Meanwhile, over in Europe, HRC Honda’s Tim Gajser will begin the defense of his #1 plate (er, #243) when the British GP goes off. Gajser will have a sea of colors coming after him, including red, as Glen Coldenhoff will be debuting the new GasGas 450, which means the red version of a KTM (for now anyway). He finished last season red hot, so it only makes sense, right? KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings is back at full force, and he’s armed with a new three-year extension to his contract. Nine-time world champion Antonio Cairoli is also back in action, though he’s admittedly not 100% in regards to his training and fitness after off-season surgery on his shoulder. And Jorge Prado is planning on making a go of it this weekend, less than three months after breaking his femur. There’s also the Kawasaki factory duo of Clement Desalle and Romain Febvre, both of whom are healthy after ending their ’19 campaigns early with injuries, and the Yamaha trio of Gautier Paulin, Jeremy Seewer, and Arnaud Tonus and more. It’s a deep field to start things out, and it should be very interesting.

And good luck to the Americans participating this weekend, including Thomas Covington (MXGP), Mitchell Harrison (MX2), Jordan Jarvis, and Avrie Berry (WMX).

If you’re planning on watching the Atlanta SX this weekend, remember that it’s an early start time—5:00 p.m. ET—and it will air live on NBC Sports Network, as well as NBC Sports Gold. For MXGP, which has timed qualifying and the qualifying races for gate position, you can watch those live on MXGP-TV.com beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET. Sunday’s races will air on MXGP-TV.com beginning at 7:00 a.m. ET Sunday morning and all four motos of MXGP and MX2 can be found there. And then Sunday night at 10:00 p.m. ET to midnight you can watch the second motos for MX2 and MXGP on CBS Sports Network.

Oh, and one more quick TV note: Congratulations to everyone at NBC Sports for landing the rights to MotoGP in America. That means that SX, MX, and MotoGP are all on the same channel! And if they’re looking for a good host to their domestic broadcasts of the race, I know a guy who lives in Charlotte who knows more about motorcycle racing than anyone and is good with a selfie stick after the races….

Before we get started, best wishes and a full recovery for our longtime friend Tom Carson of the Alpinestars Mobile Medics. Tom suffered a snowmobile crash earlier this week and is going to be on the mend for the near future. Get well soon, Tom!

Brian Moreau (DC)

The recovery of Brian Moreau continues. The TLD KTM rider from France who was injured in free practice at the Tampa SX on February 15 has apparently flown home to convalesce there with his family nearby. He posted this photo on his Instagram Stories this week without much more comment about his progress, but we continue to wish him the very best, not to mention a full recovery, and hope that being back in France will help motivate his spirits:

Road 2 Recovery has stepped up efforts to help Brian with his recovery, and they are asking for donations to help this 18-year-old athlete. Help if you can right here.

Good to Go (Jason Weigandt)

It’s been a painful week for Cooper Webb, but somehow, he was back on his bike today at press day in Atlanta. Cooper rode one session out of two today, he looked a little stiff and wasn’t sending it like some of the riders like Ken Roczen, Justin Brayton and Justin Barcia, but it’s a whole lot better than expected while he was flying over the concrete and then thudding down hard last weekend.

“All good man,” Webb said. “Today is the first time riding, best case scenario, I’m feeling pretty good. Sunday I was feeling definitely not so good, but’s progressed quite a bit the last few days. Wasn’t an easy week, lot of therapy, lot of draining, but you have to do what you can to be better.”

Webb obviously thought the injury was worse at first.

“The way I was laying, I was on a board that was super stiff, and I think I was laying right on the hematoma, so it felt really bad,” he said. “Once I got into a regular bed, it felt a lot better. I was stoked on the outcome. I’ve never had an injury in that area, so I didn’t know what to expect, but this was best case scenario, for sure. That was best-case scenario, because that was a real crash.”

Webb’s mechanic Carlos Rivera said the plan all along was to ride only one session of press, and even after riding Cooper feels pretty good. “We’re thrilled with how it all worked out,” added KTM’s Frankie Latham.

