The California season is almost over, so Racerhead is coming to you one last time from the Golden State (or at least one last time before the new round at Santa Clara in late April, and definitely in May when we ramp up the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship beginning at Hangtown and then Glen Helen). So far the 2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, has been full of excitement, drama, intrigue, and question marks. We’ve had four winners in five 450SX mains, and three in the 250SX Class. Having even winners in ten main events speaks well for the depth and parity, despite the missing and absent. Now we move into a brand new stadium in San Diego for tomorrow night’s race, and then the migration east towards Texas begins.
Of course we all know the major stories: Ken Roczen’s early success, Ryan Dungey’s steady progression, blitz-worthy wins for Eli Tomac and Trey Canard, the new little boss Cooper Webb, first-time wins for Jessy Nelson and Malcolm Stewart, and welcome flashes of brilliance here and there from folks like Alex Martin and Cole Seely. We also know of the turmoil—Chad Reed and the referee, Tyler Bowers and Cooper Webb, slow starts for Justin Barcia and Davi Millsaps—and can only guess at the off-track drama surrounding some of the various riders and teams.
But overall, I think it’s been a great January. Five races in one month make for a busy one, and now that the series is starting to settle into the long drives that will take it around the rest of the country, we might see something different (and we certainly will when the East Region starts up). Take Chad Reed, for instance. After what happened to him on the last lap here last year, when he tried to force a pass on Roczen only to end up on his head and shoulders in the whoops, it seems like San Diego may owe him one. Reed’s had an up-and-down season on the Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports Kawasaki, and it just seems like he rises to the occasion in San Diego. Yes, Chad’s a long shot given how the season has gone so far, but then again, he’s been the long shot before, and he thrives on people underestimating him or thinking he’s past his prime (which I was admittedly guilty of thirteen months ago). There have been a lot of hard races and injuries for Reed since then, and he seems primed to make something happen. Tomorrow should be just as interesting as last time in town—but hopefully for different reasons for Reed!
That said, there are four other guys who would not surprise me to be in the winner’s circle, and they also hold the first four spots in the points. Here we go!
WHAT YOU WANTED (Jason Weigandt)
We get hyped on every new season, living our lives around things like #whosnext and #deepfield with dreams of unpredictable racing. We’ve been disappointed so many times, though, that’s it’s almost hard to believe it’s real, even when it’s right in front of us. Well, it’s really here this time. We’re beginning to see a four-rider break away as far as the championship is concerned (I believe Trey Canard and Eli Tomac could overcome their 23-point gap to Ryan Dungey, and Ken Roczen is just 11 behind Ryan), but we don’t know who is going to win when the gate drops each Saturday. We haven’t had back-to-back winners yet. We’re exchanging “Who’s the man?” theories at each race. Any time someone grasps momentum, it changes. And, while we might be down to four championship fighters, there are still plenty of names that can get in there and battle for race wins. This is the stuff we’ve always wanted—embrace it for all its worth!
On the subject of momentum, Ken Roczen had it and then lost it. He wants to get back on top this weekend:
“The last couple of races definitely don’t represent how we expect to perform on a regular basis,” explained Roczen today in a team statement. “There are some things I would liked to have done differently, but we don’t get do-overs. All we can do is learn from those mistakes, work hard during the week and focus on how we can be better so we won’t make the same mistakes twice. Oakland was a disaster but we did a nice job of bouncing back last week in Anaheim. We came up short of the podium but still finished fourth. Carey [Hart] said it best last weekend. ‘It’s time to get the train back on the tracks.’ That’s the plan this weekend in San Diego.”
Also, we’ve been asking for longer tracks and longer lap times, and we’re getting them. The Dirt Wurx track crew and the folks at Feld Motor Sports have done a good job getting the maximum out of these baseball stadiums, with laps generally in the high fifties during the 450SX mains, and no one even close to breaking into the forties like we had often not so long ago. We’ll see if they can keep this up at the rectangular football stadiums back east, but a tip of the visor to Feld and Dirt Wurx for stretching things out and giving us more racing.
Finally, Anaheim 3 served as the unofficial “retro” night for the season, but that’s been done so many times we’re not seeing that much participation any longer. This weekend’s Military Appreciation race should play better, as we’ve already seen teams like Monster Energy Kawasaki, Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha, Autotrader.com/Toyota/JGR Yamaha, and many others put together camo graphics, and you’ll surely see some unique gear as well. The best thing is, gear will be raffled off after the race, with donations going to support Operation Homefront, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides assistance to service members and their families with a focus on wounded veterans who served on or after 9/11. And that’s something we all appreciate!
