Broc Tickle and his RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/Suzuki factory team have strong familial ties to the Detroit region.
Tickle, 25, hails from nearby Holly, Michigan, while RCH’s primary sponsor, Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort, is located about two hours north of Ford Field, in Mt. Pleasant. The team also receives backing from Dodge, which is headquartered in suburban Detroit in Auburn Hills. With that in mind, Tickles says that Detroit is an important weekend for the team.
“If there’s one place where we should have the home field advantage, Ford Field is it,” said Tickle, who finished sixth last year in his first 450cc supercross start at Ford Field. “It’s sort of a hometown trifecta for me. I live just outside of Detroit, in Holly, so I’ll have a lot of friends and family at the race. Obviously, I want to do well in front of all of them. On top of that, Dodge has its headquarters in Auburn Hills and Soaring Eagle is in Michigan, too. There’s always a little extra incentive to do well in Detroit. I finished sixth last year, but I need to be better this time. Hopefully, this is the week I can break through and finish on the podium.”
Tickle will once again represent the team alone, as teammate Ken Roczen is expected to be out until the Houston round of the series while recovering from an ankle injury.
“I’m super bummed that I’m not racing this weekend in Detroit,” Roczen said. “I’m still happy that I was able to spend some time at Soaring Eagle with the fans and obviously our sponsor. But for me, it’s important to get healthy and be 100 percent. When I come back in Houston, I want to be up front, and the only way to do that is if I’m 100 percent. Safety first and health first. That’s what I’m going to do. I’ll be putting in some good work over the next three weeks so I can come back strong.”
The Detroit event is round 12 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, and it will mark the fifth time supercross will compete at Ford Field. The series visited the old Pontiac Silverdome 46 times before moving to Ford Field. The race will be televised live on Fox Sports 1 Saturday, March 21 beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 4 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.
Your Privacy Choices