Unfortunately, not all injury news is good, as Joey Crown broke his collarbone in a crash today during press day. The Michigan kid was on a real roll through these first two weeks of 250SX East, but this should put him out for a few weeks. That’s a bummer. I also talked to Martin Davalos a bit. Poor Marty crashed pretty much over and over and over last weekend in Arlington, and he says a 33-year-old body doesn’t take well to being thrown on the ground so much. But while it’s been a tough season for Marty so far, he’s not upset. He’s wanted to be in the 450 class for a long time, and he wants to enjoy the fact that at least he got a chance to go for it, win or lose, success or struggle.

Not too many other surprises from press today. Roczen looked really fast, and Barcia was having fun leaping the wall into the sand—the height on his jump was ridiculous, so don’t expect him to do it in the races tomorrow. Made for some cool photos though!

BLU CRU (steve Matthes)

Today before press day Weege and I went to Yamaha’s HQ out here in Georgia to visit the guys, hang out and watch the ribbon cutting to honor the Yamaha Wall of Champions moving from Cypress, California to this facility in GA. A couple of years ago most of Yamaha (not the race team and not some marketing guys) were moved out here from California to an existing facility out here. The people that I talk to that did the move have enjoyed the new part of the country and Yamaha wanted to make sure that this Wall of Champions was put In the proper spot on the east coast. None other than Damon Bradshaw was on hand to hang out, take photos and give a little speech. As he said, he’s been with Yamaha from yellow to white and now blue and it was cool for him to be back with BLUCRU for this year and beyond. There was free bagels, coffee, t-shirts also that Weege really enjoyed so there’s that.

HALF TO TOMAC (Andras Hegyi)

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac has been having his best campaign yet in 450SX. He had never been as consistent in the first eight rounds as he has been this year. Tomac has taken half the wins so far, as last Saturday night in Texas he got his fourth victory this season. That also happened for him in 2018. But his consistent results in races he hasn't won have him in the best shape ever for the title. All told, Tomac has collected five podiums in the first eight rounds. Tomac also has the most points in the first eight rounds that he’s ever had, and not just because of the slight changes in the points structure. His former record was from last year, when he got 160 points in the first right rounds. This time around Tomac already has 181 points, nearly a full race better.

Tomac was able to join some very elite company. Besides Jeremy McGrath, Ryan Villopoto and Ricky Johnson, Tomac is only the fourth supercross rider to get at least four wins in at least four consecutive seasons. Between 2010 and 2014, in five consecutive seasons, Villopoto had at least four wins. Both McGrath (1993-'96) and Johnson (1986-'89) had at least four victories in four successive seasons. Eli has been able to get at least four wins every season since 2017.

DONE-GY (Matthes)

Before I get into this much further, I would just like to wish Kellen here at Racer X a very happy Jeffrey Herlings day! New contract for the Bullet and a series kick off as well!

As I wrote about for MX Vice, Ryan Dungey leaving GEICO just months into buying into the team as a part-owner is a head scratcher for sure. Even more so when you see that Dungey went and deleted all mentions of GEICO Honda (other than the announcement that they were parting ways) off his Instagram. People I spoke to say that most of the reason why was the time commitments to the team were a bit more than he wanted but that also he was the one making those commitments. No one on the team was asking him to be so deeply involved with the riders and the team. As my source told me, “Ryan’s all in or he’s all out” so he couldn't just be  in halfway. His financial interest in the team never got officially finished either so he’s 100 percent out of the deal now. I know from other people that he was a bit frustrated in dealing with some of the things that couldn’t happen right away, some of it due to riders, parents, agents, etc. When you’re solely in charge of your career like Ryan was for so long, maybe some decisions that you have to wait on or can’t be done the way you’d like might be frustrating for you. But, mostly, I've heard he  was committing more time to the project than he originally expected.  Whatever the reason is, Ryan Dungey’s out at GEICO Honda and so save those photos of him on a Honda, they’re collectors items now!

