Welcome to Racerhead and another exciting weekend for Monster Energy AMA Supercross. The series has made its way up the East coast from Atlanta Motor Speedway and they’re back inside a traditional stadium, and a big one at that. MetLife in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is not far from New York City and is the home of both the New York Jets and the New York Giants of NFL fame. Tomorrow night it will be home to be another round of the Eli Tomac/Cooper Webb duel for the ’23 title, as well as the first-ever East/West Showdown where two brothers are holding the two red plates. Honda HRC teammates Hunter and Jett Lawrence have been dominating their respective regions, and now they will finally race together for the first time since last summer (or September, if you count them both riding for Team Australia at the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations at RedBud). This matchup of the brothers means one of them is going to lose for only the second time this season—that’s how good they’ve been so far.
Dave Prater's Instagram post as Ken Roczen and his Suzuki RM-Z450 visited the Empire State Building in downtown New York City.
And as a public service check, I did some plant studios this week. Because after last week’s incredible save by Hunter while leading the first lap of the Atlanta main event, Lawrence said to Daniel Blair on then podium, “We had a little thing turn into a bit of a deal, not ideal. I got myself in the bush onions pretty bad... I was seeing sky, handlebars, sky, handlebars, sky. That sucked, wasn't fun, two stars." Bush onions?
According to the internet, “In Australia, the Bush Onion looks like a grass and is found in the coastal dunes and sandhills of the floodplains as well as on the fringes of salt marches. It is not actually related to the onion or other alliacae. It is considered to be an important bush food for Kimberley Aboriginal people and the best time to look for YarrinYarri (in the Yawuru language) is after the constant rains of the wet season. The bush onion has tiny edible bulbs just like onions and around April/ May is the best time to pick them. They’re gathered by digging in the sand and can either be eaten straight away or cooked in hot ashes.”
Moving right along, it’s been a strange week. First we had “PiazzaGate” where privateer Bobby Piazza was collecting money on the edges of the pit area by letting fans come up and rev his engine for a minimum $20 donation. It was creative, but also disruptive to others in the pits, so Feld Motor Sports’ pit manager and the head of security both asked him to stop. That got heated because Piazza has had a couple of other exchanges with the pit manager, and it turned into a small shit show with some insults, more revving, and ultimately the AMA and some of the series higher-ups came over. The problem was the noise, not the donations, but it all went to another level after Piazza posted video (which they were apparently shooting without the officials’ knowing it) of the incident. The AMA and Feld were not happy about that, and decided that Piazza should sit the next round out, which unfortunately is the Eastern Pennsylvanian’s home race. I have no doubt that both sides wish this would have been resolved in a less public manner than posting it to TikTok and YouTube and Instagram. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail the next time there is an issue like this in the paddock.
Read the full update on Piazza’s penalty.
Also in the news was the terrible injuries to Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Nate Thrasher, who crashed hard in the whoops in the 250SX main event and is now out for the season with a hip injury. And Muc-Off/FRX/ClubMX Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin is out with a collapsed lung after his own crash. Last Friday I wrote of Martin and Red Bull KTM’s Tom Vialle how they are just trying to make it through to outdoors, only to see them both crash out of Atlanta and finish 21st and 22nd, respectively. Vialle is expected back tomorrow while Martin will return at Nashville next weekend-the race which was supposed to be Thrasher’s hometown round, as he grew up in nearby Livingston. Either way, get well soon Nate and Jeremy.
RIP Paul Schlegel (1938-2023)
We must share the sad news of the passing of Paul Schlegel (1938-2023). Schlegel was a motocross promotor—one of the most influential figures in American motocross history—who helped found the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch with Dave Coombs Sr. Schlegel was 84 years old.
Read the full press release from MX Sports.
God Speed, Paul Schlegel.
East Rutherford SX Press Day (Mitch Kendra)
The press day action from today has wrapped up ahead of tomorrow’s East Rutherford Supercross. Close to the Big Apple, as Davey mentioned, we had rider interviews on Fox and Friends (Ken Roczen) as well as MLB Network (high school baseball standout RJ Hampshire), as well as the typical time with media at the stadium ahead of two brief riding sessions for both 250SX and 450SX. And speaking of Hampshire, just a few hours ago it was announced the #24 signed a new, two-year deal with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna to remain on the team through 2025.
