The Conversation: 3-for-3

This three-race playoff was not nearly as dominant as the motocross championship, and it seems like you may have learned a little bit on the 450 on the supercross tracks. Is this in any way more gratifying than the motocross championship was?
It's definitely nice. It definitely feels good because, I mean, it's, it's hard to take. I mean, each championship has their special moment and special feeling and what you learn. This one I definitely learned. I mean, coming into the first one [race one in Charlotte] after that one, I got curb stomped to the teeth. So after that, the, I mean, I just had nothing really for the guys. The first one, I missed the setup by a lot and then, then the second one was able to figure it out, but still wasn't good enough. Chase was riding really well that day. And then, you know, going to Chicago, it's different, a bit more outdoors but still. One thing I found is just, it's so limited for me. I feel like, outdoors, you have a lot more room. There's a lot more things I can get creative with where the last three rounds, everyone's doing the same stuff. It's fairly basic so everyone can go fast, so it's very hard to make up that big time, like Kenny said. So, it's like the small things, like just coming out of a turn and hitting a bump and say, if it spins out much, that's literally a 10th or so that it might not be a massive mistake, but that little bit less traction going down a long straight, it makes a big difference. So, I mean, for us and, and for the riders to be up there, you just had to be perfect, hit your marks best you can and when you make a mistake, try and make that time back up. I think this one definitely is a, was a, I feel like a little bit better than the outdoors just because I got to learn how the guys race in stadiums more because I haven't raced any of these guys in stadiums at all. So, it’s a learning curve for me for next year in supercross. And yeah, I mean, I haven't really done much, supercross kind of stuff even this one. I mean, it's a SuperMotocross but this one is still pretty supercross. I haven't done much supercross testing. I've only done a probably maybe max two weeks. So, it was exciting to see how it was gonna go and, and definitely thankful to leave on top.

What was the emotion like, the mindset, when Hunter went out this afternoon and, and couldn't line up?
Yeah it was just a bummer thing. I mean, just a small little mistake from Friday. It wasn't a big thing but then ended up making it [worse]. A small landing wrong in the sand section making it a lot worse. So, it's a bummer, you hate to see your brother get hurt. I also don't like seeing him race because the nerves are through the roof for me! But, yeah, I mean, I feel like every time Hunter gets hurt, I always somehow pull something out. So, I'm definitely, definitely glad I was able to pull something out. That was definitely for him.

You've had such a good start to the premier class. But are you feeling the tension, you know, within the big leagues now? Is that something you feel with these sorts of guys around you, guys like Kenny. Just being in the 450 class now, what's that like for you?
It’s cool. It's cool. I mean, I remember being on 85 and in Germany training with Heiko [Roczen’s father] and watching Kenny when he was racing and kind of supporting him. It's an awesome thing to get to race him now. I mean, yeah, he's more on the older side but I mean, he still rides a bike unreal. I mean, he still has some of the best style in the sport I feel like, and always will go down in history for, for having some sick style and whips for sure. But no, it's definitely just cool to be up with some of these legends, and definitely excited for next year just to, just to go up against [Eli] Tomac. I mean, getting beat by him or beating him, I don't think it's gonna change for me. It's just kind of one of those things where I get to race those legends. Like, I mean, if I could have got to race Ricky Carmichael James Stewart back in the day on their last year. I mean, I think anyone else in this room I could speak for anyone in this room, Coop or Kenny, I’m sure they would say it would have been awesome.

For Jett, between supercross and now, what’s the biggest thing you’ll learn about how to set up the bike for next year?
Yeah, it's definitely nice that we're able to get these rounds out and kind of get a bit of a feeling of how the bike is in supercross. I feel like for myself, I still got a lot of work to do because now we've gotta add whoops to the equation now. So, it's gonna be a fun learning curve for me. I've had a late start to supercross. Even now I think I only have a few years, and I'm still learning. I can always learn from these guys. These two guys up here and more of the people in the field. Definitely learned a lot from these three rounds and they’re gonna put that into testing to try to fix the mistakes we end up making.

