Nelson was taken immediately to a nearby hospital in Cooperstown, New York, and he remains there. There have been daily updates from the team, and Jason Weigandt even spoke to Jessy on the phone. He’s in good spirits and good hands. Here’s hoping for a full and safe recovery from one of the friendliest riders in the entire sport.

Motocross is a dangerous sport. We all know it. We also all try to do whatever we can to help prevent injuries, whether it’s through advancing safety gear, jump configurations, track conditions, anything. But there will always be the physics of a body in motion, and even flight, impacting with a sudden stop against the earth or another motorcycle. And that’s where sometimes it’s just damn unlucky that a kid like Jessy gets seriously injured. It’s the risk we take when we line up behind a starting gate, or even just go out riding with friends, and it sucks when things go as wrong as they did for Jessy Nelson at Unadilla.

Here’s more.

The Latest on Nelson and Schock and How to Make a Difference (Chase Stallo)

Most of you have been following the daily updates regarding Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM rider Jessy Nelson, who was seriously injured in the second 250 moto at the Unadilla National last Saturday. Nelson went down in a corner and his bike followed, landing on top of him. Privateer Cody Williams stopped in the middle of his race to pick the bike off Nelson, who was immediately tended to by the Asterisk Medical crew.

“He was just in a bad situation,” Williams explained to us on Monday. “The bike was on top of him, and I did what I hope someone would do for me in that situation.”

Nelson was taken to a hospital in Cooperstown and had limited feeling from his waist down. After the swelling in his back went down, doctors performed a successful operation on Wednesday. They told the family that “there was no further damage and the surgery went well and according to plan.”

Jason Weigandt had the chance to speak with Nelson directly prior to the operation, and despite his current situation, Jessy was upbeat.

“Definitely have a long road to recovery, and we just have to see how this all turns out,” he said. “I’m a huge fan of this sport, and I love that I’ve been able to be part of it for so long, and I still want to be involved, if I’m racing again or whatever it may be.”

Now, you may think Nelson has millions in the bank and doesn’t need our help, but as Jimmy Button explained to us earlier this week, medical expenses can quickly skyrocket in cases like these. Jimmy has firsthand experience, as he suffered a spinal-cord injury during his racing days.

“The fact of the matter is, no matter how good the insurance is, if you have something like this happen, it’s going to cost the rider and his family an unheard-of amount of money to get through it,” Button told us. “That’s regardless of what your insurance is, regardless of your sponsor situation. It’s going to cost a fortune to get from A to B with an injury of this magnitude.”

Road 2 Recovery, which Button co-founded for situations like these, has set up a fundraising camping to help Nelson. If you wish to donate, you can here.

Privateer Coty Schock also suffered a serious injury at the Unadilla National. The Delaware native underwent successful surgery earlier this week to have two rods and a plate inserted to repair a broken L1 vertebrae. Schock is hoping to return home in the next few days. Family members told Road 2 Recovery he is in high spirits.

Road 2 Recovery has set up a fundraising campaign to help with expenses. Please go to here to donate. For more information, ways to help, or questions please go to www.road2recovery.com.

ROCZEN ROCKS ON (Andras Hegyi)

With his Unadilla triumph, Ken Roczen racked up his seventh victory of the season—a two-moto sweep again—as well as his tenth podium. Thanks to his superb performances this summer he has gained admission into a very exclusive elite club of Suzuki riders, which has only two other members: Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Dungey.

Roczen’s seventh double-moto wins, his tenth podium and his seventh overall win mark a performance that only Carmichael and Dungey could do with Suzuki.

In 2005 Carmichael won all 12 rounds on his way to the championship, and then the next year the GOAT took nine wins on his way to another AMA Motocross Championship.

In 2010 Ryan Dungey grabbed ten wins in his first season on the 450, which also saw him with the 450 MX title.

Title Math (Chase Stallo)

It’s highly likely we’ll see both Ken Roczen (450) and Cooper Webb (250) clinch their respective championships this weekend at Budds Creek. How can they do it? Let us explain:

Roczen is up 63 points on Eli Tomac and holds the tie-breaker (16 moto wins of 20) no matter what happens in the last four motos. With only 50 points available after this weekend, all Roczen has to do is not lose 13 points on the day. Considering his worst finish this year in a moto is fourth, look for the championship to be on ice before moto two.

