Welcome to Racerhead, coming to you on a hard-earned weekend off for everyone involved in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross. We've just finished the first third of the series, with four straight races that were all very successful—crowd-wise, track-wise, racing-wise. Especially so for Team Honda, which is running the red plate in both classes (courtesy of Chase Sexton and Jett Lawrence) and also has Ken Roczen and Hunter Lawrence in the title mix as well. Sexton has been steady and consistent, while Jett has won four in a row, his older brother close each time. Sexton needs to keep an eye on Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Eli Tomac, who has improved his position by one each time after finishing fourth in the opener. And Eli loves RedBud, which is coming up next weekend.
There's something about Team Honda that looks different right now. With Lars Lindstrom at the helm, Roczen looking like he's found whatever was wrong with his program earlier, Johnny O'Mara keeping the Lawrence brothers focused, Trey Canard pitching in with testing and guidance, and Sexton just being a solid talent all around, the Red Riders are really humming right now. One thing I've noticed after each event is how Lars gathers the whole staff in front of the semi in a big circle to talk about the day, ask questions, and discuss what's next. It's the kind of camaraderie you usually see with football teams after a big game, and it's definitely working. If you’d told me six weeks ago that one team was dominating the series at this point, I might have guessed Star Yamaha, but they’ve been banged up in the 250 Class, and they lost defending 450 champion Dylan Ferrandis before the series even started. When he gets back, it will be interesting to see how things play out between him and his teammate Tomac, as well as how things will shake out when he's around the Hondas.
With RedBud up next, it might offer a bit of a preview of what Team USA is going to do for the ’22 FIM Motocross of Nations, which takes place there in September. Right now it's looking like a team of Sexton and Tomac on 450s and Justin Cooper on the 250. (The Lawrence brothers must be shoo-ins for Australia, and Roczen will almost certainly be there for Germany.) Nothing will be decided, as the AMA's Mike Pelletier is not going to be there. He was selected for the FIM Jury for the MXGP over in Indonesia this weekend. That series has had an up-and-down few weeks, with some issues between the paddock and the organizers that are yet to be resolved. There's also the problem of a severe lack of entries in the MX2 class, especially for "flyaway" races like Indonesia. At last count they had 14 entries, four of which were local riders who will be well off the pace. No matter, I plan on watching, because the track they built for this weekend looks pretty cool, and motocross is motocross—I'm watching it always.
As for my weekend off, the family and I are headed to the mountains farther down in West Virginia for the Snowshoe GNCC. It's our off-road version of Mammoth Mountain, which is also taking place right now out in California. Snowshoe is as much a festival as a race, as the whole mountaintop resort is already packed. They're having an ISDE Fundraiser golf tournament today, and then concerts both tonight and tomorrow, with ATVs racing on Saturday, e-bikes, and Stacycs tomorrow evening, and then the main motorcycle race on Sunday.
Last weekend's High Point National was one for the ages. Tomac and Sexton and the Lawrence brothers were magnificent, as was Red Bull KTM's Ryan Dungey, who very nearly pulled off a podium. Not so fortunate was Antonio Cairoli, as bad luck got him in both motos. He crashed with Christian Craig in the first moto and ended up pulling out, then told Steve Matthes afterward that he forgot that in MXGP you go to the starting gate for both motos based on your qualifying finish, but in the AMA rulebook you go to the starting gate for the second moto based on how you finished the first. He said he should have continued on and gotten a better starting pick but forgot the difference in rules. Nevertheless, Antonio lined up on the outside and very nearly got the holeshot, only to run out of room on the outside and go off the track. A class act through and through, Cairoli was gracious to all of the fans, despite the poor afternoon, and he headed back to Italy the next day. Hopefully we see him again before the MXoN. MXGP fans are lucky they’ve had this legend to cheer for the past 17 years. He's a global motocross treasure.
