It’s Here (Matthes)

By "it" I don’t mean Anaheim 1, no, it's the annual Monster Energy Racer X Supercross Preview videos with myself, Weege, JT, and Keefer weighing in on who we think is going to do what in SX 2024. Whatever you do, please don't hold us to these predictions. One thing that’s come up yet again is Weege coming under fire for the riders that he decides are in the videos. Last year it was Chase Sexton not in the first show, and yet he won the title and was the fastest rider all season long. Sexton let Weege know about this more than a few times. [Editor’s note: Chase wasn’t the only one, cough, Steve, cough]. So, this time Weege, no doubt to try and not repeat being in the crosshairs yet again, put the 450SX rookie Jett Lawrence in the first video this year because, like Sexton last year, we all know Jett Lawrence will win races and be very fast.

However, poor Weege, he left two-time Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX Champion Cooper Webb out of show #1 and heard it from our esteemed colleague Phil Nicoletti in a group text that included Webb himself. So, Weege is under fire yet again for his rankings of riders and I, for one, am here for it. It's about time Weege gets the red-hot poker of discontent from a rider. 

Busy week for me as I hosted Weege, JT, and Keefer Monday for the PulpMX Show and then all day Tuesday for the filming of the videos. And thanks to Kellen Brauer for turning these things around quickly as well. Speaking of Weege, the news was out on the show that he'll be in the booth calling the SX action for as many rounds as Leigh Diffey is going to miss and I'm stoked for him. He's great at his job and the SX fan should be happy about this news (I hope? SX fans aren't ever happy about SX on TV it seems). Yay for Weege. 

TV Talent (Weigandt)

I’ve waited my whole life to be able to say this: I will be in the TV booth handling play-by-play for supercross this year (We semi-sorta broke this on Matthes' PulpMX Show on Monday, as Steve mentioned above). Leigh Diffey and I will split announcing duties throughout the season with Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart as analysts. Leigh’s schedule is titled toward the earlier races, and then he gets busy with everything and anything in the sports world, including IMSA, IndyCar, and the Olympics. I’ll get my first shot in the booth at round four, Anaheim 2, and I’ll be doing most of the races after that, of course including all of the AMA Pro Motocross rounds, which I’ve done since 2009. I’ve waited decades to finally add supercross to my resume, but now I feel like a racer when I say it has not sunk in. I really feel like just being considered part of the team last year, with a few pre- and post-race shows in supercross and play-by-play for SMX, was the real step. For me, it’s not about doing every show, it’s just about being in the mix and getting the respect that entails. 

I have a lot of thoughts on the long journey it took for me to get into that supercross booth, but the shows aren’t about me, so that doesn’t matter. Also, I feel like none of it matters until I actually get to do it, starting at Anaheim 2. I’ll be part of the Anaheim 1 team, hosting a pre-race show and doing some reporting during that one, but calling the action will come a few weeks later. I just have to not get hit by a bus between now and then. In the meantime, back to focusing on the races.

SX Preview Vids (Keefer)

As mentioned, I spent my Tuesday helping Weege, JT, and Matthes do some of these SX Preview Videos. Even though I am not as smart as these guys when it comes to "races," I do geek out on technique and what these factory bikes are doing underneath these top riders that we get to see on Saturday nights! It is really amazing to me how good Weege, JT, and Matthes are about remembering exactly what happened in past SX races. It's like they remember exactly the lap something happened on, and which weekend it was, and who went down where, and what color gear… It's really mind-blowing. These guys are some of the smartest we have in our sport and sometimes it's nice just to sit back and listen to them BS about the racing. This DOES NOT mean that I agree on some of their picks for 2024, but nonetheless, that is part of doing these fun preview shows. Everyone needs to calm down, it's meant for some FUN insight! It’s fun to banter on which riders may do what come 2024. I know some of these riders don't take it too seriously, maybe some do, but one thing is for certain, no one is going to be 100 percent correct. And we are almost there—it’s almost go time! Chill back a little longer and then you can say we are all idiots once the season gets rolling. But until then, enjoy yourself with these videos, they were fun to do!

