The first motocross race I went to after 9/11 was the 2001 Kawasaki Race of Champions, held at Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey, the first weekend in October. We drove there from Morgantown, and the closer we got to New York City, the more American flags and banners we saw hanging from the interstate bridges. It was early Thursday evening when we got to within sight of the city, and as we got closer there was a massive glow and an empty sky where the Twin Towers used to be, as thousands of workers were under makeshift lights with welding torches, jackhammers, and shovels, still cutting through the wreckage around the clock and trying to find the victims’ bodies.

Raceway Park’s Ken Landerman somehow got us into a hotel in SoHo that was mostly filled with displaced people who had lived in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, and every one of them had stories about what they had been through that day and in the days to follow. The whole city was quiet and sad, and I remember not hearing a single car or bus or taxi horn beep the whole time we were there. A real civility came over everyone. There was also the constant smell of dust, smoke, diesel fuel, and, well, another smell I was not familiar with that still permeated over all of Lower Manhattan.

And just around the corner from our hotel, on Canal Street, just outside the Holland Tunnel, security fences had gone up to keep people away from the scene of the crimes. Taped to the fences and telephone poles and newspaper boxes and garbage cans and walls were hundreds of paper fliers with pictures of missing loved ones, asking if anyone had seen any of these people who either worked in the Twin Towers or were a part of the various fire departments, police departments, and rescue units on September 11. It was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. What I did not realize was that all the unfortunate people on those fliers for the missing—all the businessmen and businesswomen from the Twin Towers, the security and maintenance folks, the restaurant workers up in Windows of the World, the passengers on the planes, and all the first responders who rushed in and up the stairs—were gone.

We are now in another era of tragedy—a much different one. There is no Team USA 2020, nor is there a Motocross of Nations, as this time it’s not just Americans but the whole world that is dealing with this pandemic. And just like back then, we need to collectively address the challenges we are facing. I wish that the coronavirus, as tragic as it’s been, could also somehow pull us all together like September 11 did. We will never forget that day.

Racerhead (DC)

Five down, four to go. Welcome to Racerhead, back on its regular schedule of Friday afternoon. The RedBud “doubleheader” is in the books with some excellent racing last Friday and then again on Monday, both first-time race days the for Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. There’s also the three MXGPs taking place in Faenza, Italy, for which they are two down, one to go—the third race will run on Sunday.

Now that I think of it, it really was a week of firsts. Besides those unprecedented Friday/Monday race days here, and the second Sunday/Wednesday/Sunday set in Italy (Latvia had done it a few weeks before), we had a bunch of firsts on the track of RedBud and Faenza. There was Adam Cianciarulo's first 450 wins, as well as Jorge Prado's first MXGP win on a 450 over in Europe. We saw Zach Osborne's first 1-1 on a 450 last Friday and second-gen French flyer Tom Vialle's first 1-1 in MX2 on Wednesday. And last Sunday another Frenchman, Maxine Reneaux, won his first MX2 Grand Prix, and then on Wednesday Swiss rider Jeremy Seewer won his first MXGP moto. And we can’t forget Ty Masterpool led laps for the first time last Friday, signaling the occasion with a very cool gesture of pointing to heaven as he crossed the Motosport.com holeshot line, a salute to his lost brother Jesse Masterpool.

It was our first glimpse of Masterpool this season, and who honestly thought that the kid would show up and holeshot three of his first four motos? He also got his first podium in outdoors, as did GEICO Honda's Jett Lawrence. (Jason Weigandt will have more on Masterpool in a moment.) Like I said, a lot of firsts happening in this busy ten days of racing. 

The concern with two races so close together is of course that a title contender might get hurt and miss both, doubling the damage. That's exactly what happened over in Faenza, Italy, on Wednesday when MXGP points leader Jeffrey Herlings crashed hard in practice, injuring his neck. He went into the race with a 60-point lead after having won the first of three MXGP rounds there in Italy, all to take place within eight days. But the crash was bad and he ended up being taken away from the circuit by helicopter.

