Main image by Mitch Kendra
Welcome to Racerhead, coming to you from High Point Raceway, and I will apologize in advance: This week has been even busier than I expected, and High Point week is about as busy as it gets for me. It’s our hometown race, one of the centerpieces of the series, and we’ve been doing our best to get our track into the best shape it’s ever been. There’s a whole new paddock (parts of which are still under construction) and tons of new sawdust out on the racetrack. Also, a whole bunch of moto friends and co-workers have descended on Morgantown for much of the week. So there’s pretty much a maxed-out work/play ratio everyone at both Racer X and MX Sports Pro Racing.
The good news is that the series itself has been fantastic, as the riders are giving us some pretty compelling and entertaining racing. We’ve had three winners in three rounds in the 450 class, while Jett Lawrence has won all three in the 250 class, but three different ways: 1-1, 3-1, 2-2. His brother Hunter has been the closest guy, for the most part, and he got his first moto win of the year last weekend. And man was the rookie Levi Kitchen impressive in that first moto last week when he finally got a start, and then led start-to-finish in that first moto. The Washougal-born Kitchen is making his first visit to High Point this week, and hopefully he keeps that momentum going. Speaking of Levi, @3lapsdown Clinton Fowler just shared a cool stat with me: Kitchen was one of six riders in the top ten in the first 250 moto who either had their best-ever moto finish or tied it. Besides Kitchen’s win, Seth Hammaker was fifth (which tied his best moto yet), Stilez Robertson was sixth, Nate Thrasher eighth, Nick Romano ninth (tied), and Matt LeBlanc tenth (which he bettered in the second moto). And now LeBlanc of the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team have decided that he’s not returning to the AMA Amateur National Championships at Loretta Lynn’s and will stay on the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross circuit.
Also making his first visit is Antonio Cairoli, who grabbed both 450 holeshots last week at Thunder Valley. Cairoli rode the best he’s ridden since he got here to the states for his AMA adventure. I told Antonio that he would probably really like High Point because it has lots of ups-and-downs, Arco, Trentino-style, and it’s also going to be more hardpack than the three west coast tracks he visited. If he can get another couple of good starts, he could have a really nice day here. Matthes will have more on Cairoli and his future plans below.
Last week’s event in Colorado was another good one, but it wasn’t without its issues. First, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson rode straight into a foam rubber Acerbis barrier that marked the inside of the start stretch on the fourth lap of the race. It was placed there, off the side of the track, by an official, as Anderson and a few others were either running over or cutting to the inside of the yellow plastic markers. Because he hit it at speed, it caused some pain in his fingers, so part of this week was spent sawing a dozen of those “SpongeBob” rubber barriers down to 2/3 their regular size to lessen the chance of someone hitting one with their fingers. Nothing is ideal when you run straight into it, but I know these foam rubber barriers are much better than hitting a haybale or a stack of tires or snow fence or any other track-side marker that we’ve seen in motocross over the years.
There was also an issue where the red-flashing emergency safety lights came on just as the leaders were approaching, and both Chase Sexton and Ken Roczen jumped the downhill double they were meant to single or roll. It was caught on both TV and from a camera in the team managers’ tower, but at the same time head official Jeff Canfield was being taking to a nearby hospital with severe dehydration from the heat. That led to a delay in getting the situation addressed and sorted, as Canfield was in the hospital on Sunday and traveling home Monday—he won’t be at the race this weekend as he’s still getting his health sorted. The teams were informed of the penalties on Tuesday that saw both Sexton and Roczen lose one championship point, as well as privateers Josh Gilbert and Bryson Gardner, who also jumped on the flashing lights.
Amateur practice day just ended and it’s time for me to get back out on the track and start helping everyone get ready for tomorrow’s big race. With that let me turn this over to Matthes, and also wish my fellow dads out there a Happy Father’s Day weekend.
- Motocross
High Point
Saturday, June 18- QualifyingLiveJune 18 - 2:00 PM UTC
- 250 Class Moto 1LiveJune 18 - 5:00 PM UTC
- 250 Class Moto 1LiveJune 18 - 5:00 PM UTC
- 450 Class Moto 1LiveJune 18 - 6:00 PM UTC
- 450 Class Moto 1LiveJune 18 - 6:00 PM UTC
- 250 Class Moto 2LiveJune 18 - 7:00 PM UTC
- 250 Class Moto 2LiveJune 18 - 7:00 PM UTC
- 450 Class Moto 2LiveJune 18 - 8:00 PM UTC
- 450 Class Moto 2LiveJune 18 - 8:00 PM UTC
HEADING EAST (Matthes)
First national of the year on the east coast and some would say that the series really starts now. I can remember as a mechanic feeling pretty good about our bikes that we tested with before the season at Glen Helen or Hangtown and then hitting High Point and the riders not being stoked. The east coast dirt grabs the front tire, sucks it down and makes the chassis feel unbalanced. So there’s an adjustment needed for many of the guys when we hit that tacky dirt.
High Point is a track where you’re hardly ever going straight and on flat ground. It favors sweeping the corners, keeping momentum up and making the shortest line possible out there on the track. That’s one of the reasons it generally favors European riders and one of the reasons I think we see Tony Cairoli do pretty well this weekend. In his last race here (most likely), I think the 222 ends up with two motos inside the top five and maybe even gets a podium! That would be sweet, and, by the way, I can’t believe that KTM can’t find a common ground with Tony in terms of bonuses or salary to keep him here racing but guess that’s just me.
