The vibe was great under the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki tent on Saturday afternoon. First Joey Savatgy snatched the red plate away from Cooper Webb, then he snatched the momentum. Joey was hot in Texas, taking the fastest time in both timed practices, and doing it with consistent laps. He was turning those fast times over and over, and even when Webb swooped in to take the top position late in the final session, Joey took it right back. In his interviews after practice, he raved about the track, his feeling, and all the work he’d been putting in under the watch of Jeannie Carmichael. While Pro Circuit’s Mitch Payton is usually not on board with his riders shipping out to Florida, he has a special respect for the Carmichaels. So Joey, unlike every other 250SX West Region rider, commutes back and forth to Florida every week.
“Jeannie wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Mitch. “He’s going to do his laps.”
Savatgy’s Carmichael connection brings back good memories for the PC team. The doors of the Pro Circuit semi, covered in number one plates, used to serve as a reminder of how many titles this team has won, but lately it’s just displaying a rare title drought. But here Payton held court, telling old war stories of his underdog days, back when he was literally the only man building up fast 125cc Husqvarnas. Then old friends stopped by, like Alley Seymar, Kevin Windham’s old mechanic who eventually rose to Pro Circuit team manager. Good times, great oldies in the Pro Circuit truck. Meanwhile, Cooper Webb got stuck in the gate in his heat race, compounding recent mistakes like crashes in the last two main events. For Savatgy, everything was going right.
Then it all went wrong.
After Savatgy holeshot and topped Christian Craig to win his heat race, he tried to do the same in the main event—until Craig hung a left in the whoops and sent Savatgy flying. As Joey flipped upside down, so did the momentum in the series. Webb went on to right his ship by taking the win, and the mood was much different over at the PC truck. Payton was deep in conversation with one of his old riders, Tyla Rattray. Savatgy was long gone, getting out early, surely fuming.
“Yeah he’s pissed!” said Mitch when we asked. “He’s not hurt. But this just $%@^ed us in the points.”
That’s how quickly things turn in racing. Remember, Webb had it all going his way early in the year until his bike quit suddenly in Oakland. Just before that, the Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha people were exceptionally pleased with their progress with the machine, and there was talk of a perfect season.
This Arlington race was a real situation changer, though. What looked to be Savatgy’s best night ever ended at the hands of fate, and someone else. Over at the Red Bull KTM truck, the switch wasn’t quite as drastic or apparent, but there was a switch nonetheless. Earlier in the day, Ryan Dungey and Marvin Musquin had swapped fast lap times in practice, even clocking in 1-2 in the final session. Musquin looked exceptionally strong, and Dungey was his usual self. Ken Roczen, meanwhile, was quiet, just sixth fastest in the final session.
For Musquin, it flipped as soon as the heat race, when he got a bad start on the short straight and had to fight his way through. Trey Canard sliced inside of him, made contact, and Musquin went down. That sent him to the semi, and another bad start, and a bad gate pick in the main. Musquin tried to line up far inside to reduce the chances of getting pushed out, but Eli Tomac had also crashed in his heat race and also had to qualify through the semi. Tomac lined up even further inside than Musquin, and when Marvin tried to cut a tight arc through turn one, Tomac was right there and they made contact, sending Marvin to the ground again. He was in last.
At least Dungey was up front, starting second behind Roczen. Then he made a quick pass and tried to jet away again, looking for his fifth win in seven races. For a few turns, it looked like nothing had changed in supercross. Roczen was different on this night, though. He got Dungey back and rode a flawless twenty laps to earn the win. Considering Dungey’s incredible fitness, and how all-around amazing he has been this year, it seemed like a pass might be inevitable. Not this time.
With the win, Roczen only chops three points from a 26-point deficit, but in the big picture, it’s much bigger than that. A year ago Roczen was the man to beat after winning two of the first three races. But once he crashed in Oakland, he never recovered physically, while Dungey was hitting his stride at the same time. Once Dungey had that momentum, he fought hard to keep it. Even with a big points lead in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross, he fought Kenny in every moto, never letting his young rival get that edge back. Even in the very last moto last summer, after Dungey had crashed early, after Dungey had already wrapped the title, he kept charging, and chased Roczen down to the very last lap of the season. Dungey knows that momentum is bigger than anything, bigger than a points lead, bigger than a bike change. That’s why he battled so hard in Arlington, 26-point lead or not. That’s why Kenny’s win means so much.
When Roczen emerged from his motorhome after the race, you could sense it. “Me and Oscar (mechanic) said the whole day that we’re going to turn things around, and it will start tonight,” he said. “We put that in our heads and we believed in it.”
Momentum. Hard to see, hard to get, but when you have it, you know it.