RedBud was round five of 11 on the AMA Pro Motocross Championship so it’s kind of halfway. When the first motos are over this weekend in Southwick, that will officially be the halfway point of the series. Remember people, eleven rounds this year and not the traditional twelve.
RedBud always delivers a great race, the track is awesome, the fans are awesome and they’re all ready to celebrate motocross, and the obvious Fourth of July holiday probably helps things out also.
I loved that the track, for its 50th anniversary, went back to the old start. The MXoN-inspired hairpin was very basic and just didn’t excite me. Now, granted, I didn’t have to actually participate in the start that makes you execute a lefthand turn under full throttle and then get ready for a right hander, but hey, to watch it is awesome. It’s always been a tricky start, we had one pileup out of four so that’s not indicative of something dangerous. Hope the track keeps this start, it’s much better!
Well, he did it again. The Jett got both holeshots and led every lap for his tenth straight 450MX moto win. Like High Point, he was a little more “human” this week in that Dylan Ferrandis caught him in the middle of moto two, but of course, Jett just wicked it up and took off. His line selection is so impressive, he rides the edges of the track, he pulls out of berms early to miss acceleration bumps, and he’s just so smooth out there. He was looking around for Dylan and mentioned that he was surprised the #14 had caught him so he needed to get back on it. Right now, it’s Jett’s world and we’re all just living in it.
Well, Dylan Ferrandis has gone 3-3-2 the last three motos and finally, we might have some consistency from our factory riders not named Jett Lawrence. Dylan even reeled in Jett a bit in the second moto. He told us on the PulpMX Show the pace wasn’t too much for him, but his fitness still isn’t there yet. Dylan’s concussion in SX sounded like it was very serious, and he told us more about it. So, his riding shape is still not where it needs to be, but catching Lawrence is a step in the right direction. He said the balance of the new YZ450 is still something he’s working on. Whatever he’s doing, Ferrandis has been pretty good lately and much better than earlier in the series.
When we asked Dylan about next year, he said he’s got nothing right now and maybe retirement is in the cards for him. Not sure if he was joking or not but I would think Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha will go with Cooper Webb and Justin Cooper on 450s (maybe Tomac also), so there might not be a spot back with Yamaha next year. I know he’s met with the HEP guys, but they’ve got to figure out things on their end next year for OEM support. Gotta think something will open up for DF14, right?
I thought Chase Sexton’s return to 450MX was pretty good. He fell early in moto two, otherwise he might’ve gone 2-2, but as it is he was all over Ferrandis in moto two and went 2-3 on the day. He looked very much like Chase Sexton we saw at Pala but a tad slower, which is to be expected right? I texted with Chase to ask him if he was okay with his return, and he was very emphatic that he was not okay with his ride. Okay then, moving on. Lawrence pretty much nailed both starts and opening laps perfectly, so I suggest Sexton do that also if he wants to stop the streak.
Haiden Deegan got his first overall of his career in RedBud via 2-3 finishes. He rode very smart, and you have to think that he knew he had the OA when Tom Vialle was catching him in moto two, otherwise we would’ve seen more fight. Deegan’s just checking all the boxes here—outright speed, great physical fitness, smarts, good starts, and all that. He’s second in the points—just 11 back now after Hunter Lawrence’s DNF—and yes, we need to start wrapping our head around Haiden Deegan on Team USA at the MXoN, right?
We had his dad, Brian, on the PulpMX Show Monday and he said that yes, he is surprised Haiden has been this good this soon. He thought that jumping in for those four motos last season was a big help to be ready this year and that Haiden’s showings last summer weren’t very good. So, the kid knew what he had to do and it’s showing. ICYWW, the crowd was into Haiden winning. A lot. The first of many, methinks.
Hunter Lawrence had that nasty first turn crash we saw after a dominating moto one win and yeah, this is why we’re all guilty (myself included) of just thinking we know how things are going to play out. Motocross is dangerous and Lawrence showed us again that anything can happen at any time. Missing a moto and still having an 11-point lead is a great reason why you need all the points you can possibly get in a long season. Thankfully Lawrence will be okay to race Southwick, but he did bang up his ribs again which were getting better from round one. Racing with a rib injury is tough to do so this weekend should be interesting even though Lawrence is great at Southwick.
