We also tried something new by doing a Racer X “Read Aloud,” if you prefer to listen to the story rather than read it.

Despite all the racing things going on this weekend—the Daytona SX; the Ricky Carmichael Amateur Supercross on Sunday and Monday; the Vintage SX on Tuesday; the second round of the Grand National Cross Country Series in Palatka, Florida; and even the MXGP of the Netherlands over at Valkenswaard—hovering above it all: coronavirus. Sure, there are skeptics who say it’s no big deal, just another flu, but then you start hearing and seeing the headlines and the effect it’s having on the world. The stock market in the U.S. is in a nosedive. Congress just allocated nearly $10 billion to try to fight it. And sporting events and gatherings all over the world are being canceled. Even Mecca is empty!

Right now, the Olympics in Japan are still on. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, is off, "terminated due to the coronavirus." The Arnold's event is the biggest health and fitness expo in this country, bringing a quarter-million people together each year to preview gym equipment, apparel, nutrition and supplements.

A rumor that we first saw on Vital MX mentioned that the opening round of the FIM World Motocross Championships might have been in jeopardy as well, but it went off fine last weekend at the Matterley Basin, Great Britain, though it was cold and rather dreary the days before the race—February outdoor sporting events in the northern part of Europe are something of a weather risk, and we may see the same at Valkenswaard in the Netherlands this week as MXGP jumps across the English Channel for round two. And the entire nation of Italy just announced that fans are banned from attending sporting events for the next month, through April 3. That’s hitting even closer to home for MXGP, as the Grand Prix of Italy is set to take place at the beautiful Arco Trentino track on April 5.

MotoGP actually canceled the main class for their Qatar round due to travel restriction related to Italy, where the virus has hit hard. (In other words, no Rossi no racey.) Thailand then followed suit, only they postponed the entire MotoGP event. Dorna announced, “In the face of ongoing disruption due to the coronavirus outbreak, Dorna has released an updated version of the 2020 MotoGP calendar. With Qatar already cancelled for the premier-class and round two in Thailand postponed, the MotoGP riders are now set to hold their first race at what would have been round three in Austin, Texas on April 5."

Even James Bond is afraid of this thing. The studio that produced the latest Bond movie, No Time to Die, postponed its early April release until November 25, Thanksgiving weekend, in the hopes that the coronavirus will have run its course and people won't be afraid to go back into crowded movie theaters. 

Over in Japan, where baseball is in spring training, fans have been barred from preseason games to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, just as they have in Italy.

Even the 2020 Ultra Music Festival will be postponed—possibly for a full year, which would effectively cancel this year’s edition of Miami’s marquee electronic dance music event, according to the Miami Herald.

Which brings us back to supercross. Last night Team Honda’s Ken Roczen made this announcement on his social media:

"It is difficult for me to make this announcement, as I love my fans and they are one of the most important aspects of racing. Due to the Coronavirus, I won't be attending any dealer signings or personal appearances until my doctors and my team and I feel it is safe for me to do so. Unfortunately, whether I like it or not, my immune system and my body in general are not what they used to be after all of the surgeries and trauma that I had. Being healthy is a key to my success and I want to make sure I race every single weekend at my highest level and put on a show for the fans, my friends and family. Thanks for understanding and I promise my team and I will make it up to everyone who showed up at the races or dealer signings to see me!"

Personally, I don’t blame Kenny one bit, especially after all he’s been through with infections and the like from his surgeries and other issues. Nor would I blame any other rider in this situation who makes a personal choice based on health concerns. Our world has a rough history with these kinds of outbreaks, going back to the Bubonic Plagues of Medieval times—known as the Black Death—and more recently the Influenza of 1918, which killed over 100 million people worldwide in the course of about 12 weeks. If you're driving to Daytona and want to hear a startling true history of that 1918 pandemic now known as the Spanish Flu (though it almost certainly started at a U.S. Army base in Haskins, Kansas) download this audible book by John M. Berry, The Great Influenza.

Here’s hoping that all of the precautions people around the world are taking have the effect of stopping this thing before it really gets started, because viruses of this sort can get nasty in a hurry.