High Point National Preview—American Motocross
AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame (DC)
If you’re an AMA Lifetime member, or a current member of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, don’t miss your chance to vote on the Class of 2022. There are some very obvious choices in the nominees, including multi-time AMA Supercross and Pro Motocross Champion James Stewart, multi-time AMA SX and Pro Motocross Champion, as well as FIM World Champion, Grant Langston, and multi-time GNCC Champion Barry Hawk, who actually won overall titles on both ATVs and motorcycles! But one person you may not know who is on the ballot is Paul Schlegel, a lifelong motorcycle rider and an incredible event promoter. I wrote in a recent biography of Paul that explained much of what you was responsible for:
Paul Schlegel was an extraordinarily creative, diverse and successful AMA race promoter. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to find a race organizer with their touch prints on as many AMA National-caliber events as Paul, nor one who’s work produced such a wide range of events across so many motorcycling disciplines. Schlegel has been part of more than 100 AMA National Championship events, including Trans-AMA and Inter-Am motocross races of the early days, more modern AMA Pro Motocross and AMA Supercross events like the annual Pontiac Silverdome doubleheaders, AMA Camel Pro Series Grand National Championship events like the Lima Half-Mile, the AMA Dirt Track National Championships, the AMA American Indoor Championships, AMA National Enduro and AMA National Hare Scrambles events, the original AMA National Arenacross Series and more.
It is also no exaggeration to say that Schlegel literally got in on the ground floor of AMA Pro Motocross. He was a part of the committee of race promoters who first encouraged the AMA to begin sanctioning motocross events. When they agreed, he organized a round of the inaugural 1970 Trans-AMA Series at his track in Delta, Ohio. He also hosted rounds of Edison Dye’s Inter-Am Series, though not until it was sanctioned by the AMA.
Finally, and maybe his most impressive ongoing legacy, Paul Schegel is the co-founder of the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, the single biggest motocross program in the world and the main platform for the future stars of AMA Supercross and AMA Pro Motocross. It was Schlegel who suggested Loretta Lynn’s Ranch for this new concept of a centrally-located championship finale that would be an even-playing field for athletes who qualified at various AMA Area and AMA Regional qualifiers across the country. For the first decade of the event’s creation Schlegel shared in the promotion and organization of the AMA’s single biggest dirt bike event with his co-founder, the late Dave Coombs Sr., who himself was enshrined in the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame back in 1999.
So if you are an AMA Life Member of more than 25 years or are already in the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, and you haven’t voted yet, please consider Paul Schlegel for your ballot, along with James, GL, Barry Hawk and all of the other fine candidates. Here’s a link to find out if you can vote, and then how to vote.
Weekend Off, So Off to Europe! (Jason Thomas)
For the second time this year I made the trip across the Atlantic to attend an MXGP round. This time, it was Germany’s Teutschenthal venue which is located about two hours south of Berlin. I took the opportunity to go for a run through the city on Friday morning and if you’re ever in search of a history lesson, go there pronto. As a guest of the television commentary team alongside Paul Malin, I have really come to enjoy the MXGP series and its uniqueness. The culture and wide-ranging backgrounds of the riders widen my perspective each time I visit. I have raced over 125 times in Europe myself but I really didn’t absorb much other than the tracks, the hotels, and the airports. Going back these years later has given me a second chance at that.
As for the racing, Tim Gajser got back on track in the premier class. He had missed three consecutive podiums but Germany would stop that nonsense in its tracks. His 1-2 score would give him the overall and just over a 100-point lead in the championship chase. With former second-in-points Maxine Renaux injuring his back in Saturday’s qualifier, this title has been blown wide open by the HRC man.
As for the MX2 youngsters, Thibault Benistant may have come into his own right before our eyes. His second moto domination was impressive. He has that typical French flair in his riding and was able to utilize that specific skill set on the tricky Teutschenthal hard pack. With Benistant missing several rounds, it comes down to two title contenders, Tom Vialle and Jago Geerts, and both had their share of ups and downs on the weekend. It would be Vialle suffering the worst, though, his KTM failing him mid moto. That DNF gives Geerts the red plate and momentum as the series heads to Indonesia in a week’s time.
This weekend, I’m back to Lucas Oil Pro Motocross in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania. Although I’m putting in more airline miles than your veteran pilot, I’m enjoying my whirlwind worldwide tour. That’s enough for now, it’s time to go talk dirt bikes over at Monster Energy’s Staging Area show. You can check that out on Monster’s Facebook page and American Motocross’s YouTube platform at 6pm EST.
Hey, Watch It!
Pennsylvania native Vincent Luhovey was on Pittsburgh Today Live earlier this week to talk about this weekend’s High Point National in his home state.
“PTL's Daisy Jade is talking with Greensburg native Vinnie Luhovey, who is back in town this weekend to compete in the 2022 High Point National!”
450 Thunder Valley National raw trackside edit of the motos
250 Thunder Valley National raw trackside edit of the motos
Kellen Brauer’s Race Examination video:
Head-Scratching Headline/s Of The Week
“Grandma had no idea she 'whooped' Pittsburgh Steelers at pickleball”—KDKA
Random Notes
Thanks for reading Racerhead. See you at the races!