We Love This (Jason Weigandt)

It’s become a tradition for myself and Jason Thomas to visit the palatial PulpMX Studios near-the-Sphere in Las Vegas for the PulpMX Show before Christmas. We do the Monday night show and then shoot our annual Monster Energy Supercross Preview Shows on Tuesday. This year I was actually organized enough to get Kris Keefer’s schedule locked down, and he showed up as well. What followed was incredible bench racing for the next two days, and you get to hear hours and hours of it from both the Monday night show, and then our preview videos. But even between all that, all we did was talk motocross. In fact, on Tuesday night, we ended up watching old races on YouTube and went back into the podcast studio to record an episode of the Leatt Re-Raceables Podcast! At some point Matthes’ wife Pookie left because she was so tired of hearing us talk about motocross. Then we invited her to dinner after on Tuesday night and, again, she refused because she knew we’d only be talking about racing. Hey, you readers know the feeling. Anaheim is coming and we’re pumped up!

We hope you enjoy the preview shows. Shoutout to our editor Kellen Brauer for pumping out the shows so quickly, for Travis Marx for handling all the cameras, and Tom Journet for his first-class B-roll footage. We have quite a team here and I’m proud of how these shows have evolved.

These shows started, I believe, for the 2013 season. I had been listening to ESPN’s NBA preseason podcasts with Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose and loved their brand of humor mixed with analysis. We wanted to replicate the same thing. I called my video buddy Jason Hooper and asked if he could shoot the shows in his basement in North Carolina. Matthes flew out, and then we had JT shoot remote segments at his apartment in Boise. Those first-year shows were pretty bizarre. JT shot all of his stuff wearing a suit and drinking martinis, with ladies on each arm. We took clips from the movie Winner’s Take All and tried to find parallels with the racers. It was a lot of work, and since then we’ve pared the shows down to more focused content on the bench racing. In the meantime, I think all four of us, Matthes, Thomas, Keefer, and myself, have been granted better access and more insight than before, so we have more news and scoops to discuss.

Anyway, enjoy the shows and enjoy your holidays. 

I’ve also seen a lot of “deepest field ever” hype leading into Anaheim 1. When you compare last year’s field to this year, we’ve lost Marvin Musquin, but we’ve gained the Lawrence brothers and Justin Cooper. That makes it pretty stacked. Plus, you’ve got all the unknowns, like Tomac coming back from injury and Webb and Sexton switching teams. It’s definitely exciting. Still, I think we need to leave room for the idea that Jett Lawrence could be so good that he just raises the level completely. I’m not predicting he will dominate, but we at least have to acknowledge that it’s a possibility. It will be fun to find out what happens.

But, one reminder: the most hyped Anaheim, always, will be 2005. As Davey mentioned, this is one I reference frequently. That was the “perfect storm” race, with Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart racing each other for the first time ever, plus Chad Reed as defending AMA Supercross Champion, plus RC coming back from injury for the first time. So many unknowns there. Travis Pastrana and Jeremy McGrath were making comebacks, too, which made this the only supercross to ever feature McGrath, Pastrana, Stewart, Carmichael, and Reed on the same starting gate. Think about that! (Stewart broke his arm in practice the next weekend, and by the time he returned, McGrath was back into part-time retirement.)

I’ve always joked that the supercross gods couldn’t handle all that talent on one gate, and so it rained like hell. Kevin Windham won the mudder. It was unforgettable. I also can’t believe this was nearly 20 years ago! 

