Held in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the penultimate round of the AMA Supercross series was a positive one for Team Honda HRC, as Cole Seely turned in another solid performance, scoring his fourth heat-race win of the season before riding to a solid third-place finish in the main, while GEICO Honda's Eli Tomac captured the win. It looked as if Seely might be able to score his second victory of the season as he lead 13 of the main event's 20 laps, but mistakes caused him to fall off the pace and ultimately relinquish two positions by the checkered flag.

Following a fifth-place start, Tomac worked his way into second a few laps into the race and began applying pressure to his fellow Honda rider. A heated battle ensued, but Tomac triumphed, making a pass for the lead on lap 14 and riding to his third win of the season.

NOTES

• Prior to all the action, Team Honda HRC rider's Trey Canard and Cole Seely, along with GEICO Honda riders Eli Tomac, Justin Bogle, RJ Hampshire and Jordan Smith attended an autograph signing at Belleville, New Jersey's Motorcycle Mall on Friday.
• With a new, daytime schedule, prompted by the fact that event was airing live on the Fox network, the New Jersey Supercross was unique compared to the other rounds in the series. The program started three hours earlier than normal, plus there were only two qualifying sessions, and the racing was completed by 6 p.m. "Other than getting up really early and only having two practices, the schedule wasn't too different," Seely said. "I actually liked it. The first untimed practice is typically kind of a waste; it only takes us three laps to figure the track out, and the rest of it we're kind of just riding around. It's great to see the sport evolving the way it is, being on Fox and getting more exposure, so if we have to do more like this, I'm not complaining."
• The New Jersey Supercross was the first event attended by Brandon Wilson in his new role as Supervisor of Racing. A Wisconsin native, Wilson is no stranger in the pits or even in the Honda truck. He has been in the motorcycle industry for 19 years, the last seven with Honda, in positions with the road race and motocross teams, and most recently in product planning. He replaces Ray Conway, who retired earlier this season, and his responsibilities include contracts, sponsorship, budget and more.
• Although he's still out of action while recovering from an injury, Canard also attended the race. He took the opportunity to spend some time with his fans and catch up with Jim Holley and Andy Bowyer on Race Day Live before heading down on the track for an interview. More than anything, Canard enjoyed watching film and helping out his teammate, Seely. "Cole and I have a really great relationship, so if I can help him out in any way, then I will," Canard said.
• During the timed qualifying sessions, less than a second separated the top three riders. Tomac notched the quickest time at 53.934 seconds, while Seely was third with a 54.740
• With Tomac taking the win and Seely finishing third, this marks not only the CRF450R's sixth win of the season, but also the sixth time that Honda riders have occupied two podium positions in a 450SX main event, the others having come at Anaheim 3, Atlanta 2, Indianapolis, Detroit and Houston. Thus far this season, Honda is the only manufacturer to have managed a double podium.
• Next weekend, the Honda Red Riders head to Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas for the final round of the AMA Supercross Series. Prior to the race, the riders will take part in a dealer appearance at RideNow Powersports on Friday, May 1, 6-7:30 p.m.

THE FOCUS: Team Honda and the New York Media

New York City—just across the Hudson River from MetLife Stadium—is the national media capital, a situation that was put to good use by the Red Riders. It was a short week for Team Honda HRC's Cole Seely and GEICO Honda's Eli Tomac, as they arrived in the New York metropolitan area early to participate in Thursday's pre-race press conference, which took place at New York City's historic Grand Central Terminal. Tomac and Seely were two of six riders featured at the event, as they sit second and third in the championship points standings, respectively. After taking questions from the media, they were transported back to MetLife stadium, where they rode a portion of the track.

On Friday, Seely was joined by teammate Trey Canard for another busy day in the city. Both riders had the exciting opportunity to appear in-studio on the national Fox News network. During the five-minute feature, reporter Gary Gastelu interviewed the Team Honda HRC riders about racing and safety equipment (http://video.foxnews.com/v/4194544223001/supercross-racing-flying-high/?#sp=show-clips). Following that, the riders headed to Men's Fitness for an interview regarding their training and what it takes to be a professional Supercross racer.

