Phoenix Racing Honda’s Coty Schock went somewhat viral on Saturday night in Houston after a collision with his teammate Cullin Park over the finish line jump in the heat race saw Schock go flying into the side of the over-under bridge on the track. Amazingly, Schock was not only okay after the crash, he made the main event through the Last Chance Qualifier an hour later and finished an impressive 12th in the 250SX main event!
That’s all the crazy anyone could really want for one night, but that one night in Houston was actually the happy ending to an unbelievable chapter in Schock’s life. After destroying his knee in a crash at Arlington Supercross last year, Schock missed all of supercross repairing and rehabbing. When it was time to get back on the bike months later, things took an unbelievable turn.
We called up Schock on Tuesday to first ask about his night in Houston, and then hear him explain how rough the last 12 months of his career has been.
Racer X: So, starting off, I mean, of course we have to ask about this past weekend because of the wild ride in the heat race, you still end up 12th on the night. Let's just go back to the crash in the heat race. First of all, what in the 10 second timeframe of clipping Cullen [Park] and then going into the tunnel and then realizing what just happened. Take me through that.
Coty Schock: To be honest, I went over the finish line and all of a sudden, I felt a tap. At that point I was like, “Oh no.” I thought I had it and then as soon as I landed, my feet came off the pegs, which I was trying to get them onto the pegs in the first place. Then at that point, your whole body kind of goes off the bike and the gas is on, and I was trying to reach for the front brake, and I tried veering off to the left and yeah, that tunnel came up quick. I didn't know that it was padded like that. I seriously thought going into it, I was like, “Oh no.” And I didn't tense up at all. There was nothing I could do. But fortunately, that that tunnel was padded really, really well. Obviously, it did some damage to the bike still, but for me, it was more like, “Holy crap, that just happened.” I wasn't in pain after the hit, I was just walking around making sure that everything was fine with me because the adrenaline kicks in quick. I was like, “I just want to move around, feel my feet, feel my legs, feel my arms, my chest. Like are we okay?” And after it kind of like sunk in like what happened, I was like, alright I'm fine. I just need to get the bike off, and we need to get this thing immediately to the semi to get them working on it. I'm very fortunate to walk away from that.
When you hit the tunnel, like you said, you didn't tense up so I'm assuming that maybe helped. What part of you hit the tunnel? I know the bike went in nose first but from our angle in the press box, I couldn't really see it and then the replay doesn't show it. Did you hit your head, did you hit your body, did you get your hands out? What happened?
I literally, I felt like a fly with a fly swatter. My full body just went splat on the wall. It wasn't headfirst. It wasn't hands first. It was immediately just splat. I think that's what helped, which I don't really know what would help in that situation regardless. What would help is if I went through the tunnel [laughs]. If I went through the tunnel, we wouldn’t even be talking about this. But I seriously think me just being completely relaxed going into the wall and just absorbing all the cushion that was provided by, I just got lucky.
Okay so after that, like you said, you get it back to the semi and you know the bikes a little bit mangled up. I had heard from Michael Lindsay that the front tire was messed up, the forks were messed up, bars, everything. So a lot of that got changed and then I believe you ran spring forks, right? You had only that available to you. Take me through the process of getting the bike rebuilt and then you're back on the line for the LCQ.
Yeah so, the [supercross] operations team loaded the bike up into the back of their gator, took us back to the semi. Dalen [Vernazza], Heath [Harrison], [Kris] McCracken, the mechanics, they just went to work, and sledgehammer came out. It was a new front wheel, new axle, new forks, new triple tree, new clutch lever setup, new bar mounts. The only thing that didn't bend really was the front brake and the bars. I don't know how. Everything else was mangled. So they had to take a sledgehammer to get the triple tree disconnected from the forks. Yeah, fortunately the team has all the parts on the semi, and we were able to swap them out. But it wasn't easy. I mean it was those three guys going full force and trying to get the parts rotated and I barely made it for LCQ. They were there already in staging and here I come rolling up with last gate pick and I'm like, “Well, here we go.” My setting, I was on air fork with Enzo and the only said that only set that we had on the semi at the time was a spring set which was Jace Owens’ spares. So obviously there was no choice but to throw those on and I went out on the LCQ not knowing what that setting was at all. I haven't ridden with a spring fork in over two years. So I went in there blind, and I had to get used to it. Fortunately, even in the main I started to get a little bit more comfortable with it and I actually ended up liking it a little bit more. Obviously, does it suck? Yeah! It sucks that we had to go through all that, but I always try to see the positive of the positives are that I found something that I like a little bit more and just gonna keep going.
Yeah, so I mean at the end of the night, you get 12th in the main event and like you're saying you have to learn that setting on the fly, how it feels and all that. I mean is that the most satisfying 12th you've ever gotten? I'm sure you came off the track like, “Man I can't believe this is over.”
