With dreams of the beautiful Anaheim 2 track dancing in my head, I headed to Oakland for Round 4 of Monster Energy Supercross. Because I’m a Raiders fan, it’s always special to head to the Bay Area. Until you actually, you know, get there and see a stadium that’s long past its past-due point. Going from AT&T Park in San Francisco a few years ago to O.Co Coliseum is akin to Meg Ryan in 1988 to Meg Ryan now with her heavily surgerized face. And I don’t even think “surgerized” is a word. [Ed. Note: It’s not.]
The track in Oakland was pretty basic. It did have an over/under bridge, which is always awesome and it had a rhythm section where not everyone could go 3-3-3 the entire time. This is what I like, folks. Something that, for whatever reason, challenges these dudes.
Because of rain in the area the track was soggy, kind of like a sub left in the fridge too long, and the whoops broke down pretty quick. It was sort of like a motocross race inside a supercross race with ruts, soft dirt, braking bumps and chewed up jump faces. The riders were very tired by the end of the mains and it was a tough race.
What kind of roll is Ryan Dungey on right now? He captured his third win in a row and they’ve really been uncontested in the sense he’s led 55 out of the last 60 laps. He’s also pulling starts, which is the best thing for him. He’s not fooling around with other dudes—he’s grabbing the lead early, which allows him to ride his own pace. Combine his starts, with his bike and fitness and it’s over. He has almost a race lead in the points over Jason Anderson and Chad Reed, in case you’re wondering. That sound you hear is the folks at Feld thinking about a chase-style points system.
Is he riding better than ever? Why that’s a good question and one I asked him after the race. In typical Dungey fashion he didn’t want to come right out and say he’s a BMF, but I found his answer interesting.
“I think another year with Aldon [Baker, trainer] has been very beneficial, another year with the team, another year with this new bike,” he said in the pits late in the night after he had signed every single thing for every single person there. “There are a lot of things that were new last year, coming into the year going into 2015. So now a whole year under our belts and a little bit more knowledge and experience and more time.”
Baker mentioned to me last week that Dungey was much more “all-in” with the program this year as opposed to last year because of a variety of circumstances. This is trouble for every single one of the other 450SX riders because you can’t depend on Ryan making a mistake or his bike breaking because factory bikes never break now that I’m no longer wrenching.
Oh, no! Cooper Webb was undefeated going into Round 4 and was on his way to another win when his Yamaha gave up the ghost with two laps to go. It was a weird DNF with the bike stalling, Cooper kicking it furiously and white smoke coming out the exhaust indicating to me that hot oil was in there and it was done. Webb pushed it over to some Tuff Blocks, fiddled with the gas cap and the thing kicked back up! It was so weird. Webb claimed afterwards that it had vapor locked in terms of a pinched vent hose (not because of temperature) but the team said no, it was electrical. But Webb’s actions seemed to indicate it was a problem he had before, he seemed to know exactly what to do and then the bike fired up so…
I guess the white smoke was un-burnt fuel and like his team, I’m unsure of Webb’s vapor-lock theory, but man, it was weird. No matter, with the one point he scored he lost three weeks worth of work and now trails Joey Savatgy by two points.
Savatgy’s been very fast at every single round but two crashes in two mains have hurt him in the points—otherwise he’d have a bigger lead. Webb’s DNF just gave dudes like Savatgy, Osborne and Craig new life. Speaking of, Cooper’s life just got a whole lot harder. Motocross is a mental game and you have to crush other dudes spirits when you can. Webb is like that wrestler who had everyone pinned but just when referee is going to count three, he’s distracted by the crowd and gets hit with a folding chair.
The biggest news this week was the return of James Stewart. The #7 has been off to a rough start after getting knocked out at Round 1, missing the next two rounds and then trying to race this week. He was good in both practices, battled Eli Tomac in his heat and started up front in the main. From there, after a few close calls, he drifted backwards, pulled into the mechanic’s area and it was another DNF for Stew. He threw his goggles down and rode off in a manner that made me think he was angry because, I’m guessing here, his concussion symptoms must still be there. He’s not in the shape he used to be in, he’s dealing with a serious head injury and he hasn’t had a good supercross result in a long, long time. I know he’s a polarizing dude, but I like James. I think the sport needs him and is better with him in it. I hope he figures it out and comes back when he’s 100 percent ready. None of this dipping the toe into the big pool of SX stuff until you’re weeks into being symptom free.
