Big weekend in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship for rookie Casey Cochran as he logged his first ever pro podium. Casey, who was still racing Supercross Futures in Daytona and St. Louis in March, raced three rounds of Monster Energy AMA Supercross in the 250SX East Region going 15-15-16. Come round one of Pro Motocross at Pala and he turned pro full time, finishing 15-21 for 19th overall. Since then, he has been slowly building, though his results have not always been an adequate representation of his ability as he has had some great starts and even more spectacular crashes, like his one at High Point.
The last couple of weeks have been a big improvement, with a tenth at Southwick and a seventh at RedBud. Still when the skies opened up before the second 250 moto at Spring Creek, everyone might have been surprised to see the young rookie out front. Everyone besides Casey that is, as he stated in the post-race press conference:
“I mean, you have to believe in yourself all the time and I believe that I have the talent and the ability, so I've always thought that. So, to come out and kinda show everyone that I can compete with these guys, it's awesome for me as well just to bring confidence and build it up.”
Cochran who got ninth in the first moto explained how he got through the first turn and into the lead during the second.
“I had no idea [that there was a pileup], I was outside the box," he said. "So, when I came into the first turn, the only person I saw was Chance [Hymas] and he kind of went wide and I knew they prepped that, so I just tucked right under him and then got him going into the left. Honestly, I think if he would have held it on, he would have out braked me and had the lead. So, when he slowed down, I was like, “Oh, alright.” I just went around, and I knew that was a big move right there. If I could get out early, to get out front and get some clean laps.”
He said this of leading his first ever pro race:
“It felt like I was back in an amateur race, and I was like, ‘Just get to the line and say we led a lap and then just keep clicking them off and lap by lap.’ And just let it come to me.”
He continued, “It was a whole different experience being out front. To learn it pretty fast and I think I looked back on lap four or something or lap three and there was no one there and I'm like, 'Oh, all right.' And kinda just went with it and stuck with my lines. And yeah, I could see Levi [Kitchen] and I could see the ground he was making up and it was definitely on that hill part of the area. But once he got me, I picked up on a few of his lines and yeah, he was running really good. So, yeah, it was just something I've never done before but I'm glad to experience it.”
After leading for nine laps, Cochran was passed by first moto winner Levi Kitchen, who would go on to win his first ever Pro Motocross overall. Cochran's 9-2 on the day was good enough for third overall, his first pro podium. Even though he would have liked the win, leading his first laps and landing on the podium is a giant leap forward for the young rookie.
“I could see Levi coming and I wanted that win. I mean, when you're out front and you've never been there before it's the only thing you want and that's the only thing you're thinking about, and I could see him coming and obviously you start pushing as hard as you can because you do want the win. So, that's what we're here to do. We're here to win and that's the closest I've ever been and to be in that situation, like 24 minutes in... Yeah, I saw him coming but maybe I did pick it up a little bit or try to, and then once he got around, tried to pick up on some lines, tried to come back immediately. And then he was riding really good.”
Second in a moto is a huge feat, not to mention scored Casey valuable points in the SMX points standing. Now let’s see if he can build off of this result next weekend in the Pacific Northwest.
