Photos by: Hoppenworld
Last year, Factory HRC Honda rider Cole Seely was the surprise of the rookie 450SX class. The #14 surprised everyone by taking home Rookie of the Year honors after finishing third in his first 450SX Championship campaign with five podiums and a win at the 2015 Houston SX.
With that kind of rookie success Cole went from a possible podium contender to a possible championship contender, but a major shoulder injury during the 2015 outdoor nationals that led to six months off the bike gave the sophomore a late start on 2016 preparation. But even with Cole being a little behind the eight ball, he started ’16 off with two-straight podiums and has accumulated four podiums on the year. It may not be the perfect encore to his 2015 success, but with the depth of field and lack of preseason preparation, we don’t think it’s a huge step backwards.
If Cole wins this weekend in Vegas, he can still match his win and podium total from 2015. Unfortunately, the #14 missed three rounds with a chipped vertebrae, but he is still seventh in the Championship, just six in back of 2016’s soon to be Rookie of the Year, Red Bull / KTM’s Marvin Musquin.
Cole showed everyone he’s still pushing hard down to the wire of 2016 Supercross with a podium in just his second race back from injury last weekend in East Rutherford, and we caught up with him after the race to talk about it.
Cole, third place for you tonight in East Rutherford. That’s got to feel like a good way for you just coming back from injury.
It was good and definitely a hard-fought one. I’m riding my heart out out there. It’s hard to ride through the pain, but once the adrenaline kicks in, it makes it a little easier. But I’m going to be feeling this one tomorrow, definitely! Like I said, I’m pushing through some pain. I’m just really trying to just ride with my heart and a little more than just my talent and hard training.
What part of the body is really hurting right now?
My neck! (laughs) My shoulder too. I chipped a vertebrae in my neck four weeks ago I think. I had to take a couple of weeks off and really just wait for the pain to go away. As soon as it was kind of gone, I started riding again, and I felt good enough to go racing last week. I rode once between last weekend and tonight.
[Hearing Ryan Dungey’s Championship podium celebration in the background.] Maybe that will be you one day? (laughs)
Yeah, maybe next year. (laughs)
With the outdoor nationals right around the corner and you still feeling the pain, what motivated you to come back and race some more Supercross through the pain, rather than just rest up and prepare for Hangtown?
You know, it’s hard sitting at home. As many times as I’ve said I need a break, it’s so hard sitting at home and watching other people race. I’m in a bad mood every Saturday that I’m not at the track. This is what I love to do and what I want to be out here doing. Even if I have to come out like last weekend, go all the way through the LCQ and finish seventh, it’s better than sitting at home.
Let’s talk about your main event. You pulled an awesome start. Was being up front right away a pain relief and instant motivation to push?
Yeah, the adrenaline kicks in, the laps go by a little quicker and one thing led to another. Kenny [Roczen] was riding so good. I tried to stay with him and was right on his heels for a little while, but he was clicking off some fast laps. It was tough to hang with him. And then I had to put up a fight. Ryan [Dungey], Eli [Tomac] and all those guys—they just kept coming.
Yeah, they just kept coming, but you held off Ryan for that podium. What did you think about this track tonight? I thought it was very different from most every other track we’ve seen this year.
I really liked it. It was really good, especially from practice to the race; the racing on it was awesome. Practice was so so but completely different from last year. Last year was deep and soft and kind of wet, but tonight was a little bit like San Diego—kind of a little bit of moisture in the air, and that made the hard packed surface a little slick.
How’s the outdoor training going? Have you been able to do much of it with your neck the way it is at the moment?
Yeah, yeah, I got most of it done before the injury. I went out to Oklahoma—Robbie Reynard’s house—and me, Trey [Canard] and Justin Bogle all tested for three days straight. We did some motos together and really got some really productive riding in. I was really happy with my [outdoor settings] bike before my injury. We might make a few changes here and there, but we have a really good basic setup right now.
