Before the Thor Winter Olympics (Mini Os) moved to the outdoor portion of the event, they wrapped up the supercross portion on Wednesday. We had a chance to talk with Challen Tennant (250A) and Sean Cantrell (450A and 250 Pro Sport) about their respective championships.
Challen Tennant 250A
Racer X: First off, congratulations on winning 250A supercross at the 2016 Winter Olympics. How does that feel?
Challen Tennant: It's a great feeling; it's what I wanted to do. I accomplished my first championship in the 250A, still got three more main events today to go out there and do the best that I can and try to win those as well, but yeah I'm super stoked right now! Especially 250A being the premiere class, I'm glad I got that out of the bag.
This is a different track than last year, is there anything you didn't like, or liked more than last year?
I think I like it more this year, the track they have this year is a little more spaced out. The jumps are little more realistic, it’s not too much of a pit bike track anymore to where you could just jump everything pretty much first gear on a 250. Little bit wider, more options to pass, so yeah I think I like it better this year.
Is there anything special you did to prepare for this year?
I've just been training with Gareth Swanepoel over at the Star [Racing] crew and all those guys, that's pretty much all I've been doing. I've been on the bike for probably two months, so I'm feeling really good for being on the bike for such a short amount of time, and hopefully I’ll keep getting better.
There's a lot of fun things to do here at Mini Os, is there anything you like to do here besides the racing?
I just like chilling with a bunch of my friends. I have a lot of friends at the track I've grown up with. This is my 11th year here; I love this place, it's just a cool vibe about the whole race! So, yeah, just go hangout with my friends, throw a Frisbee, ride around in the golf carts, stuff that I can do at the amateur national that you wouldn't get to do at a pro race.
Sean Cantrell 450A and 250 Pro Sport
Racer X: Sean, congrats on winning 450A and 250 Pro Sport. That's got to feel awesome, how was it out there?
Sean Cantrell: Man, it was cool, it was a great day today. Got away with the win in 450A and 250 Pro Sport, both on a 250! So that was pretty cool to win a 450 class on a 250. Done with supercross, now on to outdoors, really looking forward to tomorrow and the rest of the week.
Can we expect the same results in motocross?
Yeah, absolutely! I expect the same results, even better. I mean, I excel in outdoors a lot more actually than supercross. It's more my specialty, just been riding it, like any other amateur you've been riding outdoors for your whole life. Just gonna go out there; there’s more separators and more stuff to do on a outdoors track so you can make more things happen. I'm looking forward to it!
You said it’s been 10 years since you’ve been on the supercross podium here, that’s crazy!
Yeah! I was here in 2006 and 2012 so its been a while since I've been on the podium. It's different for sure, being on the smallest bike, and now in the biggest class so its cool winning the 4-6 and now the Pro Class. Hopefully a couple more this week.
You said you didn't even know if it was Challen or [Justin] Cooper behind you, what was going through your head when you were out there?
In the offseason I've been focusing on myself, no one around me, no one on the side of the track or anything. I didn't know if it was Challen or Justin Cooper, but it didn't really matter. I just rode my own laps, had fun, hit my lines every lap, it was a good solid ride. At the beginning I was a little nervous, the first championship is always the hardest. Like I said, a lot more racing to do.
What’s next after Mini Os? Are you planning doing more arenacross or maybe some supercross?
After Mini Os its just getting ready for Hangtown; like I only have a couple more amateur races left so maybe Daytona, maybe Freestone, something like that. Just working, working on outdoors, and whatever date Hangtown is, I'll be ready for it.
