Although he is still sidelined, our man “Filthy” Phil Nicoletti is recovering well from his broken arm suffered during Monster Energy AMA Supercross. “Filthy” has a cast on his left wrist but he is hoping to return to racing several rounds into the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. He has also been on the move recently, joining his buds Cooper Webb and Seth Rarick as co-hosts for the PulpMX Show, and then attending the Justin Brayton Shootout in Iowa last weekend.
Oh and Nicoletti still answered some of your questions! Got a question for Phil Nicoletti? Send it to Phil@racerxonline.com.
(Note: Some questions have been lightly edited for clarity.)
Phil,
First off just want to say it was really rad seeing you out there slaying it this year. The work you put in was very apparent and as an oldish rider myself I love seeing “older” riders kicking ass. Awesome work and I hope you’re back soon, man.
I wanted to ask about that big triple they made in Atlanta. Obviously as a TV spectator when I saw that I was going “Holy shit that’s massive!” and thought it was rad. I was bummed when they cut it down cause I was thinking it was going to be a great separator as not everyone would be able to do it and ultimately the riders would have to make the decision to go for it or not. However, many riders clearly felt different about it and I get that as well, it was MASSIVE. But what if they made the landing more forgiving and maybe just 100 ft? Could a jump that big actually work if it was shaped differently?
Mike Campbell
Mike,
Thank you for the compliments. It was a lot of work to get back to after being gone for so long from SX. But I enjoyed every minute of it.
Now to answer your question. The jump in Atlanta was stupid. The fact that the futures were out there jumping it was absolutely mind blowing. I’m not sure who decided to vote that in, but I’d really like to wonder if they’ve ever jumped anything in their life. You can make massive jumps forgiving. That thing was not forgiving, whatsoever! It was a make or break, do or die situation. If they could have built a landing that you were able to see and could calculate, I’m in for it 100 percent. But when you’re hitting that damn thing blind folded, hoping you’re going to survive, it’s an uneasy feeling. People will say “it’s your choice whether you jump it or not.” I’ll respond with a big screw you fellas! For the people saying that, I can guarantee you they would even be able to double that thing. I’d love to line the peanut gallery up, and send them off it. Don’t worry guys, the medics and the ambulance will be there to comfort for you.
But yes, you can make a 100 ft triple safe and sound for us to hit. That one wasn’t it though. Back to the drawing board and try again next year.
Check out Hunter Lawrence's media day crash on the massive triple at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Luckily Lawrence was not injured and actually went on to win the 250SX East/West Showdown the next day!
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My second question is, in your opinion what kind of track changes would you like to see out there? Bigger but somewhat safe jumps or slower more technical sections that bring the speeds down?
Thanks for doing this column!
Mike Campbell (again)
I’m going to be honest. A lot the tracks have been really good. There have been some mishaps where they should of changed this sooner to prevent issues. Like A3 and the last three whoops. We had a massive issue in Detroit in practice in the section where Cooper Webb and Chase Sexton landed on each other. Things can be prevented a lot sooner with the eyes that are on the track. Just need to move quicker. But the thing I wish was changed doesn’t even have to do with the track. It’s the damn daytime schedule. I mean, SX is a total of 45 minutes for the day. They have us there from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. by the time stuff is finished. That’s over 13.5 hours for 45 minutes of riding. Come on. Rant over.
Phil,
I wanted to go to Iowa and hang out with you guys but I’m still milking this ACL injury. How was the hangout at the Justin Brayton Shootout over the weekend? I’m sure JB was his usual Perfect 10 self.
Weege
Weege,
Ahhhh Weege, you missed a fun event. I personally have never met Damon Bradshaw and Denny Stephenson. So I was able to check that off the bucket list. I idolized them when I was a kid, and to finally be able to shoot the shit with them was great. I even got to do a few Jameson shots with them. I think they had a bit better fitness handling the Jameo haha. But the bench racing was all time. The stories Davey Coombs, Damon, Justin, and Denny were telling was all time. I just sat there like a kid and took it in. Great thing about it was, they aren’t prima donnas. You could say what you wanted to say.
But the Riverside Raceway did a great job with the event. I enjoyed going back to the local scene and taking it all in. I used to race every single weekend I could when the snow finally melted! So I appreciate local racing. From the turnout, to racing, to night-time activities, it was a lot of fun. Thanks for being me out JB10 to enjoy it with you all!
