Washougal is always a really cool race. The fans are great, and I find the Pacific Northwest people are some of the nicest around. They’re also passionate about their motocross, that’s for sure. The weather is usually awesome too, but this year it was hot, and some riders had some issues.
The track is the track. Washougal’s not going to be anyone’s favorite because it’s got some shadows in the back, it’s pretty slippery, and it doesn’t have ideal traction. But to me, you need to have all types of tracks on the nationals and Washougal is one “type”. And hey, I don’t have to race it, I just have to watch the beautiful scenery, right? Interesting how that works.
Let’s run down the results, shall we?
250
1 | Haiden Deegan | 1-1
Wow, what a ride by Deegs. On a cool retro Yamaha with great looking throwback Thor gear, Deegan put it into overdrive in the second moto about halfway through. He was chilling in second and had the overall in hand when he decided, nope, that’s enough of that, and hammered down. He did three laps in the 2:18’s and then sent it to a 2:15.5 in getting by Justin Cooper! Incredible stuff for sure and his ride had his own teammates shaking their heads. Great work, he’s just three points back now with six motos to go, and we’re in for a hell of a battle, especially with Haiden trying to play some mind games with Hunter Lawrence.
2 | Justin Cooper | 3-2
I interviewed Justin after the race and I was not sure how to approach it because guys like him are not going to be stoked to give up the moto win late. But then again, sometimes you just have to sit there and admit that a rider had a better day than you. Justin chose the latter and basically said, yeah, it sucked, but Deegan was on it. He was powerless to stop Haiden’s charge in that second moto and Deegan dropped him quickly. Still, second overall and some points made up on Lawrence is a good day.
3 | Hunter Lawrence | 2-4
I thought that tip over from Hunter in the second moto was all she wrote. He was doing his usual thing in charging up, but I don’t believe he’s been practicing much, and it was hot, and crashes usually take a lot out of you. So, he was unable to get Kitch after the fall and settled in for fourth in the moto and third overall, which is an “off” day for him. He’s the best guy in this class but man, those starts are a little worrisome right? They’re not bad but if the Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha guys keep doing what they do when the gate drops, Hunter’s going to have some serious work ahead of him in these last six motos.
4 | RJ Hampshire | 4-5
RJ was RJ in Washougal. I didn’t talk to him but Weege says RJ has been battling some stomach issues that he needs to sort out. He didn’t get great starts, he did crash, and he also went balls out in both motos to get into the top five.
5 | Levi Kitchen | 8-3
Better starts for “Kitch” last week and this week which took his average first lap position from an 8.3 to a 6.3 which helps. Levi is very start dependent but as he pointed out on the PulpMX Show Monday night, isn’t everyone outside of Hunter Lawence? Fair point, Kitch. Anyway, eight laps into the first moto he heard some grinding noises in his transmission and lost a bunch of spots. The team did a motor swap and he stood on the podium at his hometown race in moto two, which had to be awesome right?
[Editor's Note: I can't believe Matthes is trying to make "Kitch" a thing. -- Weege]
6 | Seth Hammaker | 7-6
Seth had a garbage Millville so it was important that he get back to where he should be this weekend, which he did. Great starts and he was a tick off the lead pack, but still a very respectable position. He told me after the race that, once he got passed by one of the leaders, they all zapped him quickly and he was trying to figure out what to do and fast.
7 | Jo Shimoda | 6-7
I don’t know man, it’s weird. Whenever “we” think Jo is back, and that he’s right in this thing, whether it’s SX or MX, he does something like this. Washougal he wasn’t a factor in the top five at any point and sort of just finished where he started. The four guys he’s battling with for this title all had significantly better days than he did.
8 | Maximus Vohland | 5-8
Maximus was right there in moto one, he was in a podium spot before dropping back to fifth, which is sort of his home in the last couple of years in this class. Second moto he tipped over and had to pass a few dudes to get that eighth.
