Washougal man! It’s a cool place to go to, a nice track and everyone is happy to be there. Maybe because the majority of the California industry looks forward to the short flight or maybe because generally the weather is a little nicer than the hot and humid races further East, whatever it is, Washougal is cool.
Man, the crowd was big there! Like, old-school Washougal big. That was awesome to see and remember these folks never got to see a race last year, so they were ready. As many of you know, I have this little internet radio show called PulpMX and I have to say, I get stopped to chat with listeners at this race and Seattle SX maybe more than any other part of the country. The PNW is moto strong for sure.
Joey Lancaster, who helps at the track, told me they dug some dirt out of an old pond on the property and put it on the track. Which is a good thing, this track has definitely ground down to its last little bit of good dirt after so many years. The first practice wasn’t muddy and sloppy like usual, it was a bit different. I asked some riders about the new dirt, and no one really said they noticed much but hey, it can’t hurt.
Looking like a big game of musical chairs for the industry this off-season. A few big-name mechanics are going to be hanging up the wrenches and/or switching teams. We have a team manager going to be a specific rider coach, there’s a big-name rider that will be switching gear companies, we’ve got riders switching training facilities and all the usual silly season stuff outside of who gets factory rides. It will be funny to see different people hanging out in different trucks next year.
The MXDN is in a weird spot, the Olympics of MX is in the middle of the MXGP season, and I mean, if you’re in title contention do you really want to go? Tough ask for those guys no doubt about it. There’s a rumor going that they might count it for MXGP points and wow, that would be weird also. How would you even structure that? Team USA is going to another tough ask with Kawasaki not going (and Tomac is switching teams anyways), the Star Yamaha guys are dropping plenty of hints about how they’re not going to be able to go because they’ll be busy moving from California to the GOAT farm. Justin Barcia, Chase Sexton, and RJ Hampshire have now all said they would like to go—Sexton and RJ in the post-race press conference from Washougal, and Barcia basically said yes on the PulpMX show last Monday. That seems like a strong team. Thoughts?
Let’s take a look at the results, shall we?
250MX Results
1st | #6 Jeremy Martin | 3-1
Five moto wins on the season for Jeremy, which is three more than anyone else, two overalls on the year which is one more than anyone else. Yeah, he got a break here with Cooper’s crash but still, he rode great in both motos and showed why he’s got those titles on the mantle. If he gets the most moto and overall wins in the class but doesn’t get the title, does that help him sleep better at night? I think he’s re-signed with Star for 2022 BTW.
2nd | #24 RJ Hampshire | 2-3
One of my Twitter followers put it perfectly: on the trickiest, slipperiest track on the circuit, RJ didn’t lose the front. Go figure. He rode great except for a stall that cost him a spot. Hampshire told us after the race that he’s dealing with a thumb injury from his Redbud crash and it’s affecting his grip on the bike. No matter what, RJ will definitely give all you fans a thrill ride.
3rd | #32 Justin Cooper | 1-8
Oh wow. J Coop’s first moto was great, he rode flawlessly to grab the win and withstood some good pressure early on. He showed that he’s got the speed to back up his starts, I mean we knew that already, but this just felt like an even slightly higher level to me. Anyways, second moto he was ready to take a second and the overall when he had a bad crash going up the hill late. Super odd and uncharacteristic for him. He’s lucky it didn’t go worse. Still, he put two points on Jett and looks to be the stronger rider right now.
4th | #18 Jett Lawrence | 7-2
I was talking to THE JETT before the motos, and he mentioned how he had never been to Washougal before and really didn’t know all the ins and outs of the track even after two practices. He’s got a point, as Washougal is very much a track that you have to know how to enter the turns to sweep them right and make sure you’re set for the next one. It’s also very slippery. Thanks to Cooper’s miscue, Jett only lost two points in the title chase but again, he’s got to get these starts figured out and fast.
5th | #45 Pierce Brown | 6-4
Reallllllly hate to give Wil Hahn credit here but there’s no doubt that he’s going to help and probably already has helped here. Just a guy to push Brown, show him what’s what when it comes to training and working with him every day already seems to be paying off. I think this is a career best for Brown.
6th | #42 Michael Mosiman | 4-7
Mosiman and Brown have both been better lately and Mosiman is starting to get results that back up his speed. There’s no reason why Mosiman shouldn’t be top five all the time with podiums here and there, he’s that good. Also, this is his fifth year in the class…where did the time go?
7th | #41 Hunter Lawrence | 5-10
Hunter looked to be following his younger brother to the front in moto two when he fell and that was about it. Washougal’s a hard track to make up time on and after the crash, Hunter was sort of stuck there the rest of the moto. Hunter, like Jett, had never been to Washougal before so it was a steep learning curve.
8th | #90 Dilan Schwartz | 13-6
Absolutely crushed it. As I said here before, I don’t think that the Bar-X team is a factory supported effort in that they don’t get any special parts. It’s supported by Suzuki sure but there’s nothing here you can’t buy. Dilan rode great, he’s in real good shape and his speed is fine. Does his SX season scare some factory teams away? That’s the only question I have really. Great ride!