Finally, with so many things happening this week—the SX, the amateur SX, the GNCCs, the Vintage SX, as well as a team managers’ meeting at 3 p.m. to preview this summer’s Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships, we’re all down here running around—myself, Weege, Matthes, Simon, Mitch, AFred and more! So, forgive if Racerhead is all over the map today! Thank goodness that Andras got his stats in early.…

Honda's Night (Andras Hegyi)

Honda riders had a fantastic night last Saturday in Atlanta. Ken Roczen won the 450SX main event, and Chase Sexton took the 250SX class. Both will wear red number plates on their red bikes this weekend in Daytona. Roczen got his third victory in 2020, the first time Roczen has had three wins with Honda in a supercross season. He has raced with Honda since 2017. And for GEICO Hondas' Sexton, this was the first time he has ever pivoted up two consecutive wins. Sexton has raced as a pro since 2017. The last time that Honda swept a supercross event was back on March 21, 2015 in Detroit, as Eli Tomac won the 450 class and Justin Bogle was the 250 winner.

In the history of the series, Atlanta was the 44th round in which Honda could win in both categories. The first time happened in the first year of the 125 class, 1985, when Ron Lechien topped the 250 class and Larry Brooks won the 125 class in Orlando. The most recent time was the aforementioned 2015 sweep in Detroit for then-Honda riders Tomac and Bogle.

BLOSS (Matthes)

The Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM team had a big choice last fall between training partners/friends Justin Bogle and Benny Bloss. You see, before SX, Bloss had gotten hurt and the team grabbed Justin Bogle as a late fill-in for the SX season. And Bogle did fantastic after he got used to the bike. He won a heat race or two, showed speed and was very impressive. So much so that when Bloss came back from his injury for motocross, the team decided to keep both guys (along with Blake Baggett of course). So, for 2020, the team manager Michael Byrne and owner Forrest Butler had to make the difficult decision between the guys and of course chose Bogle. Justin started slowly this year and then got hurt at Glendale in the first turn. He's had a history of concussions so you knew this one would take a while to come back from. The team decided to get a fill-in for Bogle and it's, yup, you guessed it- Benny Bloss!

What's old is new again over there. Now Bloss had been riding for the Rock River Yamaha team and left them (and an outdoor ride) for Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM for a guarantee of just the SX season. And he loses his gear money from Moose to go wear the team mandated Fly Racing. But it's a factory KTM compared to a privateer Yamaha so I'm sure Bloss is thinking he can get some better results with better equipment. Still, it's a gamble for Bloss because I would think he loses his MX ride (where he's really shown some great results) and a bit of money (fill-in rides generally don't pay that well in case you were wondering) but the equipment is better and all expenses are paid for, practice bike mechanic and all that (Jericho is back!).

So, we'll see how this goes. Bloss won't need any time to really get used to the new bike and should hit the ground running. Very interesting dynamic for both teams and Benny for sure.

In case you're wondering, I'm not going to be at Daytona- taking a weekend off after nine in a row. Have fun everyone and please don't go too hard at Razzles.

HERLINGS GOES TO ELEVEN (Andras Hegyi)

The four-time world champion Jeffrey Herlings started out his 2020 MXGP campaign with an overall win at Matterley Basin in England. It was his 87th career win, going back to his debut in the FIM World Championship in 2010. All 87 of those wins have come aboard KTM motorcycles, making him the most successful KTM rider in the history of the sport. The Dutchman has won at least one race in every season of his career. He is now only the 8th motocrosser to take Grand Prix wins in at least 11 different seasons. He is also the fifth motocrosser to get GP wins in at least eleven consecutive seasons.

Riders to win in at least 11 seasons:

Antonio Cairoli (Italian) 16 seasons

Stefan Everts (Belgian) 15

Yves Demaria (French) 13

Roger De Coster (Belgian) 12

Joel Smets (Belgian) 11

Eric Geboers (Belgian) 11

Andre Malherbe (Belgian) 11

Jeffrey Herlings (Dutch) 11

Riders to win in at least 11 consecutive seasons:

Antonio Cairoli: 16 (2004-2019)

Joel Smets: 11 (1993-2003)

Eric Geboers: 11 (1980-1990)

Roger De Coster: 11 (1968-1978)

Jeffrey Herlings: 11 (2010-2020)

Looking ahead to this weekend, Herlings is a big favorite as Valkenswaard, Netherlands, is pretty much his home race. Of the nine times in his career that he has raced MXGP or MX2 at the sandy Dutch circuit, he has won eight times. 

About Last Week (Jason Weigandt)

Today, I got to talk to both Justin Barcia and Eli Tomac about last weekend’s dust up after the race in Atlanta. They both seemed to think of it as hard racing, but neither seems to be carrying a grudge.