Ryan Dungey REDUX (DC)

The news this week that Ryan Dungey was stepping away from his new duties as part-owner of the GEICO Honda team was a surprise, to some as much a surprise as the fact that he’d joined the management/ownership of the team in the first place. Dungey, who retired from the Red Bull KTM team in 2017 after clinching a third straight AMA Supercross Championship, is not the first legend to struggle a little in trying to find his footing as a civilian moto man.

“Welcome to retirement Ryan—the hardest thing you will ever go through,” commented Ryan Hughes, himself a former factory superstar, on Instagram. “We look for something to fill that gap of not being that professional athlete (anymore), but unfortunately nothing ever will! You say I’m done, but (nothing) will ever challenge you, reward you, motivate you like moto does. Everyone morning you wake up with a drive—now what?”

Ryno would know—he’s had a very long and circuitous route after retirement from professional motocross, including off-road racing, coaching, founding Ryno Power Supplements, traveling, and now working as riding coach with MXGP contender Glen Coldenhoff. Ryno always charges life, and it looks like he’s been having a blast working with the Hoff over there.

Other guys find different outlets. Ricky Carmichael, who has his GOAT Farm, is the host and track designer for the Daytona Supercross; MX Sports’ partner on the RCSX Amateur Supercross; works with Suzuki, Fox Racing, Monster Energy, Cometic, and other brands; and of course is the color commentator for Monster Energy AMA Supercross on NBC Sports. Jeff Emig was the color commentator when the series was on Fox Sports, and he has his own grip company, as well as being an ambassador for Shift Racing, Fox, and Husqvarna Motorcycles. He also does a cool podcast with Ricky, plus the Fox Racing Fox 74 show. And other past superstars like Jeremy McGrath (Kawasaki, Maxxis, THOR, Arma) and Ryan Villopoto (Yamaha, Answer, Monster Energy, track owner) and Kevin Windham (track owner, gym owner) and Grant Langston (shop owner, NBC Sports commentator, Whiskey Throttle Show cohost with fellow former racer David Pingree) have all found good outlets post-racing, though it didn’t always happen right away. And to that I would add that I think James Stewart is still kind of looking for where and when to really jump back into the sport, beyond, of course, his Seven MX gear company.

And to all of that I will add this, in closing:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9DgBzKpNuZ/

Yes, after years of, well, who knows? Jason Lawrence is back. Sorta. He has been working with a cool and fast young kid named Canyon Richards, and it’s apparently reawoken his love of motocross. He just wants to do some riding again, no pressure, on his own terms, and have fun. He was working with our good friend Wes Williams on trying to get in on the X Games, and I know Donn Maeda from Swap Moto Live has always been trying to help him get back into it. And if J-Law wants to come back to the ranch like he said on Instagram, we would absolutely love to have him!

But back to Dungey. I think it’s great that he gave team ownership a try, but that can be a grind, too, especially right after you’ve gotten off the road after years and years of racing, and also just started a family. I hope he finds something involved in moto like the guys I mentioned above that allows him to enjoy the sport without a whole bunch of pressure. He had that for much of his life. Now it’s time to take it easy, and also keep his options open. Welcome back to retirement, #5.

11.1 (Kris Keefer)

I keep a log of everything I test during the week, as well as how many engine hours I’ve tallied up on each bike I ride. When going back on the log each Friday, it's crazy to see how much time I put on these bikes, and now I can comprehend why my old ass is a little sore this morning. I am not in my early twenties anymore, but when I ride dirt bikes, I still feel that way. I get asked a lot about how much I ride and what I am testing when I am at the track, so I thought I would share this week with you all. This is a medium load testing week as I sometimes have longer weeks when the busy season starts (May-September). Here is my log of this week and a brief description on what I did each day.

