When the time came I walked into the big building and realized I was in for quite a bench race. The room was full of cameras because the whole deal was being filmed for Fox Sports 1’s Monster Energy Supercross: Behind the Dream, a series that will air over the course of the next several weeks, beginning on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. (ET)/7:30 a.m. (WT). Todd explained that they wanted honest opinions, not polite or politically or corporately correct answers, and to just have fun. That’s my kind of bench race! I figured I had this race in the bag—unless Matthes or Weege or Eric Johnson showed up, I was pretty sure I’d be the head of the class.

The first man I saw was Jeremy McGrath, the all-time King of Supercross. Fortunately, I had gone up against MC before—on a bus filled with Thor/Parts Unlimited riders, rolling from Janesville, Wisconsin, back up to Madison. We all got into an epic trivia contest ultimately won by the very well-versed Chad Reed, and then Ben Townley, though I think I may have snuck on the podium. Either way, I felt like I maybe had Jeremy covered.

Next to show up was Jeff Emig, Jeremy’s longtime rival and an epic bench-racer in his own right. Fro has done an outstanding job in making a Troy Aikman-like transition from athlete to color commentator. He’s also more focused on dissecting, understanding, and explaining races as a TV broadcaster than he was as an actual racer, which made me nervous.

Next in was Brian Deegan, the one-time 125 SX winner—which is one more than me and probably 99.99 percent of the people reading this—who grew up a Team Green rider and is now raising a little prodigy of his own in Danger Boy himself, Hayden Deegan. Brian and I go back to Loretta Lynn’s 1992, when I entered the 125 A Class as a near-vet and he reminded me why college really was a better idea. I had not done much bench-racing with Brian, but he’s never been shy about voicing his opinions, and he knows his stuff well. 

Finally, into the room walked my nemesis, the one they (well, we) call the GOAT. Ricky Carmichael has the same gift that the great Valentino Rossi is said to have: he can look at a photo from his racing career, tell you where and when, not to mention the lap and the situation. “That’s Washougal ’06, second moto, three laps to go, coming over the Ryan Huffman double. Next lap I would throw it away right there, and ol’ Bubba would get that win.” Seriously, it’s bizarre. (And James Stewart, who was not there for the bench-racing session, could have easily been the favorite—he used to go to sleep at night as a kid watching those Fox tapes of the nationals!)

So McGrath, Emig, Deegan, and Carmichael—a true all-star panel—and yours truly. At that point I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be comic relief or some kind of pedestrian lapper! I realized it was the former when I mentioned my one and only professional “success,” a ninth at Daytona, and they all laughed. Hell, the people behind the cameras all laughed, and I don’t think they knew any of us! 

From there, a truly epic bench-race broke out where the five of us just talked about the two giant, empty spots at the starting gate left by Villopoto and Stewart and went over the complicated and entertaining question #whosnext? For several hours we just sat there and went back and forth and on and on about Ken Roczen and Eli Tomac—pretty much everyone’s two favorites on the eve of the opener—plus Chad Reed, Davi Millsaps, Trey Canard, Justin Barcia, Weston Peick, Andrew Short, Dean Wilson, and the rest of the big hitters in the 450SX Class of Monster Energy Supercross. It got to the point where camera lights and batteries would burn out, the crew would have to stop taping, and we would just keep blasting through the Tuff Blox, throwing verbal elbows and making fun of each other and just enjoying a true bench race of epic proportions. 

When it was finally over, there was no clear-cut winner, nor was there a loser, but Jeremy McGrath said it best: “We should all just go down the street to some bar and keep it going—this is awesome!” It really was, and I hope you guys and girls all watch it and enjoy the banter. I won’t tell you who predicted right or wrong, for better of for worse, but when we got a blanket email from Feld’s Mark Abernethy reminding us all that it was airing this Sunday, I immediately requested a tweak in my first-race prediction, as did Deegan, and … just kidding. It was a really cool deal, and I hope you guys enjoy it as much as we did taping it, and thanks to the whole gang at Feld and Fox Sports 1 for setting it up and inviting me along. It was a lot of fun, even for a lapper like me!