Yeah, I was honestly prouder of how I rode for myself, not really position. Like position, yeah, I'm happy I got 12th because I exceeded my expectations for myself. But I was happy with how long I was running inside the top 10 for. it's been a while since I've raced and just to go out there and do that. I was really proud of myself, how far I've come, and just being back where I belong. So now there's a lot of positive out of the weekend and I mean what's racing without a story?
I mean you definitely provided quite the story for the weekend, that's for sure. Maybe the most viral video of the weekend too. It's been a while since you raced and we know that you had the issue last year with the ACL, but could you take us through it a little bit. A lot of stuff has happened since you rehabbed from the ACL. So how much time did you actually spend off the bike in 2022? And what were some of those hurdles that you were trying to jump over to get back to racing?
Yeah, so Arlington second main, I had a pretty bad crash and collapsed my right lung and then I was obviously concussed because I was knocked out for probably about a minute, which I didn't think I was but I was. Then I ended up doing my knee, which I didn't really think I did my knee, but the next week I was like something was not right and it swelled up pretty fat. So I went and got it checked out and it was ACL, MCL, and meniscus full tear, nothing left. And I was like, “Well this sucks.” So obviously I was like, if I want to continue my career and be productive and continue to get better each year, I need to get it fixed. I don't want a lingering injury for the rest of my life. I had surgery through Dr. [Bradley] Greenbaum. He did an amazing job on me and then, yeah, I did physical therapy at PacificPro with Erin [Skrettingland] in Lake Elsinore and she was awesome. I was back on a bike within, I was right at four months, I was back on a bike just riding for fun and I rode once. I literally rode once and then I felt more like myself. I was like, “Alright, this is cool. I'm mentally sane again, like I can ride a dirt bike.”
And then the next day I took my [Honda] Grom to go to Michael Lindsay's house to return a gas cap I had to borrow, and I got smoked by a car. So after getting smoked by the car, I was so sore. I was in bed for a week, fortunately I didn't break anything, it was just gnarly road rash. All the therapy I did was out the door within a week because I couldn't move my legs because I pulled both my groins. So it was like, “Okay, I rode once, now let me recover for another two months to try to rebuild everything again.” And then I rode in California for about a month. I rode for the month of October and then we moved to North Carolina for Phoenix. The second day I was riding supercross, literally I was out there for eight minutes, and it was a brand-new track and one transition got me. My face went to the bars, and I broke my jaw. So then I was wired shut for six weeks, closer to seven, and I missed Thanksgiving on a full liquid diet. I couldn't gain muscle. I was literally losing weight and then I was able to eat for Christmas thankfully. As soon as I got the hardware removed, I just started eating and trying to put on weight. Three days after the removal of the hardware, I hopped on supercross and I had no choice but to try to build into the season. So there wasn't much of an all season for me. I had the month of January to get ready. I mean there's a lot of things thrown at me, but it just builds character. That’s literally all I can say. Just builds character and it goes to show that if you're mentally tough, you can overcome anything.
Well, like you're saying, you had rode that one time before the car hit you and you said mentally it was so rewarding to get back on a bike and I'd have to imagine to some degree… You had a great 2021, I think a lot of people were looking at you as this kind of like breakout star to a degree. Mentally, I'm sure last year was really tough aside from the physical side of it, right? Just to not be able to ride and continue to progress to the level that you had been. What's got to be tough, right?
Yeah, I was definitely in a dark spot. Fortunately, I had really good friends that kept me mentally sane, but it was hard because I always felt fine during the day, but when nighttime came, that's when it all sets in like, “What are you doing?” I felt like I lost the purpose, every purpose, everything in life. So I just had to change my perspective on everything. Instead of thinking, “Okay, let me go out and be that next top guy like I was building myself in ’21,” my purpose changed into, “Okay, let me get healthy.” And it took me a while to wrap my head around that. But it's just a rebuilding process and I don't see it in any negative way. I mean, it’s just like I said, just builds character and I’m pretty mentally strong now. It takes a lot to bring me down. So I'm just trying to stay levelheaded and just keep doing what we do and control what I can control.
Right, well on the positive side of it, you told me that you'd only originally signed a one-year deal with Phoenix and even though you didn't get much racing in in 2022, they did re-sign you again. So how rewarding I guess was that to be like, “This is a great program, they want to stick with me, and I feel comfortable here,” and obviously now you moved to North Carolina to be there?
It was definitely a sigh of relief because I've been on the other side where I was a full-blown privateer having to do everything. And, I thought that's what I was gonna come down to. But David [Eller] did say, “Whenever you get back on a bike, call me and we'll talk.” And his main reasoning for that was, not everyone comes back from an injury the same way. You know, some riders come back from an injury, and they have their guard up a little bit and they just never fully recovered where to me, there's no choice. Like I'm gonna recover and I want to keep doing what I what I was doing previously. So, yeah, just kept in touch with David and Heath on my progress and everything. And I was just stoked for when they were able to sign me again and I was like, “Hey, I will move to you. If we're gonna do this, I'll move to North Carolina, and we'll put in the work.” I'm happy about it. I'm from the East Coast and to be back on the East Coast, it feels like home again. I'll still always miss California because of the people, but I think for what I was dealt with in the situation I was in, this was the best move and I still do believe that this was the best move for me. So, there's a lot of positives out of ‘22, even though on paper, it looks terrible, but I see a lot of positives out of it, like it's just time to put that stuff in the past and just keep moving forward.