The track at High Point really shaped up after a wet morning and got extremely rough. The move toward disking less deeply than in the past has continued, and I think all four tracks have been better and more race-able as a result. You know RedBud is going to be perfect, as will Southwick, Spring Creek, Washougal. . .. And that reminds me, the 450s will go first at both RedBud and Southwick so that the second 450 motos at each can be featured on NBC. I know change like this is confusing, especially with the streaming issues we had to start the season. (Look for announcements about more fixes soon.) It also means the 450 B practice will get the smoother Southwick, compared to the A Group, and that the 250 B practice will get the rougher track, as 250 A will go out before them. And no, I don't think Jeffrey Herlings will surprise everyone and show up to take on Tomac, but Jason Weigandt will have more on that next!
Herlings Speaks (Jason Weigandt)
Good get by Jase “Gypsy Tales” Macalpine to have current MXGP World Champion Jeffrey Herlings join his podcast last week. The Gypsy Tales shows are quite long—a full three hours of chat with The Bullet—but you certainly learn a lot about a subject. The big headline from the show is Herlings saying he would love to do a one-on-one match race at Southwick against Eli Tomac to see once and for all who really is the fastest. That makes it seem like Herlings knows he would kick Tomac’s ass, but if you listen to the show, you’ll realize it all comes from a place of respect. He really doesn’t know if he could beat Eli, he just wants to see! Herlings is a huge fan of Tomac and said he feels like they’re similar in their approach to racing. They work hard and show up to win, and they’re not really interested in the other parts of racing. Jeffrey is willing to do the fan stuff, the media stuff, the social media, but he’d rather just train, show up, race, and go home. He thinks Tomac is the same. Also, Herlings said when he’s done racing, he’s done. He has no interest in coming to the races as a coach or trainer.
As for the Southwick match race between Herlings and Tomac, well, that’s a bit of a stretch to imagine happening in reality. I know Gypsy Tales Jase is pumped on the concept and is trying to figure out ways to make it happen. Interesting.
Herlings even went so far as to say that, watching this year’s Lucas Oil Pro Motocross races on TV, he thinks the riders in America are now going faster than what he’s seeing from the pack in MXGP. That’s a pretty big claim, but he has huge, huge respect for Tomac, Chase Sexton, Jason Anderson, Ken Roczen, and more. He also thinks the American tracks, because they’re wider and faster and have more traction, are better suited to going fast on 450s than a lot of the European tracks. I was also surprised by how much knowledge Herlings has on Monster Energy Supercross. In the podcast he’s talking about supercross races from a dozen years ago. He really studies racing in the U.S!
To that end, we all know Herlings wanted to come race here this summer, but he would only have had about three weeks on the bike before the Fox Raceway opener, which wasn’t enough. Instead, he decided to get another surgery to remove a plate from an old foot injury, which had been bothering him for a while. That will put him out for all of this season, but he did say he’ll make it back to the U.S. and race the full national schedule at some point, maybe for the last season of his career. Let’s hope he holds to that promise, and that when he gets here, we get to see the full 100 percent Bullet. It’s pretty well understood that Ryan Villopoto wasn’t quite at peak form when he ventured to the GPs in 2015, and Tony Cairoli wasn’t 100 percent fit for the races he did this year, either.
Pro Perspective (Jason Thomas)
The first weekend off for Lucas Oil Pro Motocross has arrived. After four rounds crisscrossing the USA, riders will get a chance to exhale before resuming the series next weekend at RedBud. It’s also a chance to enjoy summer for a day or two. This sport is so all-encompassing, it’s easy to forget to take some time for other things in life when the opportunity presents itself.
As for when action resumes, the series is at an all-time high. Both the 250 and 450 Classes have championship battles to debate. The Lawrences have taken the 250 Class by storm, and there is a gaggle of 450 riders thinking they will emerge victorious. It’s a renaissance year for Lucas Oil Pro Motocross.
Down in Indonesia, MXGP is back after a weekend off as well as a brutal flight to Southeast Asia. These flyaway events are intriguing but come with a slew of value questions from the teams. Bringing the sport to new markets is important, but it can come with debilitating costs. That push/pull is a yearly occurrence, but I believe InFront is committed to continue on with the global expansion vision. This weekend looks to be off to a great start with several festivities including the stars of the series. These host countries roll out the red carpet to thank MXGP for literally going the extra mile.
As for me, I will be soaking up my second weekend at home since Christmas. That sounds ridiculous to even say, but trust me, I’m feeling it. I’ll be watching MXGP and MotoGP and GNCC from the couch this weekend and trying to recharge my batteries for the summer stretch of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross.
