Welcome to Racerhead after what seems like a very short week for Lucas Oil Pro Motocross, but also a very long one elsewhere. We’re headed to Budds Creek, Maryland, for the tenth round of the series, and literally a single point separates Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac for the 450 Class lead. Sexton rode an amazing race last weekend at Unadilla to get the red plate back from Tomac’s #3 Yamaha, setting up a six-moto sprint to decide this championship between the two of them. If Sexton wins, it will be his first outdoor title in the six years he’s raced professionally, though he does have a pair of 250SX East Region crowns. If Tomac wins, it will be his fifth Pro Motocross title since turning pro in 2010. Eli also has two 450 AMA Supercross Championships and one in SX Lites from back in 2012.
In the 250 Class, Sexton’s Honda teammate Jett Lawrence had a sloppy, crash-filled day at Unadilla, but he still managed fourth overall with 7-2 moto scores. The big winner (for the second time this season) was Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Jo Shimoda, who went 1-3 to grab the overall. Finishing runner-up was New York’s own Justin Cooper, who went 5-1, likely solidifying his place on Team USA for the upcoming Motocross of Nations alongside Tomac and Sexton. Hunter Lawrence finished third overall. Jett is still the points leader, 26 ahead of big brother Hunter, while Jo is a further 14 points back in third. If Jett holds on to win he will be the first Honda rider since Steve Lamson (1995–’96) to win two titles in a row in this division.
Overall, Unadilla was a very good event, with a massive crowd and some amazing racing, especially between Sexton and Tomac. It was a fine way for the historic facility to bid farewell to founder and longtime promoter Ward Robinson, who passed early last week. His kids Greg and Jill had long since taken over, and they did a great job of memorializing their father (and their late mother, Peg) with one of the biggest races the upstate New York facility has ever held, despite a summerlong drought that threatened to make dust a problem, though thankfully the watering crew did an amazing job with the watering trucks.
And just a little bit of New York moto history: It was also fitting that possibly for the first time in motocross history, the holeshots in each 250 Pro Motocross moto went to riders who hail from Long Island—Bayside’s Nick Romano in the first moto and Cold Spring Harbor’s Justin Cooper in the second. Long Island (and Port Washington in particular) are where the Ghost CZ motorcycle dealership was located, and way back in 1972 they sponsored the winners in both classes in the first two outdoor nationals ever, Road Atlanta and DeSoto Cycle Ranch below Memphis. The riders who won, Sonny DeFeo (250) and Barry Higgins (500) were teammates as well as both New Yorkers, but only DeFeo was from Long Island. His dad, Salvatore, was the actual "Ghost" who ran the dealership, given that nickname for his ability to disappear every time the police tried to catch him when he was street racing in the 1950s.
Looking forward to Budds Creek tomorrow, there’s a real bonus element to this event: None other than James Stewart is joining the TV broadcast booth alongside Jason Weigandt and pit reporter Jason Thomas for what promises to be an epic four hours of moto, as well as the morning qualifying show, which starts at 10 a.m. Back in 2003, James changed the game for everyone when he unveiled the “scrub” technique he had been working on, so we thought this was the perfect round to invite him to join the broadcast team. He’s been watching the races closely this summer, and his Bubba’s World race breakdowns are very entertaining and insightful. Here’s his take from Unadilla:
PRO PERSPECTIVE (Jason thomas)
Chase Sexton and Eli Tomac are embroiled in a championship fight for the ages. These two are in very different places in their career, as Sexton is just coming into his own while Tomac might be in his final Lucas Oil Pro Motocross campaign. Last weekend's Unadilla win by Sexton was a key moment in this series. Not only did he follow up that second moto win at Washougal, he was able to pass and check out on Tomac in both motos. That mental message rang loudly, and Tomac was not happy about it when I spoke with him on the podium.
As we enter Budds Creek, I think it could be the most important round of the series. If Tomac can't answer the bell, Sexton will only become more emboldened. They both know Sexton is lethal at the final venue in Southern California, giving him a big edge if all things are equal going in. That puts pressure on Tomac to deliver here and now. He needs to recapture the red plate and put the impetus back onto the 23.
Momentum is a real thing, and it's clearly shifted to Sexton after a cavalcade of it for Tomac in the middle of this series. The tug of war for points and confidence is still up for grabs. If I'm Tomac, I know this Budds Creek race is bigger than simply round 10. He has to send a clear message to Sexton. He needs to douse this fire that Sexton has started. Taking the points lead back would be ideal, but the subliminal messaging is even more important. If Sexton is allowed to believe he’s now in charge, I just don't see that changing as we enter the final four motos. While it's problematic to assume anything in this series, I do believe it's now or never for Tomac. I think we will see the most focused, locked-in Tomac of the year. With Sexton on peak form for his young career, the question becomes, whose best is better?
