5 Minutes with... Trey Canard
January 13, 2010 2:00pm | by: Steve Cox
GEICO Powersports Honda’s Trey Canard is in his last year in the Lites class, and he’s out to show that his rookie year was no fluke. At Anaheim I, he grabbed a runner-up finish behind a dominant performance by Jake Weimer, but Trey is hoping to step it up a notch or two as the season progresses. We talked to him after the race.
Trey Canard: This off-season was so weird for me because I got hurt in June, basically healed, and then it seemed like an eternity until I was racing again. With the economy, everything got held back, and I didn’t get my contract done until late. Once it got five or six weeks away, those five or six weeks went quick. Then we get to last week, and it’s like, “Dude, we’re racing next weekend!” Everyone on the team worked really hard. They had some obstacles to overcome, and they did. I’ve just got to thank them and the work that they put in.
In the off-season, I bought one of your team’s race bikes, and Darren Borcherding is telling me through the off-season that your bikes are going to have stock components as suspension on them. Not kit stuff, stock stuff revalved and set up by Factory Connection. He’s telling me it’s the same stuff I have in my bike.
Yeah, that’s true.
Well, was there any trepidation on your part when you knew it was going that route instead of the high-dollar kit stuff?
Yeah, until I rode with the high-dollar kit stuff... I was doubting it, for sure. All the time growing up, you see this trick-looking stuff, and you’re like, “Dude, that’s got to be so good.” We were on it last year, and we switched for outdoors, but coming into supercross, I figured we’d be switching back again. I was like, “All right, so we’re going back to the big stuff for supercross again, right?!”
Yeah, because it’s gnarlier out there.
Definitely. You need more rigid stuff, normally. But they were like, “No, we’re just going to test this.” I was kind of like, “All right, well, it’s Mike LaRocco and Ziggy, and they kind of know what they’re doing... But whatever!” So I tested it, and he came up with an awesome setting that I was really stoked with. Man, honestly, I’ve made like two or three changes since the first time I tested supercross. Then I tried the kit stuff, and I hated it.
So it was obviously good for your brain to know you didn’t like the kit stuff better...
It was good. I’m glad I tried it because it put it out of my mind. I couldn’t be more happy with the bike. It’s a great bike, and there was a lot of doubt and a lot of people saying that it wasn’t good, because there was all that talk about the 450 last year, and when I was in the renegotiation stage of my contract, that was something I was stuck on because so many people dogged it. But to be here on that bike, I’m stoked. It’s a good bike.
Talk about your starts tonight.
The first one, I had a big boulder in front of my gate, which kind of threw me off, but I think a lot of it was nerves, to be honest.
So, did you see the boulder and focus on it and think it’s going to be a problem the whole time? Is that what you’re saying?
No, at that point, when you’re committed to that gate, you’re like, “It’s not going to be a problem... It’s not going to be a problem... I’m going to get over this fine.” But I didn’t. And the first turn was crazy, with the dogleg, and then turning the other way all sharp. It was crazy in there. But my main goal was to get through here, and I did, and I’m thankful for that.
You know, I felt good about that, actually. I’m not going to say I’m better or he’s better or whatever, but I think we’re really close. You can count on me doing everything I can, and you know I will, so I’m looking forward to this season, and I think it’s going to be really good racing with me and Jake and a whole lot of other guys. There are going to be a whole lot of guys trying hard and riding hard, so I’m looking forward to it.
With all the nerves coming into A1, how much better do you feel now, going into Phoenix, that you had a decent finish and got out of here clean?
Dude, I feel sooo much better. After that front-end wash in the heat race, I was like, “Dude! It’s like last year!” Last year was identical. I was like four laps in, leading, and washed the front end, and my season went sour from there. So I just took a deep breath after that crash, and finished the night out good. I was stoked.
Now, I’ll switch gears... Your mom got you a karaoke machine for Christmas, since you liked it so much at the Halloween Party. What is it that you like to sing the most so far?
Man, I don’t know, I do everything! I just start from the beginning and sing away! My favorite moment, though, was with Jimmy Albertson. Before he left for Europe, we sang Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe”. It’s kind of gay.
Yeah, it’s a little gay...