MONDAY

Confidential Boot Testing: Yes, sometimes I can't just go to an open public practice day and must ride some private tracks or secret desert tracks to keep what I'm testing on the DL. Monday was the start of a durability test of a new boot that will be out next year. I am required to log 75 hours in said boots and give the company feedback on if said boots are acceptable or not. I managed to log 2.1 hours in them in motocross conditions. Four 30-minute motos plus the .1 that I managed to get on the meter while screwing off on a hip jump in the middle of BFE. I also rode the YZ450F to do this, just in case you were wondering which bike I tested the boots with.

TUESDAY

Comparison Testing: When a new year model comes out (like the KTM 450 Factory Edition or Husqvarna FC 450 Rockstar Edition) I love to stack it up against another bike that I think is good and see how it compares. As most of you know, I love a 2020 Yamaha YZ450F, so I used that as my baseline test bike to see where the orange and white bikes were better or worse. I originally had planned to go to State Fair MX (formerly known as Starwest MX Park), but the Santa Ana winds had other plans, so I stuck to a secret rough track up in the high desert. The track I tested at is one where I have done a lot of tire testing with a couple tire manufacturers; it has steep hills, a hard-pack clay upper portion, and a softer/sandier lower portion. It's a great mix of terrain that gives you a handle on what a bike's chassis, suspension and engine is good at and not so good at. Tuesday was my biggest day as far as being fatigued goes, as I managed to log 3 total engine hours (1 hour each bike). 

WEDNESDAY

2020 Honda CRF450R Build/Confidential Boot Testing: I got a new suspension setting from Race Tech on the Racer X Garage Build CRF450R that you'll see posted here soon. I went to an old Mike Alessi track near Phelan to assess the fresh bump sticks as well as put more time on the prototype boots. The CRF450R is a finicky machine and trying to get "Track Toughness" out of this bike is hard to do. Race Tech has done a great job of blending performance and comfort with the Showa suspension, but like an older, wiser man once told me, "you're only as good as what you try.” I spent another 3.2 total engine hours on this bike Wednesday, but it wasn't a structured day with motos. This day was more about doing small sessions and then changing out some parts to see if we can make the suspension good on a wide variety of tracks within the area. When I find a setting that I think is good, we always try to wrap the day up with one long 30-minute moto, which is usually around dusk. I then get home and prepare for annual Wednesday "Basement Husband Meeting" where us ugly dudes get together and talk about our hot wives/girlfriends. Submit your application online, fellas!

THURSDAY

KTM/Honda/Kawasaki Comparison Testing: The Santa Ana winds calmed down enough to get to State Fair MX Park on Thursday so I could ride the KTM 450 Factory Edition, Kawasaki KX450, and Honda CRF450R. Usually this would be the day to ride Glen Helen, but with a Big 6 GP race there this weekend, I knew that place would be a zoo, so I stayed away this week. I wanted to get a feel for these three bikes on a tight, clay-based track that had some good ruts. I always try to ride all the bikes as much as I can, so I have enough information to help the consumer when they have questions. I have to ride/test each bike in order to create the correct testing content or else it's just a bunch of fluffy BS. Total engine time was 2.8 hours.

FRIDAY

Office Day: Basically, every day is an office day when I don't ride, and when I do ride, I’m usually in here after I get back from testing. If all I had to do was test the bikes, it would be a breeze. I think it's funny when people come up to me and tell me that they want to help me, but they think all I do is ride. Well, days like today I will be typing, recording, answering emails, and whatever else I have to do in order to create content for the following week. It's also nice not having to ride to let my old-ass body recover a little. Getting to ride these dirt bikes and being able to talk/write about them is the best job in the world. There really is nothing I love more than riding dirt bikes and helping people with theirs. It's a rewarding job that I get to live every day. 

WEEKEND

Ride With My Son: So, what do I do on my days "off?” I ride, of course! My 14-year-old son loves to ride as well, but with school, he only gets to ride on the weekends, so we usually end up going to a track on Saturday or Sunday. If he wants to race, we will do that as well! 

Monday, we do it all again, but with a different set of parts, bikes, etc. See you at the track!

