GEICO Powersports/AMSOIL/Honda riders Trey Canard and Brett Metcalfe turned bad luck in Indianapolis into podium finishes Saturday night in Atlanta in front of a jam-packed house at the Georgia Dome.
Canard, racing in the series' top division for Honda for just the second time, took advantage of a strong start and other competitors' mistakes to finish second. Metcalfe, who crashed in practice in Indy before rallying for a fifth place finish, remained patient during a wild Supercross Lites East race and finished in third.
"It was a good week," said Canard, who was involved in three accidents last weekend in Indy. "I feel like I made some good improvements and it paid off. Right now I'm just kind of speechless with the whole thing."
Team AMSOIL rider Kevin Windham ran into trouble in the main event after starting the day on such a high note. Windham was the No. 1 qualifier and won his heat race. But on the third lap, Windham veered off-track and fell off his bike. He fell to last place but would rally to finish 14th on the day.
In the Lites race, Metcalfe and teammate Justin Barcia were key players in a wild race where they used polar opposite strategies. Barcia was an aggressor and Metcalfe took a more patient strategy.Both started in the top five, but Barcia rushed to the front and challenged for the lead. Unfortunately he made an error heading into one of the tracks sharp corners and fell off his bike. With just three laps left, he ran out of time to atone for his misstep.
Metcalfe took advantage of Barcia and others' mistakes and moved up the standings and into third.
"This race reminded me of another race that was just as strange," Metcalfe said. "That race was about being patient, so I knew tonight to be very patient.
Barcia (bar-sha) was undaunted despite seeing victory slip through his fingers.
"I had the bike to win tonight that's for sure," said Barcia, who finished 17th. "The team made a great adjustment right before the race that really helped my ride. I made a rookie mistake, but I learned so much tonight. I'm going to work extra hard this week and be ready to go."
The Montster Energy AMA Supercross Series next heads to the world center of speed, Daytona International Speedway on March 6. AMSOIL is the Official Oil of Daytona Bike Week, which started this past weekend.
Until then, we'll see you at the races.