QUOTES

Cole Seely "I locked down third in the points and third for the night, so today was good. I'm stoked to be on the podium. Another win would've been great, but I just ran out of energy at the end. Every little mistake you make, you lose some energy here or there so when that started happening, I just figured I would secure third. Once I was in third, I knew I had a pretty big gap on fourth so I just tried to ride a smart race and finish on the podium. The track was super-soft, the lines were changing each lap and the track was just really difficult. Bike setup was key tonight, and I feel like we did a good job getting the bike dialed. I didn't have a ton of huge expectations for my rookie year, so to be third in points, be the highest-placing rookie, and to have a win is a huge plus."

Brandon Wilson: Supervisor of Racing "I think it was a great race. We had two guys on a really treacherous track, running in the front for the whole race. You could tell as the race went on that the track got really brutal, everyone was making mistakes. Eli came from a little bit back and blasted up through the field, riding a phenomenal race to take another win. Cole led for a really long time and still finished on the podium despite some mistakes. This makes 16 rounds with at least one Honda CRF450R on the podium in the premier class, which is incredible and hasn't been done by any other manufacturer this season."

Dan Betley: Team Manager "It was a good day. I kind of had a good feeling coming into today, so I'm happy we're leaving with two riders on the podium. The guys were riding great all day, finishing first and third in both practice sessions, and then they finished in the same order in the main event. Cole got good starts in both races, which really helped put him in a good position all day. Eli is still struggling a bit but was able to make it work and charge his way to the front. While leading the main event, Cole unfortunately had some close calls and had to back it down a bit, but he still finished third, and Eli was able to come through with the win. I was really hoping for a first and second place tonight, but it was great to get our sixth win of the season, and we're shooting for number seven next weekend in Vegas."

Jason Haines: Crew Chief "Today was pretty awesome. Both Cole and Eli rode great all day, getting a heat-race win, main-event win and having both riders on the podium. I'm really proud of them. Cole got great starts today, winning his heat race and leading for over half the main event before falling back to third. I think we can give him a bit of a break though, because I think this was his first really gnarly 450 race, definitely the most treacherous one of the season in my opinion."

Rich Simmons: Mechanic (Cole Seely) "Things went pretty good for us today. Cole had a good heat race and good starts both races, but the track was really gnarly so there were a lot of mistakes made throughout the whole main. I just think he tightened up when he wasn't gapping those guys. All in all, for how the track was and the gap that they had on fourth place, it was good."

450SX Results 1. Eli Tomac               GEICO Honda   2. Ryan Dungey 3. Cole Seely             Team Honda HRC 4. Blake Baggett 5. Andrew Short 6. Broc Tickle 7. Joshua Grant 8. Kyle Chisholm 9. Jason Anderson 10. Weston Peick 11. Shane Mcelrath  12. Nicholas Wey 13. Ben Lamay  14. Nicholas Schmit 15. Kyle Partridge 16. Ronnie Stewart 17. Dustin Pipes 18. Tevin Tapia 19. Deven Raper 20. Justin Barcia 21. Alex Ray 22. Justin Brayton

450SX Championship Points (after 16 of 17 rounds) 1. Ryan Dungey          343 2. Eli Tomac               258 3. Cole Seely             239 4. Chad Reed              212  5. Trey Canard          204 6. Blake Baggett          190  7. Jason Anderson     188 8. Broc Tickle              168 9. Andrew Short         164 10. Ken Roczen          156 11. David Millsaps       147 12. Weston Peick        129 13. Joshua Grant        129 14. Kyle Chisholm        92 15. Justin Barcia         88 16. Jacob Weimer       74 17. Phil Nicoletti           66 18. Nicholas Wey        65 19. Mike Alessi            48 20. Josh Hill                 40