Cole Seely | Honda HRC | 3rd in 450SX
Racer X: Last week you said you were hurting. So how did you pull that off? That had to be tough!
Cole Seely: Yeah, that was tough! Man, to be laid up on the coach four weeks ago with a broken vertebrae, and it’s still broken, just in excruciating pain, I had to sit on the couch for two more weeks to wait it out until I felt good. The way I was able to get back into it as quickly as I could, I guess I had a better base built up than I thought. Kenny [Roczen] was really fast and got away, but I could see those guys and hear those guys behind me, I just had to push, and I really put some heart into those last two laps. Glad I pulled that off.
So you knew he [Dungey] was there and you knew you were in third? I’m sure you wanted that podium.
I could see the red plate behind me. And I’m like, “Oh man, here goes.” I thought he would want to win the championship, but I also thought he would want to keep that podium streak going. I just had to hit my marks and ride my very hardest and not let those guys by. Kenny was really hauling the mail, I couldn’t catch him, but it was a good twenty laps.
Are you just tired or are you in actual pain?
It’s everything. I’m tired because of the time off, but the pain is really bad if I hit a G-out and agitates my neck. It all gets hidden under a nice blanket of adrenaline, though. It goes away and then it comes back so I get a nice reminder.
Feel it tomorrow?
Feel it tomorrow but I’ll go to my chiropractor, Doc G. I’m very blessed to have him. These last three weeks have gone by much quicker than they could have.
You probably could have just not come back for these last three supercrosses at all.
Yeah I could have. I rode last Monday, and it was so painful, but I also felt if I had stayed home I would have felt guilty. I was good enough to race—I got seventh even though it was painful. Plus Wardy [Jeff Ward, coach], I don’t think he would have let me stay home.
Justin Brayton | BTOSports.com-KTM-WPS | 5th in 450SX
Racer X: First, what happened last week? I thought it was going to be an awesome night for you.
Justin Brayton: Last week I wasn’t throwing up but I was a little bit under the weather. I had ten laps solid in me. I felt like I was going to make a run for the top five. Just super low on energy. So this week I actually went to the doctor and got checked out. I think I just had a 48-hour bug. Like I said, I didn’t throw up but all day I just didn’t feel good. It was a bummer.
So this was more like what you could have probably done last week?
Yeah, absolutely. Like I said, the first ten laps last week I made good passes. I think I started like ninth and I passed up to sixth at one point and was making a charge for the top five and then just fully ran out of gas. The last few laps it was all I could do just to finish the race.
Honestly, I felt like since really Detroit I’ve been a top five guy. Just had a lot of weird stuff happen. I’m running third in St. Louis and get cleaned out. I’m running fourth and battling for a podium in Detroit and get a flat tire. There’s just been several races where I’ve been up front and I’ve either made a mistake or something out of my control has happened. So tonight it was nice just to seal the deal on a top five and be in the fight for a podium. That’s where I feel like I belong.
You and Dungey went at it for a while. You and Tomac went at it for a while.
It was really difficult because I didn’t really know how to race [Ryan] Dungey obviously because he’s going for a championship. But he was riding good. Obviously, he’s the champ. He was riding really good. I wanted to really get up there on Seely because the last probably eight laps I was reeling in Seely a little bit, inch by inch. But then Dungey got by me and I was like, darn it! I wanted to really get up there and try and get a podium.
When you’re in a contract year like this, do you think people will just see you’re riding well? Or are you afraid people are just looking at the results column? Is that something you’re worried about?
I think people that are here, absolutely. I was top five in everything I did today except for one practice. I feel like in my starts—I’ve ran up front almost all year. Results column definitely means a lot, but I think if you’re at the races you know that I’ve been up at the front the majority of the time. And really the second half of the season I’ve truly been a top five guy and just had some fluke stuff happen. But I’ve been on the flip side of it where I’ve gotten good results but I haven’t necessarily been in the mix. This year I feel like I’m in the mix, and a couple times I haven’t gotten the results because of whatever takes me down. Which can be my fault too, but sometimes it’s something like the flat tire deal, nothing I can really do about it.
Weston Peick | Monster Energy/Autotrader.com Yamaha | 11th in 450SX
It was all right. I felt good all day, good speed. Everybody was super close. The track was pretty easy for everybody and everybody was going fast. I started the main about ninth or so, probably worse than that, actually. Made a few passes, went to the front about sixth or seventh. Then the lines I had was the best lines for the traction I had. I think I ended up getting passed back by quite a few people by just them under cutting me on the inside. I just kind of struggled with traction all night and just made the best of it. Obviously eleventh isn’t where we want to finish. Obviously the speed’s there but it’s just one of those things you can’t control and you’ve just got to kind of move forward and figure something out.
Are you still dealing with this hand/wrist/arm deal? Can we basically say the whole season got jacked by this?
My whole season got jacked by my Oakland injury, just between my head injury and my arm injury it kind of just ruined my whole season. Even that wasn’t the whole thing. We were fighting a few others things, but that was a huge part of it. It’s just kind of one of those things where you’ve just got salvage the rest of the series out and just kind of fight and more or less do the best you can. So that’s kind of how it’s been.
Where are you physically now?
My head’s definitely a lot better. My arm and hand is feeling better. I re-injured my hand in one of the East Coast rounds. I smashed it and kind of jacked up my knuckles and my middle finger. But that’s not really holding me back from much. It’s just been more or less just trying to put everything together and get back to where I should be.
Hmmm. Do you have a special need for your knuckles and your middle finger ever?
Yeah, well when I ride…
No, I’m talking about day to day. Weston Peick needs his knuckles and his middle finger to work!
[Laughs] Yeah, I flip so many people off because I hate so many people. And when I’ve got to knuckle up my middle finger it kind of hurts a little bit.
[Laughs] It did make it harder to ride though?
It definitely hurts. It hurts to ride sometimes. You case a jump or going through the whoops just that push and pull feeling on the knuckle hurts a little bit. But it’s nothing to cry about or nothing like that. It’s just one of those things that adds to the pile of stuff.
Do you think you’ll be okay for outdoors? Are you like, hey, I’m glad to get a fresh start?Y
eah, I need to get a fresh start. Outdoors is my definitely comeback situation after the supercross I’ve had. I’m looking forward to getting out to outdoors and turning stuff around.
Martin Davalos | Rockstar Energy Husqvarna | 2nd in 250SX
I don’t have any excuses. I think Malcolm [Stewart] was just better than me tonight. I had a great start and that’s a great way to put yourself in a good position. I gave it my best. I kept him honest for 15 laps. Made a few mistakes but I think he was just better than me in the whoops and the dragon’s back. I think that’s why I just couldn’t keep up. For traction, the track was really demanding on that kind of aspect. Happy with the team; overall the bike how it worked out. Really excited to go to Vegas and race the West Coast guys. I’m really, really looking forward to that. I’ve always liked Vegas. Hopefully the guys make a really challenging track and big whoops so it keeps us honest.
You want the big whoops?
Definitely. I think we all work really hard and to set up the bike to that kind of condition. I think it favors the people that have the bike setup better. I think it will make the championship a little more interesting for everybody. I can’t wait to do it and hopefully finish on top.
If you win that one, you’re not going to get the title unfortunately this year, but if you win that one that’s got to be real sweet.
For me it’s all about trying to win. I know I belong up there and I know I can do it. It’s unfortunate what happened to me in Canada because I feel like without that, I think my momentum could have kept going and I could be fighting for that title. Unfortunately this is just the way it is and that’s what it is all about. I’m just going to go out there and try to win it.