By Steve Matthes and Chase Stallo
Jeremy Martin, Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha, Third in 250SX
Racer X: In the heat race and main, took you a little bit before you got going, huh?
Jeremy Martin: Heat race for sure took me too long to get going. And then I caught fire about halfway through and then just came up short on that one. But the main event just struggled out of the gate, popped a little wheelie, and then dropped the front wheel in a hole and the holeshot device came unlocked. But no excuses. [Justin] Bogle and Marvin [Musquin] have been on it on the starts this year. I’m just putting myself at a deficit. We need to make some changes and look and see what we did wrong so we can move forward.
I would have definitely put some money on you catching Justin and maybe getting second tonight, but you did make some mistakes a little bit. Came up short—just weird kind of stuff.
It was all me. I saw him. I was starting to reel him in. I was feeling good and then made a few mistakes. Made a few changes and then I just threw it away.
Alex is now with you riding now down there. Talk about that a little bit.
Little Al. Actually I’m Little Al; Alex is Big Al. He’s down there. We’re going to have some fun and we’ll both push each other. Brotherly love right there and a nice rivalry. Hopefully that will fuel the fire and make us both come out swinging.
Do you like Daytona?
Yeah, I like Daytona. We’re always in that supercross grind for so long and the off-season, and then it’s a nice change. I think it’s nice for not only the racers but the reporters and everything else. Gives them something new to talk about–talk about the track changing all the time. It’s good.
What about the lighting? How’s that for you? Do you have a problem with it?
I think maybe my rookie year I had an issue, but when you keep coming here year after year you know what to expect and you just realize this is the way it is and you make it happen. – Steve Matthes
Broc Tickle, RCH/Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki, Tenth in 450SX
Laying on the ground twenty-second, and tenth place with the fastest lap of the night. You've got to be pumped. Another great ride.
I think I could have made it a lot easier on myself and the team if I could have been better in the beginning of the day. I struggled all day kind of. For me the main thing to work on is just to get better earlier in the day; that way we’re not struggling trying to figure out what we need to chase to get better. I’m pumped on it. I haven’t been the fastest guy since probably Lites class. For me that’s something to build off of. The track was pretty gnarly tonight. It was faster than normal but it was rougher. Not much else to say. I’m stoked obviously on the fastest lap, but tenth place is tenth place. That’s what everybody sees.
I didn’t catch it; you and Canard both go down first turn?
We tangled. I believe his front wheel got stuck in my foot peg. I felt it so I got on the gas to try to get away from it, and then it just hooked it even more and both of us just went down.
Was it kind of a little bit of no pressure on you because you were dead last so let me just go balls out and see how I can do?
I would say it’s probably a little bit a mixture of that and I kind of had a really good feeling before coming here. I felt like I had the momentum to podium. I think that kind of fired me up a little bit, obviously getting put in that bad situation. But stoked with everything. I’m 100 percent. I had a pretty bad case on press day I don’t think anybody really knows about. My jaw is killing me. With everything being said, I’m pumped on the weekend. Obviously tenth isn’t the best, but I’m still making improvements. – Matthes
Kyle Chisholm, Team Chizz Kawasaki, Thirteenth in 450SX
Racer X: Nice pass on Filthy there last lap when he was laying on the ground. Looked like you planned it.
Kyle Chisholm: [Laughs] I set a booby trap the lap before—banana peel there and he slid out on it. No, it was okay. I had a bad start but I got through okay. I was in the back with Tickle, [Josh] Grant, a bunch of guys in the middle of the race, and made some mistakes when I was with them. I needed to latch onto those guys and go with them. But it was okay; I found my rhythm after that and I was kind of by myself. Me, Filthy, and [Jake] Weimer were kind of in a battle the whole race. And then Jake tipped over right in front of me and I kind of lost some time, so Filthy had a little bit of a gap on us. I saw him—looked like he was getting a little tired. I found some good lines towards the end. Got right up behind him with a couple laps to go and I think I could have passed him. Either way I had some good lines and he looked like he was fading a little bit. But he tipped over right in front of me. I was like, I’ll take it, thanks. Make it easy for me. Thirteenth, it’s not terrible, but I want to get a top-ten.
One of your better finishes this year though.
That’s my third thirteenth I’ve gotten. Some thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth. I had an eighteenth last week when I had a crash, but when I don’t crash my worst is sixteenth and my best is thirteenth. I’m right in that range, but I rode better this weekend honestly. The result wasn’t better, but I rode better and I felt better. Here of all places is a tough race obviously. I want to get top-ten; I just need to get a little better start and get with that pack of guys and stay with them. – Matthes
Phil Nicoletti, Autotrader.com/Toyota/JGR Yamaha, Fourteenth in 450SX
Racer X: Did you even expect to be this far? You were only expected to do two supercross rounds.
Phil Nicoletti: Obviously Weston had gotten hurt so I filled in for three, and then Justin got hurt. It’s just been not such a long process for me, but obviously fill-in rides, kind of paying off. I enjoy being at the races and being with the guys on the weekend. It’s great. Obviously as a rider you want to get gate drops and stuff. I believe both riders will be back pretty soon 100 pecent and I can get back to doing outdoors stuff, start testing, and getting ready for Hangtown I believe. All in all I’m enjoying being here at supercross. I like it. People say I don’t like supercross but I enjoy it. I’m getting better at it. It’s good.