REED AND THE NUMBERS (Jason Weigandt)

Chad Reed posted some career numbers on his Instagram feed earlier this week that show where he sits on some all-time lists. If he makes the main this weekend (count on it) he'll tie Jeremy McGrath for fourth all-time in supercross starts with 173. Reed won Anaheim 3 last year in his 169th career start, the third-latest to grab a win. Mike LaRocco, incredibly, won the 2004 Indy SX in his 202nd career start. Kevin Windham won Salt Lake City in 2010 in his 174th career start. If Reed gets some wins this year, he might move past Windham for second on that latest to win mark.

By the way, McGrath won his final race in his 132nd start, which is impressive but makes the late wins by LaRocco, Windham, and Reed seem even more amazing. By the way, if you're looking through some of the stats Reed posted in his Instagram, realize that MC's numbers are slightly skewed. In 2005 he came out of retirement after two years off to race a half dozen races for fun. He did the same in 2006, which gives him 12 additional starts without a win or a podium, driving his percentages down a tad. No matter, anyone in this rare air is definitely a bad dude. 

BIG TIME (Steve Matthes)

It’s awesome that our sport does seem to be growing—I have almost 28,000 followers on Twitter and I can see by some questions I get that we’re gaining new fans. Which is a nice way of saying some of the queries I receive are ridiculous. And I’m just one guy, not a giant media company like Racer X or Transworld MX. I can imagine the questions they get—or actually let me sign onto RXI Twitter and check some out. Be right back.

Yep, scary stuff on there also, folks. Here’s the point: we’re growing as a sport. More newbies are getting into this supercross thing, and with them come some ridiculous theories and opinions. Allow me to cover some of the answers here in the hopes that you new guys read this very popular column. 

1: No, Justin Barcia does not suck. He hasn’t been great but he’s come from the back in both of the first two races. In Phoenix he came from way, way back. I’m sure the JGR guys and Justin worked hard on his starts and he’ll be fine. Or at least it’s way to early to start saying this Barcia/JGR thing isn’t working out. 

2: Tyler Bowers should not be drawn and quartered in the square. Bowers’ move on Zach Osborne at Anaheim 1 was aggressive for sure but it wasn’t dirty. Stick around and you’ll see way worse at some point this season.

3: I don’t think asking Kenny Roczen or Adam Cianciarulo if you can have their baby is a great way of going about things, girls. You might want to delete your social-media accounts. 

4: No, I don’t think Chad Reed should retire after two races where he finished tenth. Sure, he’s far back in the title hunt, but writing him off and saying he’s done? Uh yeah, we’re not there yet folks.

TOMAC’S RECORDS (Andras Hegyi)

GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac is the twenty-eighth Honda winner in supercross history in the premier class. The last Honda winner was Justin Barcia in Seattle in 2013. Eli also got the 204th Honda win in premier 450SX Class.

• Jeremy McGrath (43 wins on Honda)
• Ricky Johnson (25)
• Ricky Carmichael (18)
• Jeff Stanton (17)
• Jean-Michel Bayle (16)
• Kevin Windham (15)
• David Bailey (12)
• Ezra Lusk (9)
• Johnny O’Mara (7)
• Bob Hannah (7)
• Donnie Hansen (4)
• Ron Lechien (4)
• Marty Smith (3)
• Chad Reed (3)
• Davi Millsaps (3)
• Trey Canard (3)
• Mike LaRocco (2)
• Marty Tripes (2)
• Justin Barcia (2)
• Jimmy Ellis (1)
• Doug Henry (1)
• Nathan Ramsey (1)
• Rick Ryan (1)
• Darrell Shultz (1)
• Chuck Sun (1)
• Steve Wise (1)
• Andrew Short (1)
• Eli Tomac (1)

And one more thing on Eli: Tomac has already won everywhere in AMA SX/MX. He now has a 250 National win, 450 National, and 250 Supercross, plus the 450 Supercross. He is the seventeenth rider who was able to win in all the American series that exist today: Ricky Carmichael, Jeremy McGrath, James Stewart, Ryan Villopoto, Ryan Dungey, Chad Reed, Kevin Windham, Mike LaRocco, Mike Kiedrowski, Jeff Matiasevich, Damon Bradshaw, John Dowd, Jeff Emig, Doug Henry, Ken Roczen, Trey Canard, and Eli Tomac.