You guys ready for Fork Wars: The Oil Continues? For a long time we had Honda and Suzuki using Showa, and Kawasaki and Yamaha using Kayaba (KYB). That was it—no changes and we were all happy and understood this fact. At some point Pro Circuit started using Showa (and when you listen to Mitch Payton tell the story, Kawasaki about fired them when they did that) then a few years ago factory Kawasaki switched from KYB to Showa, Honda put KYB on and with the introduction of air forks, everything turned upside down. It was chaos! Everyone run for the hills!
With the evolution of air forks it’s been pretty clear that KYB’s system of using an air chamber in each fork was highly preferred over the Showa SFF where oil and dampening are in one fork and air (or spring) are in the other. With KYB on, Canard’s results went through the roof, Tomac started doing better, Seely switched, Roczen switched at the Monster Cup and won. I wrote all about this in regards to Roczen’s switch and suspension swaps in general.
So we think KYB is better, right? Well, not so fast. There’s a new Showa fork that made its debut this weekend with James Stewart, Wil Hahn and I think Blake Baggett. It’s still the one-sided SFF system but I’ve heard it’s more of a hybrid by using a coil spring and air. I’ve also heard that it’s awesome and the guys love it, but my source may have been biased. One of the issues with KYB is the air pressure goes up during the main event (but not nearly as much in motocross) and the rider starts noticing it riding high. The Showa fork has never had that problem, but the problem they did have was getting the air pressure right. Too little and it bottomed, too much and it felt like jackhammers. Nothing in between. So with this hybrid fork we’re all back to loving Showa now, as I heard that Stewart and Hahn absolutely loved the new fork. Stay tuned for episode #875 of Fork Wars in a couple of months.
El Tomac was signed to be the number one guy at Kawasaki and although it’s early, things haven’t started out great because, well, Eli hasn’t started well himself. 4-4-4 to start the year was okay, not terrible, but probably not what he or the team thought. This week he was noticeably upset in practice when he was laying down heaters and couldn’t get on the board. I think this mentality of dudes coasting for six laps and laying down two heaters can be a bit silly, but that’s another topic for another day.
When you watch Tomac he looks great. Last week he consistently aired out a quad no one else was doing, this week he was tripling into one rhythm lane that I never saw anyone else do. But he’s not doing the damage one would think. He had a terrible practice last week in one session then should’ve had a podium, but fell late in the race. This week he could only qualify eighth fastest, but then won his heat in a nice ride. It’s confusing for sure as there appears to be highs and lows for Eli all in one day. In the main he came around twelfth after lap one and could only get to seventh. But still…he looks fast, you know?
After the race there was a big pow-wow over at Kawasaki, no doubt trying to figure out some answers. With this new Showa fork seemingly working so well (although it’s early), might we see Tomac, a guy never afraid to change his set-up from week to week, come out with some Showa’s if the podium-less streak continues?
Let’s take a look at the results shall we?
250SX Results
1 37 Joey Savatgy Thomasville, GA Kawasaki KX 250F- I spent some time with Joe Dog up in the PC truck lounge before practice where I saw him play Candy Crush, show me some tricks on an iPhone, make fun of Pulpmx and then get mad when I asked him if Cooper Webb can ever be beaten. I think it all worked.
2 69 Colt Nichols Muskogee, OK Yamaha YZ250F- This guy has been killing it lately and this was his first podium finish and rightly deserved at that. Nichols has been a pleasant surprise, he’s been working with Robbie Reynard, living with Justin Bogle and all that has been paying off. How about the Cycle Trader dudes taking another guy to some unexpected podiums?
3 38 Christian Craig Corona, CA Honda CRF 250- Craig dueled Webb in the heat and had to be pissed that he held the lead and Webb got by and rode off. And in the main it was shaping up for a good battle (Craig mentioned that he saw some things in the heat that Webb was doing that could help him) when it ended before it started with a crash. He was pretty far back, so to get third has to feel good for him and the team. Craig blew me out on the Race Day Live show for me saying last week that if you have a real baby, it MIGHT be time to get out of 250SX. I’m okay with this; Don King told me any press is good press!
