Photo by: Hoppenworld
Heading into round number seven of the 2014 250SX Western Regional Championship at the Seattle Supercross, Troy Lee Designs/Honda’s Cole Seely trailed Jason Anderson by eleven points and all of the momentum was in Anderson’s favor. Seely had lost seven points at the last round in Houston, and Anderson had just secured his fourth win of 2014.
In Seattle, though, the #21 fought back and went wire-to-wire for his second win of the year. With that, Seely cut Andesron’s lead down to just eight points and extended the Championship fight to the finale in Las Vegas. Unfortunately for Seely, it’s going to take him winning the Las Vegas SX and Anderson finishing fifth place or worse for him to take home his first ever regional SX Championship.
After Cole’s win at the Seattle SX, we caught up with him in the pits to talk about his night in Seattle and his thoughts on the Championship heading into Vegas. You can read that interview below.
We’re here with Cole Seely, the winner of the Seattle SX. How are you feeling, Cole?
Good, just put together fifteen solid laps and got a good start finally. I think that was really the missing piece of the puzzle. Last week I got off to a bad start and got together with another rider, so getting a good start is crucial just to stay out of all the havoc back there.
You always look good here in Seattle. What is it about this place that helps you really thrive here? Is it the dirt, the ruts, the vibe?
I think you just have to be really patient here, and I think I’m pretty good at being aware of when to do that. That’s what Seattle’s dirt demands is patience, finding the right lines and all that stuff. I think my calculated riding style puts me in a good position for that.
Tonight the dirt seemed about as good as it can be in Seattle. Is this the only time you’ve ridden here with so little moisture in the soil?
Yeah, I think in 2012 it was pretty dry too. The dirt changed a lot between 2011 and 2012, and last year, unfortunately, it rained so we didn’t get to see that. Yeah, this year the dirt was awesome and probably the best it’s ever been.
Were you able to see any of the chaos going on behind you tonight? While you were up front riding your own race, there were some brawls and crashes going on for the final two podium spots behind you.
I thought there was, just ’cause I could see those guys behind me for a little while; then after a couple laps in, about half way, I got the relief of a pretty good sized gap and I was able to back it down and ride a comfortable race.
Well, unfortunately for you, Anderson was able to get up to finish second tonight and now you’re still eight points down heading into the finale in Las Vegas. What are your thoughts on the Championship heading into Vegas now?
Just win really. I did the best I could to get some points back tonight, and unfortunately, I only got three. I gotta go into Vegas with high hopes and hopefully come out with the Championship.
I know you’re looking to move up to the 450 full-time in 2015. How is the team hunt looking for you right now?
Yeah, I’m talking to a few teams. I think the fill-in rides I did over at Factory Honda were definitely to my liking and definitely helped me out for sure. Hopefully I’m going to be on a really good team for next year.
You’re now two rides back from the 450 fill-in ride, so how hard was it to go back down from racing the big 450?
It was tough going back to the little bike, but after a couple of days back, I adapted pretty well.
Alright, well, thanks for talking to us. Congrats on the win tonight, and good luck in Las Vegas.
Thank you.