@legomotox is at it again!
Quick Trivia (DC)
When Spanish rider Guillem Farres lines up tomorrow for his first AMA Pro Motocross race as a fill-in for the injured Nick Romano at Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing, he will be wearing #109. Which raises the question: Has anyone ever won an outdoor national or AMA Supercross wearing #109? And if so, who? When? Where?
D KELLEY (Matthes)
Just wanted to throw up an appreciation here for AEO KTM's Derek Kelly, who, with six motos to go, is the top-placing privateer rider in the 250 Class and has scored points in every moto. We've come a long way from me cursing him (for PulpMX Fantasy purposes) when he used to DNF all the time in the 450 Class. He's been solid this year, has charged up in a ton of motos, he's had an average first lap of 18th, he's had an average finish of 14th, he's ahead of a few factory riders in the points, and yeah, very good season for D Kelley.
Here's the thing that kind of pisses me off in this sport, though. For as good as Derek was in SX this year and what he's doing in MX, no factory team will reach out to him for a ride this off-season. But some riders who have crashed/gotten hurt/missed races year after year will get hired or stay on the factory gravy train. It's like once you're off the factory Ferris wheel, you can't get back on! I think Derek's done enough here for a shot, but I’m not sure it'll happen. Anyway, carry on with your day, but just wanted to point all of this out. Good job to Derek and the AEO team.
Team USA and Some Others (DC)
Team USA will finally be announced tomorrow at Budds Creek, and it's almost certain that the two 450 riders will be Team Honda HRC's Chase Sexton and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Eli Tomac, the two men now separated by a single point in their summer-long duel for the supremacy in the 450 Class of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross. But the 250 Class has not been so simple, of course, as the top three riders this summer are the Lawrence brothers from Australia and two-race winner Jo Shimoda of Japan. The highest-ranked U.S. rider is fourth-ranked Justin Cooper, who won the second moto last weekend but has struggled at times this summer, including a bout with COVID. Team USA manager Roger De Coster has been weighing the idea of either assigning the MX2 job to Cooper or his teammate Christian Craig, who won the 250SX West Region in Monster Energy AMA Supercross, but then jumped up to the 450 for the summer. He's said he would be willing to ride the 250 if Team USA needs him. But after last weekend's excellent start-to-finish win in the second moto at Unadilla, the favorite has to be Cooper.
Interestingly, Tomac and Cooper (or Craig) will be going up against another Star Yamaha teammate in Dylan Ferrandis, who will ride for his home country of France. Ferrandis, who just returned from an injury and finally got to wear his #1 at Unadilla, will be one of the 450 riders for France, along with Maxime Renaux, last year's MX2 World Champion. The French pick on the 250 is very interesting: Marvin Musquin. Yes, the veteran who has been in the U.S. for the last dozen years and was a two-time MX2 World Champion before coming across the ocean. He's not racing the outdoors this summer, and he hasn't raced a 250 in years, but he is a seasoned veteran, and he helped France win the MXoN back in 2015. Musquin plus a very fast Renaux and a healed-up and back-in-shape Ferrandis will be a very formidable team!
One other former world champion now in the U.S. who won't be racing for his home country is Ken Roczen, as Germany announced their team this week and Kenny was not a part of it. Instead, it's the veteran Max Nagl, rising MX2 star Simon Langenfelder, and Tom Koch.
Team Australia was just announced this morning and it will feature 250 class championship leader Jett Lawrence making his 450 debut in the race alongside brother Hunter Lawrence on a 250 and Honda HRC MXGP rider Mitch Evans on the other 450. And Jo Shimoda has been announced for Team Japan, though he's listed on one website under the name Takeshi Shimoda for some reason. So I called our mutual friend Donn Maeda of SwapMotoLive and asked him if Jo's first name is really Takeshi. Donn laughed and said, "Nope, it's Jo, and I tease him about the fact that it's spelled wrong all of the time. I tell him, 'Jo is a character on the TV show Facts of Life and the character is a girl!'" (And on an unrelated note, Shimoda is on the cover of the new CROSS Magazine from Germany that we got here at the office this week and I'm taking the copy to Budds Creek to hand over to Jo, because magazine covers are still really cool.)
And while we’re on the international beat, congrats to Honda HRC’s Tim Gajser on clinching his fifth FIM World Championship over the weekend in Finland. Can’t wait to see Tim at RedBud when he lines up for Slovenia against Sexton and Tomac, as well as all of the Yamaha MXGP stars in Jeremy Seewer, Glenn Coldenhoff, and Maxime Renaux….