“I think it’s exciting,” said Barcia. “It’s been boring, let’s be honest. Racing had been good this year, but we need some drama. It brings excitement to the sport. I think it’s fun. Not many of us really love each other. I mean, we always yell at each other, but the cameras miss it.”

Not surprising that Barcia has been involved in many a post-race argument.

“Oh yeah, verbal, physical. I’ve been choked out, punched in the helmet. It’s always exciting!” he said, while laughing. “All in all, no hard feelings, I’m just ready to race again. I live for it. I’m like, “Let’s go! I can’t wait to get to Daytona and kick some butt.” I try not to go by Bam Bam anymore, I’ve changed my ways, but I still live for it. The whole season has been good. We’ve been having fun, but maybe this is the little extra motivation I needed, just to get up there and have some more fight. I’ve had some fight this year, but maybe I need a little more.”

For what it’s worth, Tomac didn’t seem to care, either.

“Trust me that’s not stuff that happens every week!” said Tomac. “It’s just emotions coming out—we want to win bad! As long as we’re not hurting each other, we’re just fighting for position. That’s the emotion that you see. The way I look at it, as long as we don’t hurt each other, then let it fly, let it go. Just go race.”

One rider hoping to take advantage of any drama between others is Cooper Webb, who is trying to dig out of a big points hole after his crash in Dallas. Cooper said he got to ride one day this week, which was an improvement over last week. However, he also said he needed to get two ribs put back in place after last week’s main event!

“I just gotta keep making a dent,” said Webb about his points gap. “I just have to do my think and hopefully I can crawl my way back in. Obviously, there’s a lot of excitement at the front, and anything can happen. Eight races left, hey, hopefully Ricky Carmichael is right, and the championship begins here.”

As an additional wild card, this track is much different than previous years. As a bit of an old-school Daytona nod, the track just has rough, long straights. It will be up to the natural tough terrain to slow riders down instead of tight corners and jumps. While it was smooth today on press day, it looked fast, but fun. Don’t expect that to be the case at the end of the night.

Mumford (Kris Keefer)

This week I went to ride at the Mumford compound deep in the high dez of California. Unlike the East Coast riding facilities, this one is out in BFE and has a Hills Have Eyes kind of vibe. There is the occasional abandoned trailer, a broken-down truck, a blown-up meth lab or two, and even a few coyotes roaming the area. It's one of those facilities that no one wants to drive out to, but once you're there, you can appreciate what it has to offer. The dirt is soft, the track is prepped deep, and it's some great practice for the outdoor nationals, which are slowly creeping up on us. Mumford was busting out a couple 30s in preparation for his full outdoor assault with the GEICO Honda team this summer and looked really good. Carson will be running #220 and looks to have changed his riding style a lot since the last time I saw him ride. Mumford has been riding with Christian Craig a bunch, and you can see a lot of Craig's style in him when he rides. Carson is almost 6’ now and is using his legs a lot more to gain leverage over the bike.

When I told Carson this, he just laughed and said, "Yeah, when Christian and I ride together, I try to mimic everything he does on the bike. If he hops something, I'll hop something. If he keeps his feet on the pegs through a corner, I'll keep my feet on the pegs through the same corner". Having Christian as your technique coach isn't a bad thing at all! If you're at an outdoor national this summer, be sure to keep an eye out for the number 220. He's a sleeper and will be good!

ANOTHER BELGIAN, FINALLY (Andras Hegyi)

Last Sunday, a kid named Jago Geerts took his maiden win in the FIM World Championships, winning in the MX2 class in the British opener. This victory is big news because a GP win taken by a Belgian motocrosser in the current small-bore category, MX2, in existence since 2004, is a rarity nowadays. But this was not always the way.

In the predecessor series, the 125cc World Championship, in existence between 1975 and 2003, Belgian motocrossers were often the leading stars. Belgian riders got 10 world titles and 90 wins in all. The 10 world titles were won by Gaston Rahier (3), Harry Everts (3), Eric Geboers (2), and Stefan Everts and Steve Ramon (one each). As far as the 90 GP wins go, they were taken by the aforementioned world champions, as well as Gilbert De Roover, André Massant, Marc Velkeneers and Patrick Caps. 

But in 2004 the situation was changed radically for Belgian motocrossers in the new MX2 for 250cc four-strokes. Between 2004 and 2019 there were no Belgian world champions in MX2, and while there were 266 MX2 races during those years, only two were won by Belgian racers: Jeremy Van Horebeek (2009 in the GP of Catalonia, Spain) and Joel Roelants (2012 GP of Latvia). So, last Sunday in Great Britain, the national anthem of Belgium was heard again for the first time in eight years in the MX2, thanks to the 20-year old Jago Geerts. This is also the first time in the MX2 era that a Belgian rider has worn the red plate as points leader. 

