Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo is back on the box for the first time in a long time. Yes, a slew of factory 450 supercross talent is out of action with injury, but Adam has missed more time than most, and he just needs any sort of positive step to cling to as he tries to rebuild himself, physically and mentally.
A third-place finish and some laps led in Denver, under any circumstance, helps. He was emotional and philosophical about the experience after the race. Here are his thoughts from the post-race press conference.
Adam, you’re back on the podium. Can you even describe your emotions right now?
Adam Cianciarulo: No, I can’t. Not right now. It’s been a wild, wild couple of years for me. Just battling a lot of health stuff. I’ve just had to dig so deep. So many times I was ready to quit, or I thought I was done. I really, really mean that, This off season it wasn’t looking good for me. December time, I was stressing it big time. I’m used to having pace and being up front, but I haven’t had pace, and that’s hard to swallow for me. It was discouraging to start the year. Around Indianapolis I had a come to Jesus with myself. I said, this is no way to live. I was being so hard on myself. I wasn’t saying nice things to myself and wasn’t having a lot of fun. I started noticing the positive things in my life and the great things in life that I have. Obviously, that’s terrible that Eli went out, you never want to see that happen to anyone. Look, I know there are a lot of guys out right now, hurt. But I do not care, man. I want everyone to be healthy. But for me to be back up here is a testament to everyone around me. Yeah, I’m just stubborn.
Honestly, just the way you’re riding tonight, you looked a lot like your old self. You look like you were closer to 100% than you’ve been all season. Does that give you any extra excitement going into outdoors?
Yeah. It’s been one day at a time for me. What this whole kind of experience has taught me, when you’re so far away from this goal, from these guys, from being up, you’ve got to take it day by day. Really, I kind of judge myself on the quality of my work and not the results. That’s kind of the only way I’ve been able to continue, really, and not give up and still be here. So, it gives me confidence. I really liked the track tonight. I flowed well. I know that I can still do this. I know I can still do this at a high level. I wouldn’t be here collecting a check otherwise. I’m here to do well. I believe in myself, obviously or I would be maybe co-workers with Daniel over here. It gives me a lot of confidence going forward, for sure.
How many times did you allow yourself to envision this as a carrot to get back after all the ups and downs?
That’s a great question. I’ve laid in bed so many nights, so many nights and imagined this moment right here and what I would say and what I would feel. Really everything in vivid detail probably a few times a week. I love this sport with everything in me. I always have. Obviously, it’s no secret I’ve been battling some health problems. It’s difficult when you’re not sure what your best is going to be on Saturday. It’s been really difficult for me, but today is a good day.
You guys all three kind of had that never give up mentality. You guys have raced each other for a couple years now, but you guys have trained with each other during the week. Just kind of talk about that experience and what it’s like being there for a friend of yours and also a competitor?
Ken Roczen: I think we can all agree. I think the biggest thing is putting your ego down. We push each other, but we’re friends also. I think me and Chase have been hanging out a lot. Adam and I are a lot on the phone. I’m just genuinely stoked. Once you accept that there are young guns coming up, it was just like how I was. I came up and then I was at times on the 250 I was faster than Dunge. It bugs you a little bit, but I think once you accept that… And honestly when we’re together, we don’t even talk about dirt bikes most of the time. Friendship comes first. I think that’s why we’re all gelling together at the moment.
Cianciarulo: Yeah, it’s been an interesting dynamic. I feel like kind of the start of my pro career, before I even bought a house, I was staying with Ken. He was kind of big brother to me, and then at one point I felt like I was kind of big brother to Chase when he came up. I remember he was like, fifteen, sixteen years old coming and started riding with me. I think you were a couple seconds faster than me during the week in like 2017. I’m out there trying to get ninth on a weekend. But I think for me, and really if I’m going to be real, I think something that maybe doesn’t contribute to my results and a personality trait of mine is I love seeing my friends or just other people do well and succeed. I don’t feel any type of… Obviously Chase is probably the supercross champion. Ken, in Indianapolis I felt like I won the race. I genuinely just love seeing my friends succeed. It’s cool to kind of have a brotherhood. We’ve all kind of walked the same road. It’s hard to get here, whether you’re winning or in tenth. It’s difficult. These are the best guys in the world. Stoked to have these guys as friends and always stoked to see them succeed.
Chase Sexton: I moved to Florida in 2016. Moved to Claremont obviously which is pretty much the hub of moto at this point. I started riding at, it was called The Nest at the time with these two. That was when Kenny in 2016 won a few races that year. I felt like I was closer with Adam at the beginning, just because he and I had similar interests. We played golf a lot together. So, Adam and I hung out a lot. Honestly, I looked up to both of them. I was really intimidated of Ken just because he was winning every race, pretty much. It was a little bit hard to come up to him and start talking to him. Adam and I were close. So, it was kind of cool to see Adam 2019, obviously the outdoor championship was so gnarly. To see him do that was awesome, especially after how that supercross series ended. Obviously with Ken and his injuries, I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen these guys go through a lot. I’ve obviously had my own ups and downs. Now with Kenny… Adam moved to California and went to the dark side, [Laughs] so Kenny and I are in Florida, and we’ve been hanging out a lot. It’s pretty cool just because we don’t talk about dirt bikes. Every time I go down to the line, one thing I look forward to is talking to either Adam or Ken. It’s just nice to have friends down there. It feels more comfortable, relaxing.
