Honda HRC officially announced their 2023 lineup at Blackmore Ranch in California on Friday and that of course included the newest face to the program, Colt Nichols. The 2021 250SX East Region champion saw a sliver of racing in 2022 after he broke both arms and suffered burns in a crash in his heat race at the 2022 Anaheim 1 Supercross back in January. Since then, he said goodbye to Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing, was linked with the rebirth of the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM team before things ultimately didn’t come together, and then even signed with Rick Ware Racing for the FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) but then suddenly pulled out of that as well. A week later, he was officially announced as Chase Sexton’s Honda HRC teammate in the 450SX class heading into 2023 and the roller coaster finally landed back on the tracks.
We were able to catch up with Nichols on Friday to hear about that process of signing with Honda, how the team has been so far, and what he’s looking forward to as he heads into his rookie 450SX season.
Racer X: Let’s just go back to when you get the call from Team Honda. How rewarding was that to know that there’s still someone looking for your services, and that you get to go into your rookie year on a 450 with this kind of program?
Colt Nichols: It was rewarding, to say the least, but stressful. I had a really stressful off-season. I thought I had a deal lined up with another team that fell through. I had no idea what we were doing after that. Then I got the call from my agent, Jimmy Button, to say, “You got the ride with HRC.” So, I was pretty ecstatic. I just wanted to ride the bike already. That took a few weeks, but I was pumped. It was a lot of weight off my shoulders and a really good position for me to be in.
Like you said, you had another team that eventually fell through, and you were kind of jumping between a couple different programs. How hard was it to mentally juggle that situation?
It was tough, just because I know what it’s like on the other side of the fence. I was on Star for six years and it was considered one of the best Lites teams there was. I came into this whole thing [pro ranks] as a privateer, so I know what that’s like. I know what it’s like to be on a program where you feel like you need a little more, but it’s just not there. So, for me, that was a big thing. I wanted to come into this [450 class] with a chance and a really, really good team. I thought I had that. Then that folded and we were like, we don’t know what the hell we’re doing! So, it was just really, really up in the air. A little stressful, but at the end of the day, I was going to go race no matter what. That’s what I wanted to do, whether I showed up in the back of my truck at A1, we were going to do that. Luckily, this opportunity came up and the best possible situation for me to land is where I landed, which is rare, but we’re pumped with where we are.
![Colt Nichols in his 2023 threads.]()
Colt Nichols in his 2023 threads. Honda HRC ![Colt Nichols at the 2023 Honda HRC team photo shoot.]()
Colt Nichols at the 2023 Honda HRC team photo shoot. Honda HRC ![Colt Nichols at the 2023 Honda HRC team intro.]()
Colt Nichols at the 2023 Honda HRC team intro. Simon Cudby
It sounds like they were talking a little bit about that you were already helping develop the bike, doing some testing and working with Trey [Canard, HRC test rider]. How has that transition been to getting on the Honda? How have you gelled with it so far? What kind of things are you still working through?
Honestly, the transition was good just because I enjoy riding a 450. I feel like it suits my style a little bit. Going from the bike I was on before this; it’s been a big change just in the characteristic of the bike. This thing is pretty soft, all the way around. Suspension-wise it rides really low in the front. It turns super sharp. The Star 250 was kind of the opposite of that. For me, with Trey being injured, a lot more of the weight of the testing got thrown on my shoulders, which I enjoyed because I got to learn a lot more a lot quicker. So, it was just getting it set up a little more for me. Luckily, Chase likes some of the setups that I do. He likes the bike to ride kind of exactly the way I do too. So, it has worked really well so far. I hope I’ve been a decent tester for this team. They seem like it’s been working good. I’ve just been pumped on it. We’ve been trying to get the balance a little better and more hold up in the front, a little lower in the rear. Just some little stuff like that. So, we’re getting at it pretty good. Had some really, really long days, but we’re about five or six days of riding now without touching it and I’m pretty pumped on where we’re at.
So, you’ve been out in California this whole time doing the testing. Is that kind of the plan moving into the season as well to stay out here?
Yeah, that was actually a big selling point for them. They wanted me here. Trey lives in Oklahoma. He does the back-and-forth thing. Chase and the Lawrence brothers, everybody is in Florida. So, for me, they were like, “Are you going to be here full-time?” I was like, "I will buy a camper and park it at Honda. I don’t really give a shit. I just want an opportunity." So for me, I was like, I’ll do whatever. If you need me in California, I’ll be in California. So, we got a little rented house and that’s the plan. We plan to be here all season and just see where it goes.
What kind of expectations are you going to put on yourself going into this season? Rookie year, and you’ve got to kind of dust the cobwebs off a little bit from the injury this past year. Are you going to try to start slow and build or are you hoping to come out with a swing?
I think that’s the goal, start slow, build, see where we go. I think some of my more favorable tracks are towards the east coast anyway. So, just get in and kind of get our feet wet, see where we are. The expectations are low. It’s just a different position for me to be in. We got started a little late, but it’s a hell of an opportunity and I want to make the most of it. I want to get in and bang some bars, see where we go, but for the most part, just make it through every round and look up in five or six weeks and hopefully we’ve stacked some decent results and kind of get the momentum going in the right direction, would be the goal. So, we’ll see.
So then would you be happy with the way that your season progresses if you feel better riding each week? Or would you by the end of the season like to see a result specifically on the leaderboard in the championship standings?
I would say both. The riding: if that comes then the results will come behind that. So, mainly just being comfortable at the race again. It’s been a long time. It’s a lot different practicing to racing. So, if we can show up at A1 and get the laps, feel like I’m riding somewhat like myself, I’ll be happy with whatever that means, results-wise. By the time we get into it though, I want to be results-focused and make sure we’re getting what I feel like I’m capable of. Pretty big audition, but at the same time, just a good position for me to be in just to see where we stack up.
It’s going to be the first time you're going through all 17 rounds. How do you expect that flow to go throughout the year where you try to get used to it, going past eight or nine rounds, for example?
Yeah. It can go either way. If you’re in a rut, sometimes it sucks, but at the same time I always look at it like, let’s leave that in the past and move on. In 2021, the last time I raced when we went to Indy, I was in such a good flow of things. Granted, we raced three times in a week, but it was just the more we could race, I thought the better it would be. When you’re in a good flow and you feel like you’re kind of on top of things, it just comes a lot easier and I’m hoping we can do that this year. A lot of chances to redeem yourself, that’s for sure. 17 of them. So, if it goes bad one weekend, that’s all right. We’ll be ready to go for the next one. But I’m just excited to try to be there all 17. If we can do that, that will be a win for me.
