Slaw
It is rare when a team goes nuclear in a post-race press release. In fact, I don’t recall a time it has ever happened. While some teams offer great insight in their post-race PRs—Honda HRC the leader in the category—mostly they offer vague recaps and quotes from riders and team managers. Which, I’m fine with. Get fans and media the facts after the race and get out.
Yet, when you get this amazing press release, it does make you want more.
After the Arlington Supercross round, in which both Honda HRC riders come out on the wrong side of the lack of penalties handed down from incidents in the 450 and 250 main events, the team doubled down.
RELATED: AMA Reviews Arlington Supercross Incidents, Rules No Violations in 250 and 450 Mains
RELATED: AMA Issues Official Statement Following 250 and 450 Race Reviews at Arlington Supercross
It started with this (bold ours):
At night’s end, Honda HRC Progressive personnel vigorously disputed the lack of penalties around the red-flag incidents in both classes. On Monday, the AMA released an official statement indicating that it has no plan to apply penalties. The team intends to escalate the issue and is currently reviewing all viable avenues.
Oh boy. They are not taking this standing down.
If you listened to the post-race media scrum, you saw that team manager Lars Lindstrom was already fired up and that WAS BEFORE no penalties were handed out by the AMA. Now….
“This was a huge morale boost for the team, but it was another bittersweet night even though the result was fantastic. We couldn’t be prouder of both Hunter and Jo, and I want to congratulate Hunter on his first 450SX win. He rode unbelievable tonight and had to race the best of the best to take the win. Jo shouldn’t even be here, and for him to have that result is just incredible. I told him before the race, ‘Let’s just take what the night gives us, but don’t forget, you are a freak!’ The fact that he didn’t get more tired after almost no prep is just mind-blowing. The bittersweet part is being on the short end of the stick when it comes to other riders jumping on red flashing lights and red-cross flags. In the past, we’ve been penalized more than any other team for this—some deserved, some we didn’t agree with at all. In this case, it was clear to us that there were penalties necessary, which should have given us the win in 250s, and dramatically increased our 450 points lead. The team, Honda management, and I are absolutely infuriated that there wasn’t more done in this situation after what has happened to us in the past for the same things. I am very disappointed with this decision, and we will be fighting hard to have it overturned.”
Rarely do they include quotes from Brandon Wilson, the manager, racing and & experiential marketing, but they did this week. And it’s a heater.
“First of all, congratulations to Hunter and Jo. They both rode amazingly, and they made perfect, high-stakes, split-second decisions in the heat of battle. They should receive every benefit that they’re entitled to. Instead, their accomplishments are being partially diluted by mistakes or poor decisions outside their control. In the past, our team has been on the losing end of red-flag-related penalties more often than we would like. While that was frustrating, we could at least understand that the rules were being applied. Now, suddenly the rulebook is being ignored in favor of tortured explanations about nuanced situations. Moving forward, we must get to a place where the rules are being enforced consistently, regardless of the rider or team involved. For the safety of all riders, and to ensure that our sport is respected as a legitimate, professional operation, we are committed to being a part of the solution, and we will work with all relevant parties to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
And we certainly never hear from Jeremy McGuire, senior manager, customer engagement, but he offered this:
“Over the course of the past few AMA seasons, I think it’s inarguable that Honda has been held to a different standard when it comes to application of the rules, and I’m honestly not sure why that is. Whatever the reason, this weekend was the icing on the cake, with the same on-track situation being interpreted in two totally opposite ways, with the only consistency being that our riders were the ones disadvantaged—despite the fact that they were the ones to correctly follow the letter and spirit of the rules! The situation is very confusing for us—let alone the riders on the track. I want to be clear that I stand by our team management and our riders 100% in their efforts to do the right thing according to the rulebook that is provided to us by the sport’s sanctioning body.”
While I’m not quite sure what Honda can do on this matter, I’m here for these types of press releases. Give me more.
The AMA has clearly shown the world what we already suspected. Penalties and fines for teams other than the Blue crew with their massive social media following. Doing nothing and saying Brown did not violate the rules when photos are out that prove otherwise and allowing Danger Boy to continue his cat and mouse games on the tracks to take out riders is disgusting and ruining the sport period. I will not be renewing my 50 year plus membership!