9 | Carson Mumford | 9-9
Mumfy was back! Jett Reynolds has some sort of illness I guess and Monday before the race Mitch Payton told Carson he was in. He’s been on the sidelines riding a 450 during the week but two top ten finishes is pretty good. It’s hard to just jump back in but Mumfy is good at this track, and he showed enough to keep riding the PC bike, methinks.
10 | Pierce Brown | 12-11
I should’ve picked Brown in PulpMX Fantasy. It’s the closest track to his hometown, you know he’s been good here before, he’s gotten over that first-race-back stuff, and it was all lining up to have a good day, but I passed on him. Then Wil Hahn told me during the first moto that he loves the place and yeah, I should’ve picked him. I wanted to throw myself out of the tower at the point.
11 | Talon Hawkins | 11-14
Good ride for Hawkins, who has probably visited Washougal before, and right now he’s getting some good results the last few races. Not sure if that’s enough to keep him at Rockstar Husky, but maybe? Like I wrote before, you just want to see some sort of “flash” from him, you know?
12 | Caden Braswell | 15-13
Braswell’s not a big qualifier guy but he didn’t do very well at Washougal. Not sure if this was his first visit to Washougal or not but I would bet it was, and I would bet he was freaked out by the whole thing. Washougal will do that to you.
13 | Jalek Swoll | 10-18
Swoll qualified well and that’s a good sign. What’s also a good sign is Washougal is pretty start dependent and Jalek gets good starts. Everything was lining up pretty well for the kid. His first moto was okay but second moto he went down early in the back and was dead last. Them’s the breaks.
14 | Preston Kilroy | 14-15
Steady day for Kilroy, who made a couple of moves out there that I heard upset some other riders but hey, he made it happen. You look at these results and he’s the first non-factory bike, which in this class is a good thing.
15 | Austin Forkner | 21-10
Wow, it’s been some tough motos for Forkner since he jumped back in. Full props to him, he had a nasty crash in first turn and was down a long time. He didn’t need to get up and get going, he could’ve called it a day but nope, he fought hard to get that 21st gate pick for the second moto that set him up for a decent finish in moto two. Props, because that first moto was probably not a fun one.
450
1 | Jett Lawrence | 1-1
Well, his laps led streak came to an end with Dylan Ferrandis in the first moto and he did get caught by Sexton in moto two but in the end, The Jett stayed perfect at Washougal. I predicted that he would lose a moto this weekend because he hasn’t been great here and Sexton has. Well, so much for that theory. I would’ve put the perfect season at a 40 percent chance before this weekend but I’m boosting it up to 60 percent now. Jett’s riding style is great for Washougal and the lack of traction. Why didn’t we see that before?
2 | Chase Sexton | 2-2
Sexton tipped over in the second moto after catching Lawrence. It was an impressive ride but catching Jett late is one thing, making the pass is another and where was he going to do that? Still, another frustrating day for the 23 as he tries like hell to get a moto win. He told me afterward he doesn’t think he’s at the same level that he was last summer when he battled Tomac. Calm down Jett fans, that’s not a slam on the 18, that’s Chase talking about Chase.
3 | Jason Anderson | 4-4
JA21 is back, and he’s been very good the last two races (yes he DNF’d the second moto at Millville). He looks ready to go. He was fast, he was consistent, and he ended up on the box when it was all said and done.
4 | Dylan Ferrandis | 3-5
Dylan led laps in moto one on his way to a strong third. Then he was leading the second moto first lap until the red flag came out due to a gate malfunction. Second try at the second moto wasn’t as good, and he was off the pace a bit. I wonder what he’s going to do in 2024? He’s out at Yamaha and searching for a ride, but I don’t see any logical landing spot for him outside of HEP. Does he want to go there? Does the team have the money to make him happy?
5 | Aaron Plessinger | 7-3
AP led laps in the second moto and the crowd was into it! Also, at the podium afterward—the people love Plessinger! He told me that he was embarrassed at his first moto and was thinking of calling his brother-in-law for a job because it was that bad. When I asked him what turned around for him in moto two, he said they changed something on the shock, ride height maybe, and it wasn’t the reason he was rejuvenated in moto two, but maybe it was? He really didn't know! He was just better. Interviewing Aaron is awesome, by the way.
