With Eli Tomac deciding to opt out of racing the Motocross of Nations for the second straight year, the top story over the last couple of weeks has been about why he and other top USA riders like Ryan Dungey have begun shunning the event. While we would probably get a few more clicks if we continued to beat that dead horse, it is time to move on, realize Eli is doing what he feels is best for his career and begin supporting the riders that have been selected to Team USA. They will be heading over to Matterley Basin with a head full of pride and the weight of the winningest country in the history of the event on their backs.

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HRC / Honda’s Cole Seely (MXGP) and the two Rockstar / Husqvarna riders, Zach Osborne (MX2) and Thomas Covington (Open), have accepted the invitations and the challenge of representing Team USA on October 1 at the 2017 Motocross of Nations. The three Team USA rookies will head over in their red, white and blue livery and will no doubt do everything in their power to bring the Chamberlain Trophy back to the US for the first time since 2011. They may not be the odds on favorites, but the fact that they are hungry, talented and think of being selected as a huge honor and huge responsibility, they just might be the three that shock the world.

After hearing the official announcement of the three riders representing Team USA in 2017, we gave Cole a call to talk about how he heard about his invite, what it means to him to be selected and his thought process heading into the event. We also touched on Cole’s first ever overall 450 podium in the mud of Unadilla and the big team manager change inside his HRC rig.

Cole’s first career overall podium came at Unadilla

Cole, congrats on being selected to this year’s Motocross of Nations team. First, talk about how that came about.

It came about, about two or three weeks ago, right after Washougal I think. We were just stepping off the track and I got the call. It was Dan [Betley]—my team manager—and it was a pretty easy answer. Obviously, I want to go. I’ve been wanting to go for years. I just said yes! It wasn’t a for sure thing yet, but I was super hopeful. I got a call—I actually got a missed call—from Roger [Decoster]. (laughs) I was on the golf course, and he called and left a message that I had been chosen. It was kind of hard to focus on my swing after that. I don’t ever really think that kind of stuff is going to happen to me, so I was beyond excited.

 

You have definitely taken your own path to get where you are. You actually quit racing at one point after amateurs, started racing again for fun and then went on to win 250 Supercrosses and then onto factory Honda where you won a 450 SX. Now you get chosen for the biggest honor bestowed upon a US motocross racer: getting chosen to represent Team USA at MXoN. It’s kind of been a Cinderella story.

Yeah, for sure. I don’t know, I’ve just never taken anything for granted and everything that’s been put in front of me I’m super thankful of. I can never say, “I’ve only dreamed of this.” Hard work and dedication really. Having the right people in my corner is the biggest thing I think. My mechanic Rich [Simmons] has been with me since 2009. Shoot, almost a decade. He’s really helped me with my entire program and making sure I’m on track. He’s kind of been like an older brother to me. It’s just people like that in my corner pushing me in the right direction.

 

Are you a rider that watches a lot of MXGP and keeps up with it?

Yeah, I think ever since [Ryan] Villopoto went over there a lot of Americans started paying attention to it. I’ve always looked up to those riders. [Antonio] Cairoli has always been one of my favorite riders for a really long time now. Another thing is, whenever someone like me watches American MX, I’m never cheering for anybody. I don’t want to see any of my opponents do good, as cruel as that sounds. Cheering for MXGP guys, for some reason it feels okay. Like I said, I always like watching Cairoli and obviously watching [Jeffrey] Herlings come up. He’s insane on a dirt bike. A lot of those guys are—Tim [Gasjer]. It’s really cool to watch those guys. Last year, I went and watched them at Glen Helen.

 

I find myself more of a fan watching them as well. I think it’s because I go to a lot of outdoors and SX’s now and talk to all you guys, but I am when I watch them or get a chance to cover a MXGP. That MXGP class is super stacked right now. I don’t remember you ever racing any of the MXGP guys, but have you ever raced a GP at all?

No, I never have. I’ve never done a GP when it’s over here. It’s always tough. I always try to take full advantage of my off season, but when something like an opportunity to race for team USA comes up, I’m not going to turn it down. I’m sacrificing some of my offseason, but like you said, it is fast over there and super cool to watch those guys. Last year when I got hurt, I probably watched the GP’s closer than I watched American MX just because I was so mad at myself for getting hurt. (laughs) I couldn’t compete, so it was easier to watch the GP’s.

Cole will go into the MXoN never having lined up with 90% of the riders on the line.

While some might say we don’t have the “best possible team” it’s awesome that we have three proud and hungry American kids that want to be there. I think that’s super important.

I think that’s definitely one of the key positive things we have going our way: that all three of us really want to go. We all really want to be there and we all really want to do well. I think that’s going to be huge for us.

 

Do you know Thomas Covington well?

Yeah, I know Thomas from when he was an amateur. Obviously, he didn’t race over here as a professional very much. I haven’t seen him in a long time, but I used to actually race mountain bikes against him now and then. He’s a super fit kid and a really good kid, obviously a very talented rider too.