PRESS DAY CHATS (Holly Wingler)

Lucas Oil/Troy Lee Designs’ KTM Jessy Nelson is the points leader in the 250 SX West Region.

Racer X: After winning the opener and then seeing the podium again last weekend in Phoenix, do you feel pressure to deliver the same results going into A2?
Jessy Nelson: Not really. Not too much pressure for myself, just treat it like every other race. You want to do good—you just don’t want to be fifth place or back. I mean, the goal is always a podium, but if you can’t get there, just do your best to get some good points and not lose that red plate.  

This is the first time in your pro career that you’ve held the points lead in any championship. How are you dealing with that pressure, or is that a pressure for you at all?
Honestly, I don’t feel any pressure at all. It’s just a graphic on the front of your bike. Not a big deal for me. It’s only the third round, so I think just take it as any other race: you wanna do well, so I mean keep doing well and you keep the points lead. We’ll see. 

It’s seems like some guys would feel the pressure and they’d let it get in their head and they’ll start making mistakes that show, but you’re keeping it real cool.
Yeah, I don’t know why. I mean maybe I just still feel like I’m dreaming! 

Does the red plate change the expectations you already had set for this season? Did you expect to have it for the first to rounds?
I honestly don’t know what I was expecting. I was expecting to win or at least get on the box. I mean, I haven’t done either one of them in my supercross career, but I’ve never had a season where I felt good, where I was actually confident in my racing and my riding, so this year I came in uninjured, ready to go, and I wanted to race really bad. I was expecting to do well or win or podium, otherwise I’d feel like I was doing something wrong. I put everything into it so, there wasn’t any reason why I shouldn’t have done well. To win Anaheim 1 and have the points lead after Phoenix and going into Anaheim 2, I’m really happy, and it just feels surreal.

Red Bull KTM’s Dean Wilson is in his rookie season in the premier class, and he's still on the hunt for a top-ten finish. 

Racer X: You made a few appearances in the 450 class last year, but this is your first full season. How has the adjustment been?
Dean Wilson: Well, results-wise my adjustment doesn’t look very good, but I’m really happy where I’m at. You know, my team’s really awesome. I’ve got good people around me. So everything’s good, set in stone, I just need to put it together and I’ll be fine. 

After how the fist two round unfolded, do you plan on making any adjustments? Changing up your training to see a different result?
No, I’m actually really happy with my training. I’ve worked really hard this off-season, and I really dedicated everything—all I’ve been doing in this off-season was just riding, working out, doing my gym routine, cycling, and going to sleep. So that’s it. For me, I think I just need to start building the confidence in myself that I can do it. I show good practice times, but in the race sometimes I don’t do what I should be doing.

Last season in your 450 appearances, arm-pump caused you problems. Is that still an issue this year?
Yeah, I seem to be getting it still. I don’t know what it is, just something really tricky. I know a lot of people deal with it, but I don’t think a lot of people get it like how I do. It’s just something that I’m working on. I’ve got Roger helping me, a lot of good people helping me. So it’s just something I can’t really keep in my head, because it’s a negative and I am trying to be positive. I think I’ll get past it.

What are your goals for this weekend?
I’d be happy with a top-five. Just stay there ‘cause, you know, last weekend was good for me. I rode ten laps and felt like I had top-five speed; I just couldn’t really hang on to the handlebars. If I could get top-five I’d be happy with that. A really good step in the right direction.

Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey has started his season well, and he’s right in the hunt for the points lead, but what about wins?

Racer X: Ryan, saw you in the top four at Anaheim and you hopped up on the box in Phoenix. How do you feel about a win this weekend?
Ryan Dungey: Definitely looking for a win. Rounds 1 and 2 were good. Last week a little bit better, for sure. A lot of racing left but I’m excited where we’re sitting. A win would be great this weekend. That’s what we’re looking for. So it’s nice to be here for press day get a feel for the track for the weekend. 

How’s it been on the new bike? Do you feel like you’re getting close to being 100 percent comfortable? I know some things are different.
Well, we’re on this new KTM 450 Special Edition. It’s a brand new bike, so coming into the season we had a lot of good testing—everything went really well. I’m really happy with the bike, but the true test is coming racing. That’s when the weaknesses or the not-so-good points of a bike stick out. We were a little bit off at Anaheim—definitely wasn’t that far. I mean, it’s just fine-tuning. We made a couple adjustments for Phoenix, which was much better. Also a couple coming into this weekend, which I feel even better about. As we get going, it’s good to make those little baby steps—not reinventing the wheel but just a couple changes for the better. 

