Christian lets all the out over the finish line in Glendale. Photo by: Hoppenworld
The best story of the 2016 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, just got a whole lot better. GEICO/Honda’s Christian Craig retired from racing three years ago battered and bruised with no wins, no podiums and not many good offers to ride a good bike. The former amateur prodigy had spent more time in the hospital than he had on the track over the first few years of his career, and it just was not worth it any more.
In an Instagram post announcing his retirement in September of 2013, Christian said, “The industry is tough, and isn’t all glamorous like some people may think. At the end of the day, I just want to have fun riding my dirt bike and at time it’s hard with all the politics involved. Now I’ll be able to throw whips and do how ever many laps I want and most importantly, have fun doing it.”
He went on to say he was excited to see what would come next for him. At the time, those future plans were completely centered around his wife Paige and, later, raising their baby boy Jagger, but life has a crazy way of leading us back to where we belong. While retiring is beginning to look like the best decision Christian could have made at that time, this kid was meant to be on a dirt bike battling the best riders in the world. Saturday night he did just that and came away with the first 250SX main event win of his career.
After Christian’s win, we found him in the pits and asked him about his night.
Christian Craig, winner of the inaugural Glendale SX 250SX main event. How does that sound? It has to feel good.
It’s amazing! It’s a surreal feeling for sure. I got off to a good start—my teammate [Jimmy] Decotis got the holeshot. Our GEICO/Hondas are on fire; we were one-two off the start.
Yeah, it’s making it so hard on us to do our live reporting. We literally have to wait to see your numbers, or guess based on how tall the rider is, before we report who actually got the holeshot. You all look so similar out there. (laughs)
(laughs) I know, it’s been good. I led some laps, but then I saw the #1 [Cooper Webb] coming on lap eight. He tried to make a few passes, but I was going to put up a fight no matter what. I wanted this win bad, more than anybody out there. He ended up falling trying to pass, but from there on out I just rode around for five more laps. The last lap was the best feeling I’ve had so far. Crossing that finish line and winning was something I’ve dreamed of and envisioned myself doing every day. To finally get there was amazing, but now we got to chase that Championship.
As Webb was getting up to you, you looked like you got a little tired. Maybe tired is the wrong word, but your pace seemed to slow up a little.
No, I think I didn’t get tired, but I was riding tight all day. The track was long and I just had to find my breathing spots; I ended up doing that. Lap ten is when I actually felt my best and I was ready to battle.
Yeah, what I was going to say was after Webb crashed, you seemed to get a second wind. You rode an incredible last five laps.
Yeah, I was ready to do it. I wanted that win. Unfortunately, he went down before the battle started, but it’s good for me. It was an amazing feeling.
Did you hear the motor there and then gone when he crashed, or was it the roar of the crowd that let you know he went down?
I saw his front wheel coming in and pushing and then I heard the crowd, so I knew right there he fell. After that I was like, “I got to run away with this one.” I did that and just kept my gap on him at four seconds.
You’re one of the more experienced riders in this class, so I’m sure you knew he was going to try that pass there.
Yeah, the past couple of weeks, I was being really cautious and guarding my lines, where tonight I was open with them. If he was going to run it in, I had my line and was stuck in it. He had the inside on me right there, but I was already in my rut. I don’t think he would have passed me there, but he tucked the front. Unfortunate, but I ran away with it.
You and this win tonight are by far the best story of the year, and it can only get better if you win this title. You talked about that feeling and envisioning it, but it was over for you for the most part. I mean, you were retired and had never won before. Was this really something that was always still in the back of your mind?
It was always in the back of my mind, for sure, but it did take longer than I wanted: five years. But to finally be here tonight, it’s been in my mind for a long time. I knew I could do it. I knew if put everything together, I had the win. All the hard work is finally paying off.
What’s the first thing Mike Larocco [GEICO/Honda Team Manager] said to you. We know he’s a man of many words. (laughs)
(laughs) One of the first things he said was like, he was telling me one of the jumps I was going slow on. (laughs) But no, he gave me a high five, he was pumped. Before the race, he was telling me a couple of things, and it helped. He helps every weekend. We had a little meeting before the main and he asked me, “What’s your goal?” I told him, and so far we’ve gotten it.
This might be a stupid question, but how big is this for your confidence now heading back to San Diego next week?
It’s huge! It would have been nice to do this before in San Diego, but we can still do it. (laughs)
(laughs) Alright, Christian, congrats! It’s late; go celebrate.
Thanks.
