Bullet Dodged
Chase Sexton couldn’t have felt too good after finishing seventh in the first moto (his worst finish of the season), especially considering his title rival, Eli Tomac, won the thing going away. But, as fate would have it, the roles were pretty close to being reversed in the second moto, when Sexton crushed the win and Tomac struggled to move forward, eventually finishing fifth. Tomac still gained a two-point advantage on the day and regained the red plate, but he only leads by a single point. Will either Sexton or Tomac be able to gain a definitive advantage this weekend, or will we go into the finale with the championship scenario almost dead even? -Aaron Hansel
Another One
With the way Tomac and Sexton have been riding it didn’t look like anyone else was going to be able to sneak in a win in 2022. But Jason Anderson did at Budds Creek! The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider rode awesome and took advantage of off-days from Tomac and Sexton, going 2-2 to take his second win of the season. Clearly, if things go a certain way, it’s possible Anderson could play some form of spoiler in the final four motos. We’ll see if he gets between the contenders in the coming races. -Hansel
Back on Point
It’s no secret Ken Roczen has battled health issues down the stretch in some seasons, but he sure didn’t look like he was struggling at Budds Creek! The Honda HRC rider was great, running up front in both motos, and even being, at one point, in a position to take the overall win. He ended up taking third on one of the hottest days of the year, which bodes well for someone who’s struggled in these conditions in the past. Hopefully he’ll be in the mix up front, where he belongs, this weekend at Ironman. -Hansel
Tantalizingly Close
Ryan Dungey has been close to the podium a few times, including a heart-breaking mechanical DNF at Washougal, and he was oh-so-close yet again at Budds Creek. The dude even led a pair of laps in the second moto! At the end of the day, he went 4-4, which on some occasions is good enough for an overall podium, but for Dungey, it resulted in a fifth overall. Talk about a kick in the butt patch! Dungey looked as good or better than he’s looked all season though, and if he can carry that into Ironman, where he won the last time he raced there (2015), he could finally end up on the podium at one of these things. -Hansel
Always a Threat
It doesn’t matter what kind of season RJ Hampshire is having, or what his results have been recently. The dude is always a threat to win! He showed it at Budds Creek too, going 1-2 for the win over Shimoda, who’s been on a hot streak of his own lately, and Jett Lawrence. He’s completely out of the championship, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be a factor up front from here on out. -Hansel
Championship Math
In the 250 Class just four riders are mathematically still in the championship—Jett Lawrence, Jo Shimoda, Hunter Lawrence, and Justin Cooper. In order to wrap up the championship at Ironman Raceway, Jett needs to have at least fifty points on everyone, and he’s not that far off of that number now. He leads Shimoda by 37 points, Hunter by 43 points, and Cooper by 87 points. Clearly Cooper isn’t really in it, and Hunter stands a good chance of getting eliminated this weekend. If Jett goes 1-1, which wouldn’t be a surprise at all, Hunter would have to go 2-2 to stay in it. Anything less would rule him out. For Shimoda, he’d need to drop 13 points, which means he’d have to go 4-4, or have issues and finish several spots off the box in a moto, to be eliminated. Even a 3-4 would keep him alive if Jett went 1-1. In other words, Shimoda is likely to live to fight another weekend following Ironman, but hey, you never know what might happen! -Hansel
Debutants
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan and NSA Yamaha’s Gavin Towers will both be making their professional debuts this weekend after successful weeks for each rider at the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch a few weeks ago. Deegan will certainly bring a lot of publicity with him but don’t leave Towers out of the discussion as he was able to finish up in third in Supercross Futures earlier this year as well. Let’s see what each of them can do tomorrow in their first taste of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross. –Kellen Brauer
Stars Align
As Haiden Deegan makes his debut, he’ll also be rejoined by Levi Kitchen and Matthew LeBlanc under the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing tent as both riders have now recovered from separate injuries. Add in EMX250 transplant Guillem Farres continuing with the team for the next two rounds as well and with Justin Cooper and Nate Thrasher there will be six Star Racing 250F’s on the track tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if Kitchen, who won a moto earlier this year at Thunder Valley, can slot right back into a similar pace that he had before he broke wrist in July. –Brauer
Getting Twisted
Justin Rodbell will join the Twisted Tea/HEP Motorsports Suzuki team this weekend to fill in for the injured Brandon Hartranft. Hartranft suffered an ankle injury that will sideline him for the rest of the season and just had surgery yesterday to repair the damage. Rodbell will join fellow fill-in rider Marshal Weltin on the team as two riders that have quietly impressed this year and now it shows with Rodbell getting rewarded with the Suzuki ride. How will he do on his third different bike this year? We’ll find out today! –Brauer
Enjoy the Traction
Ironman Raceway is often looked at as one of the great tracks on the schedule because of its mix of clay and loamy soil. Clay tracks seem to suit Chase Sexton better whereas Eli Tomac likes the loamy tracks. Somehow both riders seem like they’d be perfect for this track here, but it’s also going to suit a lot of guys whole like long ruts and good traction. This will be the last time this year though that riders will enjoy that great dirt as the finale next week at Fox Raceway is likely to be choppy and blue-grooved. Who will the conditions suit best though? That’s why we drop the gate. –Brauer
Main image by Mitch Kendra
