5 | #31 | Jalek Swoll | Clermont, FL | Husqvarna FC 250

Swoll really looks great everywhere, but you look at the board and he’s not on it. Then you watch Jalek through the whoops and you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s why.’ Seriously, it’s the only flaw in his game right now. I’m not gonna start freaking out, it’s only his second race of the year, but Jalek could be better in maybe the most important obstacle on a SX track.

6 | #910 | Carson Brown | Ravensdale, WA | KTM 250 SX-F

Super good race for Carson Brown and yeah, he benefitted from the Friese and Jo Shimoda carnage but hey, you gotta be there to get it right? He’s almost in the top ten in points, and he missed round one at that. Good job to Carson for sure, and after the race I was talking to him and his dad about CR500’s for, like, 20 minutes and I swear they were more excited to talk about that than Carson’s sixth.

7 | #30 | Jo Shimoda | Menifee, CA | Kawasaki KX250

There’s a difference between being a great rider who can win and a great rider who’s expected to win. Different people deal with pressure differently and although I don’t know for sure, I suspect Jo’s season is not going that well because of the pressure he put on himself to win the title. In the main he actually passed Craig briefly with a slick move but immediately got repassed and then dropped quickly. We know what happened with two laps to go but there’s no doubt Shimoda is not doing what we thought he would.

8 | #43 | Carson Mumford | Simi Valley, CA | Suzuki RM-Z250

Quiet night for Mumfy but still, a lot better than he was last year right? He’s got four top-tens in four races, he’s seventh in the points, and that’s all good. Next year he needs to start aiming for the podium more regularly.

9 | #69 | Robbie Wageman | Newhall, CA | Yamaha YZ250F

This is where our sport is weird these days. Like, what’s the difference in equipment, support, etc. from Friese, Mumford and Wageman? None of the guys have any factory parts, I’m sure they’re all getting some salary (Friese the most, Wageman the least if I had to guess) but I don’t know, I just look at Robbie as more of a “privateer” than the other two guys. I have zero idea why, I just do. So with that knowledge, congrats to Wageman for being the top real privateer in the points. I don’t know man, that’s just how I feel.

10 | #74 | Derek Kelley Riverside, CA | KTM 250 SX-F

Kelley didn’t have the qualifying speed he normally does so that was cause for concern, as was the heat race when he crashed and had to go to the LCQ, but he took care of business in that to win it. From there he got a top ten in an impressive ride. Yes, he hears you people about the dumb PulpMX Fantasy game.

11 | #101 | Dylan Walsh | Southam, GB | Kawasaki KX250

Walsh has been getting better and better each week, I think I typed this same sentence last week also but this week he had the added pressure of getting in through the LCQ. So bad gate pick and still an almost top ten. Not too bad.

12 | #161 | Cole Thompson | Brigden, ON | Yamaha YZ250F

The privateer started 13th, finished 12th. (Shrugs)

13 | #64 | Mitchell Harrison | Leesburg, FL | GasGas MC 250F

Hey, we have signs of life from Harrison! He’s a better rider than he’s been showing to start the year, that’s for sure. This week he got into his second main event of the year. Yes, I’m serious. Weird deal folks.

14 | #67 | Logan Karnow | Amherst, OH | Kawasaki KX250

Karnow found me on track walk and told he would be better this week than last. Hard not to be better when he crashed hard and didn’t race I suppose, but I think he just meant in terms of PulpMX Fantasy. And he was right, he had his best race of the year in A2 and should be better from here.

15 | #98 | Dominique Thury | Schneeberg, GER | Yamaha YZ250F

Thury got back into the main event and crashed, I believe. I think the Anaheim 1 finish was a bit of an outlier for Dominque but I guess we’ll see.

16 | #79 | Hunter Schlosser | El Paso, TX | Yamaha YZ250F

Hunter’s a cool good kid but I got nothing. Absolutely nothing. Good work!

17 | #55 | Justin Rodbell | Prince Frederick, MD | Kawasaki KX250

Well, Rodbell qualified a lot better this week, that’s for sure. He’ll get better, I don’t think he was totally ready to jump into the west coast, and should in a few weeks be closer to the top ten.

18 | #503 | McClellan Hile | Atascadero, CA | Honda CRF250R

Hile rode around Woodcock and Walsh laying on the ground with two turns to go to get into his first main event. And rightfully so, he was stoked.