Later, Dirk Gruebel, the Red Bull KTM team manager and technical coordinator, had this to say: “Jeffrey went down on the fourth lap of Free Practice and hit his head quite hard. He regained feeling in his arms and legs pretty quickly but still went to Bologna for full body scans. We have yet to see the results, but he has been released from hospital. We’re talking about a pretty big compression of the neck, vertebrae and a hematoma of the shoulder. He’ll get back to Belgium tomorrow for some more examinations and hopefully it is not that dramatic. It will take a couple of weeks to recover but we cannot give an exact date right now.”

Here’s wishing Jeffrey Herlings a full and safe recovery; his big crash on Wednesday just through the MXGP 2020 chase into a whole new championship picture.

A New Prospect (Jason Weigandt)

No joke. When I drove through the pits at RedBud last Thursday I saw a #41 Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha getting worked on. I just assumed that was Star’s amateur rider Nick Romano, who wore #41 at the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. Maybe he was there to race RedBud’s amateur day? 

Yes, I didn’t know that Ty Masterpool was #41 this year, because this was the first time we’ve seen him in a race. A broken leg cost Masterpool the first three nationals this year. Before that, Star’s Wil Hahn told me Ty “wasn’t ready” for supercross this year. Ty, who was good but not flashy as a rookie last season, quickly showed how much he has improved in year two. He ran up front in three of the four motos of the RedBud doubleheader and led a bunch of laps—and not just with holeshots, but with solid riding even after the first lap. Yeah, he still made mistakes, and Ty admitted to me that his legs and back were smoked after the two motos on Friday, but he showed he has much more speed than he had last year, reaching the box in his first moto of 2020 with a third-place finish behind Jeremy Martin and RJ Hampshire.

Ty told me that before he even got clearance to ride, he was doing 30-minute motos … doing figure eights! “That was pretty insane!” said Ty, who also said he did thirties by logging 80 laps (!) on a turn track. He finally got cleared to do a full motocross track a few days before RedBud. Hahn says Ty has put on a lot of muscle, especially in his legs, and as soon as they saw him ride out in California they knew he was ready to race.

He was impressive, so now Masterpool is back on the radar as a prospect. Seriously, he had been out for so long, most people probably had forgotten about him. Also, he skipped his final amateur year last year to instead race all the pro nationals, so he didn’t get A-class or Horizon Award love. Masterpool could have been part of that massive Loretta’s class last year with Jalek Swoll, Jett Lawrence, Jo Shimoda, Carson Mumford, Pierce Brown, and more. Ty also confirmed to me that he is willing to, and will, race supercross in 2021. If he has skills there, he could really upset the apple cart on future talent. Could Ty, nearly forgotten about in a sea of talent, actually be the hottest prospect of all? How many fast kids is Star Yamaha going to employ? This space is going to be quite fun to watch.

Check out our pre-race show from RedBud 2 for my interview with Ty.

The Second One (Andras Hegyi)

A unique place in the record books no longer exists just for Zach Osborne. Before RedBud 2, held on Monday, Osborne was the only Husqvarna winner in the history of 125/250 AMA Pro Motocross, in existence since 1974. But Osborne is not alone anymore, as his Rockstar Husqvarna teammate RJ Hampshire became the brand's second winner in this class. 

Before the start of the 2020 season, Hampshire, who hails from Florida, began a brand-new chapter in his career as he left GEICO Honda after racing with the brand between 2014 and 2019. Changing has been worth it so far. Before the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, Hampshire got two podium results in the 250SX East Region Championship of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, and he was third in the overall points standings. But then the series stopped, and when it restarted in late May, he could not fight for the title, as he underwent a knee surgery in April and he missed the last five rounds in June in Salt Lake City. RJ finished 10th overall in the 250SX East standings. 

But Hampshire managed to fully recover for the start of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross, and he's showing that his career is on the right track after the first five rounds. Before 2020, his best motocross season was 2018, in which he took his first win and had one additional podium result. In these first five races of '20, Hampshire has one win and two additional podiums. And not only did he rewrite Husqvarna’s history, he became also the 16th motocross rider to win with at least two different brands in 125/250 motocross.

