Monday Conversation With... Trey Canard
Monday, March 21, 2011 | 12:10 PM
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On a wild night in Jacksonville, Trey Canard avoided such wildness and claimed his second Monster Energy Supercross win of the year. The American Honda Racing rider has been bummed over his last few races—where he had speed but crashed out of contention early—but was, obviously, much happier this time.
Racer X Online: Okay for some reason, you seem much happier after this race than after the last one. Anything go differently?
Trey Canard: Well, I just had a good breakfast this morning.
(Laughs) That makes all the difference!
Yeah and the truck was nice and clean to work out of. No man, it’s hard when you put a lot of effort in. Me, I’m just a very serious guy when it comes to my racing. I get pretty mad when I don’t achieve what I set out to achieve. It’s something I need to work on—I should be thankful for the things I have, because I’m a very blessed person and I can’t be that hard on myself. But at the same time, that’s what drives me, so I can’t take away too much of that. Today ended up being a good day. It didn’t start out so well but it ended up good.
Canard captured his second win of the season in Jacksonville.
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
Yeah did you make bike changes? Did you have to figure out different lines?
We made a change, then we went back and made another change. It really helped. But mostly, I got a good start. It makes things so much better. I’d love to rip a few more of those. It’s weird, I didn’t practice starts this week.
Well, I recall before Houston, I think you said you didn’t practice starts that week, either, because you were frustrated. Is this going to become your thing?
I don’t know man. I was just happy to pull it out. Whatever it was, I’m happy.
Take us through the race. Reed would close in, then you got back past him and held on.
I think the whoops were my weak point. I was really strong on the rest of the track. The start was great, the first few laps I tried to settle in and be conservative. The last few weeks, the early laps have been the problem, I’ve crashed on lap three, two times on lap one, and once on lap two. So that was a big enemy of mine. I got through those laps and started feeling good, but I got into some lappers, and that really hurt me, especially in the whoops. Then Chad came up on me, and it got kind of got into my head a little bit. It was kind of good that he passed me, it was just like Houston, where once I got passed, it kind of flipped the switch back on for me again, so I was able to push through the last two laps.
Can Canard challenge for a championship?
Photo: Andrew Fredrickson
You said the whoops were a weakness, but in the heat race you had this awesome line dialed in where you ran down the left side. You were really fast there. Was that line just gone by the main event?
The whoops, they were just gnarly. You couldn’t really jump through them, they were chewed up and beat up. You just needed to put it in there and go for it. But that’s hard to do when you’re in the lead—it’s hard to do anywhere, really!
Do you even think about points with how crazy this year has been?
No, because once you start thinking about points….I don’t know. There’s a lot of racing left, but I’m still down twenty some points on some really good guys. I won’t be disappointed if we don’t win. Of course I want to win, who doesn’t want to win a championship? But this is a learning year for me. Hopefully I can learn from my experience this year and keep building.
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Great race by Canard, what a crazy race overall this season is awesome!
I like the fact that Trey can pick up his pace when pressued and still ride in control. How he laid it out over that tripple after getting around Reed looked awesome.
Kind of reminds me of another readhead...
I think Trey whips and scrubs harder/quicker/better than Bam Bam and Bubba. He's sideways and low to the nth degree that it makes the likes of Reed seem like an off-road racer sailing slow and high.
Love the heart he displayed with not letting Reed keep the lead. You could see it in his budy language that he was not going to give up that position no matter what coming into that corner. Not dirty but certainly aggressive how he muscled Reedy out of the way. I am sure that TC picked it up....or could it have been that Reed wanted no part of him after that corner. Loved the slow motion camera work. Good job Speed. Great ride, TC, and we have a season again! Great time to be a fan!
Yeah @ yamalink , I agree with you I was thinking the same thing during the race
I attended the Jacksonville SX (front row, just after 1st turn, rythem section) and when Trey passed Reed to re-take the lead (and win) it was the highlight of the night; they kid never let 22 "get in his head" -- nore did he seem to think,"oh well, 2nd is still great!" I was "turbo-pumped" to see Canard get his 2nd SX class win!
Also, the track was AWESOME and it made for great racing -- kudos to Dirt Werks! And, I hope all the racers that crashed will be OK -- after his crash, JS7 jumped around like he was being branded by a hot iron -- O-U-C-H!
A genuine nice guy.. umble and yet ambitious. I am glad he won.. And this is only a learning year.. I can see him winning a championship!!!
Hope he wins more races this year!!!
100% correct, Yamalink. His scrubs are amazing- I have frame by frame photos of Trey at the San Diego round when scrubbed underneath Reed and then passed him in the next corner- Un-freekin-real. His head was below Reed's rear tire.
I agree that TC was lay'n it out on those triples. He was looking very comfortable whipping that 450 like a beast! I bet Honda is ecstatic with TC and their return to the top spot in the Supercross main events; I’m glad that CR didn’t get a win too. Honda has been on the outside looking in for some time when it comes to SX mains.
Intelligent, articulate, a dedicated man of faith and a sportsman. Aggressive but not dirty, ambitious but tempered with solid perspective. There are more reasons to root for a rider than blinding speed and attitude. Trey has a LOT going for him and a solid fan base at our house. The best of luck in the season and the future.