Here is what Hampshire told us about his new contract today:
“Yeah, man, it was actually super easy. These guys believe in me a lot. And it showed kinda as soon as we had that talk about it. It’s been done for a couple weeks. But yeah, I’m really stoked on my deal. I’m very happy to be here again, especially for another two years. Hopefully we can get a championship or two within those two years.”
Tomorrow’s 13th round should bring exciting racing all day long, as we have the first Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Showdown of the season, as well as a close championship battle in the 450SX Class with Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb—with Chase Sexton not far behind, too—and a 250SX Futures race as well.
Sexton is coming off of a win last weekend and enters the venue where he won his maiden 250SX main event (here in 2019). As for the front duo, Webb said last weekend he rode like…well you know. And today Tomac said he wants to get a better start do his thing.
“Last weekend I made a little bit of a gamble on the outside and didn’t get a good jump at all, was pretty buried and then didn’t really move forward,” Tomac said. “So try to get back to my good start on the main event, get up front early, and just do my thing. That’s all I can ask for.”
Tomac got to ride press day and was testing out some different lines, including the elevated turn that is basically an on-off onto an on-off tabletop. This track might suit Webb well, as the rutted corners could force the race lines lower and lower as the day progresses. Watch for the Red Bull KTM rider’s point-and-shoot style tomorrow in the 180-degree turns.
Some clips from today's press day riding for the East Rutherford Supercross this weekend. Barcia and Tomac trying the outside line in the elevated turn. #Supercross #SX2023 #2023EastRutherfordSX #SupercrossLIVE pic.twitter.com/xC9JEPeMjq
— Mitch Kendra (@mitch_kendra) April 21, 2023
Tomac trying the inside line and jumping table over single. #Supercross #SX2023 #2023EastRutherfordSX #SupercrossLIVE pic.twitter.com/Z3YHbnMgu6
— Mitch Kendra (@mitch_kendra) April 21, 2023
Check out our full press day video below:
We also spoke to a handful of 250SX riders from both regions, including Enzo Lopes, Haiden Deegan, Levi Kitchen, Hunter and Jett Lawrence, and RJ Hampshire. All riders shared similar thoughts, saying they look forward to racing the entire 250SX Class, but they will remain focused on themselves. One thing to note is that Hunter Lawrence does have a chance at clinching the 250SX East Region title this weekend. If the #96 is able to finish the main event with a 52-point gap (or more) back to P2 (currently Deegan) then he will hoist the #1E at the end of the night.
One more thing to note is that this weekend’s race is the St. Jude race this season. Supercross established a relationship with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital a few years ago, and the series has one specific race where graphics and gear from riders are hand created by St. Jude patients. Different items from the race weekend will then be put into an auction that fans can bid to win at the end of the supercross season. The teams and riders enjoy the unique livery for the St. Jude patients. Barcia, who became a father in the off-season, said the relationship supercross has with St. Jude has now has an even deeper impact now that he has become a dad. He had special Oakley goggles today that were created by a St. Jude patient. Barcia, Dean Wilson, Enzo Lopes, Hampshire, and more were a few of the riders who displayed some St. Jude patients’ artwork during media day today. Tune in for tomorrow’s race. We should be set for a good one!