How much does the dirt change from A1 to A2?
I don’t know…. It’s interesting because sometimes when the Monster Trucks come in the week before they leave this dirt on the floor all week. We got that rain on Saturday and Sunday, which, I don’t know, it might add some moisture better, and it might not be so rock-hard. A1 was surprisingly good for round one, so that was interesting. 

How are you approaching the championship? Are you approaching it differently now that RV is no longer in the picture? It really is #whosnext now?
Well, Villopoto was a tough competitor. He didn’t make it easy, but [I] approach it the same as always. I think it’s important to come in with your own game plan and focusing on yourself, not worrying about the rest of the field. I think it’s good you don’t underestimate everybody, you know, so they don’t catch you off-guard, but it’s like that thing, you come into the season, you see where everybody’s at, you see more so by round two and three, then we really start getting into it. Its just everyone’s gunning for it. It gives everybody a little more hope to throw it out there a little harder. It takes away some competition.

 

THE NUMBER: 24 (Andras Hegyi)

Yamalube/Star Racing's Cooper Webb became the twenty-fourth Yamaha winner in the 125/250SX Class; he's also the third from North Carolina, joining Damon Bradshaw and Broc Tickle.

• Kevin Windham (12 wins)
• Ernesto Fonseca (12)
• John Dowd (7)
• Damon Bradshaw (6)
• Chad Reed (6)
• Jeff Emig (4)
• Stephane Roncada (4)
• David Vuillemin (4)
• Mike LaRocco (3)
• Jason Lawrence (3)
• Nathan Ramsey (3)
• Ryan Sipes (3)
• Jimmy Button (2)
• Casey Johnson (2)
• Broc Sellards (2)
• Greg Schnell (2)
• Justin Buckelew (1)
• Josh Hansen (1)
• Branden Jesseman (1)
• Chad Pederson (1)
• Ivan Tedesco (1)
• Broc Tickle (1)
• Jeremy Martin (1)
• Cooper Webb (1)

And for the ninth time in modern supercross history, there were first-time winners in both classes at the same event:

• 1990 January 27: Mike Craig won in 125, Damon Bradshaw won in 250 (Anaheim)
• 1990 March 17: Jeremy McGrath won in 125, Jeff Matiasevich won in 250 (Las Vegas)
• 1993 January 23: Damon Huffman won in 125, Jeremy McGrath won in 250 (Anaheim)
• 1997 February 22: Ricky Carmichael won in 125, Damon Huffman won in 250 (Atlanta)
• 2000 January 22: Greg Schnell won in 125, David Vuillemin won in 250 (San Diego)
• 2000 March 10: Travis Pastrana won in 125, Ricky Carmichael won in 250 (Daytona)
• 2002 April 13: Branden Jesseman won in 125, Nathan Ramsey won in 250 (St. Louis)
• 2008 February 23: Trey Canard won in 250, Davi Millsaps won in 450 (Atlanta)
• 2015 January 10: Cooper Webb won in 250, Eli Tomac won in 450 (Phoenix)

IT'S ELECTRIC (DC) 

On my way back out of Anaheim from the press conference yesterday I stopped by the amazing HQ of Fox Racing in Irvine to say hello and also check out the retail clothing store inside—well worth a visit if you're ever near Irvine, California. Pete Fox was showing me around and I noticed some skid marks on the concrete floors in the design studio. Pete laughed and explained that Red Bull KTM's Ryan Dungey, a Fox Racing rider for many years, had stopped by earlier in the week and spotted the electric KTM on display and said to Pete, "I gotta ride that thing!" A few minutes later Dungey had scuffed up the floor with electric slides (get it?), and by the look on his face, it was a blast! 

I’M PERFECT (Matthes)

Busy week for me as this Tuesday morning my wife and I flew to Chicago for a couple of days to see my favorite band not named Van Halen (only with Sammy Hagar, though) play two shows at the House of Blues. The Tragically Hip is a Canadian act that’s been together since the late ’80s, and although they’ve never really hit it big in the USA (they did play Saturday Night Live once, though!), they play to sold out 15,000-seat arenas up north. So to see them in a small venue like the HOB and to be five feet away is always special. And seeing as how they weren’t coming to the Southwest on this tour, we had to go to them. 