Riders to win with at least two different brands in the 125/250 motocross

Larry Ward (Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha)
Mike Brown (Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha)
Ron Lechien (Yamaha, Honda)
George Holland (Suzuki, Honda)
Guy Cooper (Honda, Suzuki)
Mike Kiedrowski (Honda, Kawasaki)
Mike LaRocco (Suzuki, Kawasaki)
Doug Henry (Yamaha, Honda)
Steve Lamson (Suzuki, Honda)
Robbie Reynard (Kawasaki, Suzuki)
Damon Huffman (Suzuki, Kawasaki)
Ryan Hughes (Kawasaki, KTM)
Grant Langston (KTM, Kawasaki)
Christophe Pourcel (Kawasaki, Yamaha)
Jeremy Martin (Yamaha, Honda)
RJ Hampshire (Honda, Husqvarna)

OH CANADA (Matthes)

Well, that's a wrap on the motocross tour of the 2020 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series. Like everywhere, the guys up there were affected by COVID-19 and had to shorten their schedule and move events. The whole West Coast part of the series was scrapped, and at some point the Quebec round was canceled as well, so the series visited just three tracks for the five rounds. To get the motos in, the guys did a unique three-moto format as well with one moto on Saturday, two on Sunday. 

The surprise of the series was no doubt GDR Honda's Dylan Wright dominating the MX1 series as a rookie to take the title. Wright was the MX2 Champion last year, so it's not totally a surprise, but for Dylan to figure everything out this soon was a tad eye-opening. He won four overalls and seemed to be able to rip through the pack whenever he needed to, or he would just take off if he got the start. Phil Nicoletti was the only rider to give Dylan a bit of a challenge in the series until an injured hand caused him to miss the final round and drop from second to fifth in the series. #PoorPhil

Wright's emergence might mean a long few years for his competitors, as he's grasped this level of speed and fitness right away. Very impressive. Another bit of news was the retirement of Monster Kawasaki's Matt Goerke after the last round of SX (four rounds over two weekends are left). Matt's had a great career down south and up there as well, winning two MX1 titles in his time there. Also, he was a Southwick National overall winner here in the U.S. of course. 

In MX2 it was Red Bull KTM Canada's Jess Pettis doing what Wright did and dominating MX2. Pettis won the 2018 MX2 title and then got hurt last year. So there were some questions on whether Pettis could get back to his old form, and they were answered in resounding fashion with his great season.

ET & FILTHY (Matthes)

We added sets of signed race gear from Eli Tomac (gathered at Redbud 2) and Phil Nicoletti for the eBay auction for injured rider Tevin Tapia. All proceeds from the sale of these and all the other gear will go to Tevin to help him in his recovery from his injuries. Happy bidding!

Canceled (Cont’d) (DC)

So far we have been very fortunate to have gotten more than half of the scaled-down 2020 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship in. It’s taken a crazy amount of planning and countless hours on Zoom calls just to get the series up and running in mid-August. We’ve also had to make difficult decisions already, with more possibly on the horizon as each area of the country remains in flux as everyone combats the coronavirus. And even just this week we got good news out of Colorado that the penultimate round at Thunder Valley will in fact run the first Saturday in October, with a limited amount of spectators. Like MXGP in Europe, which has also had to make some tough decisions and try some unique measures—like tripleheaders in Italy with three races in a week—in order to get a complete championship in despite the pandemic. Just having these races is helping teams stay afloat, riders and race staff earn salaries, and us fans a chance to see our beloved sport continue in 2020.

But in other places and with other forms of racing, they haven’t been as lucky. This week the postponed and rescheduled Daytona 200, which was supposed to go off the week after the 50th Daytona Supercross back in March, only to be stopped in its tracks by the nationwide shutdown, finally decided that they could not make it work in 2020, announcing the cancellation of the big race, which had been reset for October 17. Same goes for the Australian Supercross Championship, which announced it was also going to park itself for 2020.