19 | #62 | Vince Friese | Menifee, CA | Honda CRF250R

Tough break for Vince. Craig was three seconds from the white flag but didn’t get there, which meant Vince had to hold for two laps, not one. Alas that whoop section bit him pretty hard and to me, he looked pretty tired trying to hold off Lawrence. The part where Shimoda hit him was ugly for sure, that had to have hurt. Vince goes from being two minutes away from his first career podium and a 30K bonus to a DNF and probably feeling like he got hit by a truck.

20 | #432 | Kaeden Amerine | Great Bend, KS | KTM 250 SX-F

He’s made three out of four main events for the Tedder team and it’s obvious Kaeden has some skills out on a SX track. But yeah, he’s in that area that so many privateers are in that he’s got to work on getting 15-minutes plus-one-lap down and get closer to the top ten.

21 | #141 |Richard Taylor | Woodland Hills, CA | Yamaha YZ250F

Yeah, this is awesome. Rich Taylor was a top privateer in the sport for a long time and a great dude, and owns EKS Brand goggles as well. Richard is his kid and I think this was his fifth or sixth attempt at a 250SX main event. He got in with some good riding and he’s been close a time or two before this week. He blew his bike up in the main but hey, who cares? For now the Taylor’s join the Hansens, Wagemans, Vohlands, Neeses, Baileys and probably some other family combos I’ve missed to make a supercross main event.

22 | #66 | Chris Blose | Phoenix, AZ | GasGas MC 250F

Oh man, Blose had a good crash in the main event while charging hard and looked to knock himself out for a bit. He’s taken some good hits in his career for sure and might miss some time. We’ll see, he’s a tough SOB for sure.

450SX Results

1 | #3 | Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | Yamaha YZ450F

ET gets it done! First win on the Yamaha and he widened his points lead at that. Outside of the first race, he’s not really shown much weakness. Through four weeks, he’s yet to lose a position in a main event and he seems to be happier off the bike also. His interview with us on Monday’s PulpMX Show was maybe his best one yet (maybe because Ryan Villopoto and Jake Weimer were in-studio with me?) and he just seems happy. He mentioned in the interview that he’s forcing himself to ride with other people on different tracks and enjoying being around new people and the new team. It’s showing. I think even though Anderson helped Tomac making a mistake on the 3-3 while leading, in my eyes, Tomac would’ve gotten him anyway. It’s Eli’s best January (by four points) and he’s got the red plate. His competitors might be in trouble here.

2 | #21 | Jason Anderson | Rio Rancho, NM | Kawasaki KX450SR

Yeah, unfortunately for Anderson his “pass” on Roczen is going to overshadow another impressive race. I thought he saw an opening and went for it. He knew it had the potential to go bad for sure, and the sand helped that along, but I don’t think he was thinking that it was gonna be a pick-up pass. He was running in second in the main event and saw a chance to grab the lead. Sucks for Kenny, and Anderson definitely could’ve gone down, but in the end, it worked. In my eyes, Kenny owes him one now but as we’ve seen, Roczen doesn’t ride like that.

3 | #23 | Chase Sexton | Clermont, FL | Honda CRF450R WE

I thought Sexton rode a smart race. He lost the draft of the top two guys but had everyone else covered so he settled in and grabbed a podium spot. After winning his first race last week, maybe he was a bit bummed, but to me, this is stuff you have to take when it’s there and move on to another week. By the way, Sexton is crushing heat races this year—he’s got three wins out of four and he’s led double the number of laps in the heat compared to other guys. Also, Sexton completed the Alpinestars gear 450SX podium sweep, which I would think is the first time the company has done that.

4 | #14 | Dylan Ferrandis | Tallahassee, FL | Yamaha YZ450F

Dylan Ferrandis was on fire early in this main coming from 12th after one lap to this spot. He was setting some fast laps and passing come good dudes before sort of getting stuck behind Malcolm Stewart and losing some momentum. He mentioned to me after the race that yeah, he just couldn’t get it going once he didn’t get Stewart right away. It was still an impressive ride for the 14, one week after getting on the box.

