Triple Crown Fever hit Anaheim this past weekend and after two mud races that were a slog for the riders and teams, it was a welcome relief for everyone to great weather over the weekend. Heck, even if this weekend was a “normal” race and the racers rode around orange cones, it would’ve been an awesome weekend of racing. So, to have it be the Triple Crown, yeah sign me up!
I’m a fan of this format even if many racers and teams are not. Sometimes, you can’t listen to those biased guys on what to do with the racing. These things are a nice switch from the usual format and require a different set of skills from everyone involved. Should there be 17 TC races? No. Heck no. But once in a while? Yes please.
Time for a Race Tech Rant:
Mike Pelletier is really trying at the AMA to make things better. I admire him for the effort he’s put in the last few years in terms of being transparent, talking to the partners he has and all in all, it’s a huge change from the way the AMA used to do business.
Unfortunately, there’s still a ways to go. There’s some confusion on whether the AMA in Ohio (which is Mike) or the AMA in Daytona Beach (DMG who bought Pro AMA) is to blame for the consistent live timing and dated results page we have now, but ultimately, Mike is the face of the AMA and it comes down on him.
This weekend, live timing didn’t work for two practices. Think of any world class motorsport out there and try to find one of them that has anywhere NEAR the issues we have with timing. You won’t find it. Not to mention the results and scoring pages look like they’re probably using early 2000’s software. Also, individual TC main wins or stats are NO WHERE to be found anywhere on the AMA site…it’s like the races didn’t happen. There’s no record of laps led for the riders in these races, and it seems to me that they’re leading laps against all the top riders, so these stats should count.
Not too long ago we had a media summit with then Feld guys (who have stepped up many things in the last few years and should be commended) and they agreed with all of the above and said it would change. And nothing has changed. And it’s not Mike’s fault but I’m blaming Mike because he’s the head man at the AMA. Actually, the timing and scoring might come from the other AMA (in Daytona) but the head man gets the blame. We need to do way better with this stuff.
Ok, rant over.
Look, I don’t know how to make SX safer. I’m not sure how, it’s really dangerous to race a dirt bike over bumps. I guess you could make front and back protection mandatory, but a lot of guys already do wear that. It’s inherently a very dangerous sport and don’t tell me four-strokes are the reason why, I remember plenty of seasons in the 90’s and early 2000s where we had very few factory riders left at the end of the year.
This year I’ve heard there have been some changes to try to improve safety and get the riders to round 17 of the series. There are mandated track changes like no dragon-back obstacles and whoop sections will max out at nine whoops (not including the starter whoop). Whoops will not only by a bulldozer, not a loader.
I’m not sure this will work but hey, maybe? We do have a huge problem with millions of dollars in salaries sitting on the sidelines almost every other year. For those of you wondering what’s the difference, generally speaking loader whoops are steeper and tougher than ‘dozer whoops but then again dozer whoops, if not built right, can be faster and therefore more stuff can go wrong when you do crash.
Cooper Webb won A2 and closed up in the points. He didn’t win a main or race or sprint or whatever we’re calling these things now and I also have NO idea how many individual TC “mains” he’s won before, but he won this overall. You look at the guys that did win the three “mains” and Webb had something that they (Sexton, Tomac, Anderson) did not and that was three good starts.
Starts are always key at these things and it’s kind of scary just HOW key they are these days. Back in the day, McGrath, Reed, Stewart, Carmichael could start backwards and still grab a podium (probably Tim Ferry in second) but that can’t happen these days.
Anyways, Webb was very good and consistent throughout the night on a track that, with half of it being very soft, broke down a lot. It was Webb’s first AMA 450SX win on a Yamaha and yeah, he’s been quietly (IMO) really looking good this season.
Interesting to hear that through my sources, Webb is riding for a relatively low salary this year for a rider like him. To go back to Star Yamaha and with them having Eli Tomac, he agreed to a low base with a much higher 2025 salary when we all assume Star won’t have to pay Tomac as much or at all. If he wins this 450SX title, he might be the lowest paid rider in the four-stroke era to ever win.
Jason Anderson lost third overall with a penalty for riding beside the whoops after a crash. Out of all of Anderson’s off-track excursions we’ve seen, this one wasn’t even a blip on the radar. Yes, he wasn’t going slow, but he also wasn’t grabbing gears either. So, I thought the penalty was a bit harsh but hey, there is that past history going on with the #21.
Speaking of Kawi, yes, the Jorge Prado rumors are true that he’s got heavy interest from them for 2025 and I believe he’s even ridden the bike which indicates how serious this is. Big year for Adam Cianciarulo and his Team Green connections for sure, AC missed this round due to a broken finger/hand from a collision with…Jorge Prado! I’m sure Adam is like “thanks guy!” …when it rains it pours.
I talked to Jeremy Coker, the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team manager, after the race about Eli Tomac and his A2. I asked him if, after the two mains, he was a bit worried. He said no, Eli spun off gate and worked his way to the back of the “top” pack, so he thought ET3 rode well. Myself, yeah, I was a bit concerned because I watched Ken Roczen and Chase Sexton catch up the “top” pack and ride through some of them. ET couldn’t do that. BUT then…a holeshot and check out in main 3 made me less concerned for ET (I’m sure he’s concerned that I was concerned for him). As the famous line in the classic movie Dodgeball once said “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball” …well, to me “If you can win one TC race, you can win a real race!”
