Props to Johnny for dropping the words, “booby trap,” twice in one quote. I hadn’t heard that term since the last time I watched Scooby-Doo.

What Eli Tomac did in Houston isn’t something that’s easy to do. He was slower than Chase Sexton all day in qualifying. Then he got caught, passed, and dropped by Sexton in the heat race. It all equals up to a runner-up finish (or worse) to Sexton, right?

Uh no. ET survived some early heat from Aaron Plessinger, then Sexton started closing, then Eli pulled away late. He didn’t make any bike changes or anything after the heat, he told his guys that the bike was fine, he just needed to figure it out. And boy, did he ever. That was impressive for sure.

We had Ricky Carmichael on the PulpMX Show Monday, and he knows a thing or two about winning races and titles. He was blown away by Tomac’s ability to rise to the occasion in Houston. He said that he was in a similar situation as Tomac in 2003 where he knew Chad Reed was faster but in that case, he couldn’t beat CR22, he had to just try to hang in there and do the best he could.

I asked RC if he could remember a time where he did what we saw Tomac do at Houston and I’m sure there were examples of RC doing this, but he couldn’t come up with one, really. So that’s saying something. Bravo to Eli Tomac on a hell of a ride.

As far as Sexton, yeah, the whoops got broken down a bit and negated his great speed there. He couldn’t get the sand down and the rhythm after the bridge was a tad slower. Add that all up and he’s a second-place guy in Houston after crushing it all day long. He was over a second faster in qualifying, and that’s HARD to do with these riders, and then we all saw the heat race. It was Sexton’s night until it wasn’t. The irresistible force met the immoveable object and the immovable object won.

I didn’t talk to Chase after the race, but I did interview his manager, Lars Lindstrom, who said Chase was pretty bummed about the night. He knew that he was very fast all day, you have to take advantage of these times, and he didn’t do that. But on the flip side, he didn’t crash (maybe last year he pushes it a bit and crashes?) and it’s a learning experience for him.

Jason Anderson was a distant third on the night. He rode up to that position and after a bit of a rough start, he’s got two straight podiums now to move up in the points. He’s gone away from the Showa BFRC shock (as has Adam Cianciarulo) for more comfort, so while I’m sure the Showa guys are bummed (they LOVE that shock’s technology), props to Kawasaki for letting Anderson and AC move away from that. I've also heard Colt Nichols went away from that shock, so just one guy remains out there on the BFRC and that’s Chase Sexton…for now.

Hunter Lawrence was the favorite coming into the 250SX east series and although he didn’t qualify fastest and had a scary incident in the opening laps of the 250SX main, he won the main anyway. Calm, steady, and not a lot of drama really which is just the way he and Honda would draw it up. Until further notice, Hunter Lawrence is still the favorite to win the 250SX east title.

Max Anstie was maybe the surprise of the night? A privateer on the Firepower Honda team, Mad Max qualified quickest and moved his way into second place in the main event. It was an impressive start for Max, who started riding 250SX in 2010, and here he is with stops in 450SX and 450MXGP along the way. It was great to see. Someone in the industry was like, “Look how good he was in WSX, of course he’s this good,” and to that I say, “Ok, but Shane McElrath beat him in that series, and we see how Shane’s not exactly killing it,” Like, I’m not going to give WSX results much credit to how Anstie is doing right now. I didn't see this coming!

Also, how did Anstie never get a podium in 16 career 250SX races? His best was a fourth, and he’s a good rider. [Editor's note: I chalk this up to the weirdness of Anstie having a good rookie season with Star Yamaha and then just not being back on the team the next year. Which was typical Star in those days.] That’s weird. Well, here we are and it’s a cool story developing here. Privateer life in 250’s isn’t easy and to qualify quickest in both sessions and end up on the box is awesome.

This has to be Jordon Smith’s last chance at a factory ride, right? Smith’s got a full beard and is riding the 250 class so you know he’s seen some stuff. He’s been with Factory Connection Honda, TLD Red Bull KTM, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki, and now, Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha. I’ve always thought that Jordon, like Austin Forkner, should change things up in regard to where they train. Smith’s been an MTF guy forever and sometime riders just need to get new trainers, places to ride, bikes to race, etc., etc. They get a bit comfy you know? I guarantee you that Smith’s not comfy with the Star guys doing motos all day long. 

