RCH SOARING EAGLE TEAM IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT AT FORD FIELD
March 17, 2014
Detroit, MI (March 17, 2014) - Not only is RCH Soaring Eagle Supercross team rider Broc Tickle from nearby Holly, Michigan, the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort is located in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, so the Soaring Eagle folks decided to really make a statement and partnered with Feld Motor Sports® to host Supercross racing's return to the Motor City. After last week's round on the Ricky Carmichael-built track in Daytona where Tickle and his teammate Hill felt like they had a home field advantage, they were really in the driver's seat for the race at Ford Field in downtown Detroit!
The RCH Soaring Eagle team certainly made a statement in the opening ceremonies as Tickle swapped his traditional Fox MX jersey for a #20 Barry Sanders Detroit Lions jersey. Hill made an impression by riding down through the stands on his #75 RCH Suzuki. Not to be outdone, Miss Soaring Eagle Sierra Merchant rode in on a Side-by-Side during opening ceremonies, shooting T-shirts out to the fans. Presenting sponsor Soaring Eagle also showed up in force with more than 100 Tribal members, family and VIPs to attend the race.
Riding as if they owned the place, afternoon qualifying saw Josh Hill just edge hometown boy Broc Tickle by 12/100s of a second as both of the teammates made the evening racing program with lap times well inside the top 10 (only the top 40 fastest qualify for the evening racing program). The evening started off with a little more TV time for Tickle as Fox Sports reporter Jenny Taft interviewed him. With more than 85 friends and family members in the stands, not to mention the event's title sponsor watching, Tickle wanted to do even better than last week's career best 4th place finish.
"I'm really looking forward to tonight," Tickle told Taft and the TV audience. "All my family is here, and on top of that we have our title sponsor Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort, so I'm looking to keep building that momentum like I have the past couple of weeks and hopefully get some holeshots tonight."
Although Hill did't have his entire family in the grandstands, he still wanted to do well for the team's sponsors. Heat #1 had Hill squaring off against fastest qualifier of the day, James Stewart and holeshot artist Mike Alessi, also mounted on Suzukis. Despite getting boxed out at the start, Hill quickly moved into 4th by the end of the first lap. By the second lap, he slashed past Justin Brayton for 3rd spot. The TV cameras then concentrated on Hill's attempts to chase down Alessi and captured a Suzuki sweep of the top three qualifiers (only the first 4 transfer straight from the heat race, the rest have to race the Semi, or worse, the infamous LCQ "Last Chance Qualifier').
Tickle didn't quite take the holeshot he wanted in Heat #2, instead he ended up the first lap a distant 7th. Although he did get up into 5th by the last lap, remember that only the top 4 go straight to the Main. That meant a trip to the Semis. Tickle went into Semi #2 lined up on the far inside hoping to sneak through, although he didn't get the holeshot, his strategy paid off as he gated top five and quickly moved into second. After chasing Andrew Short for much of the race, Tickle set up a dramatic pass attempt in the final turn, but came up just short of Short to finish second and make the Main.
The 450 Main saw both RCH Soaring Eagle Suzuki Team riders finish inside the top 10 of the fiercely competitive field. Hill had a better start than Tickle, finishing the first lap in 7th, dicing with Short, while Tickle was back in 9th after getting squeezed off at the start. However on lap #3, Tickle passed privateer Suzuki rider Weston Peick for 10th position. "I was 9th on the start and rode really cautiously for the first five laps," explained Tickle. "I finally got into the flow and started picking guys off."
By lap #7, both teammates were battling each other for 7th. "I got into into 6th and then was closing the gap on 5th. Then I started losing my flow," said Tickle. "I tried to run it in on Barcia on the last lap, but couldn't make it stick. Still, I'm pumped with 6th and how I rode through the pack."
At the finish, Barcia just beat Tickle to the line. Following Tickle's career best 4th last week, he backed that up with a hard-fought 6th place in Detroit.
Meanwhile, Josh Hill had a much better Main event than he had in Daytona, finishing a season high 8th. "I rounded the first turn in 6th or 7th," said Hill. "Then the night just kind of turned into a full on battle! It went back and forth and I made my way up pretty far at one point, but made a couple of mistakes."
Tickle moves up to 8th in the rider point standings and Josh Hill now holds 13th overall with six races left in the season to continue to make up for time lost due to injuries earlier in the season.
The RCH Racing Soaring Eagle Team pits are always the center of attention at a Supercross race, but they really pulled out all the stops for the Detroit round, including stepping up as the title sponsor for the race. “We’re happy to support RCH Racing and the Monster Energy Supercross community,” said Raul Venegas, director marketing entertainment, Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort. “Fans can check out the RCH Racing pit activation at any race for a chance to win an all-expenses-paid four-day/three-night get away to Soaring Eagle Resort. Partnering with Monster Energy Supercoss gives us an exciting platform for fans to learn more about our luxury resort.”
After rolling out of the Motor City, the RCH Racing Soaring Eagle team heads north of the border to the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada for Round 12 on March 22. Although the pits are closed in Toronto, come and visit RCH Soaring Eagle’s Activation at the Main Entrance of the Rogers Centre this weekend.
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About RCH Racing Soaring Eagle:
RCH Racing is in its second season of the partnership between Ricky Carmichael and Carey Hart to campaign the Feld Motor Sports® 2014 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship season. Ricky Carmichael merged his Suzuki relationship and technical development with the established five year marketing giant of Hart & Huntington Racing in 2013. The RCH Racing Soaring Eagle Team continues its partnerships with Suzuki, Fox, Dodge, Sycuan Casino, Yoshimura and Bel-Ray. Stay up to date on all RCH Racing Soaring Eagle news, follow us on Instagram and Twitter @RCHRacing and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hartandhuntington.
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