70cc 4-wheeler to motorcycles. He still likes wheels, driving his Subaru WRX, a 750-horse '82 Camaro drag racer that's street legal (sort of), or his cycles (a new Harley and a Suzuki).
But ... he also loves snowmobiles, and that's good because it's how he makes a living. Gulla has been riding for Team Polaris for three years, after racing his way up from Junior to Semi-Pro to Pro, by age 18.
Hasn't been an easy ride. He's had a punctured lung, broken collarbone, broken hand and broken leg. At least that's the major stuff!
A bike racer since he was 8, Gulla says he was looking for something to do in the winter when he discovered snowmobiles. First one was a Ski-Doo (sorry PR folks!) Safari Citation 250. Now he straddles the new Polaris 440 IQ racer, which posted impressive results in its first season last year.
Even with a top sled supported by a top team, Gulla says posting good results as a racer is never easy.
"The last couple years I've really had to work at it," he says after signing autographs during Hay Days.
"Natural talent will take you to top 5 finishes, but now I'm aiming for the top 3 each time," and that requires more training and practice, he says. Plus there is a lot more pressure once you're on a factory team.
"All these folks are working for you and if you fail, you let a lot of people down. It's not just about you," he says, crediting his team and sponsors with keeping him near the top.
Last season the hard work paid off with a Pro Stock Championship, winning one WSA race (Buffalo) and logging podium finishes in all but a couple other races. Gulla also won a gold medal in hillcross at the 2003 X-Games and a bronze in snocross at the X-Games in 2001, the same year he won the Syracuse WSA Nationals race.
This season he rides in both the Pro Stock and Pro Open divisions where he says the fields just keep getting deeper with talent, year after year as the equipment also improves.
Why race?
"I just enjoy the drive and determination it takes to do it and I enjoy dedicating that time and effort. I think what you put in is what you get out," Gulla says.
"My attitude is you don't give up, you don't stop trying. My dad told me to always try my hardest while I'm out there, to just keep going, and that's what I do."
That's what he intends for 2005-'06 too, hoping that again such effort will net him a championship.