This week we caught up with Patrick Murphy, a Midwest athlete that hails from Iowa, to get some details about his rookie Supercross season. Patrick is riding with the TiLUBE Honda team in the 250SX East Coast series and that kicked off its first round in Tampa, Florida this past weekend. Along with being his first year of racing Supercross, he is also now riding on a Honda, for those of us that have been used to seeing him rip around on blue for the last several years. This weekend in Detroit will be the second weekend of racing for the East Coast series and another chance for Patrick to try and qualify for his first night show.
He had a pretty good first outing for a privateer rookie, I would say qualifying in 41st place. The fastest fourty in each class qualify for the night show, and then the next couple of riders are on the bubble and waiting to see if someone gets hurt or a bike malfunction, and they are waiting in the tunnel for the signal to go out and race. This is not something that gets mentioned to fans, but there are a couple of riders that wait for the signal if they are needed, and it can be exciting and often turns out to be gut-wrenching when they are turned away.
Q1 – Did the press ride on Friday help get some of the nerves going in under control?
PM: Yes, I honestly was probably more nervous to ride press than on race day, haha.
Q2 – How did you feel coming out of qualifying?
PM: I felt very tight, never rode a track that tight before. The tuff blocks also felt very new to me.
Q3 – You qualified 41st which means you were on the bubble. Can you describe the nerves waiting in the tunnel to see if you would get the chance to race?
PM: Definitely would rather be in the show than having to wait to see if I could race. That was a terrible feeling.
Q4 – What were you happy with about your riding?
PM: Not much to be honest lol.
Q5 – What do you plan on working on after this first weekend?
PM: I plan on riding and racing like I have been during the past couple weeks. I started riding Sx in the beginning of January because of an injury that kept me off the bike thru the end of November and all of December. But recently in the last 2 weeks I had found another level on Sx but didn’t execute that at all last Saturday.
Q6 – Where have you been practicing for SX?
PM: I have taken my training to Oakhill in Decatur, Texas, with Kyle Cunningham training and Denny Garley guidance.
Q7 – Had you previously ridden SX before taking on this challenge this year, not counting Mini O’s type of stuff?
PM: I rode maybe 10 times on it in the beginning of 2024, but before January of 2025 not much if I’m being honest. It’s new to me.
Q8 – How long have you been riding the Honda?
PM: I got on a Honda in October, I believe, and Have been loving the feel of it. The TiLube team has gotten a really amazing bike this year for power and good suspension with the help of Steve Merten and Rob Brown at Racetech.
Q9 – You rode blue for years, had you ever ridden Honda before?
PM: I rode Yamaha for 2 and 1/2 years but before that I had never ridden red!
Q10 – Being from Midwest and cold weather, what challenges does that create for racing SX vs others from Cali or Florida?
PM: Yeah it has definitely been tough to ride Sx. I wish I had grew up on it more honestly. Not much of a challenge to race but to practice and get used to it you gotta be in warmer climate that’s for sure!
Q11 – What was the coolest thing for you from the weekend?
PM: The coolest thing from the weekend was absolutely seeing spectator fans that come to watch everybody. I also would say seeing TiLube Honda as a team. They put a lot of work in the off season and to see it in full was great.