We are halfway through the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship and things are definitely sorting themselves out right now. As we usually do, all of us media guys start out talking about this guy or that guy for a title, but as the races go on, the field thins out and we get our answers.
Southwick is a great race. I’m so happy it’s back on the schedule and guys like Keith Johnson, John Dowd, Doug Henry, and others are in charge of working it and making sure things are done right. The ‘Wick is a jewel of the series; it’s history, its tradition, it’s different. and we need to keep a track like this on the schedule. It also tells us a lot about the riders and teams.
Let’s take a broader look at the series points, get some thoughts on that, and The ‘Wick, shall we?
450MX
Chase Sexton
Eli Tomac’s won the last five motos, while Sexton’s finished second the last five motos. Yes, Tomac’s been better, but finishing that many times as runner-up to the #3 is almost as impressive. That’s limiting the damage and keeping Sexton in this fight as ET3 heats up. Look, Tomac’s a four-time MX champ (one 250 and three 450 titles), while Sexton is, checks notes, a zero-time MX champion, so he’s got some catching up to do but he’s doing almost everything he can. He’s moved up by everyone else to keep that deficit as close as he can and that’s awesome. He said he needed to be better in sand on the PulpMX Show a month ago and he just went 2-2 at the sandiest track we have. He’s been impressive for sure. He’s got to hold off the Eli train this weekend at another good track for ET (well, they’re all good tracks for Eli but you know what I mean), and then come Washougal, Budds Creek, and Pala, he can maybe get into the mix more. But also, where in the hell did his starts go?
Eli Tomac
Well, he’s one point back and has won five straight motos. I had someone in the industry tell me ET’s ‘Wick ride was all-time for him and I mean, it was amazing, but how do you think this one was better than the any of the other 43 soul-crushing-for-the-competition rides ET’s put in? Right? When he’s on and feeling it, you’re not going to stop him in motocross and we saw that again this weekend. A tad slow to start the year, Tomac’s been great so far and the only thing that can stop him is starts, and those have been much better lately, for the most part. What ET’s doing now just makes last year’s MX season even weirder. I suppose he knew he was leaving Kawasaki and was like, “Whatever man.” The amazing Eli Tomac is back everyone!
Ken Roczen
We had Kenny on the PulpMX Show on Monday and it was, as usual, a great interview. He was sick at RedBud and he was still feeling it at Southwick, but as he said, he thinks he can still be a player in this thing and why not? He’s a two-time 450MX champion and even if he can’t win this title, he can definitely affect either Sexton or Tomac’s title chances by probably beating them at any time in any moto. Has it been a great series for the #94? No, but he’s won a race, he’s been on the box six out of twelve motos, and yeah, he’s doing Kenny things.
Jason Anderson
No matter what, JA’s had a good outdoor season because he’s won a race (his first) and he’s shown great speed. He’s improved his outdoor speed more than ever before, but he’s making mistakes out there and getting bad starts. Like we saw in SX, he’s making life way harder on himself than he needs to. He’s got the speed to win but not when he’s got to pass 25 guys a moto. Still, as I said, this has been a winning MX season no matter what he does from here on out and if he can start top three, he can win more motos methinks.
Ryan Dungey
He’s fifth overall halfway through the points, and it’s mostly earned by Ryan being just so damn consistent. He’s only got five motos inside the top five out of the twelve but here he sits. He’s a carbon-copy of the old dominant Ryan Dungey but just a tick off. So instead of first, he’s fifth. I still think this is pretty cool and Ryan himself has seemed to be so happy to be back racing. It’s weird, I know, the dude’s got a legacy like no other and he’s got millions in the bank, but he’s back racing motocross eating rocks every weekend and it doesn’t appear he could be any happier.
Christian Craig
Has Craig showed more speed than Dungey? For sure but he’s got those couple of motos where it went south on him and he’s sixth in points. Pretty sweet to see him lead some laps at Southwick—he’s a SoCal dude but is just so damn good on a motorcycle, he can ride anything. Craig’s been great and there’s no mailing this thing in despite a two-year deal with another OEM at the end of the year. Craig’s also very much in the mix for the MX2 spot at the MXoN, and who the hell thought we’d be saying that? BTW, pretty sure he’ll be in Fox gear over at the Rockstar Energy Husky team.