THE NUMBER: 60 (Andras Hegyi)
Last Saturday night's win marked Ryan Dungey's sixtieth career podium in premier-class Monster Energy AMA Supercross. The Red Bull KTM rider is just the ninth rider of all time to get at least sixty podiums. Earlier this season the Australian legend, Chad Reed, got his 126th podium, the most in the sport's history. Reed also got his sixtieth podium in just the seventieth race of his SX career in 2007, having debuted in the premier class part-time in 2002 and full-time the next season.
Jeremy McGrath is next on the list. He collected 111 podiums during his career, earning his sixtieth podium at what was his seventy-sixth race in 1998. McGrath debuted in premier class as a part-timer in 1992, full-time in '93.
Ricky Carmichael gathered eighty-seven podiums during his career. RC got his sixtieth podium on his eighty-sixth race in 2005. The Floridian raced in the elite division for first time in 1999.
Mike LaRocco picked up eighty-one podiums in all. But he didn't get his sixtieth podium until his 161st race in 2001. LaRocco had debuted in the premier class back in 1989.
James Stewart has seventy-six podiums in 450SX. Stewart got his sixtieth podium on his seventy-fifth race in 2011. He debuted in premier class in 2005.
Kevin Windham was able to get seventy-five podiums during his SX career. Windham got his sixtieth podium on his 140th race in 2008, having debuted in the premier class (part-time) in 1996.
Jeff Ward earned sixty-six podiums and two AMA Supercross Championships. Wardy got his sixtieth podium on his 137th race in 1991; he turned pro in 1979, back when there was only one class.
Ryan Villopoto gained sixty-three podiums in his career. He got his sixtieth podium on his ninetieth race in 2014. Villopoto's first 450SX race was in 2009.
And now there is Ryan Dungey, who got his sixtieth podium on his eighty-eighth race. Dungey's first 450SX race was in 2008. Only Chad Reed, Jeremy McGrath, James Stewart, and Ricky Carmichael were able to reach sixty podiums sooner than Dungey.
Also, Dungey has now won in six consecutive seasons. James Stewart is the all-time record-holder here with wins in ten consecutive seasons (though that is obviously coming to an end), then Jeremy McGrath (nine), Jeff Ward (eight), Chad Reed (seven), then Ryan Villopoto and Rick Johnson (six each).
BARCIA? (Jason Weigandt)
The injury bug is starting to create some fear. Last night we heard a rumor that Justin Barcia had crashed at the Yamaha test track and might have injured his leg. This morning we checked in with some sources, including AutoTrader.com/Toyota/JGR Yamaha team manager Jeremy Albrecht. J-Bone told us Justin did have a big crash, but it appears nothing is broken. Justin wants to race this weekend, but might be too beat up and sore to get clearance to do it. This might come down to a game-time decision like it did for teammate Weston Peick a few weeks ago. We’ll keep you updated on the story, and let’s hope Barcia really did catch a break and got away from a big crash without an actual break.
TWO FOR TUESDAY (Matthes)
Most people know that “we” do a Pulpmx Show on Monday nights at 6 p.m. PST over on pulpmxshow.com. It’s a fun little show that we’ve been doing for over four years and we’re coming up on show #200 this Monday, so that means it was #199 on Monday. But then a gift in the form of Weege fell onto our laps Tuesday: The Weege said he would drive up and do a show with us.
We couldn’t pass up on the voice of American motocross sitting in with us, so the solution was to make it show #199.5 so it wouldn’t interfere with our #200 plans this coming Monday. We had nine hours of the Pulpmx Show this week. Here’s what we learned:
- JT said that Chad Reed wouldn’t be a good motocross instructor because he has no patience with anyone and just makes fun of people. Reed came on and said that anything he told JT would always be met with a reason why he couldn’t do it so he stopped trying to help.
- Cole Seely and I had a nice ten-minute discussion on how awesome Honda Ridgelines are.
- Dean Wilson is seriously bummed he got hurt again, but when he found out Dirt Rider’s Kris Keefer was co-hosting he was laughing at Keefer crashing over and over in an EnduroCross, and Dean remembers when Keefer hit a tree at a Canadian national. Glad we could help Dean-o!
- Zach Osborne didn’t see Weege’s inflammatory tweet about his eyebrows, but he was going to look for it and blow Weege out.
- Trey Canard said that he and Chad Reed have talked it all out, and that him calling Chad a “crybaby” wasn’t a very tough insult.
