Before we get into the week’s news, as well as what to look for tomorrow night, the new issue of Racer X magazine just dropped with Jason Anderson on the cover.

The magazine is packed with coverage of Anaheim 1, as well as a look at the new strategy that Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing is utilizing in getting their amateur prospects mixed in with their current pros, in the hopes of helping get them even more ready for their transition into the pro ranks. There’s also a feature on the revival of Honda Hills Raceway in Ohio—a rare success story about a once-grand track going away for more than 15 years, then coming back online. (You can actually preview that story right here, and also listen to the Renthal/Racer X Read Out that I did with the help of Andrew Fredrickson:

There’s also a feature where we asked some of the best racers of all time—Ricky Carmichael, Jeremy McGrath, Roger De Coster, Chad Reed, Jeff Ward, Rick Johnson, Grant Langston, and more—who they thought was the best racer they’ve ever watched.

And in doing the feature on Star Yamaha, I got a chance to catch up with Brian Deegan, as we were discussing his son Haiden’s switch from orange to blue, as well as how the whole program works, the benefits of setting up at Ricky Carmichael’s farm (now owned by Star Racing), how he balances Haiden’s SX/MX career with that of his auto racing daughter Hailie, and more. That conversation could have been a feature on its own! So we took the interview and made it this week’s Where Are They Now? But it’s really about where the Deegans are headed, as well as Nick Romano and Matt LeBlanc.

Unfortunately, I’m not in Arizona for tomorrow night’s race, as it’s time for my daughter Sloane’s travel volleyball season to start up, so we’re headed to Ohio—if she and I can get there in this snowstorm! So let me toss it over to Weege first…

Bounce Back (Jason Weigandt)

What a great time to reintroduce a Triple Crown event into Monster Energy AMA Supercross. Earlier this week I wrote about three riders—Eli Tomac, Jason Anderson, and Chase Sexton—beginning to rise above the pack in this series, and while we’ve all heard “the series really begins at Daytona,” the reality is that if a rider isn’t in the hunt for race wins somewhere around the third, fourth, and fifth round, the season rarely turns around. That makes this fifth round very critical for a few riders, led by the defending champion of the series, Cooper Webb. Webb doesn’t always start the season on fire, but his eighth last weekend was way below par. Also, Ken Roczen has ridden well but is way, way back in points. Three weeks ago he was holding the red plate and Webb was second in the points! Again, the opening round doesn’t usually prove much—it’s that round-three-to-five sector that usually reflects the full season as a whole. Webb needs to get back on the box, quickly.

Perhaps the format change to a Triple Crown is what they need right now. Roczen is as good as anyone ever in the early laps of a race. He’s been fast all year, and he could really get some momentum back this weekend with a Triple Crown. I don’t know about championship hopes for Ken, as he would have to jump eight riders (!) to get the red plate back. But a win sure would heal some wounds, and I think this format favors his early-race speed. Ken swept the Triple Crown in this stadium back in 2020.

As for Webb, it’s a little more dire. Roczen has had speed but got knocked down; Webb just hasn’t been fast enough to win. I believe that, behind the scenes, the KTM Group is still trying to figure out this new-generation bike. Also, we’ve seen really gnarly whoop sections at the first few races, which has been a surprise. While Webb said he would be better this year in whoops on the new bike, it’s still not a strength, so the tough whoops at these first rounds have not played in his favor. Jump lines haven’t been available, either, as it seems the whoops are built too deep and steep for that to work. Even Malcolm Stewart has not been his usual mega-fast in whoops this year. Of course, those are just the first four races. Maybe Glendale sees a different build of whoops, or maybe Webb and the KTM/Husqvarna gang solve some of their issues this weekend. There was a time when Webb was a holeshot machine in 450SX, a Triple Crown would be the perfect weekend to get those starts back and get a win to stem the momentum of that trio at the front. We all know how Webb works: when the situation gets dire, he usually figures out a way. We’ll see.

Pro Perspective (Jason Thomas)

The first Triple Crown event of the year has arrived. As a fan, this format is my favorite. The action just keeps coming and all of the racing contributes to the championship. Instead of two races that count, we get six! Simply put, it's a better end product for viewers.

For the riders, on the other hand, it's not the same feeling. Having three gate drops raises the risk level, and it also asks more on a fitness level to get minds and bodies ready for three individual races per class. Riders don't train for this format as much, and most trainers are aiming to have their riders be robots on race day. Boot camp prepares them to execute a plan every Saturday. Anything out of the norm is viewed as less than ideal, but these Triple Crowns are back, like them or not.

The only real changes I would expect would be in how riders prepared this week. Instead of the 21-minute motos to end each day, riders would try to mimic a Triple Crown format. That could also include an emphasis on raising the intensity in the early laps, knowing the shorter races remove any chance for a late charge. It's very difficult to make significant changes in one week, but familiarizing the body with the upcoming ask can help. Race day should feel like just another day at the practice track—that's what everyone is aiming for.

All in all, I think the Triple Crown insertion is a plus. Riders, mechanics, and budget makers likely feel differently, but improving the series is bigger than all of that. As a sport, we need to continue to find ways to provide a better overall package. Triple Crowns do that.

If you need a refresher on the Triple Crown format, read it here.

Jeffrey Herlings DOWN. AGAIN. (DC)

Jeffrey Herlings may very well be the fastest man on the motocross planet, but his luck may be the worst. The reigning MXGP World Champion suffered yet another major injury in a non-MXGP event, as he broke his heel during a photo shoot. In previous seasons, Herlings suffered a broken femur in a charity minicycle race, he broke his foot in January 2019 while training in Spain, and then he was 60 points ahead in 2020 when he crashed and injured his neck and foot during timed training at Faenza in Italy.

This time, according to news in the Netherlands, Herlings broke his left heel in four places while doing a photo shoot over a modest jump in Spain. He returned to his home in Belgium to have it operated on by a specialist.

“We’re paying the price for a ‘nothing’ crash," Herlings said in a press release from KTM. "I think I might have hit a small stone on the take-off and that put me over the bars. The impact was pretty big on my left foot and we needed to get it fixed the best we could. Big thanks to the medical staff for looking after me and getting my foot repaired, again! Also to the whole Red Bull KTM team: we’d worked hard for this 2022 season and the goal now is to be back and winning as soon as we can.”

It's never a "good time" for an injury, but the timing for this one could not have been worse. This unfortunate turn of events happened with the opening round of the 2020 MXGP Series less than three week away in Great Britain. Herlings has proven before that he can ride through the pain, and he has also overcome missing multiple motos in a season to still win titles, but the seriousness of this one may make it harder to return right away. 

“Of course this is very disappointing for Jeffrey, the team and the championship," said KTM's Joel Smets, himself a multi-time world champion. "Trying to look at the positive side the injury is not as complicated as his foot problem in 2019. The operation took some time but everything went well and we hope Jeffrey can be out of a cast in less than two weeks and can even start some light training such as swimming and some other activities. Then we’ll have to see how he recovers to plan his GP return.”

Herlings now joins a long and rather unfortunate list of photo-shoot crashes that have knocked big names out of their respective championships. Most famously is provably David Vuillemin, who was leading the 2002 AMA Supercross Championship before a crash during a photo shoot knocked him out of Daytona and gave Ricky Carmichael a chance to recover all the points he lost with a first-round DNF. And speaking of RC, he crashed in the whoops while doing a shoot at his farm in November 2003, injuring his knee and knocking him out what might have been a fourth straight AMA Supercross title in 2004. There's also Ben Townley's crash in late 2007 during a Team Honda photo shoot that kept him from defending his 250SX East Region title. And then there was the time back in 1986 when Jacky Vimond was being lowered from the rafters at a championship celebration in Paris when the cables broke and he fell to the stage, breaking his back and keeping from being able to defend his 250cc World Championship. 

Herlings also now joins Romain Febvre on the sidelines, as the Frenchman broke his leg at the Paris SX in November and is questionable to start MXGP in three weeks as well. Herlings and Febvre finished the '21 season ranked first and second, respectively, in MXGP, having taken the title down to the very last round. With Antonio Cairoli retired from full-time racing, it appears that the two favorites (at least to start the series at Matterley Basin on February 20) are four-time world champion Tim Gajser (Honda) and two-time world champion Jorge Prado (now on GasGas), and both will be lining up this weekend at the second round of the Italian International 24MX Series in Sardinia.

2022 450/250 KTM Factory Edition Introduction (Keefer)

KTM had the media out to Fox Raceway on Wednesday to test ride the all new 2022 KTM 450/250 SX-F Factory Editions. We haven't seen a new model since 2018.5, so the four-year usual cycle was right on time, even with the pandemic that has been wreaking havoc on a lot of manufacturers’ timelines. KTM really honed in on chassis compliancy and a more powerful yet controllable engine. This isn't a big surprise to most of you, as most manufacturers strive for the same thing when introducing a new model, but KTM took it a step further with Quick Shift, an off-road industry first. Basically, KTM took their technology from road racing and brought it to their SX-F lineup. Once QS is turned on (via handlebar map switch), a sensor on the shift drums tells the ignition to cut off for less than a second in order for the rider to shift up when the throttle is left wide open. The use of the clutch is not needed, nor does the rider have to roll off throttle to make a shift under load. I thought it was "gimmicky" when introduced, but it does really help when doing starts. I didn't notice it as much when doing laps, but you CAN actually feel it. Both bikes have significant changes to them when riding the older versions back-to-back on the track. You can learn more about the KTM 250 and 450 Factory Editions right here on Racer X.