Have you guys made any changes? It seems like the last five or six rounds you and Weston, heat race, main, LCQ, it doesn’t matter, you’re up front. What’s different? The first two rounds it wasn’t quite like that.
Obviously we worked a lot with Dean Baker, our motor guy. We figured out data stuff. It works out good. Obviously our bikes are really good, but you still have to have decent reaction time, too. So it works out good. Weston’s been getting good starts and he hasn’t been known to be quite a good starter in the past, and he’ll admit that. Now he’s getting better and myself getting better. It makes the Yamahas look good and also makes Dean Baker happy as well, and everybody. It shows that our bikes are capable. I know we were kind of struggling with that beginning of the year. Just need to get an overall better result. Obviously the start’s just the first part of the race; you need to get to the checkered flag, which comes twenty laps later. We’ll get there. Obviously the team wants to do better. They deserve better, we just need to figure it out a little bit more. – Chase Stallo
Jimmy Albertson, Arma Energy/Motosport.com Yamaha, Sixteenth in 450SX
Racer X: Track got rough, huh?
The track was super rough. I was riding like crap all day. Riding all the motos just awful. Jimmy Albertson: I was riding like garbage. Honestly my last five laps of the main were my best laps. I got lapped by, I think it was Seely, and I like stayed with him. I’m like, I’m riding good. That was the very first time I think in my entire life when I saw the white flag I was a little bit bummed. I didn’t ride good all day but I finished good and I wasn’t completely dead at the end. I almost felt like I was riding better and better the more time I got on the track. That was the one positive note. I got to go get my hand actually x-rayed. I’m sure they saw it on TV, but me and Chisholm got into it in the heat race pretty hard. He came in and slammed me, just out of the blue. I thought he broke my hand. We hit each other. I hit him and I was riding so god awful he actually came back and then smacked me. But it was fun. It’s whatever. We’re grown men.
After the finish you land—you guys were hauling ass right there. That’s very scary.
You know what’s funny too: When you get scared, you chop your throttle—it’s worse. Then your bike unsettles. Not only that, but there’s a nice kicker right before you land into the face of a triple with a billion ruts at the face. It was a sketchy track. But I beat every single other Jimmy out there, so I pretty much owned the night. – Matthes
Kyle Peters, GPI/Motosport.com Honda, Seventh in 250SX
Racer X: Bounced back today. I think it’s probably your best finish since Indy a couple years ago.
Kyle Peters: That was a good night. During the day I had a big get-off in practice. I was really worried about just surviving, really. But survived the heat race, got in the main, and got a good start in the main and just kind of did what I could. I wish I could have stayed up there with those guys. I don’t have the speed and the ability to, but just kind of survived tonight. Going to rest up, get my back healed up and everything and come back swinging for Indy.
The shoulder was bothering you a little bit too, how was that?
Yeah, I dislocated my shoulder at Atlanta 1. It’s been a rough season so far, but hopefully it’s turning around and going to start showing what I really got.
The track this year, obviously they made some changes, but it looked a lot faster. What did you see that was different out there?
It was really racy. All the rhythm sections were kind of the same, everyone was doing the same thing. It was really more how you got through stuff and how you hit the rough stuff. But everything was good. My team’s been awesome this year. I can’t thank those guys enough. Looking forward to Indy and getting on the right track. – Stallo
Luke Renzland, CycleTrader.com/Rock River Yamaha, Fourteenth in 250SX
Racer X: Your first Daytona experience. What’d you think?
Luke Renzland: This was everything I expected and more for sure. The track got so rough for the main event; it shouldn't even be legal to let guys ride this stuff. It’s insane. The shadows were crazy; the ruts were insane. Their mixture between clay and sand got so cupped out that you didn’t know whether to try to find a smooth line or just man up and go though the cupped out stuff. I’m just happy to be out of here safe right now and experienced Daytona. It’s one I’ll never forget—that’s for sure.
A good race for you until about lap ten or so; then you kind of went down and lost your momentum a little bit. But up until then I thought you were moving forward.
I was on pace around the seventh- and eighth-place guy. I was around twelfth place, and I was just kind of getting bottled up behind a couple guys and kind of got in a rush to get around them. I knew I had to get around them to make some ground, but this track, in some spots it bottled you up. It was tough to make that move and I decided to go to a new line and kind of bonzai to try to make that move. I was kind of unfamiliar with the line and just kind of face planted a little bit around lap ten. Lost my flow there and sent me back two positions. But other than that I was happy with my riding in the beginning of the race.
Last week was pretty good too. You didn’t make it to the second round. But you were coming around, feeling it out a little bit, right?
Absolutely. The second round I knocked myself out in the heat race so I wasn’t allowed to race the LCQ or the main so I had to sit that one out. But last weekend went good. My first ever top-ten. I was on pace for another one here. I was pumped. I qualified seventh today, which was by far the best I’ve ever qualified. There were definitely some ups and downs, but I guess that’s what you’re supposed to expect with Daytona. – Matthes