Justin Barcia
My “Put BAM on the MX2 bike at the MXoN,” campaign took a hit at Southwick, where, despite being so good there most times, he was never a factor all day long. He started the first laps in 11th and 10th, finished 13th and 9th and is just…shrugs. The ‘Wick isn’t a great place to pass but surely a dude like Justin could do better, at least one would think? Still, slow start to the MX season for reasons out of his control and an overall podium for him indicates things are okay for him. Not great, not terrible…just okay. I STILL THINK HE SHOULD BE TEAM USA’S MX2 CHOICE!!!!
Aaron Plessinger
A pretty underwhelming mx season for AP and you could understand the easing into thing after missing most of SX with an injury. But just when you think it’s safe to write off AP, he goes and has that second moto at High Point (before getting hurt) and that second moto at Southwick where you’re like, “Huh, there’s something there!” as far as 450 podiums go. So we sit and we wait for more rides like that. I’m not saying AP is an elite, elite dude in this class, but we do think he could be around Dungey more, yeah? Or should be?
Joey Savatgy
Southwick went bad for him and based on his career finishes there (a 10th, 13th, 14th, and a sixth in the 250’s) he might not agree with me on keeping it on the schedule. He and Kevin Windham might just get a lock and put it on the front gate. Other than the ‘Wick, Joey missed the first race, he made the podium at RedBud in a moto, and he’s top ten in points. And oh yeah, he’s a fill-in guy! I thought Justin Brayton made a very real, very passionate case for Savatgy on the PulpMX Show on Monday, and as he said, he’s not like a close buddy of JS or anything.
Shane McElrath
Another fill-in shot, although Shane’s been racing since the start of the nationals. He’s been good, not great, and is a good representative for the team and the bike. With Dean Wilson and Malcolm Stewart coming back at Unadilla, do they keep him on the team and run three bikes? I would hope so, right?
250MX
Jett Lawrence
I mean what more can you say about THE JETT? Take away his blown motor at RedBud and he’s been the guy to beat, just as we figured he would be. Probably wins RedBud also which would make it a perfect six for six to defend his title. Southwick was QUITE a statement about who’s the best dude in the class for sure. He’s the total package, and get him to the 450 class, please and thank you.
Hunter Lawrence
Look, I don’t know what happened at Southwick between Stilez Robertson and Hunter and I understand Hunter being frustrated. That was a bad crash and he had just gotten the red plate, he was at a track where he crushed it last year, and he was stuck back in the pack. I’m sure Hunter thought Robertson cross-jumped him on purpose but from what I hear Robertson was trying to apologize to him as we’re all pretty sure Stilez doesn’t ride like that. And it’s sand, it’s rutty, and shit happens. Hunter put himself in that position where shit can go sideways with his bad start. I think losing it at the dude after the race is perhaps understandable but then back at the truck also? This isn’t Vince Friese or Barcia, this is Stilez Robertson. Just not a good look in my opinion, especially on a move that most likely wasn’t on purpose. You can’t put your hands on another rider for this, you just can’t, no matter how mad you are.
Jo Shimoda
Pretty sweet summer for Jo for sure. No one other than Shimoda has shown the abilities to run with the Lawrences when they’re pushing all out. And he won a national! He’s been great this summer and like Anderson, if the series ended now for Jo, he’s had a great summer. Again, let me remind you that Jo had to try out for his spot on the PC team! He’s not going to win this title this summer but the key for him is taking this “I can actually win this title” mentality and do it. We saw this winter that attitude wasn’t there for SX and he folded pretty badly. He’s got to take that next step but this is a great story.
Justin Cooper
I don’t know man…shrugs. He’s shown flashes of the old Cooper here and there but hasn’t been as good as last year, which is understandable with his injury, but you’d like to see him be Southwick-good most of the time. Instead we’ve seen some, for him, horrific motos. Seeing what’s going on with his bike makes me think he’s just lost as far as setup is concerned. He had the same bike last year and it was great. Just ride that and work around getting healthier and up to speed. Questioning the bike when you yourself aren’t at 100 percent seems to me to be a lost cause.
Levi Kitchen
The Chef was doing some serious cooking there at the Wick in moto two! Heck, he was catching the Jett, which was awesome for him. And we have that moto win at Lakewood as well, right? His starts are on par with Mike LaRocco’s, but when he gets them, he can run the pace for sure. It was important (at least to me and I mean, let’s be serious here, that’s all that counts) to see him back up that win with another great ride and this was it. He’s fifth overall in the points and that’s great for him in his second year. He had six nationals under his belt coming into this year so now, in his first full season, he’s won a moto and has gotten another podium.
