In April of 2012, Cole Seely had a practice crash at the Salt Lake City Supercross that ended his run at the 2012 West Regional 250SX Championship and could have ended his career. The three-time 250SX main event winner went down hard—lacerating his liver and rupturing a kidney. The seriousness of the injuries kept Cole off the bike for the 2012 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, and surprisingly, Cole has comeback with solid podium speed for the 2013 Monster Energy Supercross season.

In the SX opener in Anaheim, Cole landed on the box with a third in the main event and has backed that up with a 4th in Phoenix, a 3rd at Anaheim II and a 2nd at the last round in Oakland. It is obvious, when watching Cole and looking at his lap times, that his speed is already back to were he was when he crashed in Salt Lake City, but his fitness and confidence are just now beginning to catch up. With that speed, Cole has lead 21 of the 60 main event laps run in 2013, but he has not quite had the fitness to close the deal. Still, the #43’s consistency has been better than in years past, and with that consistency, he is second in the points—11 behind Roczen—with five main events left to run.

After his second place finish in Oakland, I caught up with Cole in the pits to ask him a few questions about the race and his 2013 season thus far. You can read that conversation below.

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Cole (left) has landed on the podium in three of the first four main events in 2013. Photo: KTM Images

Hey Cole, tell us about your night in Oakland.

The night went well. I had a little bit of a rough race in the heat race. I almost pulled the holeshot, but then [Eli] Tomac shoved his wheel between me and my bike and made my bobble. I got out of the heat race 4th—decent—and I got a decent gate pick for the main. Then in the main, the leader made a couple mistakes on the first lap, and I capitalized on it and passed him for the lead. Then, I started riding a smart race. [Ken] Roczen made a mistake in the beginning that allowed me to get some breathing room, but then he caught me. He was riding really fast all day. It is what it is. It was a fun race, though.

 

Being that you have won these main events in the past, has it been a little frustrating leading these main events and not being able to close them out?

Yeah, it’s frustrating, but it’s also nice since I haven’t raced—before Anaheim 1—since my crash last year. I had no comfort. It’s cool to get the laps led and get more comfortable out front. You know, you lose all the technique you gain from racing. I took so many months off that I forgot them all. Breathing, positive thoughts—I forgot all that stuff. Now, though, I’m feeling a lot more comfortable and confident.

 

Tonight, Tomac went down in the whoops and DNF’ed which obviously changed up the points situation. Did you notice he was down and out of the race during the main? 

No, I didn’t!  I didn’t know until after the race when they told us that Roczen had moved into the lead in the points and I was second. So I had no idea what was going on, I just knew who was behind me, and Ken was on the gas, so I was trying to hold down the lead as long as I could.

 

What did you think of the Oakland track tonight? As a spectator watching it claim victims all night, it looked gnarly.

Yeah, it was. Definitely challenging, and it changed throughout the entire night. It was challenging as a rider and for the mechanics trying to figure out a good setting for the track. We had a hard time figuring out a good tire. It definitely challenged us all day, but second is good and I’m happy with that.

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Cole Seely (#43) fighting to keep the lead at Anaheim 2. Photo: Devin Davis

Yeah, what was weird was how different the soil was everywhere. You had sand. Then in some parts, it looked like California hard-pack and in other parts it was tacky and rutted up. It looked very deceiving. 

It was definitely deceiving. It looked very tacky, but it was actually rather slick. Definitely one of the slicker races. Which is weird ’cause it’s such soft dirt.

 

So now with Tomac’s DNF, instead of being behind Roczen and Tomac in the points, you’re four points up on Tomac and just eleven out of the lead behind Kenny. Does your strategy change at all?

No, I’m actually a lot happier, obviously, being closer to the lead now. I just want to stay consistent and put in strong rides. All three of us are riding so fast—Eli, Ken and I. Seems like we’re on a whole other level from everybody else. So yeah, I just want to stay consistent, stay strong, build my confidence and get more comfortable being in the lead.

 

Alright. Well, thanks for talking to us, and good luck the rest of the way. 

Thanks, no problem.

Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.