Press Release

Championship Contender Canard Buzzing as Final Race Looms

ocscottie
9/11/2010 10:25am

SAN DIEGO – Two
motos at this weekend's Pala National, seven points, and Frenchman
Christophe Pourcel are all that stand between GEICO Powersports Honda
rider Trey Canard and a season title in the 250cc class of the Lucas
Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship.


"I'm excited; if I wasn't I'm not sure why I'd be doing this," Canard
said. "There's so much excitement but you have to keep yourself in
check and keep things as normal as possible."


Normal hasn't been easy to come by these days, one check of Canard's cell phone tells the story.


"People have been really encouraging me," Canard said. "I've been
getting a lot of text messages and phones calls. I appreciate that.
It's good to have all the support."


Canard was a distant fourth, 57 points down, after the race in Denver
at the end of June. Since then he's won five of six overall titles and
whittled Pourcel's lead down to seven points with the two motos at Pala
Raceway remaining.


"There's been a handful of things that changed," Canard said. "Winning
helps your self-confidence, obviously. The bike has been a lot better.
It's just turned into a great season.


"I always want to have fun, win races, and win the championship. For me, I just do the best I can and have the most fun I can."


GEICO Powersports' 450cc pro Brett Metcalfe has two chief goals for his
season finale – earn that moto win that's eluded him all season and
maintain his grip on second place. First place was long ago decided.


"I'm looking forward to the weekend and trying to win this race,"
Metcalfe said. "That's my biggest goal. I've come close the last couple
of races. I've won some nice mementos (for podium finishes.) Now I just
want to try to win this thing."


After finishing second overall last week at Steel City, behind
Supercross teammate Kevin Windham, who has been riding for Red Bull
Honda this summer, Metcalfe passed Andrew Short for second place in the
450cc standings. The affable Aussie leads Short by five points heading
into Saturday's finale.


"I've been getting more comfortable on this bike every race," Metcalfe said. "Riding the 450 really suits me.


"There's no strategy other than, 'win the race.' But I'm still not
going to do anything crazy. I'm not thinking championship or anything
like that; I just want to win the race."


GEICO Powersports Honda's other 250 riders are looking to finish off
the season on a strong note. Justin Barcia is a solid fifth in the
points with rookie Eli Tomac 21 points behind in sixth. Blake Wharton
is 11 points behind Tomac in seventh place.


Opening ceremonies at Pala Raceway begin at 12:30 p.m. PDT on Saturday.
The 450 race will be shown live on SPEED starting at 7 p.m. EDT, which
will be followed by the 250 race at 8 p.m.
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