At the Detroit Supercross, Jeremy Martin, Chris Blose, and Cullin Park all earned season-best finishes at the sixth round of the 2023 East Region round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship. Martin earned his second consecutive fourth-place finish this season, as Blose (fifth) and Park (seventh) earned new season bests. Martin once again was battling fellow Yamaha rider Haiden Deegan for the final spot on the podium before finishing fourth. Blose was battling KTM’s Tom Vialle late but held on for his first top-five finish. Blose was semi-retied and got the call for a Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki fill-in and has had to get up to race speed on the weekends at the actual races. And Park was battling with his teammate Coty Schock before the 2022 AMA 250SX Rookie of the Year bested his buddy for P7, a new season- and career-best finish. We caught up to all three riders during the post-race media scrum for their respective takes on the racing in Michigan.
Jeremy Martin | 4th in 250SX
Racer X Online: Jeremy Martin, walk us through your night tonight.
Jeremy Martin: The night was wild, man. I was sixth-fastest qualifier. Then the heat race gate drops and I’m up front. Then the Star boys man…it was just like fireworks. I was like, 'It’s just a heat race!' [Laughs] But yeah, I capitalized on that. And was able to get the win. I was stoked on that, it’s been a long time. Then lined up for the main event. Great jump out of the gate. Tried to run with Hunter for a little bit. Then I started to get a little bit tight about eight minutes in. And then I kinda got ate up by the Star boys and I was like, 'Damnit, man!' [Laughs]
I feel like you and Haiden Deegan have been finding each other on the track, almost every week so far you guys are running into each other on the track, not literally collision wise, but positioning wise. You are a veteran of this class. What is it like for you to be able to battle with him, take some lines from him, and learn from him?
He’s good, man. I mean, he’s really good. I’ve been taking a beating this year. I haven’t gotten a piece of that podium pie. And it’s not fun to get beat by someone that is 17 years old, that’s for sure. But I love to compete. I’ve missed a lot of racing. And for me, I’m paying my dues right now. He was pulling the trigger on two rhythms and I didn’t do that. I was like, 'Damnit, man, that’s where he’s getting me.' But I didn’t have the—I don’t know if we can say this or not but—I didn’t have the balls to change it up and go full send and just hit it first go. [Laughs]
Jeremy Martin claiming the heat race win in the first race of the night show. Align Media Martin after taking the heat race win. Align Media "Then the heat race gate drops and I’m up front. Then the Star boys man…it was just like fireworks. I was like, 'It’s just a heat race!' But yeah, I capitalized on that. And was able to get the win. I was stoked on that, it’s been a long time." - Jeremy Martin Align Media Martin claimed his second consecutive fourth-place finish in a row at the Detroit Supercross. Align Media
Understandable. [Laughs] With a little bit of a break here in the 250SX East Region Championship, what do the next couple of weeks look like for you? outdoor testing I’m guessing?
Straight outdoors baby. [Laughs] Yeah, I’m cranked. I’m ready to breath some fresh air, let the big dog eat and get a good outdoor setting. You guys know me, that’s my bread and butter. I want to try and get on the podium here. It would be sweet to somehow edge a win off of Hunter there. That bad boy has got five now. So that’s gonna be a tough, tall task to get. But we’re gonna fight at this supercross thing. Three rounds left on this East Coast and see if we can get a piece of some podium pie.
Like you said, it’s been a good season of supercross for you. Making it through all of the races so far. And outdoors you will anticipate a really strong showing. So you’ve gotta be pumped for the SuperMotocross World Championship coming up. Right there in supercross and a strong Pro Motocross showing could put you in a good spot for SMX final rounds.
Yeah, absolutely. Like I’ve said, it’s [Pro Motocross] kind of my bread and butter. And I’ve already got the program wrote down for what I want to do. And it’s time to get my ass in shape! [Laughs]
Chris Blose | 5th in 250SX
Racer X Online: Chris Blose, take us through your race tonight.
