Henry Miller - Motocross

Updated December 2023

Henry finished well at District 23 races, and many national amateur events, for several years. In 2016, he turned pro. Despite those accomplishments, he did not enter his pro career with good support. His talent has shined through at times, but going the privateer route is difficult.

2023 - Henry raced 250 East Supercross with the help from Ti-Lube, Storm Lake Honda, Innovation Concrete Inc, and Rangeline. Before the East rounds started, he tried qualifying for a few rounds in the 450 class, riding the same motorcycle he would use for the 250 class, a Honda CRF250R. He qualified in the top 35 at Rounds 2 and 3, but was unable to put it in the Main with the still-deep field.

Once the East series started, Henry had his best season to date in the class. Making it into the Mains regularly, he improved steadily to score 3 top ten finishes including a career high 6th at Atlanta. He did not qualify for Daytona after experiencing a DNF in his heat race. He just barely missed qualifying in the two Shootout rounds. Despite missing those rounds, he still almost landed in the top 10, finishing 11th in the championship, still a career best in Supercross.

The only round of Motocross that Henry raced this year was Millville in the 450 class. After finishing 12th in the first moto, he was caught up in a bad crash on the first lap of Moto 2 and DNF.

Like last year, Henry competed in the WSX series racing for Rick Ware Racing in the SX2 class. He finished 8th overall in the first round in England, then the next few rounds were cancelled, and ownership of the series changed. The series did not resume until November.

The break was long enough that he was able to heal up from his Millville crash. After consistent finishes in the Dubai Arenacross and Australian Supercross rounds, Miller finished the championship in 9th place.

Yearly Recaps:

Way back in 2008, Henry was the featured rider in an Elko Race Report.

2016 Henry rode the 250 East Supercross series as not only a rookie, but a full-on privateer, driving a van to the races. He regularly made it past the first hurdle, qualifying for the night show, but at first, came up a little short qualifying for the main events. He broke through, and qualified for this Hall of Fame, in Indianapolis, making the main event and finishing 16th. He qualified again in the next two rounds, finishing 12th at Foxboro and completing the series in 24th.

Henry raced nearly the entire 250 Motocross series in a privateer effort, scoring points on four occasions, his best finish being an 18th, which he did 3 times. As this went to press, it was unknown what his plans were for 2017.

2017 Henry rode the 250 East SX class, making the main 6 times, with a best finish of 11th at Indianapolis. His riding looked solid, but it is difficult competing against the factory machinery.

After not having much success in the 250 Motocross series against all the factory bikes, he switched to the 450 class at Round 5. He competed in the rest of the rounds, regularly in the top 15, a top privateer several times, and had 9th place moto finishes at Southwick and Spring Creek. Despite only competing in 7 rounds, he finished 17th in the championship

2018 - Riding for H.E.P Motorsports Suzuki in the premier 450 SX class, Henry put it into the main 6 times, his best finish being 16th twice.

Though not quite as high placing as the previous season, Henry was solid outdoors, finishing 13th overall, despite only racing in 9 of the 12 rounds. His best finish was a popular 9 -11 at his home-race, Spring Creek Park.

2019 - Henry pieced together sponsorship and hit the road as a privateer. In the 250 East, he put his KTM in the Main in 5 rounds, his best finish being an 11th at Indianapolis. He also competed in the last two 450 rounds, finishing 16th both times.

Henry put together sponsors for the 450 Nationals and was on his way to the first round when he and his crew were in a serious accident with their RV. No one was seriously injured, and with some help from some kind souls in the paddock, he lined up at Hangtown. He got terrible starts, and was able to move up, but not enough to get into the points.

Once back to his regular set-up, he improved greatly, qualifying for every round and often running in the top 5 early. His best finish was a 5-14 at Millville for 9th Overall. He finished the series 16th overall, just missing being the top privateer.

2020
Henry crashed while racing in Australia, breaking his scapula pretty bad and bruising a lung. He was unable to enter and qualify for a 450 Supercross race until Round 10, Daytona. He finished 17th, but then the season was suspended. He was unable to race in the SLC rounds.

With the long delay before the Motocross season, Miller had extra time to heal and headed for the 450 Motocross series. It was a 9-round series, and Henry started well. He was the top privateer in all but a few motos, and consistently in the top 15 in the still-deep field. Steve Matthes observed that He (Miller) rode about 25 min in one moto at RedBud 2 with NO SEAT, NO REAR FENDER AND NO SIDE PANELS ... and out of the points the whole time I never did hear an explanation.

He was somewhere around 13th in the championship going into Millville. Unfortunately, his season came to an end during morning qualifying. He got too close to one of the curbs and crashed hard. He announced:
Little UPDATE on myself from this nasty crash I had during the second qualifying session yesterday. I ended up dislocating my right wrist pretty badly and tearing a good bit of the ligaments in my wrist which will require surgery unfortunately.

2021 - Miller dislocated his wrist and tore some wrist ligaments during the 2020 250 Motocross Championship, which required a long recovery period. Henry s first race was the Daytona Supercross, Round 9. Back on a 450, he did not make the Main. He had a bike malfunction at Arlington 2 and went down during qualifying, suffering an AC separation above his sternum. Relatively healed up, he qualified for two 450 Mains towards the end of the season.

Miller's 450 Motocross season was very short and ended with an injury, what is becoming an all too familiar pattern for him. His first race was High Point. After setting a time that would easily qualify him for the main motos, he crashed hard in the second session. He was initially hoping to get healthy enough to get back on the track in 2021, but Henry announced shortly before his home race at Millville that he would not return to action until 2022. He underwent knee surgery to fix an old injury that he made worse at High Point.

2022 - Riding KTMs with help from Auto Owners Insurance, J Meyers Insurance, and Stussy Construction, Henry rode rounds of the 450 and 250 East Supercross championships. He had a big crash in practice on his 450 at his first race, Anaheim 3. He then raced the first six rounds of 250 East, with a season best 13th. He qualified for three 450 Mains with a best finish of 17th.

With a listed sponsor of Tech Service Racing, Henry raced 8 rounds of 450 Motocross. He didn't go to the three California rounds or Washougal. Despite not riding the first two rounds, he was on the fringes of the top twenty in points, but a DNQ at Southwick hurt his chances. He ended up 26th Overall. He was in the points 10 out of 14 motos, with a moto and overall best at Colorado, 17 15 15th Overall.

Miller had an opportunity to race in the pilot season of World Supercross (WSX). Originally listed as an alternate for Rick Ware Racing, injuries lead to a quick call-up for the SX2 class. He had about a 24-hour notice to pack his bag for England. When Miller hit the track for practice, it was the first time he had ridden the bike. Despite this, he qualified and finished 17th overall. At the next round in Australia, he was able to improve to 10th overall, finishing 12th in the two-race, SX2 championship.