Justin Barcia's St. Jude Oakley goggles. Mitch Kendra Eli Tomac and Justin Hill chat before the media day riding session. Mitch Kendra Two-stroke man Jared Lesher Mitch Kendra Eli Tomac Mitch Kendra Ken Roczen Mitch Kendra Justin Barcia Mitch Kendra Jo Shimoda Mitch Kendra Josh Hill Mitch Kendra Jared Lesher Mitch Kendra Dean Wilson Mitch Kendra Jo Shimoda Mitch Kendra Marshal Weltin Mitch Kendra Haiden Deegan Mitch Kendra Jordon Smith Mitch Kendra Levi Kitchen Mitch Kendra Hunter Lawrence Mitch Kendra Max Anstie and Pierce Brown Mitch Kendra Pierce Brown and RJ Hampshire Mitch Kendra Carson Mumford Mitch Kendra Enzo Lopes Mitch Kendra Jordon Smith Mitch Kendra Justin Barcia goes outside in the elevated turn as Justin Hill goes inside. Mitch Kendra Justin Barcia goes outside in the elevated turn as Justin Hill goes inside. Mitch Kendra Justin Barcia goes outside in the elevated turn as Justin Hill goes inside. Mitch Kendra
The Last Two-Stroke (DC)
When privateer Jared Lesher crossed the finish line fourth in the 450SX LCQ, it qualified him for the main event at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It also qualified him for a spot in the record books, at least temporarily. He's now the most recent rider to qualify for a 450SX main event aboard a two-stroke 250cc motorcycle. Lesher was riding a Yamaha YZ250, with cool white retro graphics. To say he was a crowd favorite is an understatement, and thankfully the TV director stayed on Lesher at the end of the LCQ as he put his marker in the ground of the ongoing tale of the two-stroke.
Of course Gared Steinke qualified for a main event last year aboard a 125cc KTM for the 250SX class at the Oakland SX, but it's been a minute since a 250cc two-stroke qualified against all of the 450s. The question sent me down a rabbit hole of trying to figure out who exactly it was, and the Vault didn't help much either. Turns out that back in the transition of records, the AMA didn't always have the right motorcycle model listed, so sometimes a guy might be on a CR250 but it was listed as CRF250, or they signed up thinking they would be on another bike, only to switch for their two-stroke to their four-stroke, or the other way around. We are working on getting that fixed!
In my own best guestimate, I was thinking it was Jeremy McGrath, who led the Phoenix SX in 2006 and then finished fourth in the main event, then switched to a CRF450 the following week for the last few races of his career. But then Andrew Fredrickson pointed out that in the same race David Vuillemin finished 10th on a BooKoo Honda CR250, and then he too switched to a 450 for the next round, which as Anaheim 2. So we went digging in the Cycle News Archive for 2006 races to see if anyone else was 250 two-strokes during that season, which is when the big shift happened—in '05 Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed and James Stewart were all riding 250s in SX, and Reed won the last round in Vegas aboard a YZ250, making him the last-ever two-stroke winner. But by the start of '06 they were all on four-stroke 450s.
Digging deeper, we found that there were two more 250cc two-strokes in that Phoenix '06 race, and they would bother stay on 250s for more rounds. Mike Brown was riding the RM250 for Rockstar Suzuki after trying out a 450 at Anaheim 1, only to pull out after practice. And Robbie Reynard was a Honda CR250 because he just felt more comfortable on it. The last SX race of '06 for the both of them was in the Houston Astrodome on April 1. Both made the main event. Then Brown parked his RM250 to get on the RM-Z250 and start getting prepared for the 250 Pro Motocross Series. Reynard simply stopped racing SX after Houston '06 in order to also get ready for the outdoors on a CRF450.
So, apparently, it was two guys that Jared Lesher replaced in the record books with his excellent ride last Saturday—Mike Brown and Robbie Reynard—as the last man to qualify for a 450SX aboard a 250cc two-stroke. If anyone recalls someone doing it later, by all means let me know so we can correct this notch on the totem pole of two-stroke history!
ZACHO (Matthes)
Just four rounds to go in SX and on the Fly Racing Moto: 60 Show yesterday we called up three-time AMA SX and MX champion Zach Osborne to get his take on the series so far. Zacho, like me, thinks that there is indeed a chance that Chase Sexton sweeps these last four races and wins the SX title. Not a great chance but indeed a chance based on how Sexton's been able to ride away from everyone this season multiple times. When it comes to Sexton's mistakes, Zacho, who sees Chase ride a lot during the week in Florida, says that it's not just on the bike nor just on Sexton as to why he's having these crashes. Zach thinks that Chase is indeed trying to slow down a bit with a lead when he makes these mistakes. That sort of "cruising" attitude by Sexton is what Osborne thinks is hurting him and Zacho thinks maybe he just needs to keep pushing and destroy the field.