For Jordon to get on the box with a fall is a pretty good start to the year. Jeremy Martin was closing late on him but yeah, Jordon was good. This just in, Smith can ride a dirt bike really, really fast, but he has trouble staying on them all the time. And look, he didn’t stay on it in Houston, but it still worked out.

Back to the beard though. I was on record as saying that if you have a child then maybe it’s time to get out of the 250SX class. Well, I’m gonna’ amend that to include: if you have a full beard then you gotta go also. Smith’s got the beard AND the kid!

But seriously, just change this class to make it wide open. Who are we fooling anymore with the advancement rules? Yes, they’re harder to get knocked out than ever before (max two titles and you’re gone) but c’mon, this class is nothing like what it started out to be so just open it up to anyone at any time.

Some other news and notes:

Maybe you heard about this Haiden Deegan kid? Well, he finally made his pro SX debut at Houston and it went really well. A strong fourth in the main event (with some luck) and a really steady ride. I thought, after watching him in practice, he was going to hit the ground a time or two, but he had great speed, cool style and it looks like his fitness is pretty good as well. Fourth place is a great start to his career and although I’m sure he’ll have some ups and downs along the way, Carmichael agreed with me that he looked a little like RC himself in ’97, which was his rookie 250SX year.

Another hyped rookie was Chance Hymas on the factory Honda and Hymas was good with a top-ten finish. He ripped the start, ran up front for a while, and admitted he kind of held his breath for too long and the top dudes went by him.

Last night on the PulpMX Show, we “awarded” Aaron Plessinger the “fastest rider to not make a podium this year.” AP himself didn’t seem thrilled by that but admitted he’s feeling better, and it all comes down to the starts for him. Which let’s be honest, outside of two or three guys, it all comes down to the starts for them also. Plessinger said that yes, it’s a contract year for him, but as he made mention, if he rides like he can and gets good finishes, he’ll be somewhere good in 2023 so why stress about whether KTM’s going to pick him up?

Jeremy Martin was there, but he was just okay, and made a mistake after the whoops that allowed Deegan to pass him on the last lap. He wasn’t awesome, but he hadn’t raced in a year or so. Did I expect maybe a bit more speed out of him? Sure, but it wasn’t bad—an okay start for the #6.

I still don’t understand what Star Yamaha is doing with Justin Cooper and his 450SX career. I mean, I heard they didn’t have the budget for him to race all 17 450SX races so he’s going to do selected ones but, I mean, what are we talking here? I assume the salary he’s getting as a title contender in 250MX is pretty good, the mechanic is on payroll, the bikes and parts are there, so we can’t make this work? Star Yamaha’s Bobby Regan strikes me as a “git-er-done” type of dude. Cooper is good! Like, he’s a 250SX champion! Weird deal for sure, BUT he jumped in this weekend and rode very well in his first 450SX main event. He passed Ken Roczen late (didn’t have Justin Cooper passing Roczen late in his first ever 450SX main on my bingo card) and got seventh. Great work by him and I think it’s even more of an indication of how good he can be. Which makes this weirder.

Privateer rider Joey Savatgy got another top ten. He’s been very good and probably a bit underrated to start this season. Savatgy got some different offset clamps from Mitch Payton and was very happy with the way they worked. Now he’s working on getting a linkage.

Justin Barcia had an impressive heat and then in the main he was right there, not far from the podium, before he crashed. Maybe he’s been the underrated rider to start the year? Remember he’s on the new KTM frame that didn’t gel with many guys last year, but he doesn’t look any different from last season to me.

Fast Freddie’s main event streak to start the year ended in dramatic fashion when Chiz pulled an aggressive mode (to say the least) in the 450LCQ. That just started the hijinks. Really, the LCQ’s rarely fail to deliver.

I had heard in the off-season that MX2 World Champion Tom Vialle had a rough start to SX. The French rider didn’t grow up racing SX like so many French riders so the adaption to USA SX was going to take some time. I saw Mike Brown, who trains Vialle, somewhere before the year and he told me that yes, it was true he wasn’t on par to start the year but that he had picked it up and was as fast as any of the guys there on the 250 side of things. Well, Tom’s first SX race was great- he crashed, looked to get a bit tired and the whoops gave him some problems, but he pulled the holeshot and led some laps! Great start for Vialle for sure. LeBig could hardly contain his excitement.