4 42 Mitchell Oldenburg Alvord, TX KTM 250 SX-F- Halfway through the main I’m like “Hmmm, Oldenburg is having a great ride. Never noticed him…” which is a good thing. If he stays on two wheels, these are the kind of finishes he can get.
5 16 Zach Osborne LAKE ELSINORE, CA Husqvarna FC250- Wacko fell early in the main when he was fourth. It was setting up to be a battle royal with all the big dudes but then Zach fell, Craig fell and things calmed down. So with a crash, this was a great finish.
6 40 Kyle Peters Greensboro, NC Honda CRF 250- Peters is the most anonymous dude in the pits getting good finishes. How about this sixth? Nice job by him and his good season has been a bit lost in the “Nichols” hype. Filthy told me I need to get to know him.
7 85 Michael Leib Wildomar, CA Yamaha YZ250F- It’s been much better for Leib lately as he’s ridden more like himself. The bad part is the season’s half over! I finally saw his manager Larry Brooks this weekend and we had a nice chat. I forgot how hard Brooks handshakes are.
8 45 Kyle Cunningham Willow Park, TX Suzuki RM-Z250 - Kyle’s got to be creeping up the all-time 250SX starts list, right? He’s been racing this class since 2007 and although he’s not in the “Marty Davalos” territory yet, he’s probably approaching “Pingree” status.
9 58 James Decotis Peabody, MA Honda CRF 250 - Not a good night for Jimmmmyyyyyy DDDDDDDDDD. I’ve gone by to talk to him after the last two races but he’s been out of there. I’m sure he’s been bummed with his rides lately because Round 1 went very well.
10 127 Cole Thompson Brigden, Canada KTM 250 SX-F - Thompson crashed out in practice at A2 and this week I actually texted his mechanic Donk to ask where Cole was after the first practice because I never noticed him. Guess I’m now at that point where senility is setting in. After confirming he was indeed there I paid more attention to Canada’s own and he rode well. Weird how that works, right? Coming off a terrible A2, no pressure on him and he rides the best he has all year.
11 39 Jordon Smith Belmont, NC Honda CRF 250 - Smith’s dealing with a banged up shoulder and when he lost the front end in the main, of course he landed right on it. He took a looooong time to get up, thought about quitting I’m sure, but toughed it out for this finish. If you have some time check out Smith’s Instagram for his scary practice crash where he somehow survived.
12 188 Dillan Epstein Thousand Oaks, CA Kawasaki KX 250F- Mr. Kotter would be proud of this finish #sweathognation.
13 72 Hayden Mellross Australia Yamaha YZ250F- Mellross has been good, but small mistakes have held him back from getting inside the top ten. I think he’s got the speed but seems to crash, bobble, etc. once a race whether it’s heat or the main.
14 76 Scott Champion Wildomar, CA Yamaha YZ250F
15 203 Zachary Commans Seal Beach, CA KTM 250 SX-F
16 772 Thomas Do VAISON LA ROMAINE, France Honda CRF 250- Do did do good! He’s been right there on the verge of mains since Round 1.
17 43 Fredrik Noren Menifee, CA Honda CRF 250
18 902 Killian Auberson Switzerland Suzuki RM-Z250- I didn’t know Killian was from Switzerland. The Swiss are starting to add “fast motocrossers” to chocolate and hiding money for people in the category of “Things the Swiss do well.”
19 82 Trevor Reis Alpine, CA Yamaha YZ250F
20 35 Chris Alldredge Powell Butte, OR Kawasaki KX 250F- Alldredge locked bars with Mellross on the opening lap or two while around seventh and went down hard. He did not do consistent laps and stay up like I’ve been imploring him to do.
21 1 Cooper Webb Newport, NC Yamaha YZ250F- On top of Webb’s bad night I didn’t like his Thor gear at all. It looks like he’s wearing sweatpants or something out there. On the “keep it positive, Matthes” note, I was impressed that Webb stayed out there kicking his bike and didn’t throw it down and stomp off like a lot of factory stars have done over the years.