9th | #38 Austin Forkner | 12-9
We had the fourth in the moto last week, this week we had a very good qualifying time and things were sort of turning around? He fell early in moto one and passed a lot of guys which was good but second moto he was right up there and fell, maybe fell again? Anyways I thought Forkner was turning a corner but now I’m right back to being unsure.
10th | #115 Maximus Vohland | 9-12
Without any real basis of knowledge, I pictured Max getting some great starts and leading laps at Washougal. I don’t know why I thought that I just did. I could just picture it! Well, it didn’t happen, and I have no real future in reading Tarot cards or anything like that.
11th | #39 Carson Mumford | 11-11
Mumfy got the holeshot and led laps in the first moto! Ironically it was the only time all year that he started inside the top ten and didn’t stay there. He mentioned how bad his arm pump was but also how good it was to lead laps for the first time in his career. I know 11-11 doesn’t look great on paper but I feel like Carson made some steps forward at Washougal. Maybe this propels him to some better finishes?
12th | #48 Garrett Marchbanks | 10-15
Marchbanks was very close to having a 10-7 day but fell late in moto two which put him back to that 15th. So yeah, could’ve been great but in the end, it’s a 12th instead of a 9th.
13th | #30 Jo Shimoda | 24-5
Jo crashed in the first turn in moto one, went to the mechanics area for repairs, came out of there and was ripping! He was passing dudes, battling with dudes while being a lap down. It was weird to see and I’m not sure how to feel about it. I mean, those guys don’t know he’s a lap down but then again, he’s just trying to get some points.
14th | #73 Derek Kelley | 14-14
Great job for Kelley out there and this was a season best race for him coming off another good one in Millville. Being the top privateer out of a van is always a good thing.
15th | #64 Colt Nichols | 8-33
Nichols got off hard late in moto two, I didn’t see it but people who did told me it was nasty. He put on his social that he was going to get some stuff checked out to make sure he’s good to go for ‘Dilla in a couple of weeks.
16th | #59 Jarrett Frye | 18-13
It’s not good right now for Frye and he didn’t do much at Washougal to stand out. Here’s the great thing about motocross though, he’s only a couple of top fives away from everyone forgetting all about his lackluster summer!
17th | #220 Ramyller Alves | 16-16
Alves is solid and will give you all that he’s got, and this was a good showing for him on the hometown team, JMC.
18th | #26 Alex Martin | 15-19
Troll Train improved on his Millville rides but not by much. He’ll get there, the two weeks off will help him out a ton and I expect a better Troll at Unadilla.
19th | #995 Christopher Prebula | 22-17
I don’t know anything about Chris but good work here to get inside the top twenty, first points he’s gotten all year.
20th | #241 Joshua Varize | 17-39
That’s two out of the last six motos that Josh has had some mechanical issues giving him a DNF which sucks and is life on the road for a privateer. Waiting for him to get a start and maybe not lead laps like Mumfy but just hang up in there for a bit.
450MX Results
1st | #23 Chase Sexton | 1-3
Sexton’s first moto was about as perfect as one could get, he got the holeshot, got a little heat from Roczen, answered that bell and took off with the win. The last two races have been better for Sexton for sure and this week he told me how he worked with THE GREAT Tim Ferry on his starts. Yes, Timmy Ferry has now turned into the guru of starts? I don’t know man, when I worked for him, he kind of sucked at starts. But anyways, Ferry changed things around for Sexton and I don’t want to hear anything else. We don’t need to talk about the rev limiter Sexton now uses to limit his RPM on the starts or that he cut his subframe 5mm also. Nope, it’s all Tim Ferry baby!
2nd | #3 Eli Tomac | 2-2
Man, hard to believe two things about Tomac right now: One is that he doesn’t have an overall this summer yet and two, how bad he rode the first four motos of the year. This Tomac doesn’t even look like the same guy! It’s pretty remarkable really. Eli’s second moto ride was one of those next level ones for him, he was amazing and it’s also amazing that Ferrandis held him off. Pretty cool to see the fans getting behind him and cheering him around the track. His speed around the outside of turns is so fun to watch.
3rd | #14 Dylan Ferrandis | 5-1
First moto, Ferrandis looked at just about every option to get by Barcia but couldn’t do it. He was applying real heat but eventually Justin looked to have gotten the best of him. Second moto, Ferrandis was leading and looked back at the big #3 machine coming and wicked it up. That kind of stuff is impressive to me and Ferrandis has rebounded every time he’s been challenged out there. At Redbud he was stoked to have held off Tomac late in the moto and at Washougal he did it again.
