The Honda Red Riders enjoyed the limelight at round nine of the AMA Supercross Championship in Indianapolis, IN, over the weekend, filling three podium spots in the 450SX and 250SX East classes. Nearly 60,000 race fans filled Lucas Oil Stadium to witness Muscle Milk-backed GEICO Honda rider Eli Tomac and Team Honda Muscle Milk fill-in rider Cole Seely take on one of the most grueling tracks of the season to finish an impressive two-three respectively on the podium. In the 250SX battle, GEICO Honda's Justin Bogle landed his CRF250R on the podium for a second straight weekend with a third-place effort.

450 Class During his first showing of the season in the 450SX class, Seely impressed everyone, turning some of the fastest laps of the main event on a brutally tough track. After a third in his heat race, Seely got away to a good start on his CRF450R in the main and was among the lead group early on. Pounding out a series of successful passes, he moved into third on lap 12, where he remained until the race's end.

"I had a good feeling about tonight, so to be on the podium is great," said Seely. "The main went well, I got off to a pretty good start and got around a couple guys pretty quickly. I battled with Brayton for a couple laps, then got around him and set my sights on Alessi and Tomac. Alessi made a mistake and I was able to get around him but never managed to get close to Tomac, so I just managed my gap on fourth for the last few laps. You really had to ride consistent and smart every lap because the track was really tough and deteriorating so fast. I can't thank Honda enough for giving me this opportunity and my team for letting me take it."

"Today went great for everyone, and I think Cole rode very solid. He definitely bettered what our expectations were for him. He liked the bike and his times were good so overall it was a great day," explained team manager Dan Betley.

For the second consecutive week, Team Honda Muscle Milk's Justin Barcia did not line up on the gate due to injuries he suffered in a crash in Atlanta. Barcia is expected to return to action at the Daytona Supercross by Honda for round 10 of the series.

In the main event, Tomac got a third place start and quickly engaged in a battle for second, which he claimed on lap 12. He took the checkers in second, marking his career-best finish in the 450SX class.

"It is good to finally get on the podium," said Tomac. "It was a tough start to the season, and I know I haven't really been riding like myself so it feels good to be up where I believe I belong. You had to be on your toes and consistent the entire 20 laps because the track was so rutted and gnarly."

After a solid-fourth place finish last weekend in Atlanta, Hahn had his sights set on the podium this week, but he finished 11th on the challenging course.

250 Class  Lucas Oil Stadium also played host to round three of the East 250SX competition, and it was a stellar night for the Muscle Milk-supported GEICO Honda rider Justin Bogle who finished on the podium for the second consecutive week. In the main, Bogle struggled off the line, landing in 10th after the completion of the first lap. For the remainder of the 15-lap race he put his head down and began maneuvering himself through the competition. By lap 12, he had worked his way into third, which is where he finished. His back-to-back third-place finishes have him sitting third in the championship chase.

"This track was extremely rough, probably the toughest supercross track that I have ridden in my life," explained Bogle. "I didn't get a good start but a lot of the competition was making costly mistakes through the ruts so I was able to capitalize on that. My main goal is to be fighting for the championship, so I really need to get up there and start battling hard for these wins each weekend. I am happy with another podium because this is definitely a step in the right direction."   

Muscle Milk-sponsored GEICO Honda's newest rider Matt Bisceglia recorded his best finish of the season, finishing just shy of the podium in fourth. "The LCQ definitely isn't where I wanted to be, but it gave me a chance to get more time on the track and put in some good laps before the main event," Bisceglia stated. "I really thought I had a chance to get on the podium tonight. Unfortunately, I got tight towards the end of the race and a couple people got by me. Overall I am very happy with my finish and have something to build off of."

The Focus: Honda Performance Development Visit This past Friday, the Honda racing family went head-to-head as Team Honda Muscle Milk's Trey Canard joined Indy Car drivers Simon Paganeud and Josef Newgarden at Honda Performance Development's (HPD) tech center just outside of Indianapolis, IN.

Canard got inside the facilities state-of-the-art driving simulator to see how he stacked up against the professional drivers, and he was impressive. The following day, Paganeud and Newgarden joined Team Honda Muscle Milk at the Supercross to witness first-hand Seely's podium finish.

450 Supercross Results 1. Ryan Dungey 2. Eli Tomac (Honda)          3. Cole Seely (Honda) 4. Ryan Villopoto 5. Broc Tickle 6. Andrew Short 7. James Stewart 8. Justin Brayton 9. Josh Hill 10. Dean Wilson   450 Supercross Championship Points (after 9 of 17 rounds) 1. Ryan Villopoto 184 2. Ryan Dungey 161 3. Ken Roczen 158 4. James Stewart 154 5. Justin Brayton 143 6. Chad Reed 111 7. Justin Barcia 109 8. Andrew Short 109 9.  Wil Hahn 93 10. Broc Tickle 93

250 Supercross East Results 1. Adam Cianciarulo 2. Martin Davalos 3. Justin Bogle (Honda) 4. Matt Bisceglia (Honda) 5. Blake Baggett 6. Vince Friese 7. James DeCotis 8. Matt Lemoine 9. Cole Thomson 10. Kyle Cunningham

250 Supercross East Championship Points (after 3 of 9 rounds) 1. Adam Cianciarulo 72 2. Martin Davalos 67 3. Justin Bogle 56 4. Blake Baggett 54 5. Vince Friese 48 6. Cole Thompson 40 7. Jimmy DeCotis 34 8. Blake Wharton 33 9. Kyle Cunningham 33 10. Mitchell Oldenburg 30