450 Words: The Adult in the Room

Here's how we got here: Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Ryder DiFrancesco and Honda HRC’s Chance Hymas were the favorites heading into Loretta’s. Before we get into the amateur weeds and start hearing “they’re only the favorites because have the factory bikes and the industry is biased for them” realize that they’re the favorites because of results. Hymas very nearly won these Pro Sport titles last year after a fantastic week of duels with Levi Kitchen. The assumption is that he would come back to Loretta’s in ’22 at an even higher high level. Hymas and Ryder D cleaned up at the Moto Scouting Combines last year and then again pulled far away from the field at Monster Energy AMA Supercross Futures this year.

(By the way, we have to mention Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing prospects Nick Romano and Matt LeBlanc here. They could have come to Loretta’s right there with DiFrancesco and Hymas on the hype charts but chose to turn pro this summer instead.)

At Loretta’s this year, Hymas just didn’t have it. We kept waiting to hear of a secret injury or illness rumor to emerge from the pits, but it never happened, and either way Hymas just struggled through all of his motos, without an official moto podium in six starts. If he started up front, he drifted back, if he started in the back, he didn’t come through. His riding style and form looked good, but the intensity and endurance were not there. Perhaps someday a reason will emerge. For now, Hymas’ 2022 Loretta’s will be one scholars will debate for years.

Now, Hymas already has a nice deal with Honda, so some will say he didn’t care enough. But we’ve seen countless amateurs with guaranteed deals go lay it all out there at Loretta’s—like Kitchen last year. Many, many examples. Plus, Hymas is a racer’s racer: he’s not a kid confined to a training facility, he really races all the time at local races, and he’ll even jump into off-road to build up his gnarliness. No way he just switched off his desire for the week. In fact, I doubt someone at Hymas’ level even has such an off switch. This was so odd to see.

DiFrancesco was quick all week, and he started the week with a moto win. Some bad starts and mistakes cost him at times (including a crazy endo in one moto) but he still was showing his experience and smarts, managing the now-25-minute Pro Sport motos brilliantly. In one race, he chilled in second saving energy until he got some pressure from third, then took off, grabbed the lead and won it. While Ryder wasn’t flat waxing everyone, he was managing the week like a kid who has won Loretta’s countless times does.

There were other fast kids like Gavin Towers, Talon Hawkins, Gage Linville, and Jaden Clough. What no one was expecting, though, was Caden Braswell to suddenly go nuke everyone.

The GasGas rider had won some Loretta’s titles before (he took up the slack when Nick Romano crashed a title away last year…more on Romano in a bit) but this was a next-level performance. He wouldn’t get good starts, but in these longer, rougher motos, he would start rolling coal and no one could stop him. Teams want longer motos so they can really scout talent—we now know Braswell thrives when it gets gnarly. Braswell stays remarkably still and efficient on the bike. He didn’t waste energy, he just robotically worked his way forward, and resistance was futile. He would win and then put on these zen-like podium speeches, not appearing tired.

In the 250 Pro Sport Class, Ryder D still held the edge on points heading into moto three. Braswell put on his robot charge and got to the lead again, even passing Difrancesco. DiFrancesco needed to pass Talon Hawkins to get to second to preserve the title. He made a mistake and lost some time, but his management of the 25-minute race meant he still might have gotten Hawkins back to make the pass he needed, anyway. But then Ryder simply rode off the side of the track—his bike was about to give up, and with that, his moto was over. Braswell took the title, mesmerized the crowd with another zen-like speech (he called me Mr. Weege!) and accepted the title. Would Ryder have caught Hawkins to get second and preserve the championship? Possibly, because Jayden Clough later passed Hawkins to take second in the moto. DiFrancesco was ahead of Clough when his bike slowed. We’ll never know….

Onto revenge time in Open Pro Sport, the other class. But this time DiFrancesco simply blew the start, and I counted him in 37th place by the time they got through the first few turns. He would claw to 16th and then crash again. He finished 13th.

Up ahead were the vets on their Honda 450s, Martinez and Heath Harrison. Harrison was a beast on starts all week, even pulling all the holies on Alessi in 25 Plus. One time Harrison jumped the starting gate so badly they red flagged the race and restarted it, and Harrison pulled the holeshot again! (He would be penalized a lap for jumping the start the first time.)

“Heath Harrison was definitely the Mike Alessi of starts this week,” joked Alessi himself.

In most of those 25 Plus races, Alessi was able to get around Harrison to get the lead, and it seemed like Alessi, in his first race at the Ranch since his legendary “Believe the Hype” run ended in 2004, would add some more titles to his record. But no one told Cole Martinez! He simply ran Mike down in both of the first two motos. In the third moto Martinez blew the start and had to come from way back, but he salvaged it with another comeback. Alessi won the third moto but Martinez went 1-1-2 to claim the title. Now, it was surprising that Alessi didn’t win…but what we didn’t know at the time was that the only rider who beat him… was also about to beat everyone else for the Open Pro Sport Championship.

Martinez was sitting on 4-3 scores heading into moto three of Open Pro Sport. DiFrancesco, as mentioned, started 37th. Harrison, of course, holeshot, then Martinez got around to take the lead. Everyone kept waiting for the kids to make a run, but the laps kept clicking off with Martinez and Harrison leading. Finally, it was time for the Braswell robot charge. He started picking dudes off until he got to Harrison, who hooked him up with a body blow in a corner as they fought for the same rut. Braswell finally made the pass, and everyone glanced at the lap charts. He was in second and needed to make up seven seconds on Martinez to win the moto and dig out the title with 7-1-1 moto scores.

Even Braswell couldn’t do it! He inched on up Martinez’ lap times, but the 30-year-old off-road racer never caved, then finished it off with 1:57s on the final two laps to actually pull back away from Braswell. That was it. He had won the title with 4-3-1 scores.

Vet riders often line up in Pro Sport and battle the kids, but beat them? Last time I can remember it happening was Jeff Emig in 2003, who won 30 Plus and 250 Pro Sport. But that’s Jeff Emig, just six years after winning the AMA Supercross and 250 Motocross National Championships. Cole Martinez? Hey, this was special.