“It’s really disappointing for all of us involved with supercross in Australia to have to cancel this year’s series,” said Adam Bailey, one of the co-founders of AUS SX Holdings, which runs the series. “We wanted to hold out for as long as we could, to try and get some semblance of supercross competition up and running for this year and things were looking great for a fantastic 2020 series only a few weeks ago. With the ever-changing situation we’re up against with COVID-19 however evolving so rapidly recently, we have no choice but to cancel this year’s series. Supercross has been on a massive upward trend and we’re working tirelessly to ensure that this growth pattern continues.”

This bad news for Justin Brayton, who of course spends a lot of time on that circuit riding for the Penrite Honda team. It’s also bad news for the sport down there, as they already had their Australian Motocross Championship on ice. Just a few more reminders that this is 2020, and we’re really glad to have at least have a few big races still up and running both in North America and Europe.

Meanwhile, the national news media is having a field day with what happened following the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally last month. One study went so far as to make the case that the rally caused 260,000 COVID-19 cases. That number is "dramatically more than the number of cases tied to the rally reported by both the South Dakota health department and the Associated Press," according to USA Today. For what it’s worth, Humphrey’s County in Tennessee, where Loretta Lynn’s was being held at roughly the same time as Sturgis, has had no uptick in cases.

250 (Andras Hegyi)

Last year, Tanel “The Estonian Express” Leok celebrated his 250th GP start at the Grand Prix of France. Leok is racing this season as well, and he has now participated in 268 GPs in all. On Wednesday at the GP of Faenza, the Italian legend Antonio Cairoli joined Leok as the only riders to ever make it to 250 GP races. The nine-time FIM Motocross World Champion debuted in the in 2002 and has raced there full-time there since 2004. Cairoli took part in 70 GPs in the MX2 class and has now been in 180 GPs and counting in the MX1/MXGP category. During his 250 GPs, Cairoli has earned 90 total wins, which ties him for second all-time with Jeffrey Herlings. (Stefan Everts has the most with 101.) Cairoli is the record-holder in two other categories, with his 168 podium results and 177 moto wins, though Herlings is close behind with 173.

Interestingly, the Australian legend Chad Reed also hit 250 starts this year—in Monster Energy AMA Supercross alone! Reed started out in MXGP for a couple of years before moving to the States in 2002, the same year that Cairoli raced his very first MXGP. Reed was riding in the 125 class, but he did ride his first few AMA Supercross races on a YZ250 in the premier class. Hats off to all three of these ironmen, Antonio Cairoli, Tanel Leok, and Chad Reed.

At the other end of the age scale, Jorge Prado made his maiden MXGP win on Wednesday in Italy a special one. The two-time MX2 world champion from Spain became the youngest MXGP winner ever in the current premier class. He overtook the Belgian rider Kevin Strijbos, who won the Czech GP in 2005 at the age of 19 years, 11 months, 25 days old. Prado’s age on Wednesday was 19 years, 8 months, 4 days. Prado became only the second Spanish GP winner in MXGP. Jonathan Barragan won a total of six GP collected between 2007 and 2009. So thanks to Prado, the Spanish national anthem was played again in the premier class after 11 years.

Read more on what’s going on with MXGP from our man in Europe, Adam Wheeler.

Red Hat Trick (Andras Hegyi)

Two-time 250 Pro Motocross Champion Jeremy Martin is a proper veteran in the small-bore motocross series. He debuted there in 2012 and has been a regular contender there since 2013, though he missed much of 2018 and all of 2019 with a serious back injury. Now J-Mart is back and arguably stronger than ever. Regarding wins and podiums, he is one of the most successful 125/250 MX riders ever, with 17 victories and 36 podiums, plus those two titles in 2014 and '15. But despite his great results, Jeremy Martin has never been able to assemble any long winning streaks. In fact, before this current season, the younger Martin brother could get only two consecutive wins. But this year the ice was broken and Jeremy pulled off a hockey-like hat trick by winning Loretta Lynn’s 2, the Ironman, and the RedBud 1 round last Friday. In doing so Martin became the eighth Honda racer to get at least three consecutive wins in 125/250 MX. 