More And More ROY (DC)

The accolades keep piling up for Jett Lawrence. The champion of the 2023 Monster Energy 250SX West Region, 450 AMA Pro Motocross, and SuperMotocross World Champion, as well as King of Paris SX, Jett was already named Racer X Rider of the Year. The year-end issue of Cycle News just landed in our in-box with Jett on the cover as their 2023 Rider of the Year, as well as the new issue of American Motorcyclist, the AMA magazine that you get in the mail every month as a member. Jett was not actually on the cover, as the AMA is celebrating its 100th year in 2024. If you're into the history of motorcycling, AMA editor Mitch Boehm wrote an amazing and in-depth article entitled, "Setting the Stage" about how the need for a nationwide motorcyclists' rights association came into being, as well as the growth of motorcycling in general in the very early years of the 20th century. Mitch also went through the AMA archives to find some amazing old motorcycles to share along with the article. 

Now back to Jett Lawrence. Needless to say, there will be a lot of eyes on Jett and how he backs this all up in 2024, when he enters the 450 class in Monster Energy AMA Supercross for the first time. There's a lot of expectation riding on his shoulders now, especially after the departure of Honda's reigning AMA Supercross Champion Chase Sexton (now with KTM), and return of multi-time champion Eli Tomac, who almost certainly would have been defending if not for his season-ending injury in Denver, the second-to-last round. Jett is the captain of Team Honda now, even though his older brother Hunter is also moving up to the 450 class. Adding to the build-up is the fact that there is now a Lawrence Factory Fan Zone, which is a VIP experience that fans can enjoy at 16 of the 17 rounds of Monster Energy AMA Supercross. (It's pricey, but hey, so were those Taylor Swift tickets my daughter wanted...) The 2024 AMA year is shaping up to be a big year for not only Jett, but his brother and his race team as well. Because outdoing 2023 will be no easy street!

Pro Perspective (JT)

Christmas is here! Well, almost. But for the racing community and riders specifically, it does mark a shift in their training routines. There has been so much work put in throughout November and December. Seemingly endless days of training body and mind have been suffered through. Soreness is hard to even quantify because it's a constant way of life. Sometime in October, training became all about base building. Long bicycle rides and high lap counts are the norm. The fitness foundation riders will lean on throughout the season is built in October and November. That base building starts to shift to more race-specific timeframes as December arrives. Intensity begins to be a word on everyone's tongue but with the sheer workload still being put in, it's difficult to solely focus on lap times and finding that extra percent of pace. 

That's all changed in the last week or so, though. With two weeks left before Anaheim, all emphasis will be to turn the slow-burning locomotive that was October and November into a lighting fast bullet train. The fitness base is intact, that work is done. Now, it's time to unleash the capabilities of what's been accomplished. Riders will do a lot of sprint work between now and Anaheim, finely tuning their form. Their bicycle rides have mellowed into a more sustainable level and one that will be maintained throughout the season. This change in training will also allow the body to heal and strengthen. It's no longer surviving a daily onslaught of activity. As that workload normalizes, it's remarkable how well riders' energy levels and psyche will respond. They're no longer running on a perpetual deficit. Their body can get back on its figurative feet. Put another way, they are no longer standing on deck swinging a bat with a heavy ring around it. They have switched to a normal bat and their bat speed reflects it. That's the transformation underway this week and next. After months of relentless routine, they are allowing their peak level to break out and reveal itself. It's both a relieving time and an exciting one. It's Christmas in every way possible!

SX Qualifying  (Matthes)

Our guy MX Reference put together 20 years of SX qualifying to see what the trend has been and as you could imagine, the gap between the top qualifying riders and tenth place have lowered a lot. The razor’s edge is a real thing when it comes to how fast these riders can circulate a supercross track. 

Also interesting is, the rider with the fastest qualifying time has won 36 percent of the races and made the podium 66 percent of the time. However, the percentages the fast qualifier has done this is going downward from the RC/Stew/Reed days. 

Also interesting is that only twice in the last ten years has the rider with the most fast qualifying times won the championship. 

Also of note, the great Tim Ferry qualified quickest at a SX six times (four with me as his wrench) and never won a race. SAD. 

You can read this entire cool story here on PulpMX.com.