#LongLiveDirtBikes 

SWIMMING NEWS (DC)

Okay, rarely do we have swimming news here, unless it involves someone trying to backflip their bike into San Francisco Bay (Travis) or someone trying to jet ski in the Hurricane Creek (which really happened at Loretta Lynn's last August). But today news came down that a Chinese Olympic swimmer just received a career-killing penalty from WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) of eight years for missing an out-of-competition doping test. Yes, he didn't fail, but there was something fishy. The WADA decision was upheld by the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sports) and will stand, which means Sun Yang, triple Olympic gold medalist, is done until the year 2026 (the case began in 2018).

Obviously, there's a big difference between doping in swimming, where the only motor is your body, and supercross/motocross, a motorsport that is extremely physical, but your body is obviously not the only thing that propels you in competition. It's scary think that this guy's career is over, but it sounds like there's a trail of questions with this particular athlete's case. It's also scary to think that is one of our riders, like Broc Tickle or Christian Craig, again tested positive for something that's not allowed, they could get a similar ban. 

At least it's not as bad as Russia—their entire Olympic team is banned from the Olympics! 

GNCC OPENER (Ken Hill)

Let’s face facts: Kailub Russell is a hard man to beat, and the opening round of the 2020 AMA Grand National Cross Country Series, the Big Buck GNCC in South Carolina, he proved once again that his biggest rivalry may be his own shadow. The FMF KTM Factory Off-Road rider dominated the opener from start to finish, marking yet another XC1 Pro win in his long (and still growing) list of accomplishments. I could end it there, but it wouldn’t tell the rest of the story. Usually the pressure from a competitor will have one making mistakes, but so can running all alone, and we saw some of that at Big Buck as Russell rode in his own little world out front and without any real challengers stepping up to make him work for it. One large water-crossing section would see Russell nearly take a dirt sample in front of a crowd of onlookers and of course, the RacerTV.com cameras! He also nearly landed on a leashed dog whose owner wasn't paying attention. 

With the KTM and Husky teams both gutted by injuries, it was not apparent who would or could step up and challenge Russell. That question was answered as Ricky Russell came charging into the first round. He was on fire all day, charging and pushing toward the orange blur out front. The switch from Am Pro Yamaha to the Coastal Racing Husqvarna team seems to have been a good fit for Ricky under the watchful eye of team manager Barry Hawk. Not that the other Russell doesn’t have talent or a skill set marking him as a top seed competitor—he just hasn’t had the best record of consistency. And while that has yet to play out here in 2020, something tells me he might have turned a corner and be ready to brawl. 

For Babbitt’s Kawasaki-backed Josh Strang, the season opener couldn’t have gone much better. Strang has struggled the past few seasons with injuries and bad luck, but he entered the new season running smooth and fast, and it netted him a podium finish with his third-place effort. Strang may want to be as smooth as possible while some of the series biggest hitters are benched and rack up as many points as he can before we see the ranks swell and the competition get tighter in coming rounds.

As we put the 2019 season to bed, the news was already out that the dynamic duo of Steward and Grant Baylor would be ripping into the new year aboard Sherco motorcycles. Questions abounded about what it could mean or what it might cost running another new program. They lit the first NEPG up, dropping a big statement that they were going to be ready for whatever the GNCC had to offer. The results might not have been what they wanted, as they claimed P4 (Steward) and P6 (Grant) after a trying day in near-perfect conditions. If they can stay healthy, we could see both brothers on the podium giving the Sherco team some series credibility.

All this talk of injuries reads more like a last-man-standing kind of thing, but it is reality. The KTM and Husqvarna will look like a ghost town after this past weekend. Josh Toth was already out and on the mend, and Ben Kelley, who may be the rider best seated to unhinge Kailub Russell, now faces surgery and healing time which will allow points to rack up that may never be able to overcome. Trevor Bollinger was on the injured list prior to the opener and is now joined by Rockstar Husqvarna's Thad Duvall, who is taking himself out of the game knowing his injuries need more time to heal. As fast as these guys will use a mud flea for traction, those left standing will be looking to open a gap in the points that should shakeup the season when the final round is run. 

