Talk us through your composure at the front. Obviously, Hunter was right there and you were able to hold on and stay in the lead and get there for that first win. Just talk about the pressure, everything like that.
I’ve been riding a lot this year with Justin Barcia. Honestly, it felt a lot like another day at the test track with him right on me. Honestly, right at the beginning I got the holeshot and I put in some pretty good burner laps. I wasn’t sure. I honestly didn’t hear him, nothing. I didn’t know he was right there. I thought I had a bigger gap. Then maybe five laps in or something I started seeing his board show up. I was like, "Oh, man. All right. Sweet, we got a race going on." It wasn’t the perfect race. I had a couple mistakes, but one of the things that I’ve been working on and it’s been really good for me this year is even in practices, kind of just move on. Focus on the present. I let those things go and I think that paid off. The chaos that ensued, the lappers were pretty nuts. I think I did the dragon’s back tight inside, and then somehow got to fourth to just manage my way through the whoops. Carnage ensued. I was like, all right, I think I got this one now. Jalek [Swoll] was there. I was like, "He’s not letting me by easy." I was like, "I’m just fine here. I don’t need to do anything too crazy." Then he was back on me. Stoked to get the W. It felt great out front. Stoked.

So you were aware that Hunter went down when he did?
Initially I wasn’t sure. There were so many lapped riders, I wasn’t sure who hit me, but I felt the bump from the back. Then I think I didn’t see his board and I just didn’t hear him. He was pretty close on me. Then I was like, "All right," I thougt he had gone down. Then two laps later it was like, "Hey, Hunter. How are you?"

I want to ask you what your mindset was in that situation where you came up to lap [Cole] Thompson, and then you went inside before the whoops. What led to that decision of deciding to make a desperation block pass on a lapper?
I think in the turn before, it was tricky. The main line was going left and I wasn’t sure how aware he was of me being there or not being there. The main line being on the left, I had passed a number of lappers there, just kind of down the middle. Practically my normal line. He probably saw my sign board. He started coming right. So, I really had no option. I was already on the inside of him. I had to jump inside. Then it was like, "Here we are, make the most of it." You can’t control everything. You’ve got to just execute what you can. I pretty much just worked with the cards that were dealt.

[The next question was from Josh Mosiman, former pro racer, and Michael's older brother]

I heard growing up you had an older brother who taught you a lot. It sounds like it really, really helped and got you a long ways. You turned pro and it took you a while to get your first win. I could say there were a few times you had the opportunity to win and threw it away. A couple mistakes here and there. But now you’re with a new team. Obviously not training with your older brother anymore. I think you changed. Can you talk about Wil Hahn, Tyler Keefe, and what it’s like working with that team and what has brought you to this level to where you can be out here doing this thing?
My brother has taught me everything I know. It really paid off in the win tonight. I remember one time he told me, "Hey, those whoops, you should hit them good." I was like, "That’s good advice." Adding Wil [Hahn] has been huge. I think we have a really awesome team. Team chemistry is epic. We are so relaxed. We have so much fun. Wil I think has added a piece on the mental side in just being a past racer and being in these situations and having the right words to say. Also just piecing things together, adding a lot of simplicity and being encouraging and being there and kind of creating the whole atmosphere that we have to where we’re not worried about anything. We’re just worried about performance. It’s just been a blast. Stoked to be on the team I am. Really thankful that my brother gave me that advice and taught me everything.

Watch the full post-race 250SX press conference below: