Or this from Adam Cianciarulo:

And new dad Joey Savatgy, who is no longer with Kawasaki:

Dylan Ferrandis:

Alex Martin:

And of course Dean Wilson:

And congrats to Deano on getting engaged while down there in Jamaica, as well as to the Savatgys on the birth of their brand-new baby girl, River Rose. Now is the month for things like that, as well as switching teams, catching up on yardwork, binge-watching Netflix, Top Golfing, and maybe even going to a college football game (me, A-Fred, Mitchy the Kid, Dustin, and more). In two weeks I will be back at the races with the Maine Event, and then of course the 2019 the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations in Assen, Holland. Just like that, we will be right back at it! 

Before we get into the rest of the week’s news, we would like to honor the memory of a man who was a huge part of our local racing scene, as well as the AMA Amateur National Championships at Loretta Lynn’s.

Russell William “Captain Russ” Bennett went from being a soldier in the U.S. Army during the Korean War to a longtime member of the United Steel Workers. In 1979, he went with some friends to the old AMA Youth/Minicycle Nationals in Otter Creek, Iowa, and fell in love with motocross. He was too old to race and didn’t have kids of his own who were into it, so he decided to become a referee. For 15 years, Captain Russ was at every local race at High Point, Steel City, Brownsville, Motordrome, and more. He also spent 13 summers working as the head flagman at Loretta Lynn’s for both bikes and ATVs. He even ended up getting saluted on-air by none other than Motoworld host Dave Despain. A couple weeks back, just as Loretta Lynn’s was finishing up, Captain Russ passed away. He was 87 years old. Godspeed, Captain Russ, and thank you.

Dream Year (Jason Weigandt)

Before the regular racing season gets too far into the rearview, I just want to praise this entire 2019 campaign for providing the type of action we want to see from every season. While we won't remember 2019 for providing the all-out closest, nail-biting championship finals, on balance it's about as good as any season is going to get, with deep fields, relatively few injuries, unpredictable winners and racing, and drama throughout. Right off the top, Eli Tomac, Marvin Musquin, and Ken Roczen made all 29 races, Cooper Webb made it through 26, and Jason Anderson and Zach Osborne showed up to make Lucas Oil 450 Pro Motocross fun. Webb's charge through supercross was shocking and amazing, highlighted by that magical night in Dallas and that magical, all-time close finish with Roczen. If you want parity and unpredictability, Webb coming from the career doldrums to win the 450 Supercross Championship provided. 

While Tomac did win his third straight 450 Class Motocross Championship, the 24 motos of the 450 Class were amazing to watch, with six different moto winners. The first moto at Ironman, with Musquin, Roczen, and Tomac taking it down to the last lap, is not something you see very often! 

The 250s had good stuff, too, and while it was bad stuff for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki to see Austin Forkner and Adam Cianciarulo throw away seemingly sure supercross titles, it led to more craziness in Vegas, and Chase Sexton and Dylan Ferrandis locked it down. Plus, it led to a beautiful redemption tale for Cianciarulo and his team outdoors. 

Each year we hope to see the top riders stay healthy and keep battling all season. This year, it actually happened.

For me, the racing season isn't quite done. I'm in Crandon, Wisconsin, to announce the 50th anniversary of the Crandon Off-Road World Championships (for trucks), sharing the booth with Cameron Steele! We've got all the big hitters in off-road trucks here, including this Jeremy McGrath guy who used to race supercross a lot. If you're interested go here and we'll have live racing on Saturday and twice on Sunday. 

NEXT (Matthes) 

Congrats to Adam Cianciarulo on his first professional title. What a season, and what an unexpected win for the kid after his loss in the Vegas Supercross finale, plus you add in that outdoor MX has never been his specialty, but he and Nick Wey really worked hard. They quickly put Vegas behind them and got to work. After having only won a single 250 national in his career before the season started, he now joins a long list of very fast men who put a 125 title on their résumés before moving on to bigger things: Bob Hannah, Broc Glover, Mark Barnett, Johnny O’Mara, Jeff Ward, Mike Kiedrowski, Jeff Emig, Ricky Carmichael, Ryan Villopoto, Ryan Dungey, Cooper Webb…. Adam is now one of those guys.