Aaron Plessinger was the beneficiary of Anderson’s penalty, and he also gets to keep the red plate as well. The Cowboy was stoked on this and although I still don’t think he’s going to win this title, he’s definitely an improved rider. We had RJ Hampshire on the show, and he said in the pre-season at Baker’s Factory it was Malcolm Stewart that was “flying at the test track” but then AP got back from California with his new suspension and frame settings and he was the new top dog at the Bakery. Hampshire said that Aaron has been at a new level ever since then. Well, it’s showing.
Speaking about starts up above, Levi Kitchen got starts! He won his second career 250SX race and is now tied for the red plate with Jordon Smith (who had an off night when he, yes DIDN’T GET STARTS, and crashed). Kitchen’s a real find for Mitch Payton who had to relax his rules about newer riders staying close to the shop to train and practice. Kitch is allowed to go to Florida, because so far he’s earned it with results.
Kitch and RJ Hampshire put on a show the first two mains and it was awesome to watch. We’re seeing some breakaways here with Smith, Hampshire and Kitchen looking like they’re going to battle to the end for this title. The kid versus the vets!
RJ was great, he won one “main” and was right there in the other. In the third one he got a flat (very rare in SX) and then the tire came off the rim (even more rare). He was telling us how, with the tire half off, he had to jump the triple because Anthony Bourdon was catching him, and he didn’t know he had second overall wrapped up. So, you want to be a professional SX’er huh?
Speaking of RJ, he and our guy Phil Nicoletti were discussing the race the other night on Pulpmx Show and it’s legit one of the funniest interviews we’ve ever done. Listen to these two talk about trying to do the jumps with a track that’s beat up as well as Phil tell us how he will never be able to go as fast as RJ.
Some other news and notes:
-Dylan Ferrandis and Hunter Lawrence seemed to be around each other every single race. They passed back and forth a ton. They’re riding partners so I wonder in that situation are you just sick of each other or it’s better because you know the other dude isn’t going to take you out.
-Ken Roczen is the fastest rider in 2024 SX without a real result. I know he got second in the mud in San Fran but at the two dry races, it’s been not good for the German.
-Doubly sad because if he had done well, Roczen would’ve come up in-studio for Pulpmx Show on Monday as he’s been up in Mesquite riding to start the year. But once he crashed off start in third “main”, I started making plans for another co-host. Also, he’s headed back to Florida for the rest of the year so there goes those plans. I will say he’s very happy with his bike and he will get a win here (I think) sometime.
-Super weird Justin Barcia race. I know he was sick at San Fran, rebounded nicely at San Diego and now this weekend he was really not good. I suppose bad starts (there’s that word again, starts) played a huge part in it.
-Nate Thrasher won last week, this week he goes 3-10-1. Never change Nate, never change.
-Bar X has a nice find on their hands with Anthony Bourdon. Wet or dry, he’s been very good for those guys.
-Jett Lawrence was very good but got bad starts/crashes in two of the three mains. Yes, starts. Again. In the third main he was awesome in getting up into second before going down in the whoops. Four races in, one podium for the kid and tons of boos this weekend for his actions last week. And also cheers for him crashing which is lame. Life comes at you fast, though.
-Ricky Carmichael got booed. It happens, he’ll be fine. Right now, he’s the pinata for the fans. Next week or real soon, he’s gonna be the stick.
-Justin Cooper qualified quickest! Yes, you read that right. In just his 8th career 450SX race, he did it. The man who is the king of the pole positions got his first pole position in the man’s class. That’s impressive and he also rode very well all night long. He moved forward and battled with the big dogs.
-Chase Sexton was determined to skim the whoops and looked a little rough out there a few times before it bit him in main 2. I wonder if that will cause him to be a bit cautious going forward as whoops were the thing that he wasn’t happy about going into the season. The other two races? Yeah, very good. But fifth overall is still not where he wants to be.
-Stop me if you heard this before but Jo Shimoda rode really well when it didn’t matter all that much. In the third main, when Kitchen was cruising because he had the overall wrapped up and Hampshire had a flat and had second overall wrapped up, Jo was on the gas and got second. The other two mains were more bad starts (although he did get a distant third in main 2) and he was off the podium again. No podiums so far this year. No one needs a week off more than Shimoda.
-Another rough night for the Rockstar Husqvarna 450SX team. I mean, at least Malcolm Stewart got in the mix a bit there. Poor Nate Ramsey.
-Shout out to 40-year-old Billy Laninovich for making his first main since, checks notes, 1998. No but seriously, Lano rode hard in the LCQ to get in and it’s a cool story for sure. He wasn’t able to get a point (super dumb rule change BTW) as he got last but again, the dude is 40.
That’s it for Obs this week. We’re headed for Detroit, which, hilariously, is a nice rest for the teams since it’s in a dome so there’s no chance of another mud race. Yes, Detroit in February. A nice break! Email me matthes@racerxonline.com