The series next heads to Florida, where the Big Boar GNCC in Palatka will offer the added element of sand to the mix. With cool unseasonable weather taking a swing at the southeast, a heater could cause some issues if we catch a weekend where temperatures soar into the normal range or above. With blood in the water, the next few rounds of GNCC should be intense and will probably shape the season if no further injuries take out those who are ready to pounce on every possible point they can grab.

For more on the first round of GNCC Racing, read our pro bike recap from the Big Buck GNCC.

The april 2020 ISSUE OF RACER X MAGAZINE IS NOW AVAILABLE

The April 2020 issue of Racer X magazine is coming to newsstands and mailboxes soon. Subscribe to the print and/or award-winning digital edition today. And if you're already a digital subscriber head to digital.racerxonline.com to login and read now.

Inside the April issue of Racer X magazine

• The riders and team members of Monster Energy Supercross give their thoughts on the 2020 series so far
• On the eve of the 50th running of the Daytona Supercross, we revisit the very first event, held in March of 1971
• Monster Energy Yamaha’s Justin Barcia has done an about-face for 2020, with a positive new attitude and solid results to match
• As Chad Reed prepares for retirement, we look at how and when other moto legends rode off into the sunset
  
  All these features and much more inside the April issue.

Subscribe or renew your subscription to Racer X magazine and receive 12 issues, plus a free bag of Racer X Deadline Blend Evil Coffee and a $10 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC gift card.

Hey, Watch It! 

Here is a video timeline of the FIM World Motocross Championships for Women, which started in 2005, from our friend Sharon Cox and www.mxlink.co.nz:

LISTEN TO THIS 

The Fly Racing Racer X Podcast comes in with the Jasons joining host Steve Matthes to talk about the Arlington SX including the carnage that we saw, ET’s ride, the 250SX East battle, Justin Thomas, and the Stacyc race Weege’s kid did!

Daytona Bike Week is as jam-packed with races and events as ever, so Jason Weigandt called the man who will participate in the most of them, Ryan "General" Sipes. His Do-It-All season begins next weekend with the Daytona Supercross (March 7) and also includes the American Flat Track opener at Daytona on March 14 and the new Day in the Dirt Down South on March 15. Sipes talks about versatility, riding with Roczen and Sexton, his 2020 schedule, and more, and Weigandt gives the full rundown on what to see and do in Daytona starting next weekend. 

This week on the Main Event Moto Podcast, Daniel Blair, Chris Cooksey, and Producer Joe talk round eight of Monster Energy Supercross in Arlington, Texas.

HEAD-SCRATCHING HEADLINE/S OF THE WEEK 

“Woman plays the violin while undergoing surgery to remove brain tumor at hospital in London”—USA Today 

“62-year-old former Marine sets Guinness World Record by holding plank for over 8 hours”—CNN

"BATMAN BUSTED: A homemade Batmobile got towed by police in Moscow, Russia.”—ABC News

“20-foot waves may be coming to the Great Lakes”—CNN

“Army of 100,000 Chinese Ducks on Standby to Combat Locust Swarms”—Bloomber.com

Random Notes

It’s the annual DMXS Atlanta Supercross pre-party!

Head to Tongue & Groove Friday next night for the usual crazy hijinks. DMXS’ own Kevin Kelly is actually advising anyone who wants to attend to slide into his DMs on Instagram and get on the VIP list at the door. Go to @Kevin_ Kellydmxs and hit him up. Kevin also says it's a covered dish event so please don't be the guy that brings a 2 liter of Doctor Check Cola. The club is flying in this DJ Ricky Retro guy. He appears to be riding a motorized cooler while wearing a Dale Earnhardt jacket and firing a golden tommy gun. That seems about right.

Here's a few links to some ridiculous videos. Oh how young we once were!
https://youtu.be/VIPpK9QHYjU
https://youtu.be/MgXqEwvJ8pI
https://youtu.be/e5V--YfFBGY

Congratulations to our friend Don Emde. 

Big benefit event coming up in Texas for Aaron Smith...