Kawasaki winning both titles is also quite an accomplishment. It's been a while since Mitch Payton hung a 250 MX #1 plate on his door (Blake Baggett in 2012), so that's got to feel good. There's no title that stresses the rider, machine, mechanic, and team like an outdoor one, that's for sure. You don't luck into one of those—they're incredibly hard to win.  

So yeah, next up for me is the Montreal SX in a couple of weeks. It's part of the SX portion of the Canadian Rockstar Energy Triple Crown series and kicks off three more races for the teams up north. This one is a little different than the other ones, though, with no Colton Facciotti or Mike Alessi in the 450 Class (they just did the motocross portion of the series), but we will see riders like Dean Wilson, Justin Brayton, and Malcolm Stewart there to play the role of ringers. I was wondering whether or not Brayton would be allowed to do his usual off-season races with him going to the factory Honda truck for 2020 450SX, but yes, he'll be at Montreal, Geneva, and Australia this fall before suiting up alongside Ken Roczen at Anaheim 1. 

The Big O stadium in Montreal is kind of beat down now, but it's got a lot of history with racing there for over 30 years, plus that thing called the Olympics in 1976. That’s the one where the future Caitlyn Jenner won the men’s decathlon. This race came back last year and was a success, so it's nice to see it come back again, only this time I heard there will be the buggy racing from yesteryear, so the track should be a bit tamed down. I don't know what it is with French Canadians, but they sure love their buggy racing. I'll be up there providing complete coverage for Racer X, so that should be fun. 

French Curse (Andras Hegyi) 

The French malediction in the AMA's 125/250 Class continues. The French were once again unable to get their maiden title in the small-bore Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, as Dylan Ferrandis came up just short. He joins his fellow Frenchmen Jean-Michel Bayle, Stephane Roncada, Christophe Pourcel, and Marvin Musquin in coming close to winning the title but not quite getting there. As a matter of fact, Ferrandis became the fourth French rider to be runner-up in the final points standing in the 250 outdoors.

Riding for Yamaha of Troy, Roncada was second in 2000, barely losing to Travis Pastrana. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Pourcel appeared to have it in the bag in 2009 but then had mechanical problems in the late going, letting the title slip to a young Ryan Dungey. (And then in 2010 he always seemed destined to win, going into the last round with a nine-point lead, only to separate his shoulder at Pala Raceway and allow Trey Canard to win the title.) Finally, in 2015, Red Bull KTM's Musquin was runner-up to Star Racing Yamaha's Jeremy Martin. Marvin was down just two points to Jeremy heading into the final round, but then the Frenchman's bike broke early in the first moto at Ironman, allowing Martin to lock down the title. 

The curse of the French in this class started with Jean-Michel Bayle in 1990. He was out front in the 125 national standings, only to break his arm in the whoops at Washougal. Suzuki's Guy Cooper would win that title. Bayle avenged himself the next year, sweeping the 250 and 500 MX titles as well as AMA Supercross. That was the last time the French would ever win a major AMA title. And the small-bore class remains the one crown jewel here they have never won—they even won the Motocross of Nations in the U.S. last year!

Despite the latest setback, the French can be proud of this 2019 AMA Motocross season thanks to the performances of both Musquin and Ferrandis. Marv won a couple of rounds and appeared to be heading to second overall for a third straight season, only to collide with Zach Osborne in the last moto and hurt his knee. And in winning the last round at Ironman last Saturday, Ferrandis became the third French rider to take four wins in a 125/250 AMA Motocross season. In addition, Ferrandis got the most points in this championship for a Frenchman. Dylan gathered 499 points to surpass Pourcel’s former record of 492 points in 2009.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON (DC)

In 1997, French motocrosser Frederic Vialle raced a Yamaha YZ125 to two 125cc Grand Prix wins, taking both the German and Belgian rounds. He finished that series fourth overall behind three Italians: Alessio Chiodi, Alessandro Puzar, and Claudio Federici. Vialle’s best seasonal finish was third in 1996, but he only won a couple of motos and no GP overalls.

This past weekend, Vialle’s son Tom, a rookie on the Red Bull KTM team, took the overall win at the Swedish MX2 Grand Prix with 2-2 moto finishes to top Honda’s Carl Vlaanderen and the Spaniard Jorge Prado, who clinched the world title in the first moto. In winning, he and his father joined a very rare group of fathers and sons to have both won at the highest levels of motocross.