- Jimmy Albertson isn’t happy when you make fun of him for switching brands three times in less than a year, nor is he happy about switching brands three times in less than a year. But he is very happy he’s married to Georgia Albertson.
- Cole Martinez is probably going to Canada to race the MX2 class for Leading Edge Kawasaki and his mom lives in Saskatchewan.
- Guy Cooper told us an amazing story about Ron Lechien in Geneva, Switzerland, missing practice and still winning. He was standing on the tabletop during opening ceremonies and asking Coop what they were jumping. Classic Dogger!
Anyway, Monday nights at 6 p.m. over on Pulpmxshow.com—come join us, why won’t you?
PRO PERSPECTIVE (Jason Thomas and David Pingree)
JT: For most riders, I think there would be nervous thoughts floating around after a rough couple of weeks that saw a loss of the red plate and the rise of Ryan Dungey. Ken Roczen is not most riders, though. He is a very headstrong, confident guy. I haven't ever seen him question his ability regardless of the results. In a time like this, that can be a very valuable weapon. Self-belief is one of the most important assets a rider can maintain. Even in times of turmoil, knowing that a win is right around the corner can keep one's head on straight. For Roczen, this really isn't any kind of panic situation. Sure, he had a horrible weekend in Oakland and Anaheim III wasn't great, but he is in a great position to go after this title with twelve races to go. The biggest key to turning the tide is to go out and just execute. He knows how to ride better than arguably anyone on Earth. He is a great starter, is on a great team, and is in great shape. Start the season over this Saturday, forget the first five races—both good and bad—and do what comes natural. He has been winning motorcycle races before he knew where America was on a map. Get back to the winning ways and all of the noise will be silenced.
PING: I don’t pretend to know what happened in Florida that led to the recent split between Ken Roczen and Aldon Baker, but it could have massive ramifications. There is something about Baker’s program that produces results—the scoreboard doesn’t lie. Aside from obviously Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto, guys like James Stewart and Ryan Dungey have had success while they were on his rigid program. When they left and did their own thing they had less success. Dungey is now back on that program and holding the red plate. Coincidence? His finishes this season have been 4-3-2-2-1, which is a ball of momentum building if I’ve ever seen it, though there’s still a long way to go.
Meanwhile, Roczen went from dominating the opener and looking like he was going to run the table this year to fighting to get back on the podium, especially after that head-banger at Oakland. If Ken and Papa rally to win this thing after leaving Baker, it will be a first. Roczen is one of the most talented and fluid riders I’ve ever seen, so if anybody can do it, he’s the guy.
What’s Ken up against? Well, he knows Baker’s track record—he himself added to it last summer when he won the 450 AMA Motocross Championship. He also knows he’s on a team that has never won a championship. Dungey is on fire and working with Baker, and he knows almost ended his season in Oakland, with the biggest miscue I’ve ever seen the German rider make. The next three months will test his mental and physical toughness and we get to watch it all play out, starting this Saturday in San Diego.
ON THE RIGHT PATH (Chase Stallo)
Aaron Plessinger's rise through the amateur ranks was unorthodox compared to today’s standards. He was never the can’t-miss-kid like teammate Cooper Webb or Adam Cianciarulo. He raced the Loretta Lynn Amateur National Championship for years—never reaching the podium until he won both B Classes (450 and 250 B) in 2013. Many thought he had just as bright of a future racing the GNCC series as he did racing Monster Energy Supercross.
It wasn’t until 2013 that Plessinger decided to dedicate himself to a career in professional motocross. Since that time, he’s won at Loretta’s, Ricky Carmichael’s Daytona Amateur Supercross, Amsoil Arenacross, and the Amateur All-Stars Class at the Monster Energy Cup. Yet, he was hardly on anyone’s radar entering the 2015 250SX West Region in Monster Energy AMA Supercross. He capped his fast rise in the professional ranks—three top-fives in five rounds—with his first career podium last weekend, giving Star Racing a one-three finish. In just his fifth start, Plessinger reached the podium; how quickly does that stack up to rookies of yester-year? We looked back at the current top five in each class to see how quickly each reached the podium in Monster Energy Supercross.