In terms of moving back to the East Coast, like you said now you're North Carolina, how much different is the program? And what are some things that you like about being back east and being able to train there and things that you're doing there differently as opposed to what you're doing out here in California?
The positives I'd say on being on the East Coast is just the way of life is just a lot slower. Not everyone is in such a rush. You don't have to leave an hour earlier to try to avoid traffic or build time into your route because of traffic. The one thing I do miss from California is just the time that you get done things with. You show up to the practice track, it's like a 15-minute drive and then you ride supercross at nine and you can be done by 11. Whereas being on the East Coast, we got to wait for the tracks to thaw out a little bit because it gets cold at night. So usually we don't start our days till like 11 or noon. And then that means you get back to the shop later and then your dinner is a little bit later and your workouts are a little later. So the biggest thing I had to adapt to is just the riding schedule, like the time of day and then just working out later at night because usually I'd work out right around noon or early in the afternoon so at night, I don't have to do anything. Now it's just like everything is just a little delayed, but it's just a way of life for me now and I have no complaints about it. I mean you have to adapt to change.
In regard to adapting, you told me I think on Friday that you wanted to go into the weekend, and you know, just kind of feel where you're at. Get some race experience behind you again and I don't think that's the exact kind of experience you wanted to have on the weekend, but you still get a solid result out of it. Is there a change in mindset almost now moving forward where you're like, “Okay, now I know where I'm at and I can lay out different goals moving forward?”
Yes and no. I'd say the pressure of knowing where I'm at is a little less now, but the goal is still the same. I just want to better myself each weekend and just try to get my fitness on the bike better each weekend. In the gym, my fitness has been well, but obviously gym fitness and bike fitness are two completely different things. I'm just trying to get them to translate. So this weekend I knew going in that I would struggle a little bit in the main, but I didn't let myself think about that too much. I just control what I can control .I just literally was feeding off the adrenaline and now that I kind of know where I start to get a little tired. It's like, “Okay, let's try to get a little less each weekend.” So even riding today, I felt a huge, huge progress. Like I said, each weekend just keep building and just see where we can end up.”
I know your immediate plan is to compete in 250 East and Phoenix has their toes kind of in a lot of different places. Do you have a plan beyond supercross at this point in time where you're gonna continue with them into outdoors? Maybe you're gonna do some more different events that they do? Do you have any idea about that?
Yeah, I'm scheduled to do outdoors with them as well.
On a 250 or 450?
Right now it's 450.
Alright so then lastly all I have for you is just who you want to thank for everything that's gotten to the point where you're back on the track again and we get to see racing every weekend.
That list it's pretty heavy. I mean first and foremost my mom and dad and my sister just being the ones that I can just reach out to whenever. And then definitely my mechanic Dalen. He's been there through all of this, and it's been he definitely helps distract me from the negatives, we just go out and just do stuff to stay positive. Tony Archer and his wife Mackenzie with their newborn Ace. I still talk to Tony every day; I mean he's like a brother to me and he's been down the dark side, and he definitely helped me to seeing the positives and all of this. My girlfriend Emily, she's been my rock. I mean it's kind of hard to get emotional or just like letting things out and with her, I just feel comfortable doing that and she keeps me mentally sane. She doesn't let me slack off at all, it's like when I tell her this is my goal, she keeps reminding me of that. She definitely makes me a better person. Even for her family, I mean they're so supportive of my racing and when I broke my jaw, they were sending me supplements to try to get any type of nutrients into my body because I was holding my diet. So their efforts definitely are not unnoticed. Even my teammates, like Kyle Peters, Cullin, Jace, and Caden [Braswell]. I was treated no different when I was on the bike and off the bike, they're always asking me how I was doing and just go out and get lunch and just trying to do stuff. Even the whole Phoenix team, like I said, the list goes on, but everybody has been so supportive and I'm just thankful to be here in the first place. Just thankful to be back racing and in the environment because I definitely felt left out. If it wasn't for Phoenix, I mean I definitely would be lost. Norm Francis and his wife Tracey and Gary Chapin for taking me under their wing to build vintage bukes this past summer and teach me the history of moto. So there's a list that can keep going on and on, but just thankful for everyone that didn't switch up on me, you know. Sometimes when you do well there's people that are there for you and then when something goes wrong, you're not able to do the same thing, people get quiet. Everyone that I fully trusted did not get quiet on me and we just kept moving forward, so, you know, it's a lot of good things and I'm just ready to have fun this year.
Did you pick #285 because of Tony Archer?
Yeah. Like the whole going to a three digit was a little different for me because I've been a two digit for since 2019. But I ran to 85 as a tribute digit because I mean Tony and I are really close. Yeah, that was, that was his pro number. And I was like, you know what? I'm gonna run that for you.