5 | #27 | Malcolm Stewart | Murrieta, CA | Husqvarna FC 450

Okay, this is weird now. One week, sure. Two weeks, ok I get it. But we’re four weeks in and MOOKIE FEVER (all caps) in the whoops has just been Mookie fever (lower case) in the whoops. Look, he’s better than ever, he’s got three top five’s in a row, and I remember when he only had one top five in his career not that long ago. So this is still ALL good but Malcolm on the Husqvarna is just good in the whoops, he’s not balls amazing. What’s happened? Maybe it’s the steel frame? On a Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda it was always MOOKIE FEVER in the whoops.

6 | #25 | Marvin Musquin | Corona, CA | KTM 450 SX-F FE

After last week’s debacle I was watching Musquin this week to see if it was something that he’d be able to overcome. Although he didn’t answer that poor race with a podium or something else, this is fine. Not great, not bad though. It’s fine.

7 | #51 | Justin Barcia | Greenville, FL | GasGas MC 450F

After two weeks, Barcia’s average first lap position was a fifth. That’s pretty good and was a reason why he had the red plate. After four weeks, his average first lap position is now a 9.8. That’s bad. This is also a reason why he’s no longer got the red plate. #deepanalysis

8 | #1 | Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | KTM 450 SX-F FE

Not a good night for Webb with just so-so rides in both the heat and the main event. I was told that he and the team had found some stuff on the bike this week and everyone was hoping it would go better (narrator: it did not). There’s no doubt that after listening to Coop on the PulpMX Show last week, who was couching it pretty well, he’s not where he wants to be on the new bike yet. No, I’m not going to talk panic button yet.

9 | #15 | Dean Wilson | Murrieta, CA | Husqvarna FC 450 RE

Dean’s Dean! When I talked to him after last weekend’s race he said he was getting frustrated with his results because he rides with guys like Mookie and knows he can run that pace. This time he got a ninth which was his best so far this year.

10 | #12 | Shane McElrath | Oakland, FL | KTM 450 SX-F FE

Shane’s starts were back after a one-week hiatus and this was less of a fade than we had seen to start the year. I went to go talk to Shane afterward but he looked to be in a pretty serious conversation with his team after the race. And it went on a for a while at that.

11 | #34 | Max Anstie | Wesley Chapel, FL | KTM 450 SX-F

I was surprised at this finish because Mad Max crashed in the whoops and hurt his shoulder pretty good to the point where he didn’t ride a practice. He was obviously hurting but I’m assuming got a shot and toughed out the night show to a good finish. With his teammate Joey Savatgy out for a while, the team can hardly afford to miss another guy.

12 | #41 | Brandon Hartranft | Brick, NJ | Suzuki RM-Z450

Another week, another career best for Hartranft, who he told me after the race that he actually liked the sand and that he “rips” in the sand. Shoutout to the Jersey sand pit locals.

13 | #94 | Ken Roczen | Clermont, FL | Honda CRF450R WE

Rough couple of weeks for Roczen, who won Anaheim 1 just four short weeks ago. He got knocked down by Anderson last week, he was again knocked down by the 21 (definitely a lot worse this time!) while leading and that’s got to sting. I’m sure if he had to do it again, he would not have gone to the outside in the sand section. He also had to stop and get some sand out of his goggles and that was all she wrote. He won Anaheim 1 and three weeks later, he’s almost a whole race down in the points. Life comes at you fast.

14 | #19 | Justin Bogle | Wesley Chapel, FL | Suzuki RM-Z450

Honestly, Dustin Pipes, the owner of HEP Suzuki, bought my dinner on Friday night (also there was Evan Ferry who I tried to “influence” to be a good pro) and so to me, it’s not a coincidence that both Hartranft and Bogle had season-best finishes. It’s just called karma and I think Pipes should buy me dinner veery Friday night, TBH.

15 | #54 | Mitchell Oldenburg | Aledo, TX | Honda CRF450R

For the second week in a row, Freckle was a ways back in the main and just slowly worked his way up to this spot. He’s never done this many 450SX races (he’s never been this good in 450SX races either) and I wonder, when you look at his teammate Friese’s bike and see it’s good, will Freckle see a jump in results from getting so many gate drops before the first 250SX east race?

16 | #11 | Kyle Chisholm | Valrico, FL | Yamaha YZ450F

I gotta stop texting with Chiz during the day. He’s always telling me how he’s sick, his elbow hurts, he’s not feeling it, etc., and then when the lights come on, he always Chiz’s. And that’s what he did again at Anaheim 2. THAT’S ALL HE DOES. CHIZ GONNA CHIZ AND HE CAN’T BE STOPPED!