Amanda - Blog

Written by Editor Thursday, 14 July 2011 09:50

As reported earlier this week, American Honda rider, Trey Canard will make his return to racing this weekend at the Spring Creek MX National in Millville, MN. In his rookie season racing in the Premier Supercross class, Trey was 5th in the points standing with 3 wins and 5 podium finishes. As he began testing for the outdoor motocross series, an unfortunate crash ended his Supercross season. Despite the abrupt end to his season, he was named the 2011 AMA Supercross Rookie of the Year. Amanda spoke with Trey earlier this week and here's what he had to say...

Amanda: How did you get into the sport?

Trey: It was kind of a family deal, my Dad and my Brother raced and I just followed suite. Before I knew it, I was pretty much a professional at a young age and it just escalated from there.

What were you like as a kid?

I always wanted to ride, so this sport took up a lot of my time. I was always watching videos, looking at magazines and riding. Believe it or not, I was a little fat kid, so that was kind of different, but I feel like I have been the same person for a long time. Ridding has been a life long pursuit.

How important is family in a young person becoming a professional Supercross / motocross racer?

So Important. They are the ones who get you there in the beginning. They are the ones who fork out all the money and spend all the time to get you there. It’s an expensive and time consuming sport. Without family there supporting you, and morally supporting you, then its impossible.

You have achieved a great deal of success: 2010 AMA National Motocrosss Championship in the 250 MX Lites, in 2011 you won three AMA Supercross class main events and were named the AMA Supercross Rookie of the year. Can you explain to someone like me, who has never done or experienced that, what it's like?

Its really weird and I don’t want to sound arrogant, but you work your entire life for this and to a certain extent you kind of expect great results, when it happens it is pretty surreal. I am very grateful to be able to do this and winning championships is a huge bonus. Not many people can win races, so to be a part of the group that can, I am ecstatic and just grateful to be a part of it all.

Trey on top of the podium at Houston Supercross

With success comes a bit more money than the average person your age normally earns. Do you splurge on anything? Did you 'reward' yourself when you won the 250 Motocross Nationals Championship?

I have always been kind of a tight person. Growing up in Oklahoma, money was never a big deal there, and everyone I grew up around we’re very small town type people.
That type of thing, cars, watches, etc...has never really got my attention. I would have to say where I splurge the most is on tracks and other places to ride, that sort of thing. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t just put it all in the bank and do nothing with it, but I've never been the guy who wants to go out and buy a Lamborghini, Haha. We only have a short window in this sport to make money, so better to be smart with it.

You’ll be coming back to racing soon. What happened to keep you off the track, and what have done to get back on the track?

I got hurt 3 months ago while testing and ended up breaking my femur. It was just a misfortunate accident that I didn’t see coming. I have been doing my best to let it heal while doing as much training as I can do under the circumstance. I’m excited to announce I'll be coming back this weekend to race. The team and myself are as ready as we can be and I am looking forward to it! It will be good for me.

What are some of the things you did when you were not able to race?

I had some projects. I took care of things around the house that normally I wouldn’t have been able to do. My brother has been bugging me for a swimming pool for a long time, so we built a swimming pool! That was a fun little project. I was able to go to a couple races, which was a lot of fun, and then just spent time with family and friends, all the stuff I normally don’t have a lot of time to do.

Since you are coming back mid-season, what are your goals?

The goal is to come back and get some momentum going. I'd love to get on the podium and a possible win, but the main thing is to just get back out there, get more experience and do the best that I can.

What goals do you have for 2012 that you would like to see become reality?

Obviously the championship would be amazing! The main thing however is to get through the season healthy, that’s something I haven’t been able to do yet and I would like to accomplish that next year, as well as be a front runner. This last year was awesome to get 3 wins, which is be something that I will always have to look back on, and hopefully we can do that again next year! But the main thing is to be healthy through the season, be a front running guy, and be there at the end!

We admire that you are a bold speaker for Christ and Christianity. What do fans say to you about it, pro or con?

What’s cool is a lot of people have a general amount of respect for it whether they are believers or not. They see that I stand for something and I think that’s okay with them. Even if they don’t believe, they can relate to standing up for something. And the people who do believe are super encouraging and motivating for me. To meet those people and to hear the things they say is a privilege for me. It’s an honor to be able to be a bold speaker for Christ and hopefully I continue to do it well.

When you were younger, and coming into professional racing, who did you look up to and Why? What was unique about them? Something you liked or tried to emulate?

I have a few Heroes throughout my childhood, number one would have to be Robbie Renner. I loved seeing him ride and watch him on videos, I feel like I could relate to him. We are both from Oklahoma and we lived just a couple hours from one another, he’s just a really nice guy. After that it would have to be Jeremy McGrath and then Ricky Carmichael. I think we have all been a Ricky fan at some point in our lives. Those are the few people who really stand out as far as Heroes in Motocross.

What else does Trey Canard love to do besides racing motorcycles and swim in your new swimming pool?

(Laughing) I can't swim that long, I get burnt! It’s kind of funny, this has been my life long goal and it's so cool to get to do something that I love so much. This is fun for me and I am such a fanatic about it... it's what I really enjoy to do. Pit bike riding and all of the training side of it, I really enjoy! Other then that, I’m kind of a hermit. I enjoy hanging out, relaxing and just enjoying friends and family.

You've acquired a great deal of fans at such a young age. What would you like them to know about you, and what would you like to tell them?

I try to be the best person I can be, I try to represent Christ and do the best I can with that, and I try to ride a motorcycle the best that I can, and I guarantee you’re going to get from me is 100% effort all of the time, and hopefully I can keep it fun,  too. Be someone people enjoy to see and be around, that’s what I strive for.