Tops of all is Stefan Everts and his father, Harry. Stefan, of course, is the all-time King of Grand Prix motocross, with 101 career GP wins and 10 world titles, both records. Harry is himself a four-time FIM World Champion, winning the '75 250cc World Championship on a Puch motorcycle and then adding three more titles in the 125cc Class for Suzuki. Other father-son GP winners include the Nicoll and Anstie families of Great Britain. Dave Nicoll raced in the 500cc class in the 1960s and earned himself a single GP win, but his son Kurt was one of the best Grand Prix racers of the late 1980s and '90s, taking a total of 13 GP wins. Among Kurt's competitors was Mervyn Anstie, who won a single Grand Prix, but his son Max has a half-dozen GP wins, as well as the individual overall at the 2017 Motocross of Nations.

In America, Donnie Hansen was the '82 AMA Supercross and 250 Motocross Champion, and then years later his son Josh won several 125 and 250 supercross main events. And David Bailey is one of the sport's all-time greats, while his stepfather Gary is a pioneer known as “The Professor” for his work in teaching the sport of motocross to so many others.

And we can think of at least three father-son duos to win AMA Amateur National Motocross Champions at Loretta Lynn's: Frank and Jason Thomas, John and Eli Tomac, and, more recently, Tallon and Max Vohland.

Back to Frederic and Tom: They will also became the rare father-son duo that each races in the Motocross of Nations, as dad rode for France in the early 1990s and now Tom is set to go for France in September. The Evertses, of course, did that as well. And in 1984 Peter Herlings—the father of Jeffrey—raced for the Netherlands. 

OLD SCHOOL (DC)

Yesterday I received a poster roll here at the Racer X offices from a longtime reader named John Born. His father, Al, was raised nearby in Reedsville, West Virginia, before moving to Lorain, Ohio, in the middle of the 1960s. Once there, he discovered motorcycling, and off-road racing in particular, as Lorain was the home of the Penton family. Turns out that Mr. Born started riding with them, and when John Penton started selling his own off-road bikes, made by KTM in Austria, Born was apparently the very first customer. The bike that he purchased, a Penton with serial number V003, is now on loan at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame. John Penton was quite an entrepreneur, and besides Penton motorcycles, he made Hi-Point racing gear, Red Dot tires, Hi-Point trailers, and more. 

He also started a motorcycling newspaper called State Motorcycle News that would eventually become Cycle News East. And that's what was in the poster tube that John Born sent to me: a 1967 edition of one of John Penton's State Motorcycle News publications! He also added a couple of cut-out pages from later issues that mentioned some very early races, including an early pro "moto-cross" race at Motopark in Croton, Ohio, as well as an ad for the 1971 Florida Winter-AMA Series, which included the first Daytona Motocross race. (That race will turn 50 next year, so you can expect to be hearing a lot more on that in the future.) 

I posted one of the posters that John sent me on my Instagram, and moments later I got a text from none other than Kevin Bridges of the Dirt Diggers North MC, organizers of the Hangtown Motocross Classic. He loves seeing the old Florida and Ohio posters and sent me some of the super-old Hangtown stuff from the very early days of pro motocross in America. Someday I'm going to do an iBook for the office coffee table of old race ads like these gems. 

Thanks a bunch to both John Born and Kevin Bridges for sharing their amazing old-school posters!

Pro Perspective (Ping and JT)

David Pingree: It's been a long, arduous season for the riders who made it through the entire 2019 season without an injury. Even those who may have missed some rounds are ready for some time off and a reset before the 2020 preseason begins. What's the best way to spend this time? My opinion is to stay as far away from a dirt bike as possible. I know that sounds weird, considering that we all ride dirt bikes because they’re fun and we love them. But a little distance between a rider and his machine will remind him of how much he enjoys riding. You can easily lose focus of that when you're obligated to get up and ride your ass off week in and week out for 11 months straight. 

Roczen took off for the north shore of Oahu, where famous surf break Pipeline looks more like Lake Michigan at the moment. Dean Wilson took his lady, and a very disturbing suitcase full of matching outfits, to Jamaica, where he proposed. Congrats, Deano! Now, about those dreads … LOL. 

