Team Honda HRC announced today that Christian Craig will ride a factory-prepped CRF450R at round 15 of the AMA Supercross series in Salt Lake City, Utah. The substitution is for one race only, as Craig will rejoin GEICO Honda to finish out the 250SX East series, in which he currently sits sixth in points. However, the Salt Lake City race serves as an opportunity for Craig to get a head start on preparing for the AMA Pro Motocross series, the entirety of which the Californian will spend with the factory squad. A final decision has yet to be made on participation at Salt Lake City by Cole Seely, who pulled out of the last round with a groin injury.

“I’m really excited to debut on the Honda CRF450R this weekend in Salt Lake,” Craig said. “The only time I’ve ridden a 450 in supercross was at Monster Cup in 2012 and 2015. I’ll only have three days on the supercross bike going into the weekend, so my expectations are to have fun and try my best to put in some good results for the team. I’m thankful for this opportunity that HRC has given me.”

“We’re looking forward to having Christian ride for us this weekend in Salt Lake City,” added Team Honda HRC manager Dan Betley. “Although it’s only for one round, it will be good to have another rider out there, and it’s a nice chance for him to get to know the team and vice-versa. Christian won’t have spent much time on the bike with supercross settings, but we’re hoping he can deliver a solid result before finishing out the 250SX season and joining us full-time for motocross.”