GEICO Powersports Honda’s Trey Canard has seen the top and the bottom in less than a year. Last year, he seemed unstoppable on his way to the Lites Eastern Regional Supercross Championship, and since breaking his femur at Washougal last year, this year it has seemed at times like he couldn’t get out of his own way. At San Francisco, he took a big step toward turning his season around with his first podium of 2009.
Racer X: You’ve had a tough year so far, but today was a big improvement. Can you talk us through your first day back racing since your concussion at Phoenix?
Trey Canard: You know, since [I broke] my femur [at Washougal in 2008], I can’t seem to have gotten a break. It was just, everything was going wrong, and I was trying hard and looking for answers, and nothing was coming. Things weren’t really getting worse, but they weren’t getting better, you know? Then I hit my head [at Phoenix], and things weren’t good. To come here, and then practice didn’t go well. I don’t know if you watched it, but it wasn’t good.
Yeah, you crashed a couple of times.
I crashed a couple times, and I was in the unseeded practice, and that wasn’t safe, but to come out and make the main solidly – I got fourth, but I made the main, and that was the biggest thing. Then, in the main, I got third, but I was right there with those guys. Third is so much better than sitting at home. I’m so excited that it feels like I just won. Just to kind of do something good for once, it feels so good to me. I don’t know how to really say it...
It’s a step in the right direction, right?
It’s a momentum-builder, or whatever you want to call it. I’m just super-stoked and pumped to get a chance to get things going again.
What about the battle with Ryan Dungey there for a while?
In the very beginning, I was right on him, and that was good for me – a little confidence-booster for me – but I made a big mistake and kind of over-rode the track for a little bit, but it was just good for me to get up there and to be with those guys.
Trey Canard: You know, since [I broke] my femur [at Washougal in 2008], I can’t seem to have gotten a break. It was just, everything was going wrong, and I was trying hard and looking for answers, and nothing was coming. Things weren’t really getting worse, but they weren’t getting better, you know? Then I hit my head [at Phoenix], and things weren’t good. To come here, and then practice didn’t go well. I don’t know if you watched it, but it wasn’t good.
Yeah, you crashed a couple of times.
I crashed a couple times, and I was in the unseeded practice, and that wasn’t safe, but to come out and make the main solidly – I got fourth, but I made the main, and that was the biggest thing. Then, in the main, I got third, but I was right there with those guys. Third is so much better than sitting at home. I’m so excited that it feels like I just won. Just to kind of do something good for once, it feels so good to me. I don’t know how to really say it...
It’s a step in the right direction, right?
It’s a momentum-builder, or whatever you want to call it. I’m just super-stoked and pumped to get a chance to get things going again.
What about the battle with Ryan Dungey there for a while?
In the very beginning, I was right on him, and that was good for me – a little confidence-booster for me – but I made a big mistake and kind of over-rode the track for a little bit, but it was just good for me to get up there and to be with those guys.
Late in the race, Dungey went down, and you got by him again. How much effort were you willing to put in to try and stay in second? Or were you willing to just take third and take that step so you had something to build from?
You know, I really just wanted a step to build from, and if I put myself on the ground, I wasn’t going to do that. And I know he’s in a really critical championship position, so for me to put him on the ground, or to jeopardize anything that he has going is not what I’m about. I’ve been in his position, and he’s had two really rough years, and to be honest, I don’t want to see anyone else but Ryan Dungey win this championship. I’ll stand by that. I think he’s worked really hard for it, and he’s had it in his hands a couple of times, and I think he deserves it. I didn’t want to mess with him. Like I said, I think he deserves it, but I’m just stoked to get going again.
If it comes down to it later on, in the next few races, for a race win or something like that against Dungey, you’re going to have to try and take that win, though, right?
Yeah, definitely, but for tonight, third was good.
{LINKS}This is the halfway point in the series, so how do you feel, now that you have this out of the way, about the rest of the series?
I kind of have a fresh start. It’s kind of a new beginning for me. This is the beginning of my year, and I want to try and keep this ball rolling and do the best that I can to make things happen.
You know, I really just wanted a step to build from, and if I put myself on the ground, I wasn’t going to do that. And I know he’s in a really critical championship position, so for me to put him on the ground, or to jeopardize anything that he has going is not what I’m about. I’ve been in his position, and he’s had two really rough years, and to be honest, I don’t want to see anyone else but Ryan Dungey win this championship. I’ll stand by that. I think he’s worked really hard for it, and he’s had it in his hands a couple of times, and I think he deserves it. I didn’t want to mess with him. Like I said, I think he deserves it, but I’m just stoked to get going again.
If it comes down to it later on, in the next few races, for a race win or something like that against Dungey, you’re going to have to try and take that win, though, right?
Yeah, definitely, but for tonight, third was good.
{LINKS}This is the halfway point in the series, so how do you feel, now that you have this out of the way, about the rest of the series?
I kind of have a fresh start. It’s kind of a new beginning for me. This is the beginning of my year, and I want to try and keep this ball rolling and do the best that I can to make things happen.