And a tip of the visor to young Liam Everts, the 16-year-old son of Stefan and grandson of Harry (that’s 14 world titles if you’re counting at home). He won his first EMX125 race last weekend at Matterley Basin, the very same track where Stefan won his last race, the 2006 Motocross of Nations, where he famously passed James Stewart while standing up around the outside of a long sweeper. Liam did pretty much the same thing to one of his rivals, passing for the lead in the exact same corner! And speaking of Everts…

Jo Shimoda (Mitch Kendra)

On a night where his defending 250SX East Region champion teammate took his second consecutive 250SX main event and sole possession of the points lead, GEICO Honda’s Jo Shimoda quietly rode to a career best finish. And that’s probably the way he prefers it. The Japan native, who turned pro during the 2019 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, earned his first top-five finish in a professional AMA race.

He was fist-bumping and revving his bike upon crossing the finish line and while on the inside he was excited, he doesn’t show much emotion aside from the grin he keeps on his face and an occasional laugh with others.

“Everybody was super pumped,” he said today during media day on his weekend in Georgia.

Shimoda competed in the final three nationals last summer but this year has marked his debut in Monster Energy AMA Supercross. After two straight tenth-place finishes at the Tampa Supercross and the Arlington Supercross Triple Crown (where he finished 14-10-8), Shimoda managed to hold on to for a career best in Atlanta.

“Last weekend was really good,” Shimoda said. “I started 13th and I was able to get to [position] five and finish fifth overall for my first top-five finish.”

Tomorrow, Shimoda will take on his fourth round of Monster Energy AMA Supercross but it won’t be like any of the other three he’s raced so far. He will attempt to tackle the Daytona Supercross—one of the most grueling tracks on the circuit each year.

“This week, I think it’s going to be a crazy track,” he said, “It’s like out outdoors and supercross so it’s good to have the press day here to kinda learn the track a little bit here and there.

The layout of the event changes each year but with the 2020 event marking the 50th running of the event, the track features one of the most unique layouts ever, paying homage to the Daytona Supercross roots. Jo and the GEICO team took a different approach this week as he prepared for the brutal race.

“I live in California but I actually went to Florida for a little bit of testing at [Moto] Sandbox,” Shimoda said. “The track at the Sandbox is really rough and rutted and it looks just like this track so it was a little bit different but still fun.”

I asked him what he thought about the anticipated track layout and where he believed he could excel or where he might need extra time to figure out a rhythm and he said he’ll find out tomorrow.

“Actually, every track I go to, I never look at track maps. I just go there and do track walk and figure it out because I don’t know, I don’t really care—from a week before—what the rhythms are going to be like,” Shimoda said.

While his rookie teammate Jett Lawrence has been in the spotlight with his impressive battle with Dylan Ferrandis and his love for donuts and humor off the track, Shimoda brings his own personality to the team. We’ve heard and seen of the interactions the two have had together but Jo’s not the outgoing, everyone’s focused on him at all times kind of guy. He’s quiet and keeps to himself—as he did today during press day—but when you get him talking you get to see a little more of him. I looped back around to ask about his day in Atlanta and he told me this with a laugh:

“The funny thing is like we made a bet with Shift so if I got a fifth overall, they’re gonna give me a—cause I’m from Japan—so they’re gonna give me a sushi emoji buttpatch. So I think I’m getting it this week.”

He didn’t have the buttpatch on today but watch for “Sushi” to continue to build week in and week out.

166 (Andras Hegyi)

Nine-time world champion Antonio Cairoli can rewrite some of the very prominent records held by Stefan Everts, the most successful rider ever in the history of the Grand Prix motocross. Besides the Belgian Everts, Italy’s Cairoli can become only the second crosser to have 10 world titles. He can also surpass Everts in Grand Prix wins, as Stefan finished with 101 GP wins, while Cairoli has 89. And last Sunday in Great Britain, Cairoli matched Everts in getting the most podium results, as Cairoli earned his 166th podium.

Cairoli has earned podium finishes for 17 consecutive seasons, going back to 2004. He got his maiden GP podium on May 16, 2004 when he finished third at the MX2 GP of Benelux, held at Lichtenvoorde, Netherlands. He was 19 years old and rode with Yamaha. All told, he would get 52 podiums with Yamaha and 114 podiums with KTM. His best year was 2013, when he achieved 15 podiums.