As far the title favorites, the last two tracks—hard pack and at elevation—favor Eli Tomac so if Cooper Webb is going to get this thing done he needs to make some damage these next two weeks. Osborne also touched on some of the feel issues Webb may be going through with the switch to the 48 MM WP forks as well as his thoughts on the new frames on the Austrian bikes.
This weekend marks the first 250SX showdown of the year and Zacho's been in this spot before as a rider that isn't in title contention looking to prove he's the best and also as a title guy thinking of a points lead that could swing drastically if things went south at a showdown. Osborne said in his one showdown, he got 8th or whatever and couldn't move forward at all. As a title guy, he thinks these showdowns are "dumb" but as a fan now, he's on-board! Of course, right?
Also BTW, Osborne rode his first XC2 GNCC for the AmPro Yamaha guys this past weekend and admitted that it was tough to jump in off injury while everyone has been racing. P14 for Zach and of course, he'll get better as the series rolls on.
Listen to Osborne and Swap Moto Live's Michael Antonovich talk SX and more.
Pro Perspective (Jason Thomas)
Four left! As the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship comes towards the home stretch, motivations will begin to diverge. For those with something to race for, these races couldn't be more important. They will lock in and be at their best. For those that may have struggled this spring, their thoughts are likely shifting to this summer's AMA Pro Motocross Championship. They'll still give their best effort on Saturday night when the lights come on but the preparation and focus during the week will be different than it was in December and January. If your SX season has not been a memorable one, there's no better way to salvage a season than to come out swinging when motocross rings the bell.
Even those in championship contention are likely putting in a few motocross training days here and there. It's just not possible to be competitive early in the motocross season if you wait until May to begin the transition. Acclimating to higher temperatures, putting your muscles through the torture test required, and gaining comfort with the higher speeds are all things that take time. Waiting until the last minute is a great way to guarantee a very painful opening round. Not only that, if you don't dedicate testing time, you will hate your motorcycle with the passion of a thousand suns when conditions get dicey on Saturday afternoon. Trusting what your motorcycle will do in a given situation is an earned confidence. Skipping steps in that process simply don't work.
Put succinctly, motocross can't be faked at the highest levels. If there is a hole in your game, it will get exposed. Not in shape? You will suffer. Bike doesn't handle well? You will suffer. Spent too much time training indoors and doing SX motos in the cool mornings? You will suffer. Motocross is harsh and unforgiving. It's also a truth teller and beautiful in its simplicity. Do the work, reap the rewards. Skip steps, take the easy road, and you will enter a world of pain. The choice is yours!
How The Other Side Lives (Jason Weigandt)
Instead of hitting the Atlanta Supercross, I attended MotoGP’s Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas at COTA (Circuit of the Americas) in Austin, Texas. You may not be a road racing fan, but I did find it interesting to compare MotoGP to motocross and supercross. Bear in mind, a U.S. round of MotoGP isn’t the pinnacle. I imagine a race in Italy, for example, would feel much bigger, probably even wilder than a Motocross of Nations, which we consider our gold standard for crazy fans. Still, there were lessons to learn in Austin. Namely, that MotoGP is big, no, huge business. Everything is so outrageously first class, big time and high tech. Red Bull KTM racer Jack Miller gave us a tour of his team garage (no cameras allowed) and blew our minds talking about tech. The bikes are unreal, with carbon fiber forks and swingarms, machined this and 3D printed that. That’s not all, though. Teams have a weight limit on freighting equipment to events, so everything is light, not just the bikes. KTM uses carbon fiber radios! Carbon fiber bike stands! Carbon fiber tool trays! Even the pit boxes and equipment cases are state of the art.
Oil and fuel are the latest gossip in the MotoGP pits. The KTM riders were sporting Mobil 1 logos on their leathers, and there’s talk about how much horsepower can be gained with special oil and lubricants. New fuel regulations are coming environmental reasons, and getting the right formula will be the difference between winning and losing in the future. This is scientist stuff of the highest order.