Michael Mosiman
Well, there was that moto win at Hangtown! And there’s a few crashes. And there are a lot of passes. Like, A LOT. Will he find that consistency? I don’t know, I know he’s younger than I thought he was, so I guess there’s hope!
Stilez Robertson
He got his first overall podium and he’s not that far out of a top five spot in the points. It’s been good for Robertson to do this and he seems to know that staying healthy and finishing a series is important. It’s something he’s been unable to do so far as a pro. His starts are his strength and that’s a big one. He’s not a holeshot artist but he does seem to be able to put himself in a good position to have success.
Seth Hammaker
Well Southwick wasn’t a highlight for the kid but coming into this season he had three career MX races under his belt so, yeah, this has been good for him for sure. How about that pole position at the very first race as well? I think Mitch and everyone have been happy with Seth’s outdoor season and like Kitchen, it’s been impressive to be this good this soon.
RJ Hampshire
It’s hard to know how much the stake through the chest has affected Hampshire. I mean, obviously it affected him right afterward but he hasn’t led as many laps as usual or showed that RJ speed we’ve seen before. I think he can still run, and beat, the Lawrences if he is at 100 percent. Whether he is there or not, I’m not sure. Late in the race at The ‘Wick, he was moving on up and showing veteran savvy.
Max Vohland
Interesting talk on the PulpMX Show on Monday night where Justin Brayton asked me who I would take for the future—Vohland, Nick Romano, Matt LeBlanc, or Nate Thrasher. I chose Vohland. He’s been up and down this summer and he had a horrific SX season, but I don’t know, he’s also had a couple of bike issues this summer too. He’s got a top five, he’s got a sixth, and we all know KTM rushed him a bit to pros. He’s got another year on his deal so 2023 is a huge year for him, for sure.
Some other news and notes:
After a disaster at RedBud, the Firepower Honda team had a great day in the sand with Max Anstie going 5-5 with some impressive lap times in the second moto. Anstie being good in the sand wasn’t a surprise and the team is also doing the race this weekend at Spring Creek as well.
We like to poke fun at Benny Bloss for his inconsistency but hey, look at that, Benji’s got two 10ths and two 11th’s in his last six motos! That’ll at least calm Jeff Bloss and his karate kicks down.
I don’t know, Southwick is a good track for “us” but maybe the retirement announcement had “us” all flummoxed. Alex Martin showed some speed but he crashed in the moto he started up front in and the other one he got a bad start. Well, we’ll always have the 1-1 from Millville this weekend to help ease the pain and get us back into this title fight.
Garrett Marchbanks had a strong start to his first 450MX season but he’s falling into a familiar issue here in that once things start heading south, he can’t stop it. Three of his worse moto results of the year have taken place in the last four. Second moto I heard he had a pretty good crash and was a DNF. I’m not even sure if he’s racing this weekend but if he is, he’s got to stop this boulder from rolling down the hill.
Nate Thrasher’s been very good in two out of the last three motos, and the one he didn’t score well, he fell late while up in the top ten. Maybe there’s something brewing here with Nate and getting better outdoor finishes.
Ty Masterpool showed back up! And he was fast again! Second moto he put in a good charge late, which is good to see. I’ve gotten two DM’s on Instagram saying that Ty would be a good choice for the MX2 spot on Team USA and those two people are lucky they didn’t put their home addresses in there otherwise I would’ve sent the cops there.
Speaking of Team USA, I spoke to someone this week about the team and yes, after eight straight years of defeats it looks like the USA will be putting a 450 guy on the little bike. Which, yeah, the riders in the 450 class are generally better than the 250 guys because they used to ride 250s and then they got good enough to be a contender in the 450 class. I hear it’s a two horse race between Craig and Barcia for the spot. Star Yamaha supports the team so AMA likes having them there and the bike is great. Barcia’s happy to do it, his riding style suits the bike and he’s won many 250MX races. I think there are some politics involved with putting Anderson on the PC 250 bike, which is a bit weird, but that’s what my source said, that Kawasaki wasn’t all on-board with doing that. Maybe that changes but for now, it’s Craig and Barcia being the frontrunners.
Thanks for reading the column, good times at The ‘Wick! Email me at matthes@racerxononline.com if you want to chat about this or anything else!