And if you want to help support Team USA, here’s a very cool way to do it with #RaiseIt4USA
BUDDS (Matthes)
Budds Creek this weekend, and we'll get a Team USA MXoN announcement as well. Sounds like Justin Cooper will have the MX2 spot for the team, and that's a good choice—what a turnaround for JC32 from the start of the year when he was so off his usual form. But his foot is healed, he's ripped off some great motos, and I guess the powers that be think he'll perform at Redbud over Christian Craig (who the early odds-on favorite was to get the spot).
And I'll be honest, I know nothing about this new Spaniard rider on the Star Yamaha this weekend. But I bet he'll do well!
I haven't heard anything as of this RH entry, but I have been wondering if they'll be any sort of pre-race talk, or if maybe the TV broadcast will squeeze it in or maybe getting it in before the races start, but it is the 19th anniversary of Tim Ferry winning the first moto in the 450MX class in 2003….
Which leads us to Loretta Lynn’s ’22 and the whole debacle around the claiming of Haiden Deegan’s bike. All the elements were there for a classic tale: the minicycle/amateur prodigy with the high-profile family, a working-class privateer who showed up with a plan and the funds (in this case cash), and the unsurprising drama that followed, as well as the missteps on several levels. There’s not enough bandwidth on the internet to explain the whole thing, though I give major credit for Vital MX’s Michael Lindsay for trying to with interviews of just about all of the major players involved. If you have a few hours and want to go on the deep dive with ML512, you can start here:
Claiming Procedure Streamlined (DC)
We’ve given lots of coverage to the latest Loretta Lynn’s claiming drama. But in the wake of that whole deal, Mike Burkeen of the AMA and the AMA Motocross Commission got together on Tuesday afternoon to discuss how to better streamline the claiming procedures in light of the drama and confusion surrounding the claiming of a Star Yamaha Racing bike in the 250 B class. The very perception of any impropriety needed addressed, and this is what Burkeen posted after the meeting:
The AMA Motocross Commission, the rule making body of amateur motocross, met last night to discuss rule changes for the 2023 season. Several proposals for the 2023 were debated and the notes from the meeting can be seen here in the coming days:
https://americanmotorcyclist.com/ama-competition-commissions/
They are posted for 15 days before the final vote of the AMA Motocross Commission. At that point all rule changes are presented to the AMA Board of Directors Competition Committee who approves them and sends them before the full Board of Directors for approval. Pending these approvals they will be incorporated in the 2023 AMA Rulebook.
Some of the rule changes proposed related to a drone policy, penalties for abuse of officials, what bike must be used in timed qualifying, allowing brooms on concrete gates, and having yellow light/red light systems be equivalent to yellow / red cross flags. The final thing on the agenda was the claiming rules.
The claiming rule has been in place for more than 20 years with only 2 slight modifications. making it easier to claim, during that time. The last time a claim was placed was in 2005. There has never been a claim placed, to my knowledge, where the rider still had motos to ride on the claimed bike. There were a few items our commission and I feel needed to be revised to head off future issues should this arise in future races. Here are the proposed changes. The verbiage might change, but the spirit of each change will remain the same:
- Once a claim is placed an agreement will be signed by the claimant that the claim is irrevocable.
- The claimant shall remain anonymous until the moment the bike is received.
- All claimants must be 18 years of age, or represented in person by a parent or legal guardian.
- If the rider of a claimed motorcycle has subsequent events to ride in the meet on said bike, the meet referee shall be responsible for impounding and and assigning staff to monitor the motorcycle, in person, during all facets of preparation and racing. The motorcycle will be delivered at the end of the final event in which it is utilized.
This will not be final without board approval, but if approved, it will be steps in the right direction.
ONE MORE ON CLAIM-GATE (Matthes)
Okay, so we had Donnie Luce from Yamaha on the PulpMX Show Monday night, and yeah, if my Twitter feed or Vital MX is to be trusted, I might have missed the mark on getting the info out about this whole Deegan claim thing. I mean, I think it was fine, and I'll explain it in more detail here in a bit, but there's more than a few people who didn't like the way I handled it, so maybe, well, they're right? It's not a vocal minority, that's for sure. Here's where I was coming from: Donnie didn't start this thing; he was dragged into it when Star Yamaha and Brian Deegan were upset about this claim. Donnie was forced to step in (to support his #1 amateur rider, dad, and team) and talk to Brennan Schofield, who made the claim.