Others are tired of getting on a plane to go anywhere and they want to hunker down at home and be with their family and friends. Regardless of how you do it, these next couple weeks are so critical for these guys. Any injuries they have can finally have some time to heal, their immune systems get a break, and they can relax their strictly regimented programs and enjoy a beer, food, and life, if only for a brief time. And it is brief. By the second week of September, race teams are going to be ready to start prepping for the Monster Energy Cup and riders will be called in. So much for your pause, fellas. Here's hoping everybody, including mechanics and industry workers, enjoy this time off. 

Jason Thomas: The first off-season weekend has finally arrived. As Ping said, for most, this is the most relaxing time of the year. Most are trying to disassociate themselves from riding and training for at least a week or two. Tim Ferry and his wife Evie used to have a rule (that we always broke) that we wouldn’t discuss dirt bikes for a time, just to get some separation and recharge batteries. I think it’s important to have that reset button. An eight-month competition season without a real break takes a huge toll on mind and body.

For me, this was always a bit different. As everyone was trying to get back to a good place and rest, I was focused on my off-season supercross races. I was very aware that most riders were taking time off. That meant the early races in September and October were prime picking if I was more prepared. I usually took it easy this first week but would also get everything ready to go supercross practicing next week, too. While some were resting, I would be doing 20-lap motos next week. It probably cost me a bit of sanity once the season rolled around but it absolutely paid dividends when I showed up for Montreal or the U.S. Open (MEC), etc. It was a conscious decision to forego a needed rest in hopes of getting the upper hand in the off season.

I think the MXoN guys are in this same spot. They probably took a few days off this week but next week, it’s back to the grind. They will be working hard while others are healing and recovering. It’s not the ideal way to prepare for 2020, in my opinion, but I absolutely respect the decision. My motives were financially driven. Those riding the MXoN are driven by arguably the biggest event of the season. It’s a huge commitment from everyone to push on for another five weeks. Everyone wants a break. But, whether it was spraying champagne at some foreign supercross race for me, or going into Assen knowing they did everything they could to prepare, it will be worth it when that day comes. There is no worse feeling than sitting on a starting line knowing you’re unprepared. While others are deservedly relaxing with an umbrella drink, our MXoN boys will be working in the shadows. 

PRADO (Andras Hegyi)

Last Sunday in Sweden, the most successful Spanish motocrosser, Jorge Prado, set two new records. By successfully defending his MX2 title, he became the first two-time FIM Motocross World Champion from Spain. Before Prado, the maiden Spanish world champion was Carlos Campano, but that was in MX3 back in 2010. The bigger record is the fact that Jorge Prado also became the youngest rider ever to win two world championships, surpassing Jeffrey Herlings.

Prado debuted in the world championship in 2016 and has been a regular rider there since 2017. In his very first Grand Prix in '16 he reached the podium, becoming one of the youngest podium finishers ever at 15 years, 7 months, 23 days old. One year later he was able to get his maiden GP win at 16 years, 3 months, 11 days old. Only Ken Roczen and the Dutchman Herlings were younger when they took their Grand Prix victories. Roczen was 15 years, 1 month, 23 days, while Herlings was another six months older. One year later, in 2018, Prado became the second youngest world champion ever, behind only Roczen in 2011.

Besides Herlings, the South African Greg Albertyn, and the Slovenian Tim Gajser, Prado is only the fourth teenager to be a two-time world champion. But he is also the youngest, as Jorge took his second world title at the age of 18 years, 7 months, 20 days. (He was born on the January 5, 2001.) Prado got there quicker than Herlings, who got his second world title in 2013 at the age of 18 years, 10 months, 23 days.

But the weekend wasn't all good for the Spaniard. His 13-race winning streak came to an end, as his Red Bull KTM teammate Tom Vialle got his first GP win. The record remains 14 in a row, set by Herlings.  

Whiskey Throttle (Ping)

The Whiskey Throttle Show spent some time with former 250 National Motocross Champion/two-time 250 West SX Champion Ivan Tedesco last week. If you didn't catch the show, check it out. Ivan put together an outstanding career, and he's still working for Pro Circuit as a test rider and coach for Garrett Marchbanks. Ivan himself was a member of the US MXoN team three different times, and he won each time he went. We spent some time covering that as well. 

