By Jason Weigandt, Holly Wingler, and Steve Matthes
Ken Roczen, RCH/Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki, Second in 450SX
Racer X: Just take me though it. How’d it go?
Ken Roczen: It went all right. You need to go off to a good start. You got to be up front, and by up front I mean holeshot. Obviously [Davi] Millsaps and [Ryan] Dungey, they were pretty much gone after two laps. It’s really hard to catch up then. I tried my best and I made one big mistake after the finish line that cost me big time. Other than that we were pretty much the same. It was hard to make up ground. Gave it my best. It was really slippery and got really rough. We just need to get holeshots.
I saw you had it [the gap] down to almost a second. It was just one mistake? That made all the difference?
It was a left after the finish and I almost crashed there and had to single, single, and triple out. – Jason Weigandt
Trey Canard, American Honda, Third in 450SX
Trey Canard: I was happy. I was giving it my all. You could tell both of those guys were going good today, and I didn’t feel great. I finally put in some good laps at the end, but it was too late. I just kind of struggled. I don’t know what the deal was, but I finally felt good at the end of the race. Not a bad night. The nights when you’re not feeling the best you want to try to get on the podium.
What happened with Davi [Millsaps]?
I got his rear wheel on the wall. Those things are kind of sketchy. I kind of boosted him and he kind of landed funny. – Weigandt
Eli Tomac: GEICO Honda, Seventh in 450SX
Racer X: How’d it go?
Eli Tomac: I don’t know. Disappointing, I guess. Another bad result. I had a good jump on the start and then I got passed by Baggett on the inside going down the straightaway. I don’t know if I didn’t hit my third gearshift early enough or what. So I got beat there. Then going through the middle of the race battling some, got to fifth or sixth and Shorty [Andrew Short] was going really tight on a triple-single after the big triple. I just checked up too much, washed the front end out. Threw my leg over the side of the bike and that was it. Then rode really tight and I actually felt kind of weak during the main too, so I don’t know what happened.
That crash, that stuff that happens when you’re battling and back in the pack and all that?
Yeah, and then when you get back up heart rate spikes through. I honestly didn’t feel that good at all. – Weigandt
Cole Seely, American Honda, Tenth in 450SX
Cole Seely: I crashed in the semi. The track went from good traction to like ice in one lap. I thought I had a flat tire for a second! Main event was tough, had to start third from the very outside, and I actually got a pretty good start; I was like seventh, which is pretty good considering where I was. I think I was in seventh when I washed the front again and went down, about five laps in. I think I was in sixteenth; I managed to work my way forward to tenth. Been a rough week. Glad to get out of Dallas, really. – Weigandt
Chad Reed, Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports, Eleventh in 450SX
Chad Reed: It was alright. I didn’t get a great jump off the start. I was sleeping a little bit. I think I was sixth or seventh or something like that, and then I went down (for more on Reed’s crash with Eli Tomac check out Saturday Night Live). Tried to claw my way back to the top ten. Actually I don’t know where I finished [laughs]. I know it was outside the top ten.
But still pushing?
Of course. It was a decent day. We learned a lot about some settings today. I had been at a point where I’ve been feeling things, but it’s been kind of vague and hard for me to give good information to the guys to kind of turn it into making the bike better. Today I think we made a good step for me to understand it and give good feedback. So, it was a good day. – Weigandt
Justin Bogle, GEICO Honda, Second in 250SX
Racer X: Welcome back. Are you excited to be back on the East Coast?
Justin Bogle: I am. Getting to watch those guys on West, I just tried to use it as a learning experience and try to learn as much as I could. The night was good. Good starts, just a little bit off. Need to clean up a few things, but I fully believe I’m capable of winning. Just got to clean a few things up, do a little work and come back next weekend and try to get up there on the top step of the box.
Obviously that track was pretty slick out there. Marvin and you, you guys were equal distance apart. He was riding great. You want to try and keep that red plate in your sight.
For sure. He rode flawless. I didn’t see any mistakes. I didn’t feel like I made any either, I was just a little bit off. Just keep getting good starts, trying to get wins. That’s the main thing at this point. I want to be up there winning and get that red plate back. – Holly Wingler
Matt Lemoine, JAB Motorsports, Fifth in 250SX
Racer X: You had third in your sights at one point.
Matt Lemoine: I had a pretty long day! In practice I cased that back triple, blew my hand off and both of my feet. I took the second practice just to see how I’d feel. The Asterisk guys took care of me, and my trainer, Gareth [Swanepoel]. But I had zero confidence in myself. I was riding so good, and then that happened; it brings you down mentally. I had third, but I think the restart kind of screwed me. I had just passed [Joey] Savatgy, but they started us where we were two laps prior. So everyone got to reboot, get a breather, but Savatgy was back ahead of me, and [Jeremy] Martin was behind me, a little bit closer than he was. The race was a little shorter from there and everyone was just jockeying for position. But I’m happy with it considering the day. We got some good points and I’m looking forward to the next rounds. – Steve Matthes
RJ Hampshire, GEICO Honda, Seventh in 250 SX
Racer X: Your rookie supercross debut. Looking pretty good. You got to take it after you had a hard get-off in practice. At the end of the night, I guess you’ll take this. I know you got seventh, so you’ll take it, right?
RJ Hampshire: Yeah, for sure, with how the day started. Actually I felt good in the first timed practice, decent. And then second one just went for a heater and hit my head pretty good. It was actually a bad get-off. The Asterisk crew told me I wasn’t even going to be able to ride. So we went back to there and they worked on me a little bit. Took my concussion test and passed it at like a ninety-three, so they let me ride. I knew it was going to be tough. My hand’s a little beat up and my side, but we toughed through it. Had some good group of guys back here working on me. Red Dog brought me through the night. So it was pretty solid.
The main event, rookie nerves, it finally gets going, now there’s a restart with a staggered start. You’re like, what?
Yeah I was pretty bummed actually. I was just worried about putting my laps down; I didn’t care what place I was in. I was in so much pain. I was just trying to hit my points. Then I think we were on lap eight I seen the red flag. Then they said restart. I was like, what is that? I thought we were halfway through. Staggered start kind of messed me up a little bit because I had a pretty good gap back to [Vince] Friese and them.
More time to sit there and get your pain set in, right?
The pain was already trying to go away, and then after that it was almost back to me. We fought through it. I’m not bummed. Usually I wouldn’t be too happy with a seventh. I know I could do a lot better. I knew tonight I wasn’t healthy, and I knew I could have been, not going to put in a position, but I definitely felt like I had the speed. Just get healthy this week and come back for Atlanta. – Matthes