Anyways, about that part up there about being perfect. Well, I’m not really, but I did get all twenty-two guys in the 250SX main event correctly in the Racer X MotoDynasty league. That’s right, perfect, bro! It allowed me to jump up into the top five in the Racer X staff league and I climbed the charts in the PulpMX league as well. It’s not too late to get into the league to try and win the week and some prizes. Your shot at the overall is probably screwed because we’re two weeks down but hey, you can still try to dominate and then play the “What if” game with your buddies.

PLEASE CLICK ON THESE PULPMX LINKS! (Matthes) 

JT and I did our weekly N-Fab Racer X Fantasy Moto Podcast to help you jerkies out here.

Speaking of JT, he’s a gambling man and here are his house odds to win the 450SX title after two rounds.

David Vuillemin wrote his weekly column for us on what he saw at the Phoenix SX here.

Have you ever wondered what the early season results mean? So did Mike Sweeney and he wrote something about it here. 

And finally it’s Swizcorner time!

ICYMI (Chase Stallo) 

Busy with “life” problems this week? Miss reading out on Racer X? Lucky for you we’ve highlighted some of the biggest stories this week.

250 Words: A Student and the Professor

Davey Coombs penned a great piece on Cooper Webb’s win and how it was another chapter for one of the founding fathers of supercross—David Bailey.

3-on-3: Ex-Pros Talk Phoenix

We grabbed ex-pros David Vuillemin, Jason Thomas, and David Pingree and asked them what obstacles cause the most fatigue, how bike-set can still suffer after months of testing, and more.

Unsung Hero: Aaron Plessinger

Through two races, Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha rookie Aaron Plessinger has shown he has the goods to make it in the world of supercross. Is it an early return on the RC Road to SX? Or just natural talent? Jason Weigandt examines. 

ReduX: The New Two

Are you we already living in the world on #KenEli?

Rapid ReaXtion: Peick’s Gonna Try

Weston Peick suffered a broken bone in his foot late in the main in Phoenix en route to a career-high fourth. He underwent surgery earlier this week to have a screw implanted to stabilize the broken bone and will try and race Anaheim. Tough is good, but is it necessary in this case? 

Staging Area: Anaheim 2

Jason Thomas predicts the action before it happens. (It may or may not be correct.)

Racer X Films: The Untold Story of Cooper Webb

Behind the scenes, we discover motivation, drive, and the will to be a champion.

HEAD-SCRATCHING HEADLINE OF THE WEEK

NASCAR driver Kurt Busch testifies ex-girlfriend is an assassin - autoblog.com 

HEY, WATCH IT

GoPro POV - Red Bull Frozen Rush

RANDOM NOTES 

If you're heading to the Van Andel Arenacross in Grand Rapids this Saturday, January 17, make sure you check out the MX Donations/Mandingo Pickles after party at McFadden's located at 58 Ionia Avenue Southwest, right behind the arena.

Print this pass for NO cover, drink specials, and access to the VIP area to watch Anaheim 2 Live!

Last week we dusted off some old win ads for The List. Well, Yamaha is still churning out some cool news ones. Have a look at the Cooper Webb spread that ran in Cycle News this week.

If you’re in the Murrieta, California, area on Sunday, stop by the Third Annual Vintage and Motocross Swap Meet. It runs 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the new Team Cagiva, just down the street from Husqvarna and KTM USA at 38365 Innovation Ct. #903.

Questus, a digital advertising agency, recently hired longtime industry veteran and advertising guru Kerry Graeber as their marketing director. Kerry will work closely with Suzuki, a brand he was long affiliated with as an executive. He also worked at Marketplace Events Motorcycle Group and AMA Pro Racing on his career journey through the motorcycling industry. 

Heading to Anaheim for the third round of Monster Energy Supercross this weekend? Stop by the Racer X booth—located in the Party in the Pits—to pick up a free copy of Racer X Illustrated. You can also sign up or renew for just $20 (60 percent off the cover price) to get a one-year subscription, a FREE pair of Racer X socks, and an extra issue!