Roczen a Close Second at Arlington Supercross

The 2019 AMA Supercross season has seen Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen get increasingly close to scoring his first win since suffering major injuries the past two years, and round seven in Arlington, Texas, was the closest yet; in fact, it was literally the closest ever. After nailing a strong start and aggressively moving into the lead on lap five, the German ran at the front for most of the race, only to be passed in the final turn of the final lap, finishing a scant .023 seconds behind winner Cooper Webb in what was history’s narrowest margin between first and second place. Despite the disappointment of narrowly missing out on the victory, Roczen gained confidence from riding well and still sits just two points out of the series lead.

Teammate Cole Seely also had a positive evening in Texas. After he and Roczen shared the heat-race wins, his main-event start wasn’t ideal, but he quickly improved his situation, moving into sixth place by lap seven. The Californian briefly threatened for fifth before opting to safely match his best finish of the year.

NOTES

• The night before the race, Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely joined GEICO Honda’s Chase Sexton and BWR Honda riders Tyler Enticknap, Carlen Gardner and Cade Autenrieth at DFW Honda for a dealer appearance. A crowd of fans showed up to get autographs and photos with their favorite riders, enjoy grilled hot dogs, win raffle prizes and check out the cool collection of vintage Hondas that the dealership has on display.
• The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex was struck by cold weather on race day, with temperatures hovering just a few degrees above freezing for much of the morning, and a foggy mist rolling in for the evening. Unlike some of this season’s California races, the covered stadium prevented the actual racing from being affected by the weather, but the teams took measures to manage working conditions in the pits, attaching walls to the big rigs’ canopies and setting up propane heaters.
• Team members also kept their blood flowing by getting in their steps at Arlington, where the pits are located across AT&T Way from the stadium, which made for lengthy hikes before and after the track walk, three practice sessions, the heat races and the main event.
• Former Team Honda HRC factory rider Trey Canard has been serving as the squad’s test rider this year, and he has also attended most of the races to offer Roczen and Seely advice such as tips on lines. Arlington is Canard’s “home” race, and he made the three-hour trip from Oklahoma by automobile.
• Also on hand was Rich Simmons, who worked for years as Seely’s mechanic before relocating to North Carolina this year. While Seely’s current mechanic, Jordan Troxell, handled his normal duties, Simmons lent a hand with non-technical matters.
• Seely was the top Red Rider during the daytime practice sessions, posting a 50.373” lap in the last of three sessions, which proved to be good for fifth-best. Roczen was eighth-fastest at 50.608”, two positions better than MotoConcepts Honda rider Justin Brayton. Times were extremely close, with no fewer than 14 riders within the lead second.
• Team Honda HRC had its best heat-race showing of the year in Arlington, with Roczen taking the heat-one holeshot and leading every lap to score the win, just before Seely posted a similar victory in heat two.
• In what has been a trend this year, Honda tied for the most bikes in the 450SX main event, with five. There were also six CRF250R machines in the 250SX East main, good for second-most.
• With Hunter Lawrence out due to an injured shoulder and Christian Craig taking the weekend off to let his hurt thumb recuperate, GEICO Honda was left with just Chase Sexton representing them in Arlington’s 250SX East program. The Illinois native improved upon last week’s round-one performance with a commendable podium finish in Arlington, though he was disappointed not to do even better than third after threatening for the win at one point. Unfortunately, a stall and a crash thwarted that effort, but Sexton sits fourth in the points chase, just three behind third and five behind second.
• Team Honda HRC will be racing again at Detroit’s Ford Field this coming Saturday, one night after making a dealer appearance at Southgate, Michigan’s Genthe Honda.