Chris Blose: Yeah, I got off to a pretty decent start, I think I was top five, and I just kind of stayed there the entire time. Tom Vialle was behind me the entire race, I kind of had that cushion the entire race, and then some lappers kind of got in my way with a few laps to go and he snuck right up on there at the end, but we were able to hold on for a top five which is a season best so far, so super happy with that. And just happy that we keep improving every weekend. So, we have a little break, we’ll go back to the drawing board, work on my fitness and stuff like that, and come to Atlanta and hopefully we can do good.
I think you have battled with Tom a couple of times this year, what is it like to battle with him. He is a world champion, in another series, but he is a very experienced rider for as young as he is, especially in supercross.
Yeah, he is definitely no slouch, he is obviously world champion, overseas in MXGP. It’s super cool, people that come over here from France, or a different country and try to race supercross, and he’s doing really well right now. Granted it's his rookie year, he’s got a lot to learn, but he’s doing good. We usually end up finding each other on the track, we are close on the track and close in points right now. It's good I enjoy it.
A little bit of a break right now for the East Coast guys like you said, so what’s the process look like for you training and fitness wise?
It’s going to be a lot of training, putting in longer motos. Obviously, I got the call from Mitch [Payton] like the week before the first round. Obviously, I wasn’t exactly in race shape, so each weekend it's been hard to make progress with my fitness and the riding without being completely blown out on the weekend. So we’ll go back during this month off and work super hard and come out swinging in Atlanta.
Cullin Park | 7th in 250SX
Racer X Online: All right Cullin Park, walk us through your race tonight.
Cullin Park: Yeah, the track was brutal tonight, those whoops were gnarly. I was kind of going in after the sight lap and thought, 'Dang I gotta hit these things for 15 minutes.' [Laughs] But, last week in Indy I ran seventh for a while and the last four minutes I just kind of fell apart. So, I really focused on that, this week I wanted to have a strong last five minutes. So, all day today I just thought, 'Main event, main event. Be ready for the last five minutes.' Then I kind of hurt myself at the beginning of the race because I was so worried about the last five minutes, so I think maybe if I could have made some quicker passes, I could have been up further in the fight with sixth place. But yeah, passed into seventh and then just tried to have some consistent laps in the whoops. I was either a hero through them or I was getting sketchy. [Laughs] Yeah, career best tonight, I know seventh is nothing to write home about, but I have to take my small wins. So, I am pretty happy with it.
You know you mentioned a career best, and at Tampa you had that shoulder injury, right? So really you have to think big picture. You didn’t really even know if you would be here a few weeks ago so you have got to be satisfied with it.
Yeah, no, for sure. Before the season I had a really good off-season, my trainer Blake Savage and training at ClubMX. I knew I would be in a good spot this year and it felt like my world just came crashing down when I had that crash at Tampa. I got a grade three AC joint separation and, man, I was just down. I wasn’t able to ride, this week was actually my first week I was able to ride two days, so I was stoked about that. And I am making small progress. You can’t expect it to happen overnight. The levels are too high and the guys in the front are going good. So, I will take my small wins and seventh place, like I said, it's nothing crazy, but hey it's something to build off of.
You mentioned Indy last week, the whoops and the track a little bit, is there anything you learned last week that you could apply to this track? I know the build was different and the dirt was different, but was there anything you could take away from last week?
One hundred percent, every weekend I feel like there is something to learn. For me, like I said, it was just those last five minutes. I mean those guys are so good and so consistent the whole way through the race. My opening laps have been good, but I’ve just fallen off at the end. I really tried to focus on that this weekend, it somewhat paid off for me with the seventh. But those guys, man they are just aggressive through the whole race. So it is something I am trying to work on, I just need to get some better starts and put myself there. If I can get up there in that front group and learn, I think that’s when I will start making some big progress.
You get a little bit of a break when the series heads west, what the next couple of weeks look like for you?
Yeah, we actually get a few weeks off and I am actually going to get on the 450 for outdoors, start preparing for the outdoor motocross series, I am going to be racing that series as well. I’ll probably ride outdoors for a week or two and then get back on supercross. For me I honestly just want to get my shoulder back to 100 percent. I am still just having pain in that so I might not even ride fully this week to be honest. Just rest and obviously still stick to cycling and whatnot. But I will for sure stick to outdoors, get on the 450, so I am excited about that. And obviously before Atlanta we will get back on the supercross track.