It's interesting to think of supercross as the pinnacle of our game, but how tame it really is from a technology standpoint. In fact, on the same day Jack Miller was showing us those carbon fiber forks in KTM’s MotoGP garage, Cooper Webb was switching back to his preferred, stock 48mm air forks on his KTM supercross bike. Yeah, Webb and KTM have done tons of testing, but it’s nothing like MotoGP stuff. And while everyone thinks privateers get the shaft in supercross, MotoGP literally doesn’t even have any privateers. There are approved factory teams and riders, and that’s it, the field is locked in for the season. Buying a bike off the showroom floor and competing in the big show? That’s happening every week in a supercross main event. It’s long, long gone from MotoGP.
To fit that glitz-and-glamour formula, the MotoGP circuit is filled with first-class hospitality. This is a place for the rich and important to rub elbows, make deals and get pampered. Monster Energy Supercross and the Pro Motocross Championship are big time, but they’re not that. For better or worse.
It was cool to see how the other side lives, and I thank Red Bull for hosting me for the weekend in COTA. MotoGP is cool, but I’ll be back for supercross this weekend in New Jersey. Can’t wait.
Mad Skills Gear Drop 3 & 4 (David Langran)
If you’re a fan of ‘80s motocross movies, you’re going to love Gear Drops 3 and 4 from Mad Skills Motocross 3! Gear Drop 3 is available now, Gear Drop 4 will be available on 4/26. Sign up to @madskillsmx monthly Pro Pass Elite subscription to receive every gear drop in every color as soon as they are released (each gear drop will have two or three color options).
The ATL (Chris McGraw)
There was some good news—finally—for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki camp as Jo Shimoda was back for the first time since sustaining an injury during pre-season preparation. The #30 looked good working his KX250 around the long, sun-baked Atlanta Motor Speedway track, but speed-wise Shimoda understandably seemed a bit off his usual game—he hasn't raced supercross since last May. He finished fourth, the team's best finish of the season in the East Region. It was also the first time in the East that they have had two riders in the main event, as Chris Close ended up seventh. With the first East-West Shootout taking place this coming weekend at MetLife Stadium, the Pro Circuit area will probably feel jam-packed as West Region contender Cameron McAdoo will be there as well! And besides Atlanta being Jo's first race back, speculation has been swirling about Jo jumping on a different colored bike for the 2024 season. Stay tuned.
Haiden Deegan may have rubbed a few people wrong on his rapid ascent, but he is here to stay. The speed that we have been seeing from this 17-year-old has been impressive. Like Daniel Blair said on the podium, he was racing Super Minis at Loretta Lynn's just 18 months ago. Of course, the kid’s talent and determination weren’t enough to stop the juggernaut that is the Lawrence brothers (Hunter in the case of Atlanta), but it was another podium for Deegan, who started the season cartwheeling out of the SX Futures race at Anaheim 2. Deegan was third behind his teammate Jordon Smith, and it appears that they've gotten well past that little incident they had back in Detroit, which is good news for the team. However, there was bad news too for Star Racing. After winning the second 250 heat, Nate Thrasher took a hard spill in the main and sustained a dislocated hip and a broken collarbone. Here's hoping for a speedy and full recovery for Thrasher and can’t wait to see what he has in store upon his return. One thing I love about the world of SX/MX that is how respectful the new generations remain, and Thrasher is no different, thanking all of his sponsors and supporters in a post on social media while updating everyone on his injuries.
The 450s in Atlanta left me scratching my head a bit. There were things that were expected, like Chase Sexton posting another win, though without any real pressure from anyone else, just out front riding his own race. Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb were riding their own race as well, but weren’t they supposed to be at the front of the pack? Instead, the two played cat-and-mouse from sixth and seventh positions, eventually climbing their way to a fourth and fifth. Between Sexton and the two title contenders were Justin Barcia and Ken Roczen, staying steady almost the entire race. Roczen was referred to as "German chocolate" by both Todd Harris and James Stewart, so here's another Deutsche cliche: Roczen has a style that is more clinically smooth than the Porsche production floor in Stuttgart. It is clear that Progressive/Ecstar Suzuki is working well for him. As for Barcia, he was on the rev-limiter a lot, good for second but he's still not grabbed his first win of the season. Maybe this weekend when he's back near his New York roots.