Trey is a great rider!!! Love to watch him race. He races and does not give up. And hes not a ROBOT like Dungey, he actually has something to say when they interview him. He will be a title contender next year for sure.
GREST RIDE TC!!! IMO Reed should have had it, WTF was Reed doing 30 feet up in the air pulling a tear off wile TC was scrubbing past him?? LOL I could not believe it!! TC got under him and Pulled away!! VERY inpressive TC.... very inpressive!!!
Trey was scrubbin everything in Jax. The replay of him passing Reed back was because he was able to fly lower off the finish jump and get inside. Nice ridin' Trey!
Right on Trey! Maybe Purple is to Trey what orange was to RC. I was telling friends "this is his night" from the first heat race and boy, did he come through!! Don't know what got into him but, keep it going for 5 more rounds and we'll be calling another rookie, SX champ!!! Really impressed with his speed and line selection, the scrubs aren't too shabby either!
Don't get to far ahead of yourself Carlsbad, Don't forget RV and JS were out.
Reed was pretty casual. It looked like he thought he had the pass done. Like TC was gonna pull over & get in line. Pulling a tear-off was enough of a distraction for TC to scrub it hard & stuff it back in there & pass him back. I loved it!
Made a couples changes! Damn, I wish they would elaborate. Just curious... gearing, suspension, chassis, engine mapping?? I wonder if they're told not to give away any secrets!!
AWESOME WIN !!!! TC we OKIES love you buddy and will be behind you win or lose your the best !!!! Good luck in Canada and we will see you in big D !!!!
Trey congrats on the Win!! I like how U held off CR... U really fight for your wins. I like that.
BUT whats up with the AMA & Field Moter Sports?
The problem with SX, is that the promoters are not looking at the big picture. The rules & The tracks are costing this industry money & fans. The fact that the series points leader was not in the main, can not be good for ticket sales. I wonder how many RV fans went home pissed that they hardly even got to see him race at all. Stewart fans as well. I'm sure RV & Stewarts names sold a lot of the tickets that night & these fans went home angry.
The point, I'm try'na make is that crashes in a stupid & dangerous section of the track, took the 2 top guys out on the same night. This night could have easily ended both there seasons.
There was hug crashes there in almost every race that night. You can't put technical rhythm lanes coming right out the gate. I see silly easy sections on every single SX track. just put that silly stuff on the first lane to give them time to spread out & then go crazy... The AMA would do this if they really wanted to keep the riders safe. It would also allow for great racing & great ticket sales. They need to stop designing tracks that are gonna give you these big crashes in or right after the first turn. I want to see the best riders on the track. Not on the ground or side lines!
I support SX, but its starting to get ridiculous. I just want to see these guys battle. Not pile up before the race even starts.
I'm a stewart fan, but I want him to earn it.. HOW CAN THE AMA NOT HAVE THE POINTS LEADER IN THE MAIN EVENT.. Does that sell tickets??? Ok i'm about to start a hole new topic.. Let me go... AMA get it together!!!!
the truth? boni locking up and wrecking rv was the sections fault? byrne hitting bubba was the sections fault?lets see,the points leader sells tickets.well they already had tickets.now the points are closer,wouldnt that sell more tickets to the next event?20 guys into the 1st turn is never going to be easy.i think a triple in the 1st section is bad because the 1st 4 riders are gone.watch rv and brayton lock up in the lcq.that could happen on any track with a start.....that would be all of them.
ps did the section you hate make rv run over the tuff block and wreck again? no,no it didnt.that was the full moon,hooooooowwwwwwwwwwlll !!
Absolutely loved this race, the track did bite some guys but everybody rides the track, and moto takes no prisoners. RV did himself no favors by pulling out of that heat, his bike better have been wracked to not try. JS7- unflipping real rider, so-so racer. Trey is gonna bring it on home sooner than later. Dungey needs to find a happy place, AMA Nats?
Awesome heart Trey. You are bringing the fight that Shorty seemed to lack. I see the speed every week, just stay off the ground and you're in every race. I really want to see the red heads go bar to bar before the season ends.
Did he pass Barcia and Stewart as the new scrub king?!
Get those damn tuffblocks off the edge of the triples.
I say make the triples steeper so staying low is key and set up a stationary camera that shows every rider's approach to it.
Wasn't long ago that Honda had lost their good riders and couldn't buy a win, now they've got riders in both classes winning on the same night.
That was one of the best passes I have ever seen, just pushed Reed outta the way and took back the win.
@ the Truth - enough with the verbal diarrhea.
I attribute his holshot to one thing..... Motorcycle Raceways or as its best known as... "59th and Douglas" in Oklahoma City ALWAYS featured a right hand start..... and it showed in the 450 main :)
villipoto is my pick for the championship as he was last year... but i have always liked canard. so to see him take another win this year was awesome!!! and the way he did it was awesome! scrubbing the hell out of that triple and charging hard to the inside!!! classic!!! that definitely showed that he wanted the win more than reed did!!!
I agree with you chadley75. I have many stained jerseys along with fond memories of that place.
"WTF was Reed doing 30 feet up in the air pulling a tear off wile TC was scrubbing past him??"
Have we seen the exact same pass ???
CR was in front of TC on this jump, not higher, the pass back was made breaking entering this right hander, not in the air !!!
"just pushed Reed outta the way and took back the win."
That's it !