Jeremy Martin's current season notwithstanding, of all the riders listed below, Mike Kiedrowski is the only one who did not win the championship in the year in which he won three in a row, as he finished 1990 as runner-up, losing the title by a single point to Suzuki-mounted Guy Cooper. 

Honda riders to get at least three consecutive wins in the 125/250 motocross

Marty Smith (1975) 6 consecutive wins
Ron Lechien (1985) 5 wins in a row
Micky Dymond (1987) 3 wins in a row
Mike Kiedrowski* (1990) 3 wins in a row
Steve Lamson (1995) 4 wins in a row
Steve Lamson (1996) 7 wins in a row
Trey Canard (2010) 4 wins in a row
Eli Tomac (2013) 5 wins in a row,
Jeremy Martin (2020) 3 wins in a row

New Cover (DC)

After winning the Pro Motocross opener at Loretta Lynn’s, and after already clinching a second straight AMA 250SX West Region title, Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis got his first standalone cover of Racer X magazine. (You might remember his first, which featured him and #62 Christian Craig from their run-in at Anaheim 3.) Dylan seemed invincible in mid-August, going 1-1 in the opener and serving notice that he was going after the Lucas Oil 250 Pro Motocross title. But no one told GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin, who is now the points leader after reeling off three wins and then actually colliding with Ferrandis at RedBud 2, adding some real drama to an already entertaining series.

But Martin’s surge isn’t the only reason he now has the red plate. As good as Ferrandis has been on the track, he’s not so good off the starts, and he’s also had some unfortunate first-lap crashes. For instance, Ferrandis went from 31st to third in the second moto at Ironman in Indiana. He went from 20th to fourth at Loretta Lynn's 2. At RedBud 1 he went from 28th to seventh in the first moto, then 18th to third in the second. And then he was 13th off the start in both motos at RedBud 2 and still mustered 5-2 moto finishes, despite crashing with Jeremy Martin along the way in the first moto, which led to a pointed conversation between the two afterwards.

We’ll see how this all turns out next month, but in the meantime, we hope you enjoy the new magazine.

The november 2020 ISSUE OFRACER X MAGAZINE IS NOW AVAILABLE

Hey, Watch It!

Monster Energy Yamaha's Broc Tickle had a front row seat to the mayhem in the second turn of Monday's second 450 moto at RedBud. It began when his teammate Justin Barcia collided with Team Honda's Chase Sexton as they exited the corner, and the chain reaction reverberated back to where Kawasaki's Eli Tomac was after a bad start, leaving all of them on the ground (though not Tickle, who went on to finish fifth). Tomac would work his way back up to seventh, Sexton ninth and Barcia tenth.

Listen To This

Steve Matthes, Weege, and JT got together to talk about what they saw at the RedBud 2 National, from AC’s first win to ET’s 1% drop which feels so much bigger, to the J-Mart/Ferrandis incident to RJ Hampshire, and much more.

It's a strange year all around, but somehow 2020 has also produced some really compelling racing. Jason Weigandt now wonders: are there lessons from this strange season that could be applied in the future? Did the RedBud doubleheader work? What about the long break between supercross and motocross? Could a late summer/early fall motocross schedule actually work? After Weege shares some thoughts, we move to press conference audio from Tuesday night, featuring the RedBud 2 450 podium riders Adam Cianciarulo, Blake Baggett, and Zach Osborne.

This week on the Main Event Moto Podcast, Daniel Blair, "Snap-On" Dan Colvin, Ryan Hughes, and Producer Joe talk about the 2020 RedBud Nationals.

Head-Scratching Headline/s of the Week

“An 80-year-old who disappeared while out hiking turned up at his own missing person appeal”—CNN

“Joe Kelly pouty face mural painted near Dodger Stadium just in time for Astros series”—Los Angeles Times

“Mining CEO resigns after destruction of 46,000-year-old sacred Indigenous site.”—CNN Business

Random Notes

Pete Fox is up to something...www.renenusa.com

A note from our friend Denny Stephenson: 

MotoXDream360 is back! Over 20 years ago we were the first fantasy MX / SX website on the block. We set the standard in form & function that is still used today. However, in our return, we are changing things up and are now the first & only salary based game & website. Each race the rider salaries will change. All you have to do is hire a 250 & 450 team while keeping under the salary cap. We chose to use the first half of the Nationals to test, but we are now ready to launch the all new MotoXDream360 to the public with our 20MX Final Four presented by Storm Lake Honda & Fasthouse MX.

