Another Podium Finish for Canard at Arlington Supercross

Round 7 of the AMA Supercross series in Arlington, Texas, was filled with mixed emotion for Team Honda HRC as it saw Trey Canard follow up his second win of the season last week, with a solid podium finish, while Cole Seely experienced multiple challenges to finish 10^th.

Following a heat-race win, Canard recovered from an eighth-place start in the main event by advancing to third near the midway point. He earned valuable points and continued his progress toward the championship. It was a trying night for Seely, who was forced to take a less-than-desirable route to the main event, via the LCQ. A fall early in the main left him at the back of the pack, but he was able to regain composure and move into 10^th by the checkered flag. GEICO Honda's Eli Tomac finished the night in seventh place.

NOTES

• With only 3.5 hours separating Shawnee, Oklahoma, and Arlington, Texas, this is considered the home race for the rider-mechanic duo of Trey Canard and Brent Presnell. Flocks of fans waited in line for over an hour for their chance to meet Canard during the day's autograph signing. "I love coming to Dallas because this is the closest race to my hometown and the fans are always so awesome," Canard said. "Every time I step outside the semi I can hear people yelling my name and wishing me good luck, so that's a special feeling."
• There was a different element at the Arlington Supercross that came in the form of new dirt. Normally riders expect a rock-hard clay base inside AT&T stadium, but this year they were surprised to find softer soil that is now 60% sand and 40% clay. "I thought the track was much better than in previous years," said Canard. "The dirt was so much better than what we're used to here. It was pretty tacky all day, so I was surprised how shiny and slick it got as the night progressed. It also got pretty rutted and rough in a couple spots."
• Each weekend, Road 2 Recovery—a non-profit organization founded to help professional AMA Supercross riders with financial assistance if they sustain career-ending injuries—holds a fan-experience eBay auction that includes tickets to the race, pit tours and a signed rider jersey. At Arlington, Team Honda HRC helped support the cause by providing the foundation with a Cole Seely jersey and giving the auction winner and his family an inside look at the team's tech and hospitality trucks. The package went for an impressive $2,500.
• During the day's timed qualifying practice, Canard's 50.231-second lap was good for third-quickest, less than one second off the pace of fellow Honda rider Eli Tomac, who was second with 49.481. Meanwhile, Seely secured fifth with 50.776.
• Canard took advantage of a good start in heat two, moving into the front spot early and leading every lap, earning him a direct transfer to the main event. Canard's best lap in the main event was 55.568, making him one of only five riders to drop into the 55-second range.
• Seely was dogged by misfortune for much of the night. After taking sixth in his heat race, he suffered a crash while passing for the lead in semi 1 and had to transfer through the LCQ. That left him with a poor gate pick for the main event. Another mishap landed the rookie in 10^th by the end of the 20-lap race.
• With Canard's wins in Oakland and San Diego, along with Tomac's victory in Phoenix, the Red Riders have the most victories of any manufacturer this season. Additionally, Honda is the only brand to have at least one rider on the podium at every round, and the CRF450R has the most podium finishes of any bike, at eight. Honda also leads the manufacturer points standings, with 157 points.
• On February 21, Team Honda HRC will campaign the first of two back-to-back stops at Atlanta's Georgia Dome.

THE FOCUS: Dynamic Duo

The rider-mechanic relationship is a special link. It may take a while for the connection to form, but after it does, it can be a true bond—the mechanic knowing exactly how the rider wants his bike to be set up, and the rider trusting his wrench to achieve that. For some riders and mechanics though, the relationship is based on more than just racing, and that's the case with Trey Canard and Brent Presnell.

With this being Canard and Presnell's 11^th year together, the duo has been through many highs and lows. "My relationship with Brent is really special," Canard says. "He came to me in such a critical time in life when my dad had passed away and I didn't have anyone to work on my bikes, so Brent came and lived with me. There's more than racing between us; he's like my family to me, and the relationship is very deep."

"Honestly, sometimes I feel like we're just the old married couple," Presnell laughed. "We don't have to talk; we just know what to do and what the other is thinking. I've been around him long enough to know his good days and his bad days based off his demeanor. There are certain times when he just needs his space to cool down for a little while, and I can normally get a good read on that so I can warn other people. We're both from Oklahoma and come from similar backgrounds, so we have a lot in common away from the track."

Look for a bio on the Cole Seely-Rich Simmons rider-mechanic pairing in an upcoming Team Honda HRC Race Brief.

QUOTES

Trey Canard
"Overall, I'm happy with my ride tonight. I was giving it my all and you could tell that both those guys [fellow podium-finishers Ken Roczen and Ryan Dungey] were really feeling good today. I didn't feel especially great all day so to come away with a third is a nice feeling. I think the nights you're not feeling your best are the ones you need to capitalize on and get a podium for the points. I mean I'm still a little disappointed because you always want to win, especially when the guys who beat you are ahead of you in points, but it's a long series. I just need to keep my head down and keep moving forward."

Cole Seely
"It was a long and rough night for me. I didn't get the best start in my heat race, so I was trying to work my way forward when there were four of us riders neck-and-neck trying to fight for two transfer spots. Unfortunately, I got shuffled back and missed transferring. I was running second in the semi and was going for the lead when my front end washed out in a turn. It seemed like the track went from having pretty good traction one lap, to ice the next lap. I had to go to the LCQ, which is every rider's nightmare. I got a good start, rode a clean race and just was focused on making it into the main event. The main was also pretty tough. I actually got a pretty good start considering I was third from the very outside and was running around seventh when I washed the front end out again. I got shuffled back to 16^th and had to spend the rest of the race pushing forward to 10^th."

Sam Mishima: Motorcycle Sports Manager
"Tonight was a bit up and down. It's disappointing that we didn't do as well as we did last weekend or as we've been doing all season, so it was kind of a reality check. Trey got on the podium, which was good and both Tomac and Seely had the speed during the main, but we weren't able to put it all together. We'll regroup this week, try to make our bikes better and come back stronger next week."

Dan Betley: Team Manager
"Trey landed on the podium tonight so I'm happy about that, but since our momentum has been going good throughout the beginning of the season and all of our riders have been up front, tonight is a little bittersweet. We want more. Now that we have a taste of success and wins, we're not going to settle with just getting on the podium. For some reason we were a little off all day, so we need to go back this week and figure out why that was and come back swinging in Atlanta."

Brent Presnell: Mechanic (Trey Canard)
"Considering how the day went, I think tonight actually went really well. I felt like Trey was a little off today, and he seemed to just be going through the motions. He wasn't really a threat for the top spot all day, so to walk away with a third is great. It's always a good, solid points day if you can come away with a podium. That's the main goal, to get on the podium every weekend. Whether you're first or third, you're still on the box and getting solid points, so you can't ever complain about that. Still, it would have been nice to be a little more competitive and run up front with Ryan [Dungey] and Ken [Roczen] a little more."

Rich Simmons: Mechanic (Cole Seely)
"It was a rough night—definitely not what we wanted, but sometimes you have to expect that, being the rookie in the class. I know it was frustrating for Cole, but he did what he needed to do to get into the main event. He actually got a decent start from the far outside but fell early in the race and finished tenth, which isn't all that bad considering everything that happened throughout the night. He was riding really well and his lap times were only slightly off of Trey's and the frontrunners, so I think if he hadn't gone down he could've been in the top five. We'll just learn from this and move forward."

Press contact:
Mandie Fonteyn // Dispatch Communications // mandie@dispatchco.com // +1 (951) 537-0454