Tomac, now standing in the lead at six-point advantage, seemed nowhere near as focused as he was at Glendale, and the Tomac-specific defensive riding strategy that Webb employed on on Saturday is not going to get him to the number one position either. If these guys aren’t careful, Chase Sexton might just turn this back into a three-way chase--he's only 17 points behind Eli. Next stop, the Garden State and one step closer to the crown. Will Tomac triumph, or get caught in Cooper’s web? (Get it?!)
Side note: As a 13-year Triumph Certified service and repair specialist, I could not be more enthusiastic about Triumph’s introduction to the MX/SX/off-road space, and I am milking all of my contacts at Triumph North America to bring any breaking news about Hinkley’s newest creation!
Ryder And Jett (Keefer)
Last Saturday/Sunday I had the chance to watch Ryder DiFrancesco and Jett Reynolds race the AMA Cal Classic race at Glen Helen Raceway. Both young riders will be embarking on the FULL 2023 AMA Pro Motocross Championship and both riders are coming off of an injury, so they decided to line up and get some seat time/gate drops. Ryder ended up taking the 450/Open Pro classes and Jett took a 2-1 to the 250 Pro class title. Mitch Payton and Kawasaki have been grooming both of these riders for quite sometime so it will be interesting to see how each stack up in one of the toughest 250 classes we have seen in a while. To me, it looks like Ryder has a little more raw speed than Jett, but both are very aggressive and willing to send it in order to beat each other. The Pro Circuit tent should be one of the areas to watch this summer (after they’ve been decimated in supercross by so many injuries). These internal battles within teammates are some of the most fun to watch go down. No one on ANY team wants to be the guy who has the worst results. Add that both young riders are basically racing for some type of contract (even though Ryder is rumored to another brand) could make for some interesting situations this season!
MXGP-TV.com Trivia (DC)
We've been having fun with our ongoing MXGP-TV.com trivia, asking a random but difficult question about MXGP history from the FIM World Motocross Championships and then handing out a prize to whoever posts the answer first in the comments below. Last week we gave away a set of gold Acerbis hand guards, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the iconic brand. here was the question: Name the first rider in FIM World Motocross Championship history to have won a Grand Prix in all three divisions: 125cc, 250cc and 500cc, or later on, MXGP, MX2, MX3?
Many guessed that it was the late Eric Geboers of Belgium, but he was actually the first person to win world titles in all three classes, but not to first to simply win races. Instead, the correct answer was actually a very fast Dutchman named Kees Van der Ven. In 1979 he won the Finnish 250cc Grand Prix on a Maico, and then in 1984 he won the Italian 125cc GP on a KTM. Finally, in 1986 he won the 500cc Grand Prix of Sweden. (Geboers did not add a 250 GP win until '87, the one year he raced in the 250 class and won the world title.) Van der Ven was one of the best sand riders of all time, winning the Le Touquet Beach Race in France five times. He also spent a winter in Florida racing against Bob Hannah himself on the Florida Winter-AMA circuit, and as one of the witnesses to their '86 Cocoa Beach showdown, I can tell you in was the greatest race you'll never see! Look for something about that epic duel in the magazine soon...
The first person to answer correctly was "Roostzilla." The gold Acerbis hand guards are already on the way to him. Also, we decided to let him come up with this week's trivia question, giving someone else a chance to win! Roostzilla sent a few over, but this one seem very tricky and difficult:
Since 1970, when the Japanese first joined the FIM World Motocross Championships, name the rider whose one GP win was the lone GP win for the bike brand he was riding on. That's it--name the rider and the bike!
Ads We Can't Get Away with Today (DC)
Hey, Watch It!
Here’s Kellen Brauer’s Race Examination from the ATL:
Some Atlanta Race Reactions:
Another interesting episode—and a nearly disastrous crash—in this week's ClubLife segment:
Head-Scratching Headline/s of the Week
"Family displaced after car lands on roof of North Carolina home" -WTAE
"Fox News submits clips of 'The Simpsons' as evidence in Dominion defamation case"
Rawstory.com
New Zealand feral cat hunting competition for children prompts backlash
Theguardian.com
"Winnipeg Jets player took skate to face, needed 75 stitches, and kept playing" - SB Nation
Random Notes
Guy B's latest Instagram post of a young Eli with John...
Thanks for reading Racerhead. See you at the races.