 

Before I let you go, I want to touch on Unadilla. You scored your first overall podium there last weekend. You had gotten two third place motos last year and were right there before you got hurt, but no overall podiums before Saturday. Do you think the announcement to Team USA might have given a you a little momentum going into Unadilla?

Maybe a little bit, but at the same time I was kind of on the cusp of that. Washougal, I was one point off the podiums, so I was right there. I’ve kind of been building myself up all season. That with a mixture of motivation from the Team USA selection obviously helps. At the same time, it was such a mud fest that it’s kind of hard to judge anything off of that. Lining up for the second moto, I was like, “Man, this is going to be gnarly. I hope I just finish, let alone end up on the podium.” I remember sitting there next to Marvin [Musquin] and we were watching the lightning on the hill. We were like, “Man, this is kind of scary.”

 

I saw you wearing two pair of goggles on the line. A little Trey Canard throwback move. (laughs)

Trey actually got that from one of the Japanese guys on the team, but I forget who. It might have been one of our suspension techs. But, yeah, we’ve been doing that for years now just for the start. It’s super hard to focus when you have two goggles on, but once you get through the first couple of turns it’s so much better not to have all that mud packed on your face. You basically hit reset as far as your goggles go. The start’s the worst part. You’re getting hit in the face with mud and water and it’s getting all over the place. You pull that off with 10 pounds of mud with it. It does look funny. You have such tunnel vision, because you cannot see your peripherals at all.

Somehow Cole’s Southern California sun upbringing worked for him in the mud of ‘Dilla.

How crazy was that first lap with no parade lap? Just twist it and pray?

Pretty much. We kind of had our lines from the first moto but it was tough. The water really washed away all of the traction and a lot of the good lines. You had to really pick and choose your battles too. I remember catching up to Deano [Dean Wilson]—who was in third—and every time I got close to him he would destroy me with mud. I kind of had to decide, where I was going to get close to him and if I was going to be able to pass. There was just a lot of weighing out the situations.

 

Big change with the management over on the HRC team. Your current team manager, Dan Betley, is moving over to GEICO / Honda to be their team manager and Eric Kehoe—the former Honda team manager—is coming back to take his old team manager spot back in the HRC rig. Did you ever work with Eric back when you were on the Troy Lee Designs / Honda? What’s your relationship like with Eric?

When I filled in a couple times, he was the team manager, but I’ve actually known Eric for 17 years now. Funny story, my best friend growing up, his uncle would take us riding all the time. He took us to the track all the time and he was best friends with Kehoe. I’ve known Eric forever, almost like a family friend. I’m stoked Eric’s coming back. I really liked Dan and liked working with him. He’s really smart and brings a lot of knowledge and experience to the table and so does Eric, so I’m pretty excited for him to come back. I’m also really happy Dan’s still in the picture being involved with the GEICO team and Honda, but yeah, Eric and I go way, way back, and I’m really excited to work with him and not in just a fill in position. He will actually officially be my team manager.

 

I go way back with Eric as well. My pops was park manager at Indian Dunes and Eric was a local kid there and literally my hero growing up. I’ve seen just about every current and past pro race 80’s and to date, I have never seen anyone ride an 80cc bike faster than Eric back in the day. I was lucky enough to watch him nearly every weekend and it’s still burned into my memory. His battles with George Holland on minibikes were that of legend.

Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard. And that’s another thing. Like I said, Dan has so much experience and all that stuff, but Eric is a former rider that knows the ins and outs as well as the ups and downs of racing. I think that’s something big to bring to the table too.

 

You told me no USGP at Washougal, but did getting selected to MXoN change that?

No, I’m trying to limit my off season racing especially now with des Nations. I weighed this out the other day. As soon as I get done with Indiana, I’ll have about a week off and then I start training for des Nations. As soon as I get home from des Nations, two weeks later I start training for SX. Really, I’m only looking at three weeks. Pretty much, I’m staring Anaheim 1 in the face already, which is crazy to think. (laughs) I already have that in my mind. Okay, I gotta do this. I gotta do that. Then we’re at Anaheim.

Eric Kehoe will reclaim his spot at HRC team manager after a five year absence from the position.

I personally like that. Go in with no preconceived expectation. Just completely blind with no expectation. Some might say it’s good to get a race with those guys under your belt and that’s hard to argue, but I love this choice honestly. Go to Matterley, put your red, white and blue on and go for it.

I think if I go race MXGP in Florida, I’m not going to say I won’t care, but I’ll be much more motivated for des Nations and I don’t want to give those guys any false confidence going into des Nations. Like, “oh I beat him in Florida” or whatever. We get done with our season and we’re like, “okay, time to let our hair down and chill a little bit.” But if I go and race MXGP, you’re kind of hesitant to send it. At des Nations, I’m anxious to go out there and fully send it. Like I said, I really want to bring home that trophy for the Americans.

Author

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