Yeah, but Jimmy and I, we’re just that close... (Long pause) We’re not gay, I mean. I’m just saying we’re comfortable when we’re together. (Long pause) Not together, like “together”. We both like girls, I swear! (Long pause) Maybe it’s good he went to Europe, because maybe we were getting a little too close [laughs].
Trey Canard: This off-season was so weird for me because I got hurt in June, basically healed, and then it seemed like an eternity until I was racing again. With the economy, everything got held back, and I didn’t get my contract done until late. Once it got five or six weeks away, those five or six weeks went quick. Then we get to last week, and it’s like, “Dude, we’re racing next weekend!” Everyone on the team worked really hard. They had some obstacles to overcome, and they did. I’ve just got to thank them and the work that they put in.
In the off-season, I bought one of your team’s race bikes, and Darren Borcherding is telling me through the off-season that your bikes are going to have stock components as suspension on them. Not kit stuff, stock stuff revalved and set up by Factory Connection. He’s telling me it’s the same stuff I have in my bike.
Yeah, that’s true.
Well, was there any trepidation on your part when you knew it was going that route instead of the high-dollar kit stuff?
Yeah, until I rode with the high-dollar kit stuff... I was doubting it, for sure. All the time growing up, you see this trick-looking stuff, and you’re like, “Dude, that’s got to be so good.” We were on it last year, and we switched for outdoors, but coming into supercross, I figured we’d be switching back again. I was like, “All right, so we’re going back to the big stuff for supercross again, right?!”
Yeah, because it’s gnarlier out there.
Definitely. You need more rigid stuff, normally. But they were like, “No, we’re just going to test this.” I was kind of like, “All right, well, it’s Mike LaRocco and Ziggy, and they kind of know what they’re doing... But whatever!” So I tested it, and he came up with an awesome setting that I was really stoked with. Man, honestly, I’ve made like two or three changes since the first time I tested supercross. Then I tried the kit stuff, and I hated it.
So it was obviously good for your brain to know you didn’t like the kit stuff better...
It was good. I’m glad I tried it because it put it out of my mind. I couldn’t be more happy with the bike. It’s a great bike, and there was a lot of doubt and a lot of people saying that it wasn’t good, because there was all that talk about the 450 last year, and when I was in the renegotiation stage of my contract, that was something I was stuck on because so many people dogged it. But to be here on that bike, I’m stoked. It’s a good bike.
Talk about your starts tonight.
The first one, I had a big boulder in front of my gate, which kind of threw me off, but I think a lot of it was nerves, to be honest.
So, did you see the boulder and focus on it and think it’s going to be a problem the whole time? Is that what you’re saying?
No, at that point, when you’re committed to that gate, you’re like, “It’s not going to be a problem... It’s not going to be a problem... I’m going to get over this fine.” But I didn’t. And the first turn was crazy, with the dogleg, and then turning the other way all sharp. It was crazy in there. But my main goal was to get through here, and I did, and I’m thankful for that.
You know, I felt good about that, actually. I’m not going to say I’m better or he’s better or whatever, but I think we’re really close. You can count on me doing everything I can, and you know I will, so I’m looking forward to this season, and I think it’s going to be really good racing with me and Jake and a whole lot of other guys. There are going to be a whole lot of guys trying hard and riding hard, so I’m looking forward to it.
With all the nerves coming into A1, how much better do you feel now, going into Phoenix, that you had a decent finish and got out of here clean?
Dude, I feel sooo much better. After that front-end wash in the heat race, I was like, “Dude! It’s like last year!” Last year was identical. I was like four laps in, leading, and washed the front end, and my season went sour from there. So I just took a deep breath after that crash, and finished the night out good. I was stoked.
Now, I’ll switch gears... Your mom got you a karaoke machine for Christmas, since you liked it so much at the Halloween Party. What is it that you like to sing the most so far?
Man, I don’t know, I do everything! I just start from the beginning and sing away! My favorite moment, though, was with Jimmy Albertson. Before he left for Europe, we sang Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe”. It’s kind of gay.
Yeah, it’s a little gay...
Yeah, but Jimmy and I, we’re just that close... (Long pause) We’re not gay, I mean. I’m just saying we’re comfortable when we’re together. (Long pause) Not together, like “together”. We both like girls, I swear! (Long pause) Maybe it’s good he went to Europe, because maybe we were getting a little too close [laughs].
