Monster Energy AMA Supercross heads to Denver, Colorado, tomorrow for round 16. Our man Phil Nicoletti is still recovering from his dislocated wrist but he will be attending the race to help the Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha team. Hopefully.
Anyway, Phil is keeping a keen eye on the series though and always keeps the stove ready for some hot takes. So, if you have questions about the race this weekend, you can get your questions answered if you just send an email to Phil@racerxonline.com.
(Note: Some questions have been lightly edited for clarity.)
Hey Phil! I recently started racing BMX with my kids (I highly recommend it, it’s way more fun than I ever imagined) and I’ve noticed with BMX you can get radically different length frames, cranks, different height bars, pretty much everything to suit riders from 3-4 years old through to guys that are super tall. But with motocross, once you’re an adult there’s only one size bike whether you’re 5 foot tall or 7 foot tall. Are you allowed to modify frames when racing professionally? Do taller riders have longer swing arms? I never thought about it when I used to race motocross but now it seems crazy that Jeremy Martin would be riding the same bike as AP and Benny Bloss?
Sent from the Peachman 😀👍🏻
Our sport is really cool is that aspect as well. As far as frames go, no not much changes. We aren’t allowed to alter frames. You can add material to frames if you want, to make things stiffer or stronger, but you are not allowed to take material away. But with a guy like myself compared to J-Mart, for instance, there’s lot of differences. Guts Racing seat foam makes him a lower seat, and myself a taller seat. Flo Racing makes him higher pegs and me lower pegs that are 5 mm down 5 mm back. He runs much lower bars, he used a shortened shock shaft at one time. Also he used and tried a 10 mm cut subframe. There is a lot that can be done to accommodate smaller and taller riders. When I sit on J-Mart’s bike I feel like I’m on a YZ85. When he sits on mine, he looks like a six-year-old kid. It’s really cool what aftermarket companies can do to accommodate riders’ styles. But to add to your question about the frames and what not. In MXGP they are allowed to alter frames. You can make them longer, shorter, taller, etc. because the series allows full works bikes. I’m not quite familiar with that that, because I’ve never raced over there or tried those bikes. But I do know that in the past, KTM ran a frame that was about 7 mm longer than the production frame here in the U.S. The AMA rule book didn’t allow that frame, so when Jeffrey Herlings came here in 2017, he had to ride a different frame than what he was used to riding back home. He still went 1-1! Anyway, over here we can make a lot of changes to make a bike fit. As long as you leave the same geometry or the frame here in the states, add material, and never take away, you should be good. I think……don’t protest me.
Mr. Phillip,
In your professional yet humble opinion, what is the BEST way for a new pro card holder to prepare ON the bike, if they are looking to qualify for an outdoor national this summer?
Are you in the camp of be ready for 30+2? That would require long motos. But maybe you have the outlook of “get in as many gate drops as much as possible”? Local races can be viewed as an LCQ style sprint?
Or let’s say “Run Forrest Run.” If you can’t do a hot lap early in qualifying, then why be concerned with the rest?
A wise man once said “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball” but for those new to the magical world of “local pro privateer life” I’d prefer to not have to dodge the wrench flying out of the trailer.
How would you recommend a wet behind the ears NY hopeful prepare to best approach the on-track training side of making the fast 40?
-p.s. let’s say I have an amateur national championship (in a smaller profile class), have been struggling with injuries for the past few years and work a “normal job.” Would that effect your recommendation? And blame any spelling on my concussions!
-sincerely
Mr. Asking for a Friend
Well, back in the day I would say getting as many gates drops as possible. Because you used to race your way into the fast 40. Those days are LONG gone. I wish the racing was still like that deep down. My first national back in 2006 at Broome Tioga, Josh Hill and I had to qualify in to the 30+2’s starting with Saturday day qualifiers. Then we had to qualify in again Sunday morning. We had practiced twice and raced two times before we even got to moto one on Sunday! So the days of actually having race craft to get into the races is now 16 years ago! Smack my head I’m old. Although, Hill is still out there mixing it up in the 450 class, so that makes me feel a little better about still being around.
Where was I? Now, qualifying is about one lap and one lap only. So to train on the bike, I would split your day if you have limited time. Warm up, one long moto, and then one or two lap sprits one day. The other day, strictly sprints. Because let’s be real, if you work a normal job, you aren’t logging the fitness time, so you aren’t surviving 40 minute motos on race day. So just get good at doing two fast laps back-to-back, so you can execute that on race day. That’s what matters for your situation.
Hey Phil,
I’m watching the Nashville Supercross and see Hunter Lawrence getting choked up on the podium. And rightfully so, congratulations to him. I consider myself a tough guy, but I still can’t help but shed a tear when Rudy finally gets to play. We’ve all seen top guys get emotional on the podium and let it all out ala Mike Alessi. I’m curious if there was ever a race where you let it all come out and why?
-WrenchMonkey
Hunter had every right to let some emotions out last Saturday. Even though people know he had injuries and has been dragged through hell and back, they still REALLY HAVE NO IDEA. You just hear he’s hurt and say, “Ah that sucks” and move on with your life. Then you hear he’s hurt and say, “Of course he’s hurt again.” Then you move on again. But no one knows the years that were lost and the pain in those years. If you think you can, you can’t. To claw your way back out of a dark hole of pure misery to stand up with a #1 plate is beyond a fairytale. AC (Adam Cianciarulo) went through the same shit. You work your balls off and put your body through the ringer for that five minutes on top of the podium to hold a #1 plate. By the way, I wouldn’t compare Mike Alessi crying from a heat race to Hunters championship emotions either. That’s a bit…..well, I won’t even say it. I’ll just ne nice here. As for me, the only race where there was emotion was Unadilla. I made a 450 podium. But there were no tears of joy, just smiles that day.