4th | #25 Marvin Musquin | 3-5
WE HAVE LIFE!!! Marv’s a past winner at The ‘Shoug and he showed well in qualifying to make you think that he was going to have a good day. Then in moto one he got to second in a great ride before a small crash got him back to third. Second moto was a fifth and he was in the mix, the old Marv was back! He’s probably the last guy that wanted this break in the schedule, but hey, Unadilla is also a good track for him.
5th | #51 Justin Barcia | 4-7
After the race, Bam really wanted me to let everyone know that his BAM TV Vlog on YouTube is killing it after three episodes and that if I don’t laugh at any point while watching them, he would pay me money. It’s Tuesday as I write this, and I haven’t watch it yet, so I’ll let you guys know soon if I am getting some money from Justin Barcia.
6th | #2 Cooper Webb | 7-6
Webb’s fighting hard, he’s getting starts but it’s just not happening right now. It’s odd to watch him get violently shuffled back so quickly and usually he can at least say ‘Hey man, I beat Marv!’ but not this weekend. Curious to see how he does in the coming months now that he’s not at The Baker’s Factory.
7th | #7 Aaron Plessinger | 12-4
Washougal isn’t an AP type of track and so when he came around last in moto one and had to ride his nuts off to 12th, he was probably thinking the same thing. But his second moto is where you see the growth from him this year, he wasn’t comfy there, but he fought hard right with the leaders until about halfway before settling into a lonely fourth.
8th | #29 Christian Craig | 8-8
Like at Southwick, Craig’s day started with a pretty good practice crash. Weird how the camera caught it both times right? Anyways, as he told me afterwards that crash just didn’t put him in the right mind space to have a great day. He got good starts but lost 7 positions overall in the two motos. Hey, having that kind of day and going 8-8 ain’t too bad.
9th | #94 Ken Roczen | 6-10
Roczen’s day was pretty crappy due to a sickness, but he did get to golf with Wayne Gretzky this week and that’s awesome, in fact it makes me more jealous of Kenny than anything else he’s ever done. Don’t look now but he’s got Eli Tomac creeping up on him in points. He’s got to worry about that more than Dylan Ferrandis after three bad recent motos.
10th | #17 Joey Savatgy | 10-9
Savatgy wasn’t stoked on his day, and I get it, there wasn’t any real highlights for him out there outside of moving up in moto two a bit.
11th | #34 Max Anstie | 9-12
Max ripped a good start in moto one and hung in there for a season-tying best moto finish. Lately, he always seems to be around his teammate and in moto two, that was the case again.
12th | #15 Dean Wilson | 11-11
We thought Dean wouldn’t be at Rockstar Husky team next year but I’m hearing there’s a path for him to maybe stay there. He’s been pretty good lately even though he’s dealing with a beat-up body and a virus. He’s got a pretty good Vlog also; people should check it out. Even if you don’t like Dean, check it out for the Sarah stuff.
13th | #28 Brandon Hartranft | 13-15
Solid day for Hartranft, he’s gotten better lately over there for the HEP guys. I had heard something about him wanting to or signing with someone to ride 250SX next year, not sure how truthful that is or not. Also, Hartranft is from Brick, NJ and that’s a cool name for a hometown.
14th | #19 Justin Bogle | 16-13
Bogle’s got something going on with him where he’s just out of energy, told me he was in bed all week and just trying to get by right now. Which has got to suck right?
15th | #72 Coty Schock | 17-14
Not as good of a day for Coty as we’ve been expecting but hey, after four straight DNF’s, he’ll take these results, right? Again, it’s Washougal and it takes time to get used to it. He’s never ridden there before.
16th | #97 Ben LaMay | 15-16
LaMay is back to his regular form now that he’s got his bike issues sorted out which is great to see. This is probably the track on the circuit that he’s raced the most growing up in Alaska.
17th | #264 Ryan Sipes | 14-20
Sipes was back, this pro MX race was stuck in the middle of some enduro race, flat track and god knows what else he has planned. First national in three years for him and he acclimated himself pretty good, Washougal is a track that the more you ride it, the better you get at it. Sipes has ridden here a lot. After the race he told me that Cooper Webb was mad about something when he was lapping Ryan, but Ryan was like, “Ahhh, he’ll get over it.”
18th | #122 Jeremy Hand | 19-18
It always seems like, and I could be off here, that Hand can’t put two motos together a lot of the time when he races nationals. Well, this week he did and got points both times out which is awesome.
19th | #951 Ryan Surratt | 22-17
Another solid performance for the SX’er turned off-roader turned motocrosser. Surratt’s got good endurance and seems to be right there around the points every time out.
20th | #65 Carson Brown | 18-DNS
TWO STROKES LIVE!!!! Brown got an impressive 18th on the Husky two-stroke and then couldn’t start the second moto due to a shoulder injury. The fans still loved every minute of it. Me, I’m meh on two-strokes. Like, remember when everyone raced them, and they weren’t that cool then? You always want what you don’t have.
Thanks for reading, email me at matthes@racerxonline.com if you want to chat about Washougal or anything else, please and thank you!