| Rider | No of starts to reach podium | Finish | Venue | Year |
| 450SX Top Five | ||||
| Ryan Dungey | 1 | 1st | Atlanta | 2007 |
| Ken Roczen | 5 | 3rd | Anaheim 2 | 2011 |
| Eli Tomac | 3 | 3rd | Los Angeles | 2011 |
| Trey Canard | 1 | 1st | Atlanta | 2008 |
| 250SX Top Five | ||||
| Cooper Webb | 3 | 2nd | Anaheim 2 | 2014 |
| Jessy Nelson | 16 | 1st | Anaheim 1 | 2015 |
| Zach Osborne | 13 | 3rd | Los Angeles | 2012 |
| Tyler Bowers | 15 | 1st | Las Vegas | 2013 |
| Justin Hill | 12 | 1st | San Diego | 2014 |
MORE DUNGEY (Andras Hegyi)
This has been Ryan Dungey's best start ever in a 450SX season. Ryan has never done as well in the first five rounds as he did this season—not even in 2010, when he became champion. That year he was the points leader at this time, with two wins, a second, a fourth and a sixth place for a total of 105 points. In his last Suzuki season (2011) Dungey opened with only 79 points after five races. He had an awesome debut with KTM in 2011, getting the brand it’s first podium and first win in 450SX history. With a win, a second, a third and two fourth-places, Dungey was able to get 103 points after five races. But the last two years have not gone as well, with 93 points (2013) and 76 points (2014). Right now he’s in the points lead and he has scored 107 points. Not bad!
BEASTS OF THE EAST (Weigandt)
Your entire fantasy supercross world could come crashing down next weekend with the kickoff of the 250SX East Region. Instead of #whosnext it’s simply #whosracing. We’ll have in-depth previews here at Racer X Online next week, but you can start your bench racing with probably five main names. Justin Bogle, last year’s champion, has missed time with shoulder surgery, but he’ll be there with his #1 plate on his GEICO Honda. Martin Davalos, coulda shoulda woulda been last year’s champion, is also back, now on a Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna. Defending 250 Motocross National Champion Jeremy Martin gets another shot to show what he can do in supercross—don’t forget, he won last year’s East Region finale at Las Vegas on his Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha.
And the mighty Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team pins its best hopes on Joey Savatgy and the GP import Arnaud Tonus, who we don’t really know much about yet in regards to supercross. But maybe the most favorable favorite is Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin. His skills are well known and he’s made it through the off season healthy, while a lot of these others have either taken some lumps or have spent time recovering from them. Musquin, a veteran of the class, knows this is his time. Things could get crazy when the races start, though, so we’ll see what happens a week from now in Dallas!
Oh, and one other thing: Keep an eye on Vicki Golden as she goes for the unprecedented and tries to become the first woman to qualify for an AMA Supercross.
MIKE BROWN! (Matthes)
After so, so, so many stops and starts, former 125 National Champion and all-around good guy Mike Brown and I connected on a podcast. Mike’s done so much in the sport, and the second part of his career has almost been as remarkable as his first part. After being dropped by Pro Circuit after the first round of the 1992 nationals, Brown actually quit the sport for a while and worked at Jim’s Motorcycles dealership in Tennessee. Three weeks behind the parts counter made him appreciate his natural talents much, much more, and he went back to training and riding and started all over again. In 1994, as a complete privateer out of his van, he won the Pontiac 125 SX main event. This jump-started a comeback that got him a ride on Honda of Troy and eventually saw him win the 125 AMA Motocross Championship for Pro Circuit Kawasaki in 2001.
You can listen to it here. Thanks to Mike for finding the time to do it
ATLSX 1&2 (Weigandt)
With the Georgia Dome hosting back-to-back races for the first time ever, we know the biggest question in supercross is: Where and when is the DMXS Radio pre-race party? Well, the boys from the ATL are going to host a pre-race party before the first Atlanta race (Friday, February 20 at 9 p.m. at Cosmolava) and then a post-race party after Atlanta 2 (Saturday, February 28, 11 p.m. at Cosmolava). They'll also have a ride day at Bremen Race Park the Sunday after Atlanta 2 (Sunday, March 1, 10 a.m.–5p.m. at Bremen Race Park). If you live within twelve hours of Atlanta, you have no excuse to not make at least one of these events (and races). There's nothing quite like the Atlanta supercross, except for another Atlanta supercross!
NOREN TO START TESTING; TEAM ADDS NEW RIDERS (Chase Stallo)
Time is running short for last year’s Cinderella story. As we reported this week, Fredrik Noren’s Monster Energy Supercross season is coming to a close. No, he’s not injured. The plan all along was to have Noren begin testing early with Honda for the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. Although Noren has looked much better in his second supercross season—making his first career main in Oakland—he will stay back in California after this weekend to begin testing.