Beginning with the September 19th Spring Creek National and ending October 10th at Fox Raceway in Pala, CA. The winner of each of the four rounds will receive a set of custom gear courtesy of Fasthouse while the season ending Grand Prize Champion will win a 2021 CRf50 from Storm Lake Honda. Head over to MotoXDream360.com to check us out as we make our triumphant return to fantasy dirt bikes with our new salary based games. And best of all, the 20MX Final Four is FREE.

8th Annual Kurt Caselli Ride Day

The Kurt Caselli Foundation will host the eighth Annual Kurt Caselli Ride Day at Fox Raceway in Pala, California on Saturday, December 5th, 2020. The event is for all ages and will have a variety of activities going on throughout the day as well as a vendor row to check out all of the cool new products from your favorite motorcycle companies who support The Kurt Caselli Foundation. Camping will be available and can be reserved when you pre-register for the event.

All proceeds will benefit The Kurt Caselli Foundation and help fund the growing list of safety initiatives, projects, and scholarships to protect and support the lives of off-road riders, more information on the event and scholarships can be found on kurtcaselli.com. Pre-register now at give.classy.org/CaselliRideDay2020 to save time with our special VIP entrance line, score a commemorative 8th Annual Kurt Caselli Ride Day event t-shirt, and $10 in Rocky Mountain ATV/MC RM Cash!

2020 AMA Supermoto National Championship

The 2020 AMA Supermoto National Championship features two days of competition in November in Tucson, Ariz., to determine who receives the coveted AMA National No. 1 plate in five classes. Originally scheduled as a six-event series, this national championship, sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association, will consist of four points-earning races. The format includes two races per day Nov. 7-8. Each race offers points toward the overall championship. The six scheduled events were canceled due to restrictions put in place by government officials during the coronavirus pandemic.

The series is run by the AMA promoter, DRT Racing. Classes include Open, Lites, National Amateur, Sportsman MX and Kids.

"The AMA, the organizer and the racers are ready to get this competition underway," AMA Track Racing Manager Ken Saillant said. "DRT Racing and the venue will be adhering to all state and local guidelines and directives related to the coronavirus to help ensure a safe weekend for all."

A mixture of street-style racing and motocross, in Supermoto, racers compete on a track that combines dirt and pavement and includes jumps and sliding through turns. Tracks can range from football stadiums to closed-course streets to parking lots.

For more information about AMA Supermoto competition and a copy of the AMA Amateur Competition Rulebook, visit americanmotorcyclist.com/racing-3/supermoto.

For more information about the AMA Supermoto National Championship Series, visit the promoter’s website: drtracinginc.com.

Max Matters Ride Day

Vintage Iron owner Rick Doughty, recently lost his son Max to the devastating effects of depression. In Max’s honor, he has reached out to Road 2 Recovery to create an event designed to generate funds specifically geared for injured riders and racers that may need the resources to deal with the onslaught of depression.

Depression is so much more than the disappointment of not making the podium or being sidelined with an injury. Depression may start with harmless disappointment, but unchecked it can advance, like many other illnesses, to the point that it becomes debilitating or even fatal. Depression is not the result of a negative attitude but quite the opposite: upbeat, positive people can succumb to the overwhelming effects. The real physical manifestations are many. Distortion of thinking/reason, body/joint pain, appetite loss, and worst of all, loss of hope.

People don’t choose to be depressed, but they can choose how to combat it. Joining together it is a winnable fight. The life you save may one day be your own or that of someone you love.

And lastly, congrats to Ken and Courtney Roczen on the birth of their first child! Welcome to the world, Griffin Savage Roczen.