Merry Christmas (Keefer)

This is my favorite time of year and even though it's crunch time for a lot of SX riders, most of them would agree. Getting to spend some last-minute quality time with their families is important. For most of these guys after Christmas means one thing: FOCUS ON A1! What that means is even though they are "home" after their training days, most of these riders are subconsciously thinking about January 6 in Orange County. Getting some last-minute decompression time with the family and kids (for riders that have them) is something that can really help in the grand scheme of a training regimen. For us normal folk, it means some time off to spend with family, some time to recharge the batteries from your daily job, and maybe get some riding in (if you live somewhere it's not freezing). Happy Holidays to everyone out there and I hope Santa brings you something dirt bike-related under the tree! See you all in 2024! 

Gatorback 1995 (DC)

1995 Gatorback 250 Moto 1 | McGrath, Larocco, Albertyn & Henry Battle On 2-Strokes! Gainesville, FL

Throwing it back almost 30 years ago today as we take a look at legends like Greg Albertyn, Mike LaRocco, Jeremy McGrath, Doug Henry, Mike Kiedrowski, and more battle it out at Gatorback. This moto is quintessential 1990's here, as the sounds of two-strokes echo through the Florida trees while the track is both a mix of high speed blue groove and soft sand in the pit. Check out a close battle to the flag from the first 250 class moto of 1995.

There was much more to this race than an excellent first 250 moto battle. Gatorback ’95 was three-time FIM Motocross World Champion Greg Albertyn’s AMA Pro Motocross debut and, after a rocky start in SX, he was ready to show the Americans his true potential. Mike LaRocco, Jeremy McGrath, Doug Henry, and others all wanted to defend their home soil, so it’s hyper-charged as far as single rounds of a national series go. What you won’t know after that first moto is the fact that both LaRocco and Albertyn would DNF the second moto as both suffered collapsed wheels! And it was Jeremy McGrath who would win the overall, his first-ever in 250 Pro Motocross, and it came on the same track where he won his first 125 National two years earlier.

The 125 class would be won by Kawasaki’s Robbie Reynard, who battled with another incoming foreign invader in the form of Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Mickael Pichon, as well as Suzuki’s Damon Huffman, Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Ryan Hughes, Honda’s Steve Lamson, Honda of Troy’s Mike Brown and Brian Swink… It was a great day of racing.

Also, I was there helping out Donn Maeda with the Cycle News coverage and I also covered the big amateur-day races that took place on Friday and half of Saturday. With all this talk about stacked fields, think about an amateur race in 1995 with Ricky Carmichael, Travis Pastrana, Ernesto Fonseca, Nick Wey, Brock Sellards, Matt Walker, and even the two fast young brothers James and Malcolm Stewart! It was a really cool weekend to say the least. Here are a few B/W shots I got that weekend too:

Happy Holidays

Wishing you a thrilling holiday season filled with the adrenaline of joy and the rush of festive cheer! As the engines of celebration rev up, may your days be merry and your hearts race with delight. From all of us at Racer X/MX Sports/Racer Productions, may your Christmas be filled with victories, laughter, and the thrill of cherished moments with loved ones. Here's to a new year ahead, bursting with opportunities, successes, and more exhilarating moments. Happy holidays and rev up for an amazing year ahead!

Happy holidays from the Racer X family!

Hey, Watch It!

The 999lazer gang got to attend the Transborgaro Vet Race in Italy with an amazing lineup of past legends, including Jeff Stanton, Broc Glover, Chuck Sun, Alessio Chiodi, and more:

Here is an excellent new amateur motocross film by Kyle Crabb called Young Blood, featuring top young prospects from all of the big races last summer:

Ruben Fernandez - Aiming for More

Ruben Fernandez had an action-packed debut season with Team HRC, winning his first MXGP race in Argentina and also landing on the podium numerous times throughout 2023. However, the young Spaniard isn’t satisfied and is aiming to go even better when the 2024 World Motocross Championships start again in March.

2023 GNCC Bike National Championship - Craig Delong

GoPro: Supercross Prep with Aaron Tanti

Eras is back, and this time it's Carson Brown taking on Ken Roczen aboard a Suzuki RM125!