This year it seemed like every week, there was a new story as to why you were going to lose this weekend, or who was gonna beat you this weekend. Like every single week there's a new storyline and then obviously last week, maybe it took a little bit of an L on the podium, even though you, you won the race, but how has it been blocking that stuff out and just showing up on Saturday nights and doing what you do?
I mean, yeah, I just, I just don't go on social media really. I mean, I go on there, I look on TikTok stuff and do kids stuff on there. I'm still so young so, I mean, you could write whatever you want about me and I mean, even the meme pages that are roasting me, I think I see that and, I think that's awesome. I mean, I laugh! I laugh at myself most of the time. I know I say dumb stuff and that was a, that was a foot in the mouth moment for sure. But I mean, I'm still, I'm only 20 years old. Yeah, I mean, definitely won't be doing one of those again. And definitely gonna be looking at the math book in the off-season for sure.

Roczen: I was gonna say, don't go to Jett’s math class. [Roczen then shows Jett his buttpatch, which has a math equation on the back that reads: ”1+1=3”as Jett laughs]

Jett: [Laughs] I like that one! I got roasted all this week but like, even, even from my friends. I was sending like math things of like, it was like, one of those whiteout kind of like pen thing and there's like math equations and like, the thing got like this thick of white stuff because the guy kept getting it wrong and going over it over and over. I got sent that I, I was getting so many things, but I mean, I just laugh at myself. I know I'm not the best at math. I'm probably not the brightest guy on books, but hey, I just know how to ride a dirt bike and just twist the throttle.

What did you guys think of these playoffs? For the stick and ball fans out there, we want those kind of sports fans into motorsports. They see NFC versus AFC in football, they see East versus West in the NBA baseball, same thing. You guys, I know you have indoor and outdoor, supercross and motocross. How can you get those fans to look at you guys and to be like, I'm a motor sports fan because of what you guys are doing now?
I mean, we would love nothing more than to get some of those people. Being a foreigner, we know America loves their football, their baseball and, and, and even Europe there, very big soccer or football there also. We'd love nothing more to get those people into our sports. I feel like we definitely deserve to be up there. Personally, I think we're one of the most dangerous sports there is. I mean, you have ones where you’re going stupidly fast, like NASCAR, but they all have a car around them. When we miss our mark or hit a kicker, I mean, it's where we're just gonna see how good we can roll out of this. I mean, I'd love to get that sport up there and be up there with those guys. I feel like we deserve it for sure. Another thing, I don’t think there’s another sport where you can get this close to the athletes. I mean, in football you never really hear, I mean, at the end of the game you might get a few guys going to leave and you get some stuff. But, I mean, it's, it's very limited to see a football player or baseball player because they go into their lockers and then they go into their buses and then to the airport. F1 is pretty enclosed. Here, we have thousands of people in the paddock getting to see their favorites up close and getting a signature. There’s not a lot of sports where you get that.

So this year Chase was obviously your biggest competition outdoors and then for this, kind of interesting dynamic because you guys are under the same rig, you've kind of been in each other's orbit for a while and have had some extremely close racing. We never saw any contact, obviously extremely respectful. He's going to KTM next year, we assume. Now you guys don't have to walk by each other in the truck. You don't have to get changed together like you've got now. I know you're the most happy-go-lucky-dude ever. But in the back of your mind, do you kinda' see that dynamic with Chase changing? Because next year, he does not have to interact with you unless you guys are on the track when it, when it's business. Do you think about how that dynamic can possibly change next year?
I don't. I don't think so. Chase is such an awesome, awesome kid, and so kindhearted. I mean, we can go and battle for 35 minutes and come in and, and I mean, if he loses, I lose it, I think we still, we still get along very well and no matter what it is, we'll go on the truck and we barely even talk about racing, we talk about anything else. So, I mean, it's, I think he's such a good kid, obviously. Now we probably won't talk as much because we're in the same rig, but I'm sure if we go down the line and we see each other, we'll say hello and we, I know both of us, we have the respect for each other because we know the work that we put into the sport. We both respect every other rider out there because, to be up at the top level of this isn't easy.