22 26 Alex Martin Millville, MN Yamaha YZ250F- Oh, man, what could have been. A-Mart broke out last year with his first career podium in Oakland and it’s those types of rides that got him this promotion to Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha. He hasn’t had the type of season he wanted, but in Oakland he was sporting a new attitude that Filthy and his brother Jeremy helped with. He looked great all day, much, much better. He had a podium in the bag halfway through the main when he went down hard after the finish, which he said the hit caused him to throw up. I imagine it looked like a scene from South Park. From hero to zero that fast for Alex. The positive is that all day he was very fast.
450 Results
1 1 Ryan Dungey Clermont, FL KTM 450 SX-F- I think there was time where Ryan Dungey REALLY did not like me. And I get it, I hung out with the Kawi guys since the days of Ferry and Stew and maybe he thought I was on that team, you know? That’s how things get in this sport (plus I’m sure his buddy RC ruined me. He’s not what you’d call on “Team Matthes”) so I get it. But he’s come around the last couple of years (and maybe I have also) to where I think he’s loosened up quite a bit with fans and he may actually not mind me that much.
2 94 Ken Roczen Clermont, FL Suzuki RM-Z450- Roczen rode great and kept Dungey honest the whole way although the gap went from two to six seconds before Dungey cruised the last couple of laps. If Roczen got the start, perhaps he would’ve won but at this point Dungey’s a machine. I spoke with Kenny after the podium last week after shutting off the recorder about a few different things and I have to say, his attitude seemed to me to be very good. Great, great ride by Kenny and most times, one that would get you the win.
3 25 Marvin Musquin Corona, CA KTM 450 SX-F- Marv got a start and rode excellent for his first career 450SX podium. Musquin was strong throughout the whole race and I heard that Roczen was upset that Marv was cross-jumping him and I did see some of that but nothing that no one else was doing. It was the line to set up for the following turn and everyone was doing it. In case you’re wondering, Aldon Baker’s riders have won every race this year and took three out of the top four spots this week, with his old rider taking second.
4 21 Jason Anderson Rio Rancho, NM Husqvarna FC450 - Anderson’s first lap position last three weeks? Eleventh, twelfth and eleventh. The first round winner is still very fast and looking great, but those starting positions are not going to do it in this field.
5 22 Chad Reed Dade City, FL Yamaha YZ450F- Reed probably wasn’t too happy at his race, he started seventh, got up to fifth, got passed by Anderson, passed Seely and that was about it. Starts, starts, starts, man. I went by to talk to him, but late into the night there were still post-race meetings going on at the Yamaha truck.
6 14 Cole Seely Sherman Oaks, CA Honda CRF 450- Seely told me after the night that he was fighting the bike and the track and hoped to watch some video and figure out what happened to him. He also told me during track walk that my text to him asking if he ever thought of putting “Slaw” on the back of his pants was not original or funny in any way.
7 3 Eli Tomac Cortez, CO Kawasaki KX 450F
8 12 Jacob Weimer Wildomar, CA Suzuki RM-Z450- I keep thinking that being on a Kawasaki for seven years and then jumping onto a Suzuki would be a hard transition but Weimer tells me it’s not and this result and his times in practice also indicate it’s not. Guess I’m the idiot. I spoke to Kyle Bentley, RCH team manager, and he indicated that after SX, RCH and Suzuki have committed to helping Jake if he wants to do outdoors in terms of bikes and parts. Not on the team, just some support.
9 10 Justin Brayton Mint Hill, NC KTM 450 SX-F- Brayton wasn’t happy with this night and I get it, he was definitely off and you could see it in his heat race. That triple-in Tomac was doing was something I thought I’d see Brayton air out and he agreed with me, but he never got a chance to do it. Nathan Ramsey is helping Brayton out and between him, Tim Ferry and Buddy Antunez you can’t swing a dead cat at the races and not hit a ‘90s Suzuki factory 125 rider.
10 54 William Hahn Menifee, CA Kawasaki KX 450F- According to my social media feed, call in shows, emails, etc. Hahn’s ride on the Factory Kawasaki is pretty divisive for fans. Some think he’s very underserving of the spot and point to his three straight LCQ’s he’s been in. Well, people, I get it but Hahn’s been hurt a lot, doesn’t have a lot of races in 450SX and let’s give him some races here before we lynch him, ok? Look man, a tenth is fine and he rode steady the whole night. He also put heat on Brayton in the semi, which for me was the most impressive thing he did.