There's more to the story—and we all know that, and it's out there—but to cut to the chase of the Luce/PulpMX Show thing, I had seen more than a few people who wanted Donnie fired, more than a few people who said they would never support Yamaha again because of these threats of Yamaha pulling Brennan's dealership, and to me, I know Luce was broken up about the mob calling for his job for these "threats." I wanted to get out there that these "threats" to Brennen's dealership didn't happen (and couldn't happen for a number of logical reasons).
I think we know by now, based on everyone's statements after the fact (Brennan and the dealer), that this part didn't happen. So I did have some empathy to Luce for this, and when I said, "Sorry you got dragged into this," I don't think there's any way Donnie does a thing unless Brian Deegan and/or Star Yamaha don't protest this claim. So he did have wade into this, and there was an offer for motors and some other stuff to drop this claim (which I don't see an issue with; Brennan's dad explained this was a deal they took to me).
So could I have hammered Donnie more? I guess so, but I didn't see a problem with the adult to the minor agreeing to drop the claim for some stuff. Yes, I have a deal with Yamaha for support of the show and a loaner bike for the year—which I disclosed—but the original claims from Brennen seem to have lost some of their steam and he forgot to disclose a few things, and I wanted that to come out. Listening back, it probably was a bit of a softball interview, and I'll try to do better, but the above was my intent. And once more, for the record, Brennan Schofield should have the bike, and I'm happy the powers that be are changing the claiming rules for next year. [Ed. note: Schofield posted pics of his new KTM today on his social media.]
Huge 250F Guy (Mitch Kendra)
Last weekend, my family went riding at one of our local tracks, Switchback MX. While I was content putting in laps on my own Yamaha YZ250F, I also had the chance to test out three 2022 Yamaha models courtesy of Jason Raines Racing demos. Raines and Yamaha had over half a dozen 2022 machines on hand for different age and skill groups, ranging from YZ65 machines to big-bike two-strokes to the two FX woods models. Never having the chance to ride a 450cc machine previously—due to both my size at only about 5’9” and 165 pounds and my skillset (or lack thereof)—I signed up to give a 2022 YZ450F a go! I got three laps on that bike, then three each on a two-stroke YZ250 and YZ125. Growing up I mostly rode PW80, Honda XR80 and XR100s, barely touching two-strokes except for the times I borrowed my brother Jake’s KX65 in the yard back when I was in elementary school. At a young age, I was too afraid to ride that 65 more than a few minutes in the yard, so I only rode it at the practice track maybe two times. The snappiness and quick acceleration was too much for my tiny ass! Back to the slow bikes I went….
Needless to say, all these years later I was still not comfortable on a two-stroke! I was not great on any of the three test bikes, although I did feel the most at home half-throttle on the YZ450F. The two-stroke machines rattled my skull off the inside of my head with all the vibration, something I had no recollection of since my last two-stroke experience was over 15 years ago! And I did not keep the RPMs up enough entering turns to blast out of them like I normally could on my 250F, so my stop, point, and shot approach did not work well on the two-stroke machines. My dad Mike and girlfriend Caity watched as Jake and I tested the unfamiliar bikes. Jake rode a YZ450F, YZ250F, and the YZ125—and to no surprise he was way better on the two-smoker than I was! At least riding the 450F was similar to riding my 250F, just with a lot of unnecessary power. But I scooted around the rough course rather smoothly on the big bike compared to how awkward I felt on the two-stroke machines. With a little more practice, I would be interested to see my lap times on a 450cc machine compared to my 250F (And as for the two-strokes, you "old school" guys can keep them all to yourselves!) After my final lap was done on the YZ125 I took the machine back to Raines’ tents, walked back to my trusty YZ250F in our pits, and pounded out laps until the facility closed. After a few fun hours of riding, we loaded up and hit the road to head home. Everyone I talked to under the tent was pumped to have a chance to demo some different machines. I will be sticking to the ole four-stroke 250cc bike moving forward, but I do have to give a bike shout-out and thank you to Raines and Yamaha for letting me demo those bikes!
Trivia Answer
In 2003, in a very similar situation, Craig Anderson won the Southwick 125 National wearing #109. Anderson, like Guillem, was an import, only he was from Australia. And rather than Star Yamaha, he rode for Yamaha of Troy—a similar program in the 1990s and ’00s. But Anderson was not a fill-in rider; he was here the whole season.
Hey, Watch It!
Is Tomahawk The BEST Motocross Track in West Virginia?
Head-Scratching Headline/s of the Week
“Pittsburgh Pirates' Rodolfo Castro suspended one game for having cellphone in pocket”—ESPN.com
“Jameela Jamil says she injured her butthole during 'She-Hulk' stunts”—New York Post
RANDOM NOTES
For the latest from Canada, check out DMX Frid’EH Update #33.
Thanks for reading Racerhead. See you at the races!