Seely Finishes Seventh Overall at Red Bud National

In front of a massive Independence Day Weekend crowd at the renowned RedBud National in Buchanan, Michigan, for round six of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely rode to a solid seventh-overall result with 6-9 marks, while teammate Christian Craig returned to action by posting 5-12 finishes for 11^th overall.

When the gate dropped on moto 1, Craig launched his CRF450R with the holeshot and early lead. Seely also got off to a good start, sitting fourth after the opening lap. Craig fought hard to maintain the lead position but was unable to hold off the onslaught, falling to fifth on lap five, which is where he finished. While running fourth, Seely made a mistake and went down, losing multiple positions. He quickly remounted in eighth and was able to work his way back up to sixth by the checkered flag. In moto two, both Seely and Craig had their work cut out for them after poor starts left them at the back of the pack. Throughout the 30-minute-plus-two-lap race, the Red Riders worked their way into ninth and 12^th, respectively.

NOTES

• For the third time since his injury at the Anaheim 2 Supercross, Team Honda HRC rider Ken Roczen joined his team to sign autographs for the fans and show support for the rest of his squad. “Things are going great with my recovery,” Roczen said. “My doctors have basically said I’m a freak of nature with how well things are healing. I have an appointment coming up to get some scans done to check everything out, but it’s going good. I’m still doing a lot of physical therapy and working on my range of motion in the wrist and elbow. It’s nice to be at the race to see my team and everyone but definitely torture not being out there. I can’t wait to get back on a bike.”

• During race day’s timed qualifying practice at RedBud, Seely led the charge for Team Honda HRC by logging a 2’02.983” lap, the sixth-fastest time, while Craig was 12^th-quickest at 2’03.670”.
• Seely’s seventh-place performance moved him back into 10^th in the championship standings with 132 points.
• The Wednesday before RedBud, several members of Team Honda HRC took part in “Ride for Nicky,” a memorial bicycle ride for the late Nicky Hayden, winner of the 2006 MotoGP world championship. The 69-mile ride took place in Southern California and raised money for the Nicky Hayden Memorial Fund, which helps children in the Owensboro, Kentucky, community Nicky called home. Donations can be made to the fund here, and special Nicky Hayden cycling kids can be purchased here.
• On July 8, Team Honda HRC will campaign the seventh round of the 2017 AMA Pro Motocross championship, which takes place at The Wick 338 in Southwick, Massachusetts. “I actually really like Southwick,” Seely said. “It’s one of my favorite rounds. I’m glad it’s back on the schedule and happy I get to race there because I missed it last year with my injury. I’m pretty excited about it. I heard they added a ton more sand, which is cool because the track I’ve been practicing on in Florida is a sand track. I feel like I’ll be better prepared for it.”

THE FOCUS: Celebrating 25 Years of Graphics

 Along vendor row, RedBud race fans had a chance to see history at a display organized by longtime Team Honda sponsor Throttle Jockey, as the brand celebrated their 25^th anniversary by displaying three significant Honda race bikes.

“We decided what better way to celebrate than to have a display at RedBud,” said Throttle Jockey co-owner Matt Davis, whose company is based 100 miles south in Kokomo, Indiana. “The first bike was the 1992 Peak Antifreeze Pro Circuit Honda that Jeremy McGrath won his 125cc supercross championship on. That was our first year as a brand and the first major team that we worked with. Then the first year we did graphics for the factory Honda team was 1995, so we had a replica of Jeremy McGrath’s 1-800-COLLECT CR250, which he won the 250cc championship on that year. We also had Ezra Lusk’s 2001 CR250 Jurassic Park 3 movie-promotion bike, which was only raced one day by Lusk, at the 2001 RedBud round. That day at RedBud, the team actually had one of those cardboard movie-theater displays, which they ended up giving to us that day. We’ve kept it all these years and had it with the bike on display today.”

With the race taking place over the Independence Day Weekend, Team Honda HRC ran patriotic red, white, and blue liveries on the factory CRF450R race machines, with stars lining the fork guards and custom seat cover. Replica graphic kids are available through Throttle Jockey’s website.

Media contact:

Mandie Fonteyn // Jonnum Media // mandie@jonnummedia.com // +1 (951) 537-0454