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I’ve been on a nostalgia kick lately. Usually I’m going down memory lane with the 1990s, but lately I’ve been reminiscing on the 2010s and how much talent these 250 teams had on them. I had Justin Bogle on the Squad Pod recently to talk about his life, WSX, testing for Stark, and the opportunity to talk about the GEICO Honda team presented itself.
I’m a huge fan of what the GEICO Honda team was able to build from their early days with Mike LaRocco to changing the way amateur prospects were brought into the sport for the long haul. The team won the 2002 250SX West Region with Travis Preston in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport. Soon after that, they started to sign some amateur riders to their program, starting with Josh Grant, Ryan Mills, and Tommy Hahn in 2004. A few years later they would add Jake Weimer to the mix.
The team and riders were having some success here and there, but something was missing. The riders were getting added to the pro team, but what if they could have these prospects finish out their amateur careers on their program? This would help the riders transition during their B or A class years, give them a glimpse to what the team could provide as far as bike and personnel, and get them used to what to expect.
Thus the FC Honda amateur program was born. The team went out and signed Team Green’s Trey Canard who was just coming off a six moto sweep and two titles at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in the B modified divisions. He then took the opportunity and ran with it. In a stacked 2007 A class filled with talented riders like Nico Izzi, Austin Stroupe, and Wil Hahn, Canard stole the show at Loretta’s that summer with the MX Lites A and MX Lites A Pro Sport titles. Then he carried that success into the 2008 250SX East Region winning the first three races of his SX career (four races total) and then the championship. That right there set the tone of what was to come for this program.
Over the next 12 seasons, GEICO Honda won races and championships with their riders. The exciting part of every year was after Loretta’s and before Mini O’s to see who would get the coveted amateur to pro ride. Their process worked and now you see teams like Star Racing utilizing that same formula and you see the success that they are having. We can all thank the FC/GEICO Honda program for changing the game all those years ago.
Below is a rundown of every team lineup from that first year with the program to when the team shut its doors at the end of 2020. It was a great place for riders to prove themselves and most years started as a clean slate. It was like a Kentucky basketball team full of prospects looking to prove themselves. A lot of race wins and championships happened with the GEICO Honda program. A few of these riders went on to all-time careers and the GEICO Honda team helped pave the way for them and changed the sport in a great way.
2008 Team
Josh Grant
Trey Canard
Dan Reardon
Jake Weimer
Kevin Windham
2009 Team
Dan Reardon
Trey Canard
Brett Metcalfe
Blake Wharton
Justin Barcia
Kevin Windham
2010 Team
Trey Canard
Justin Barcia
Eli Tomac
Blake Wharton
Brett Metcalfe
Kevin Windham
2011 Team
Justin Barcia
Eli Tomac
Blake Wharton
Wil Hahn
Kevin Windham
2012 Team
Justin Barcia
Eli Tomac
Wil Hahn
Justin Bogle
Jimmy Decotis
Kevin Windham
2013 Team
Eli Tomac
Justin Bogle
Wil Hahn
Zach Osborne
Zach Bell
Kevin Windham
2014 Team
Wil Hahn
Eli Tomac
Zach Osborne
Zach Bell
Blake Wharton
Matt Bisceglia
2015 Team
Eli Tomac
Justin Bogle
Jordon Smith
Malcolm Stewart
Matt Bisceglia
RJ Hampshire
2016 Team
Justin Bogle
Christian Craig
Jordon Smith
Jimmy Decotis
Malcolm Stewart
RJ Hampshire
2017 Team
Jeremy Martin
Chase Sexton
RJ Hampshire
Christian Craig
Jimmy Decotis
2018 Team
Jeremy Martin
Christian Craig
RJ Hampshire
Chase Sexton
Cameron McAdoo
2019 Team
Jeremy Martin
Chase Sexton
RJ Hampshire
Christian Craig
Hunter Lawrence
2020 Team
Chase Sexton
Jeremy Martin
Hunter Lawrence
Christian Craig
Jett Lawrence
Jo Shimoda
