Our own “Filthy” Phil Nicoletti has been sidelined for the remainder of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross after he suffered a broken arm a couple weeks ago. It’s unfortunate we won’t see him behind the gate, but at least we still get to hear Phil’s hot takes on the sport as he answers more of your questions this week in another edition of Unphiltered.
Got a question for Phil Nicoletti? Send it to Phil@racerxonline.com.
(Note: Some questions have been lightly edited for clarity.)
Phil,
Ok, we would like to hear your take on the Brennan Schofield bike claim fiasco at Loretta’s this year. It seems like the AMA should be penalizing those who were involved and obstructed the rule book by coercing Brennan to reverse his legit claim on Deegan's Star Racing YZ250F. I only wish you weren't a Yamaha rider in this instance, as I think you would be more "Unphiltered" otherwise.
-papa_whealie
I mean, a rule is a rule. Claim the bike at double the value of MSRP. Plain and simple. Whatever happened behind closed doors is beyond me. Seems shady from both sides. Why AMA or MX Sports personnel were dealing with a 17-year-old kid behind closed doors with over 17k cash baffles me. Especially at an event where the kid had to have a legal guardian sign for him to race? Makes no sense to me. They should have said, “No problem, come back up with your legal guardian and we can pursue.” I guarantee the rule will now be changed next year for 2023. One way or another, the wording will change.
I personally like the claiming rule. That’s how it should be. It doesn’t happen very often obviously. Last time I remember that situation was 2003ish with Mike Alessi’s supermini being claimed by Adam Chatfield. Everyone loves a good click bait story. There are two sides to every story and then the truth. You will never know, nor do I give a flying fark. But I will say this: the rules are the damn rules and if the kid had the money, then the bike should be in his garage right now.
Phil
We’ve watched Unadilla every year and for many years and the surface always changes. Back in the day you had soft loam, then it became hard and dry, then back to soft with huge ruts, then this year it was back to harder and “skatey.” I’m not complaining because it’s good to see the riders get different challenges. My question is this: you’re from New York. What are the actual soil conditions of actual New York soil?
-Yankee
Ahhh man. I saw Unadilla, and I thought the track looked terrible. It’s like it was prepped for a hurricane or something. Flat and packed in. I’m not sure if the Robinsons or whoever was in charge of track prep ran out of time or what. I know the family dealt with personal issues with the passing of their dad, Ward Robinson. So I’m not sure if that had an effect on the track prep. Track must not have had much separation because Eli and Chase were on rails once again, but the gap between them and the rest was much, much closer. But to answer your question, New York State is built on freaking rock it seems! I grew up riding a lot of rocky, harder packed tracks. Don’t get me wrong, there were some very cool places with badass dirt. But the majority were rocky. To this day, 2016 Unadilla was probably the gnarliest of all the years I’ve raced there.
Phil,
I can’t believe Chase Sexton is doing what he is doing. I thought it was over as soon as Eli got into the points lead, but the kid has really turned it around and now Eli has to respond. How hard or impressive is it for Sexton to rebound like this, mentally, especially against an all-timer like Eli?
- Alex in Phoenix
I can’t even pick one or the other. Those two are absolutely PHENOMENAL! Everyone talks Jett, Jett, Jett…. yes, I get that. He’s unreal. But the level Chase is at right now outweighs what Jett is doing by far, IMO. Chase and Eli are at a level that is totally unmatched. Chase went full Eli mode at Unadilla. When Chase hit the corner after the finish line last weekend at Unadilla was unreal. There was a reason why no one was going inside where he was making those passes, because that rut was a black hole. He somehow was making it look like nothing was there. Eli is going to have to get some points on Chase these next two rounds because we all know how good Chase is at Pala. Potential rain at Budds, and a tricky first corner. Ya never know. But both Eli and Chase have given it everything they have, every single moto. They have made the summer very entertaining, and this championship battle is all time! It’s weird for me to see Eli as the old dog when at Hangtown 2010 he was just a kid. But the changing of the guard is here. Old dog versus young buck, who ya got?