Sneaky first look at the track @mxgp Indonesia pic.twitter.com/bzuUWakGGj
— Paul Malin (@pmalin11) June 23, 2022
The Club (Matthes)
We had Club MX owner Brandon Haas on the PulpMX Show this past Monday night to talk about how the 2022 outdoor nationals are going, his 2023 lineup, and an in-depth talk about what it's like to field a privateer effort against the factories. And yeah, it ain't easy. Props to Haas for being pretty honest about how the team has to improve next year in order for J-Mart to chase the title, and also how basically money is the reason the team can't get quite where a factory is in terms of motor performance and how his budget is basically a million bucks a year.
The team has Enzo Lopes coming back for 250 SX only in 2023, Racer X employee Phil Nicoletti for 250 SX/450 MX, Jeremy Martin for 250 SX/MX, and it sounded like Garrett Marchbanks will be back as well but maybe full-time 450s. Anyways, if you want to listen to what it's like being an owner of a team like Club MX, you can watch the segment here on YouTube.
Dungey Rising (Weigandt)
Herlings on the gate would have been nice this year, but we still have some great racing to celebrate. These battles have been fantastic, and it’s fun to watch Chase Sexton try to wrestle a title away from veteran guys like Tomac and Roczen (who have five 450 National Championships between them) and a contender like Anderson. Plus, Ryan Dungey appears to be on the move based on what we saw at High Point. Dungey had been finishing 40-50 seconds off the lead in most of the motos, but he was down just 11 at the finish of High Point’s second moto, and battled Sexton and Roczen throughout. After the race, Dungey said bike changes have paid off, but I talked to his team manager, Ian Harrison, who says the changes are small. He thinks Dungey just getting a holeshot and trying to latch onto those guys pushed him to that next level, and he found that speed and intensity he had been missing.
This all led to my favorite story from High Point. When we were shooting our Twisted Tea Best Post Race Show Ever, HEP Twisted Tea Suzuki riders Brandon Hartranft and Marshal Weltin told us they were listening to the announcers during the second moto because they wanted to know if Dungey could hold off Roczen for third. Yup, during the moto they were listening to the announcers and cheering for Dungey!
We’ve got great tracks for Dungey coming up. Can he be in the battle for wins with Tomac/Sexton/Roczen/Anderson and more? We might have more excitement to come!
Colorado LL's Training Block (Keefer)
The family and I took trip to the Colorado house this week to get a block of training in for Loretta Lynn's. You may think Colorado isn't well known for its soft dirt, but we have some connections with a couple private farm tracks that have unbelievable dirt. Soft, deep ruts, warm temps, and elevation makes for a long week of riding. My kid needs to toughen up a little, so getting him out here to train is great for his mental toughness. You have to break them down to build them back up, they say! The family and I are back to the high dez next week, and that means by to regular scheduled programming. Tests and more tests on tap. The 2023 machines are continuing to roll out, so we’ll be out at the local California tracks getting to know some of the other 2023 models that are arriving soon. From what I understand, the Yamaha announcement will be a little late this year (around August), so please relax with all the "when is the YZ450F announcement" emails please.
Hey, Watch It!
North Carolina privateer Matt Burkeen qualified for the High Point 450 National aboard a Yamaha YZ250 two-stroke. Here's how his weekend played out in his first vlog of the season:
Rumor Mill on Vital MX this week goes all-in on Honda line-up rumors:
Dirt Shark invades High Point:
High Point 250 Raw:
High Point 450 Raw:
As Shayna Texter-Bauman's career winds down, she sat down for this cool documentary about her amazing flat track career:
Privateer Zack Williams posted his vlog about High Point--he's #874 in the Scott Cavalari photo below:
Head-Scratching Headline/s Of The Week
“If Elon Musk and BMX Had a Baby: Introducing the Ultimate Luxury Electric UTV” – Press release title on email from Darren Shuster
“International Space Station smells awful because astronauts fart more in space” – Daily.Star.co.uk
“Man loses USB flash drive with data on entire city's residents after night out” - CNN.com
Random Notes
Thanks for reading Racerhead. See you at the races!