6 | Adam Cianciarulo | 5-7
Adam was okay at Washougal, and he was okay at Millville—he’s still battling this nerve injury thing in his arm. I don’t think he’s stoked on these rides but hey, they could be worse. As Bill Belichick says, “It is what it is.”
7 | Garrett Marchbanks | 8-6
Marchbanks did well again. He’s figuring out this consistency thing and his look over at Phil Nicoletti over the triple tabletop thing was classic. It was either a, “Let’s go,” or a, “you suck,” type of look over. I know the thing about hindsight being 20/20, but after his good year in 450’s last year, and seeing what he’s doing this year, why on Earth was he going to race 250’s this summer?
8 | Ty Masterpool | 6-8
Good job again by Masterpool and he’s earned all the praise he’s been getting this summer. He had an awesome start in the first moto. Also, you wonder with this confidence and seemingly a changed ability to hold it all together, what does he do for next year? I still think Ty should look to Europe because he’s 100 percent comfier on MX compared to SX. Also, there are two weeks off now but maybe that’s good for Masterpool because our own Racer X journalist, a Mr. Phil Nicoletti, was NOT happy that Ty was giving him the revs while behind him in moto two. He wanted to have a few words after the race.
9 | Phillip Nicoletti | 11-9
Our guy Phillip had a good day. I mean, he got maybe his best start of the summer in the second moto and sure, his teammate Marchbanks passed him in both motos, but he still was happy. His team also got two trash cans for the riders to soak in also, which is a nice touch. The photos of Phil and Marchbanks stuffed into one can together at Millville can't be unseen. As always, there's going to some sorta Phil comedy going on at the races. Apparently the Red Bull KTM guys said they had some footage of Phil cutting the track and were threatening him after the race with a protest but for the sake of Phil not losing his mind, they didn’t give it to the AMA. As you can tell, everyone in the pits just loves to mess with Phil.
10 | Colt Nichols | 10-10
SMX drives another one back! Nichols showed up with a borrowed van, a borrowed KX450SR, and a loose program. So loose in fact he told us on the PulpMX Show Monday that he forgot to buy food for race day! Ah the rough life of a factory dude, right? Anyway, he got good starts and moved forward a bit for a top ten in his first ever 450MX race. He’s working on a plan to make it to the last three also.
11 | Fredrik Noren | 9-11
Freddie’s Freddie. Remember when we said that his manager Larry Brooks was going to kill him if he didn’t get better starts? Well, that threat must’ve worked because in the first moto Noren was great off the grate. Second moto, maybe Brooks was a bit more relaxed because Freddie’s start was not good.
12 | Jose Butron | 12-13
Butron is saying that he’s not sure he’s going to line up at the SMX races if he makes it, which it’s looking like he will if he keeps up this good riding. He’s not an SX specialist, but with that money up for grabs, he should start trying to learn a bit, right?
13 | Kyle Chisholm | 17-12
Chiz is great, he’s very worried about his PulpMX Fantasy team before each race and can be spotted in the press tent using the wi-fi to pick his riders. He gave me some bad advice though on a couple of guys. He did say to pick him, which he was the eighth-best pick in the 450 class. Good second moto for Chiz!
14 | Shane McElrath | 15-14
Shane came back at Millville and got good starts but this weekend, not so good. And at Washougal, that hurts. He spent both motos digging deep to just get these finishes. He’s also going to start working on his bike a bit more to get it to suit him.
15 | Grant Harlan | 14-15
Harlan is just solid. The dude doesn’t seem to get tired. Ever. He just runs the same pace the whole race and picks off riders slowly, like some sort of Hawaiian Pac-Man. Anyway, he was way back in the second moto after getting together with his teammate, Luca Marsalisi AKA "The Hitman". He made some changes before the second moto that helped also, as he ripped through the pack.
What a series we have here. One guy is on the verge of joining just two other riders to go undefeated and what looked like a runaway in the 250MX class has turned into a three-point thriller with six motos to go! Let’s get it on! Email me at matthes@racerxonline.com if you want to chat about this, or anything else.