Webb enters 81 points clear of Joey Savatgy and Alex Martin, who are both tied at 341 points for second. The tie-breaker belongs to Webb for now (8 moto wins), but he could lose it to Savatgy (5 moto wins). So if Webb loses no more than thirty points this weekend, he’s the champion.

Considering Webb has finished no worse than sixth in a moto since Thunder Valley, it’s a safe bet he clinches on Saturday.

[Update: We messed up. Roczen has to not lose 13 points on the day.]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VITAL MX (DC)

Congratulations to VitalMX.com on turning ten years old. From the beginning, Steve “GuyB” Giberson has directed the site and its forums with the right mix of enthusiasm and patience, and that has allowed the message board to flourish to the point where it’s followed by pretty much everyone in the industry. The “Vitards” signed up there can be a little out of hand sometimes, but they also try to be constructive. It’s always entertaining and informative to read the takes people have from all over the world. (Check out this week’s thread on the idea of a 22-race supercross schedule.) GuyB is at practically every race and puts his heart and soul into both being a journalist and running the site, so happy birthday to him and the Vital MX team. And thanks for the One Lap Around videos every week!

BLUE STREAKS (Andras Hegyi)

Yamaha's rising superstar Cooper Webb keeps achieving great results and records. At Unadilla he got his fourth win of the series. He now joins Bob Hannah, Broc Glover, Damon Bradshaw, Jeff Emig, Kevin Windham, Stephane Roncada, and Jeremy Martin to become the eighth Yamaha rider to get at least four wins in a small-bore National season. Moreover, Webb has taken nine podiums this summer. Only four other Yamaha riders have at least nine podiums in a 125/250 season: Bradshaw, John Dowd, Roncada, and Jeremy Martin.

Bob Hannah got five wins in 1976 on his way to the 125cc AMA National Championship. Broc Glover did it twice on his way to the ’78 and ’79 titles, taking six and four wins in those respective seasons.

Damon Bradshaw got four wins in 1989 but narrowly lost the championship to Honda rider Mike Kiedrowski. Jeff Emig won six races in ’92 to become champion and five races in ’93, when he lost the title. Kevin Windham won four races in 1996 on a YZ125 but did not take the title, and same goes for Stephane Roncada in 2000.

It wouldn’t be until Jeremy Martin that another Yamaha rider got four or more wins in a season, Martin took five wins in both ’14 and ’15 and won the title in both years.

TEAM USA (Andras Hegyi)

After the announcement last Saturday at Unadilla that Team USA would consist of Cooper Webb, Alex Martin and Jason Anderson, we dove into the history books to find a few interesting bits. Rockstar Husqvarna’s Anderson and Yamalube/Star Racing’s Alex Martin will debut in the MXoN this year, bringing the total to fifty-five American riders who have been able to take part in the Motocross of Nations. Among them, Jeff Ward represented the USA the most times. He raced seven times, winning every time.

This is the fifteenth MXoN in which at least two American rookies will race. It also happened in 1973, ‘76, ‘77, ‘78, ‘81, ‘82, ‘83, ‘89, ‘92, ‘95, ‘98, ‘06, ‘09 and ‘10. There were five MXoN races in which the Team USA had three rookies: ‘78, ‘81, ‘82, ‘83 and ‘92.

Jeremy Martin has already been on the team twice, and now his older brother, Alex, will compete. They are the first American brothers named to the team. Ironically, Alex has raced the MXoN before, under the flag of Puerto Rico, which is a U.S. territory.   

BRAXTON SMITH (DC)

We received this sad note from Bradley Lackey of North Carolina, who is asking his fellow motocrossers to help out a family going through a very difficult time.

Hey, Watch It!

From melted bikes to racing on Saturday. We stayed under the tent to show you how it looked.

Take One Lap Around with Weston Peick running the Vital MX.com GoPro at Budds Creek.

Alpinestars shows off their young riders Jett Reynolds and Ryder DiFrancesco.

Check out this cool video from FMF on their efforts at Loretta Lynn's.

Random Notes

We got this piece of trivia from reader Paul:

Check below for the answer.

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