11 28 Weston Peick Menifee, CA Yamaha YZ450F- Poor Peick, I was sitting next to the great Tim Ferry when he pointed out early that someone was going to eat it bad on this triple into the second turn. It took a while and a lot of close calls but on the last lap Peick, who was eighth, went down hard right there and couldn’t finish the race. Last week it was with a lap or two to go that he was in eighth and went down (with help from Brayton) so a couple of real tough nights that have left Weston in a bad mood after the race.
12 18 David Millsaps Murrieta, CA KTM 450 SX-F- No one probably knows or sees this, but Millsaps crashed early on and was way, way back. He fought up to ninth, was all over Weimer for ninth (from last) and then crashed before the white flag and got all tangled up in a Tuff Block. It was a nice ride for the #18 and that’s two-out-of-four races he’s fallen and been last early on.
13 800 Mike Alessi Hilliard, FL Honda CRF 450- Mike straight up passed James Stewart in the heat for a second. Has the #800 ever passed the #7 in a supercross where James was still upright? Did we witness history? #believethehype
14 377 Christophe Pourcel San Antonio, FL Husqvarna FC450- Pourcel had a bad night and was out of qualifying position in the LCQ when it seemed like he suddenly realized that he was a factory rider and two-time 250SX champion who was possibly not going to qualify for the main. He then woke up, laid down a lap, zipped by some dudes and made it into the main.
15 4 Blake Baggett Grand Terrace, CA Suzuki RM-Z450- Welcome back to supercross, Blake! As he and his bike flipped down a rhythm section in the heat race I bet he was stoked to be back. He’ll be much better soon.
16 55 Vince Friese Cape Girardeau, MO Honda CRF 450- In the heat race Friese was passed by Peick and knocked down in the process in what I thought was a classic SX move.
17 778 Lawson Bopping Australia Yamaha YZ450F- Bopping was quiet out there but racks up another main event.
18 79 Nicholas Schmidt Lake Elsinore, CA Suzuki RM-Z450
19 34 Phillip Nicoletti Bethel, NY Yamaha YZ450F- Deathcross got Phil yet again as he crashed early in the main and then had some front brake problems throughout the rest of the race.
20 761 Cade Clason Chesterfield, SC Honda CRF 450- A really good race by Clason in the semi to get into the main. He was fast, consistent and didn’t let any pressure get to him. When you see him put it together like that with no luck or anything, you wonder where the eff this Cade has been all year.
21 722 Adam Enticknap Lompoc, CA Honda CRF 450- The 722 got it into his first main event of the year with a nice LCQ ride holding off Tommy Hahn. He’s got himself a new team now also with the Rocky Mountain bike of Chisholm until Kyle comes back. Expect a rap about how happy he is real soon.
22 7 James Stewart Haines City, FL Suzuki RM-Z450- With Stew, the Motorcycle Superstore team and now Weimer all wearing Seven gear and riding Suzuki’s, I’m starting to think a yellow bike is a pre-requisite.
Some news and notes:
- I’ve been lucky the last couple of weeks to sit next to Andrew Short up in the press box and listen to what these guys think and see out there. This week Tim Ferry came up to sit next to me along with Nick Wey over by Weege. Short was full of info, some I shared last week, but Ferry, who I know very well, was full of more, ummm, unique Observations such as
“I don’t know why I listened to anyone.” - In regards to people telling him to put on a jacket for a parade lap.
“A-Mart went out of the race by hitting your stupid tunnel.” – In regards to Alex Martin looking like he crashed into the over/under bridge.
“Chad’s in shape.”- In regards to Reed’s physical fitness expressed as if Chad has never been in shape before.
“Nobody knows anything.”- In regards to the people surrounding the riders telling them what to do, which is odd because Ferry makes a living helping a rider.
And so on and so on. I wish I had written more of them down and I’ll say it again—Tim Ferry is the most unintentionally funny person I know.
Thanks for reading, people. Oak-Town was lots of fun and a nice race. Email me if you want to chat about this race or anything else at matthes@racerxonline.com.