We have Marty Tripes coming in next week, and then we have our next live show at the Troy Lee Designs Boutique in Laguna Beach on Friday, September 13 with surfing legend Kalani Robb. If you've seen the movie Momentum Generation then you understand Kalani's impact on the sport of surfing, and you may have also noticed the many parallels between their sport and ours. We'll dive into all of that with Kalani, who is a big motocross fan. He's a regular at the Surfercross event in August, and he's even gotten his kids into riding. Tickets will be available at www.road2recovery.com or you can purchase tickets at the door. Free pizza and PBR beer with entry, as per usual. We will also be giving away a set of Method Race Wheels to one lucky patron, as well as other moto swag. DeCal Works is giving away five free tickets to the show also, so follow our Instagram page to win those (@whiskeythrottleshow).

If you didn't see the CR500 video that posted this week, check it out! The 1992 CR500 with the #101 on it is for sale, with all proceeds going to Road 2 Recovery. The auction is live until next Tuesday evening, so get yourself a man's bike for a good cause! 

New-bike season is still going strong out west. This week we got to ride the 2020 Honda 250 and 450 at Glen Helen Raceway. Keep an eye out for those first impression videos soon.  

Lastly, I was stoked to hear that Travis Pastrana is going to be racing Red Bull Straight Rhythm this year. I chatted back and forth with him this week about it and they have some really cool things planned for that race. I don't know how he manages to race rally, promote the Nitro Circus tour, the Nitro Circus Games, raise kids, and still have time to do events like these ... but I'm glad he does. Action sports, in general, are a better, more entertaining place with him involved. And he isn't the only one going all-out for the event: the TLD guys, Roczen, Seely, Villopoto, Webb, and others all have really cool ideas they are bringing to life. Find your best 1990s kit and make sure you have your tickets. 

The october 2019 ISSUE OF RACER X MAGAZINE IS NOW AVAILABLE

The October 2019 issue of Racer X magazine is out now. Sign up now for the print and/or award-winning digital edition. And if you're already a digital subscriber head to digital.racerxonline.com to login.

Inside the October issue of Racer X Illustrated: How top riders deal with heat in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross, behind the scenes of the film Bennett’s War, exploring Unadilla history, and a trip to Wheels & Waves in the south of France. All these features and much more inside the October issue.

“Triathlon” by Jason Weigandt

A brutally hot summer took its toll during a three-race stretch spanning the 2019 Florida, Southwick, and RedBud Nationals.

PREVIEW THE ISSUE

“Hollywood Moto” by Davey Coombs

Go behind the scenes of Bennett’s War and how it hopes to change the way motocross is presented on the silver screen.

PREVIEW THE ISSUE

“Unadilla Established 1969 - Part 2” by Davey Coombs

We explore the fabled New York track’s decades on the AMA Motocross circuit.

PREVIEW THE ISSUE

“French Dressing” by David Langran

What better place to visit in the summer than the south of France—especially during the arts-and-motorcycles party known as Wheels & Waves.

PREVIEW THE ISSUE

Poster Info (Print Edition Only) 

Our pull-out collectible poster features Rockstar Energy Husqvarna riders Jason Anderson and Zach Osborne blasting around the Southwick National.

Hey, Watch It!

LISTEN TO THIS

The Fly Racing Racer X Review Podcast comes in with the Jasons joining host Steve Matthes to talk about the Ironman National. The trio does their usual gig, talking about the highlights from the weekend, including the never-ending revving of a championship bike, AC’s title, ET’s win, Zacho vs Marv, and whatever else weird stuff comes up. Check it out.

Matthes also had “The Beast From the East,” Damon Bradshaw, in studio to talk about his minicycle career, that 1992 season, his sudden retirement, and much more. Make sure to give it a listen.

Following the final round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship at Ironman Raceway, Jason Weigandt went deep into the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki celebration. In the latest edition of the Racer X Exhaust Podcast, check out some interviews Weege logged with with Adam Cianciarulo, his coach Nick Wey, team owner Mitch Payton, and even Cole Seely, who stopped by to talk retirement and congratulate his friend. 

Daniel Blair and Producer Joe bring in Episode #131 of the Main Event Moto Podcast. This week, DB and Producer Joe tag-team the pod in the batcave and they talk about the 2019 Ironman National. Hang out with them as Daniel focuses on the headlines in the sport and sometimes it goes off the rails. Listen to Episode #131 of the Main Event Moto Podcast below.