Like Cairoli, Everts got GP podiums in 17 different seasons, but not in consecutive years. Everts was injured in 2000, badly breaking his leg, and he did not take part in the FIM World Championship. Between 1989 and ‘99 Everts got podiums every season, and also between 2001 and 2006.

Everts debuted in the motocross world championship in 1989. On June 18 of that first year Everts finished third at the 125cc GP of Czechoslovakia, held at Dalecin. Everts was 17 years old and rode with Suzuki. Everts got his last GP podium on September 17, 2006, when he won the MX1 GP of France, held at Ernée. He was 34 years old and rode for Yamaha. All told, Everts took GP podiums with all the four Japanese brands: Suzuki, Kawasaki, Honda and Yamaha. He got 24 podiums with Suzuki, 17 with Kawasaki, 39 with Honda, and 86 with Yamaha.

Everts is the unique rider to get GP podiums in six different categories in the history of the motocross world championship: 125, 250, 500, 650, MotocrossGP and MX1.

Finally, he got the most podiums in 2003, earning 19 podiums in three categories. (The world championships were using a one-moto format that year and Everts often rode two classes, and then in the last race of the year he won all three classes!)

If Cairoli finishes on the podium this weekend at Valkenswaard, a race he won last year, he will smash the first of Stefan Everts’ seemingly unbreakable records.

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! 

With the weird first turns planned for Daytona start tomorrow night, where the riders do a big circle,  we thought of this old video of Marty Smith missing the first turn in the 1975 Superbowl of Motocross, missing the detour and charging wide open into the whoops. You will see it around the 3:20 mark.

LISTEN TO THIS 

The Fly Racing Racer X Podcast comes in with Weege and JT joining me to chat about the A-T-L SX and all that happened there including that incredible 450SX main event, Ken Roczen's ride, Barcia vs ET3, Sexton vs RJ, our Yamaha visit, and more.

Jason Weigandt chats with Brayton about career management in this edition of the Racer X Exhaust podcast.

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. 

The Fly Racing Racer X Podcast comes in Swap Moto Live’s Michael Antonovich talking about his start in the industry, moving back to St. Louis, TWMX Magazine folding up, moto media in general, and more.

This week on the Main Event Moto Podcast, Daniel Blair, Andy Gregg from Guts Racing, mechanic Ryan Hughes, and Producer Joe talk round nine of 2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross in Atlanta, Georgia.

This week on The MotoXpod Show, Darkside and TJ talk to Justin Shantie, mechanic for Monster Energy Kawasaki's Adam Cianciarulo about becoming a mechanic, working with AC, and losing that 250 championship in 2017. Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Jordon Smith comes on and talks about where he's at in 2020 with a new team and coming off a serious wrist injury. Also, Troy Lee Designs Jesse Hagoort takes some time to go over his roll as Athlete Brand Manager. Plus they give their thoughts on the Atlanta SX.

HEAD-SCRATCHING HEADLINE/S OF THE WEEK 

“WILLIAM SHATNER DIVORCE: THEY'RE SPLITTING THEIR HORSES ...But He Gets the Semen!!!”—TMZ.com

“Justin Barcia interview – Angry”—MXLarge.com

“Monster Energy Supercross WIRE SERVICE - Supercross is a Contact Sport”

Random Notes

The 3rd Annual Wiseco Performance Products Scholarship is now open for submission by On Track School. Each year On Track School is the recipient of a scholarship donated by Wiseco Performance Products. These funds will greatly assist a student in need of financial assistance. 

“We couldn’t be more honored to be recognized for our efforts in educating our young dedicated athletes while they achieve their dreams on and off the track.” Andrea Leib, On Track School Director and Founder.

“Much like racing, school costs money, so we want to do our part by offering a $2500 scholarship for a student and motocross racer. We are proud to support what On Track School is doing for the sport of motocross and we hope to see more and more racers take advantage of their programs in the near future.” Kevin Bailey, Powersports Marketing Coordinator.

On Track School is a fully accredited K-12th grade private online school. Realizing that every student learns differently, On Track provides a comprehensive program that is both personalized and flexible so that aspiring students can be successful while pursuing their dreams.

Contact: Tasha Renfro, (407) 754-5704, askme@ontrackschool.com, www.ontrackschool.com, Follow us on instagram and facebook @ontrackschool