The Kitch’ won another moto and went 7-1 on the day. It’s been predictable to watch Levi this summer—when he starts well, he can podium or win. When he doesn’t start well, he can’t. I know, shocking news, right? I had to text Kitch and find out if his god-awful first lap position in moto one was due to a crash or a UFO abduction or something but nope, he said it was just that bad of a start. Second moto, yeah, he took off to win in a great ride. Mitch Payton hopes he brings moto two over there next year and not moto one.
Justin Cooper has to be so frustrated that he crashed at High Point. With Lawrence’s DNF, he’d be in the points lead (one would assume) but yeah, he’s not. At Redbud you have to think he wasn’t 100 percent, after all he could “only” get second fastest qualifier behind his rookie teammate Daxton Bennick (who had better track conditions but still, it’s Justin Cooper!) and in the motos he was good but not great. Between Kitchen and Cooper, the Star Yamaha management can probably figure out how the motos are gonna go approximately 50 feet out of the gate.
Tom Vialle’s been good this summer, his first in the USA after a couple of MX2 World titles. I’ve been a bit surprised that his renowned starting skills haven’t followed him over to the USA but then again, his GP bike didn’t follow him over here. I hear he’s been asking some questions about how he can get his USA spec bike closer to the one he had in Europe. I think he’s going to be let down a bit by the answer. But anyway, Tom’s had a pair of seconds and a pair of thirds in motos so I think he’s doing pretty well. Looking back at another French rider who was a two-time MX2 champion on a KTM, Marvin Musquin, shows that at this point in his rookie year, he had a couple of fourths in motos so there’s that I suppose.
Also, poor Tom-Tom because in the first moto he was in third when Ryder D decided that he wanted to outside AND inside before the finish and they both went down. Oh, what could’ve been for Vialle.
Some other news and notes from RedBud:
Privateers continue to crush it out there in the 450’s. We got Ty Masterpool running second and third for ten out of the seventeen laps before settling for sixth, and then his bike broke. Garrett Marchbanks scored another top five and it looks very easy for him to stay up there. Lorenzo Locurcio should’ve gone 8-7 on the day on his PulpMX/Wildcat Racing ride but his shock bolt fell out late in moto two. Phil Nicoletti had a solid day and Jose Butron had his best overall day since the opener.
Jason Anderson came back and looked tired but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? 5-7 on the day and probably a few FML’s as the track got rougher and the temperatures got higher. Think he was wondering who the hell Masterpool and Locurcio were?
RJ Hampshire loves RedBud, he’s won there before, and you know he was licking his chops thinking of trying to win again. A solid third in moto one was followed up with a crash on lap one when he hit a downed Justin Cooper and had nowhere to go. So, the work began for RJ to get up front. Again. You have to go down to 15th to find a rider that has a worse average first lap position than Hampshire.
Also, ICYWW, we had a couple of KTMs and Kawasakis jump LaRocco’s Leap a few times but we had all the Star Yamaha 250s jumping it most of the time. Love to get into some of the heads of the dudes that were trying to send it and just had to watch a Yamaha sail over their heads.
As mentioned, Daxton Bennick is the latest fast kid to jump on a Star Yamaha and shine. Qualified first (again, track conditions helped, but still) and then goes 10-9 in the motos. Very impressive for sure. This is a KTM amateur kid who took a tryout deal with Star instead of a long term guaranteed deal with the orange guys and earned himself a ride.
Remember Seth Hammaker? Yeah! The PC Kawi rider came back and was running third for a while in his first moto back, which was awesome. I think his 5-10 day was a solid return. We can work with speed.
“Freestyle” Freddie Noren, who I can’t quite figure out if he’s a factory rider or not (I lean toward “not,” but I could be convinced to go factory), was putting on a show over LaRocco’s Leap on press day. Not something I thought I’d ever type, BTW. For the first time this year, Freddie put together two motos in one day inside the top ten. That’s great, and he should do it every single week in my opinion.
Thanks for reading, email me at matthes@racerxonline.com if you want to chat about this or anything else.