posted Dec 20th, 2005 - The NSL News story on December 14 introduced the new line-up of Team Fastrax for the 2006 season. It was not decided by then which center positions the new Fastrax members Mark Kirkby and Doug Park would take. The team completed its first training camp last week at Skydive Arizona, and the NSL News was not only interested in the final decision as of the center slots. Team founder John Hart took the time to answer a few NSL News questions after the completion of the training camp.

The Fastrax line-up in the previous NSL News article, which was copied from the Fastrax website, still showed Doug Park as the center inside and Mark Kirkby as the center outside. The team came up with a different decision for the center slots, and the new assignments have already been posted at the Fastrax website.

NSL News: John, how was your first camp with the new Fastrax line-up?

John Hart: The team really came together as the camp progressed. Half of the camp was spent determining who would fly inside and outside center; once this was determined we began working on block technique.

NSL News: Have you decided which center positions Mark and Doug will take?

John Hart: Mark will be flying the Inside Center Slot and Doug will be our Outside Center.

NSL News: Fastrax 2006 has much more experienced competitors in the line-up with two 4-way world champions. How did you get to this new approach, which seems to set new Fastrax preferences with experience over talent?

John Hart: Since we were flying at a 20 plus average already we knew that the project was not going to take a step back bringing new talent up to speed. We knew that we were looking for special people to join the project, people that pushed them selves’ hard everyday, strived to be the best in the sport, have a professional demeanor and were willing to meet our project standards. Experienced talent made the greatest amount of sense. Our sponsors are supporting us because they want to part of a winning high profile project.

NSL News: John Hart is now the Fastrax member with the lowest experience level, compared to all other team members. Was it your goal to put yourself in this position and challenge yourself even more and harder?

John Hart: Not really! I don’t see myself with the lowest amount of experience. I know that I am as good as any Tail in the World; this new line-up is going to push each of us to be our best.

NSL News: What were the main reasons for the change in the line-up between 2005 and 2006?

John Hart: Billy made the decision to go back to work fulltime and spend more quality time with Tonya, Eric had an awesome opportunity to go to the World Meet in eight way with Arizona Airspeed and John Judy wanted to focus on swooping with Fastrax Swoop.

NSL News: How did you recruit the new line-up?

John Hart: I spoke with Dan BC and told him of our desire to recruit two new members. We created a list and placed them in order of priority. A select group of candidates were asked to take a Winning Athletes Sports Profile and a Compatibility Profile to make sure they would gel with Niklas and me. Mark Kirkby, Doug Park and Dan BC were at the top of the list. Dan had so many commitments in 2006 making it impossible to have a training schedule that would work with the rest of the team. Dan agreed to be the team alternate. Mark and Doug flew into Cincinnati and the rest is history. Steve Redinbo flew video for Fastrax Select in 2006 and was asked to take John’s slot after shooting for us at the December camp.

NSL News: What is the coaching seniority like in the new line-up?

John Hart: With three distinctive team styles merging we determined that the best thing to do is take the best from all three teams. Each one of us has specific blocks that we are responsible for coaching and holding members of the team accountable. We consider ourselves equal and will be using some outside coaching throughout the 2006 season to get that fresh perspective.

NSL News: What is the major difference between Fastrax 2005 and Fastrax 2006 after the first camp? Can you already feel a new Fastrax style?

John Hart: It is huge! We were cowboys that flew with a great deal of power. The 2006 line-up is using less energy and more finesse with smaller moves. Our style will be unique and will take several camps for us to determine what works best in every block.

NSL News: Are there any other news of the whole Fastrax Project for 2006?

John Hart: We have been working hard to provide some quality information on our website and will continue to update it as this line-up progress. We have secured several new sponsors for 2006 and Swoop is training hard to win this year.