Noren’s team, MotoSport.com/GPI/Honda Racing, also announced the addition of three new riders this week. Colt Nichols and Kyle Peters will make their debut for the team at the 250SX East Region opener in Dallas next week. Meanwhile, the team will provide support for Chase Marquier during the amateur nationals.
“MotoSport is excited to have these talented riders under our banner and we look forward to watching them grow and helping in their success,” said MotoSport.com director of marketing Jarrod Rogers. “We’re building a solid team foundation with Crossland and these three riders help cement things into place.
LOS ANGELES COLISEUM (DC)
Racer X Online reader Bill Gilbert sent us this cool note after I posted photos of my visit to the Los Angeles Coliseum—the cradle of supercross—for last week’s “retro” theme:
"After reading your Racerhead today, it got me thinking about these photos I meant to send you awhile back. This is a 36"x48" advertisement board that sat in AAA Cycles in So. Cal. who my dad used to race a KTM for back 1976.
I would go in the motorcycle shop with my dad once a week and eyeball it. I was an 8 year old that wanted it BAD. Once day, I gathered up the courage to ask the owner if I could have it and he told me to come in after the race and it would be mine. Lucky for me, my dad took me to see Jimmy Ellis win that night who instantly became one of my moto heroes. The next week, we made a special trip to the shop to collect my treasure. It has hung on my bedroom wall as a kid and has a place in my garage until my boy asks for it.
It is a great father/son memory I have. I haven't seen another one like it.
I took a bunch of photos so you could see the small details. Note the bike that’s on fire while jumping and the way they spelled DeCoster's name... Great stuff!"
HEAD-SCRATCHING HEADLINE OF THE WEEK
Monster Energy Kawasaki Leaves Anaheim in the Dust
PULPMX LINKS (Matthes)
JT and I talk fantasy moto in this N-Fab Racer X Podcast here.
David Vuillemin gives his thoughts on A3 here.
Jason Thomas, Chase Stallo, and Ping make an appearance on the Fly Racing Moto:60 Show here.
My wife ran around at Anaheim 3 looking for moto doppelgangers and actually found a few here.
Moser profiles Wey and Dalzell in Just Short episode—it’s the column that everyone loves!
RANDOM NOTES
Heading to San Diego for the 6th 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!
We spotted Gautier Paulin race-testing something new at the Italian Championship last weekend, but we can’t get anyone at 100% (whom the MXGP star rides for) to tell us if that’s a new film system they are working on. Stay tuned!
This week, CNN.com’s What a shot! 35 amazing sports photos, featured a photo by freelance photographer Steve Cox of Lucas Oil/Troy Lee Designs KTM’s Jessy Nelson at Round 5 of Monster Energy Supercross from Anaheim. Go to photo seventeen to check it out.
Congrats to our longtime friend and colleague Adam Booth on his new gig as Off-Road Editor for MotoUSA. Adam is a longtime industry writer/rider/photographer, working most recently with Dirt Rider and before that Dirt Bike. You can now find his work at http://www.motorcycleusa.com
Racer X Publisher Scott Wallenberg's band, The Blue Addicts, performed at the Racer X-WPS party recently in Boise, ID. Check it out here.
Check out the cover of the recent French motorcycle magazine Moto Revue, a salute to their fellow journalists and artists at Charlie Hebdo, who were attacked and murdered by Islamic terrorists a few weeks back.
On a lighter note, congrats to Julie De Vaulx, U.S.-based French journalist Olivier de Vaulx's daughter, on getting her first photo spread in the same magazine—she shot the photo below of her dad and another rider on a riding trip through Death Valley. Not bad! What were you doing when you were thirteen years old?!
For the latest from Canada, check out DMX Frid'Eh Update #5.
Supercross, supercross, come on down! This will be a packed house. Tell all of your motorcycle buddies to come out and see some of the industry people that are going to be here for she Dallas Supercrosss on Saturday.
When: Friday, February 13, 7p.m. – 10 p.m.
Where: Babb Bros BBQ & Blues at Trinity Groves, 330 Bedford St, Dallas, TX 75212, United States (map)
Finally, we would like to dedicate this column to Armin Hostetter, a lifelong motorcycle enthusiast and the founder of the first “arenacross” we’ve ever know, Motorama at the Harrisburg (PA) Farm Show Arena in 1978. Mr. Hostetter was also the longtime promoter of Trail-Way Speedway in Hanover, Pennsylvania. He was a passionate pioneer of motorsports and the Motorama event will continue in his honor. Armin Hostetter was 87 years old. Godspeed, Armin.
