Tickle, RCH Look to Finish Supercross Season Strong - Speedway Digest

Broc Tickle and the RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy Johns/Suzuki Factory Racing Team look to close out the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross season, an FIM World Championship, on a high note Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium at the series’ season-finale in Las Vegas.

Tickle has endured the highs and lows of 2015, including missing a race due to injury and losing teammate Ken Roczen at Daytona for the balance of the Supercross season. Still, he is on course to record a career-best 450SX points finish. In 57 Premiere Class starts that span three seasons, Tickle has finished ninth in points all three years (’12, ’13 & ’14).

Despite being sidelined for Round 5 in Anaheim, he still holds down eighth in the 450SX championship point standings. With one race left on the 2015 schedule, Tickle trails seventh-place Jason Anderson by 17 and is 21 back from Trey Canard in sixth. He holds a three-point advantage over the next closest competitor.

“To be totally honest, the season has been a bit of a disappointment for me, personally,” commented Tickle. “Our Suzuki RM-Z450 has been fast all year but for one reason or another, we haven’t been able to close the deal. We’ve been consistent all season, but struggled with our finishes. New Jersey was a really good weekend that I think we can build off of. I changed up my routine last week and worked on outdoors and that seemed to pay off. Hopefully, we can carry that momentum with us into Las Vegas Saturday night and finish the Monster Energy Supercross season strong.”

Last weekend, Tickle turned in a solid sixth-place performance that proved to be nothing short of spectacular. The Holly, Mich., rider was racing with Andrew Short in the late goings of last Saturday afternoon’s 20-lap main event when the two tangled in the rhythm section, launching Tickle from his machine and over the Tuff Blox. Incredibly, despite being ejected from his No. 20 Suzuki and doing a perfect flip over the handlebars, Tickle landed on his feet, picked up his bike and ended up no worse for wear. The top-six showing was Tickle’s 12th top 10 in 15 races this season.

In two previous 450SX starts in Las Vegas, Tickle finished 11th and 10th, respectively in 2012 and 2013. The 25-year-old veteran missed last year’s curtain call after being injured earlier in the season at the Toronto Supercross.

With all but one race in the rear view, five-time Supercross Champion and RCH co-owner Ricky Carmichael pointed out the ups and down of the team’s season and is rightfully optimistic about the Chino Hills, Calif.-based organization’s future. Carmichael spent this week on the West Coast working closely with his team and riders. He will also be in Las Vegas this weekend to assume his post in the television booth for the event’s live telecast on FOX Sports 1.

“It’s always crazy how fast the season goes by,” said Carmichael, a two-time 450SX winner at Sam Boyd Stadium. “We started off extremely well and it looked like the sky was the limit. Both riders were spot on, which was great to see. We all know what happened in Oakland and it seemed like from that point on, we could never get back to how we performed at the beginning of the year. Despite having a sub-par second half of the season, the entire team is still very proud for having won our first race, backing it up with a second win and a few podiums, too. I believe we showed folks that RCH is for real and we’re capable of racing for championships on a regular basis.”

Before the pits open and the gate drops at the track, Tickle will meet fans and sign autographs at Carter Powersports, Friday, May 1, from 6 – 7 p.m. Located just minutes east of the Las Vegas Strip, Carter Powersports is a premier Suzuki dealer and proudly offers new and used motorcycles, parts and accessories, clothing and replacement parts.

Carmichael, along with Roczen and RCH co-owner Carey Hart will also meet fans and sign autographs at the Fox Outlet Store, located at the Las Vegas South Premium Outlets on Thurs., April 30, from 8 – 9 p.m. The line for autographs will begin at 5:30 p.m. and will be guaranteed to the first 200 individuals on a first-come, first-served basis.

Carmichael will also be on hand for this weekend’s Amsoil Arenacross, featuring Ricky Carmichael’s Road to Supercross, inside the South Point Arena to meet fans and make some laps on the track as that series wraps up its 2015 campaign with a historic championship battle.

The 17th and final race of the year rings down the curtain on the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross season Sat., May 2, at Sam Boyd Stadium. Live television coverage on FOX Sports 1 begins at 10 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 7 p.m. Pacific.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.