This Very Day: Canard’s Career First Pro Motocross Overall

On “This Very Day,” July 3, 2010, the Rockstar Energy Drink National at RedBud brought intense action and memorable moments in both classes. Still, round six of the (then) Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship was a pivotal race for one rider, Trey Canard. Trey would go on to win the 250 Pro Motocross Championship in the final round at Pala. Let's dive into the motos from that day that led to a thrilling and unforgettable conclusion.

The first moto saw the #377 on the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki, and the championship points leader at that time, Christophe Pourcel, grabbed the early holeshot, checked out, and was gone from the rest of the field. Behind him, his teammates Tyla Rattray and Dean Wilson battled hard. Rattray would end up second, and Wilson would finish third—three Geico Powersports Honda riders behind the trio of Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s. Trey Canard would have to come from about 10th to get to fourth. His teammate Justin Barcia would finish fifth, and sixth would go to Blake Wharton. More bad luck for Jake Weimer, who won this race last year. He was in the mix going for a podium until he tangled up with Broc Tickle and would end up just a few positions further back.

Moto 2 was different from the Pourcel we saw the first moto. He didn’t get a good start this time around. It's his teammate Wilson with the holeshot, and with that, he would try to check out, but it was Trey Canard’s day. He starts putting on moves early as he gets around his teammates Wharton and Barcia. Next, around Rattray, and finally goes after the leader, Wilson. But now, things were going to change in a hurry. This put Canard in contention to win the overall on the day. Canard would make the pass on Wilson as they scrap back and forth, then bumps Wilson off the track. Canard's will go on to win the moto, but Rattray still had a shot at the overall if he went 2-2 OA, but while he was trying to pass Wilson to get to second, he goes over the bars in an endo, and that was the end of Tyla’s bid for the win. As for Pourcel, he would struggle to be fifth in the second moto. He had 1-5 scores, Wilson went 3-2, and Canard, with 4-1 moto finishes, wins his career-first AMA Pro Motocross overall win!

Canard talked with Steve Cox from RacerX about his first overall win outdoors the following Monday, stating, “Yeah, I was stoked. I’ve got to thank Justin Barcia, actually. We had some contact [when Barcia jumped across a couple lines on an off-camber and came into Canard] and it actually really fired me up.”

He went on to discuss his nerves during the second moto and what the overall win that day meant to him: “There was a point where I got a little negative, and I’m like, "Man, I’m probably going to crash or something." I just tried to stay positive and put in good, solid laps. I was stoked. I know I’ve said that a bunch, but... You don’t know how good this is for me, to finally get this, after three years and some really tough outdoor seasons.”