I brought out Chris Cole (a 59-year-old longtime KTM owner/rider and the guy who helps out Freddie Noren in supercross/motocross) to help me break down the 450, as well as my son, Aden, and his friend Jaxon Pascal to break down their KTM 250 Factory Edition experience. Jaxon is also a longtime KTM rider who is traveling all over the U.S. to race the amateur nationals. Getting a 17-year-old’s opinion is sometimes hard, but Jaxon is a well-spoken kid who thinks before he speaks. I feel like we had a well-rounded test team for this project and hope that you all can get something out of these videos.

Spending almost 12K for a 450 and/or 11K for a 250 is no joke, and we try to get you as much information as possible with as many opinions as we can get before you spend your money. There are tons of options/media outlets out there to get your new-bike information, but we’ll always do our best to be a little different so you're not hearing the same ol' thing. If you have any questions about these machines as always, my email door is open at kris@keeferinctesting.com. 

STARK INDUSTRIES (Matthes)

I did a podcast with Anton Wass, the founder of Stark Motorcycles, and it was a pretty interesting conversation. Wass says they've sold 5,000 motorcycles in six months and to look for the first Varg e-motorcycle to hit the USA around September. He's hoping to get the media over to Spain to ride the bikes in the next couple of months. I stayed on the racing conversation with him for a bit, and it's clear that Wass wants to race anything and everything on the Varg against the gas-powered bikes. Look, we know the AMA really screwed up the whole four-stroke displacement rules and were way too slow to react as well, but in my opinion, if this is done right and we see how the Varg is, there should be no issues with racing against the other OEMs. Yeah, that sound you just heard is the other manufacturers flipping over their desks, but I think the worst thing we can do is shut these guys and the new technology out. There's got to be a way that we can welcome them in fairly against the other bikes. If that 5K number is accurate, there will be a lot of Vargs at your local tracks real soon.

SLEEPING GIANTS (DC)

Before winter really hit, we asked the promoters of each round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship that might end up getting snow to try to get a photo or two of their tracks when they’re blanketed in the white stuff. With all of the recent snow in the northern part of the country, they’ve had plenty of chances! The @promotocross Instagram page has been posting some of the shots under the hashtag #sleepinggiants for fun. Here are a few to show you what they look like once winter comes!

PULPMX SHOW (Matthes)

We had Ryan Villopoto and Jake Weimer in to cohost the PulpMX Show with me on Monday night and had another night of great guests. Ryan Dungey, Mitch Payton, Lars Lindstrom, and Eli Tomac all called in to talk about stuff. Tomac seemed to be in a great mood, and him telling us he's forcing himself out of his comfort zone this year and he's enjoying himself being around new people was pretty candid for ET. Dungey's foundation just gave 60K to St Jude's, and he's going to be doing a lot of stuff around the Minneapolis SX (provided his wife doesn't give birth to their second kid) with St. Jude's and the bikes for kids’ charity. Lars Lindstrom's gone two for four so far as a new Honda manager, and he talked about how the transition is going for him and working with the riders. Payton, well, he was great and we chatted about how he still ports cylinders at Pro Circuit when needed, even though he's super busy with his business and his race team. Weimer and Villopoto apparently need him to drop everything, and custom make them some pipes for their vintage bikes. 

It was a good show, and Weimer and Villopoto were really good in talking about the Anderson-on-Roczen pass, what's next for Adam Cianciarulo, and Dungey and Villopoto seemed to have a good time talking about the past. Monday nights 5 p.m. PST, listen laugh and learn!

THE PRIVATEERS' DENTIST (DC)

"davermz450" posted this on Vital MX forum:

Hey, Watch It!

Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing's Jeremy Martin has gotten into the vlogging game and here is Episode 1 of his new YouTube show JM6: It's What JMart Does

Another fine Race Examination by Kellen Brauer, especially with the Anderson-Roczen tangle, and Cooper Webb going around the whoops after his spill:

Vurbmoto went old school with some black-and-white work in this week’s Christian Craig video, Pressure of the Red Plate:

999Lazer (Too Fast Media Group) put together an interesting shootout: a 1991 Suzuki RM125 vs. a modern-day Yamaha YZ125: