Before we get into the news of the week, I want to take a moment to salute Ed Youngblood, the former president of the American Motorcyclist Association and a contributor to Racer X Illustrated upon his retirement. Youngblood was a true force of nature in the latter half of the 20th century, helping to shape motorcycling as we know it today. He fought for the rights of riders for much of his life, and he was a true historian as well, with a genuine passion for this sport. His work on books and stories about John Penton, Dick Mann, Edison Dye, and more helped establish a proper perspective of their contributions to the sport, and towards the end of his life he joined them all in the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, which he helped build. He was a friend, a mentor and a true leader. He will be missed. Godspeed, Ed.

Indy (Matthes)

Triple Crown fever this week in Indianapolis and with it will come more chaos. The track here is typical Indy, it's soft and even from the little the guys rode today, they were having to back out of a triple because of ruts, there was a table to table that was pretty easy but guys were screwing it up and, yeah, it's gonna get gnarly. The steepness of some of the jumps took riders like Ken Roczen by surprise because in his opinion, riders are gonna be dragging their pegs. I think the Dirt Wurx guys are gonna make some track alterations after today to lessen the angle of the jumps. 

One rider who looked pretty good though even with the ruts was Chase Sexton, who told me he's been back riding for a couple of weeks from his hand injury and it's more of a pain to open bottles and things like that than riding. He looked rather good today if there's such a thing about press day. 

Sorry to cut this short but our live podcast show is tonight and I gotta head down to the theater! 

Another Triumph First? (DC)

Last month Jalek Swoll rode into the record books as the first Triumph rider in Monster Energy AMA Supercross when he finished sixth in the bike's debut at the Detroit SX. This past weekend in Argentina another milestone was set on the Triumph TF 250-X as Danish rider Mikkel Haarup finished a solid third overall in the MX2 class with 5-2 moto scores. He also holeshot and led the second moto, putting the black Triumph out front for the first time ever in the FIM World Motocross Championships...

Or was it? Back in the 1960s heavily modified Triumph motorcycles were actually a regular at the front of the back. The Rickman-Metisse Triumph, built by the British brothers Don and Derek Rickman, was among many "mash-up" bikes that utilized various parts from various brands, including Triumph. (The French word "metisse" means something similar to "mongrol" or "hybrid.") For example, one earlier version of the bike had a Triumph 500cc twin engine, BSA frame, gearbox, clutch and wheels, and Norton forks. How popular were these bikes? In the 1964 FIM Motocross des Nations a total of 24 Rickman-Metisse Triumphs were on the starting line, used by riders from various national teams: British, Belgian, Swedish, Canadian, etc., though England's own Jeff Smith won individual overall aboard a BSA.

According to our French friend Gilou's Grand Prix results website—https://memotocross.fr/—the last time one of those Metisse Triumphs show up in 1966 in the 500cc World Championship, piloted by Don Rickman and future world champ Bent Aberg. Rickman ended up eighth in the final standings while Aberg was 12th.

All these years later Triumph is back, but it is a much different bike and company (the original company changed hands a couple a few times). It is obvious from their efforts in 2024 in both Monster Energy Supercross and the FIM Motocross World Championship—and coming this summer AMA Pro Motocross—that the current incarnation of Triumph is up for the challenge of competing at the highest levels in SX/MX already. And while Haarup got them their first podium in MXGP, Swoll had a real shot at the Birmingham podium the night before until a late-race tip over saw him fall back to sixth.

Prado's World (DC)

Remember back in the fall when there was a lot of concern about the fact that MXGP World Champion Jorge Prado's plans to have a "supercross vacation" here in America might end up with him either getting hurt or losing valuable prep time for his title defense? The concern was that the steep learning curve of supercross might hinder his results, either by injury or lost testing time, once his MXGP title defense started.

Fortunately, Prado did not get hurt during his SX vacation, and he acquitted himself well, even staying for one more race than he originally planned. And when he did get back to Europe and back to the GasGas he races in MXGP at the end of January, he apparently went right to work. He had six weeks before the start of the MXGP season down in Argentina, and by the look of the results, he took full advantage of the time he had, as well as the momentum he had from his time in AMA Supercross.

Prado went 1-2 in the two motos in Argentina to get the overall win as well as take control of the red plate on his #1 GasGas. (Prado decided not to run his trademark #61 and is instead running #1 as defending champion.) The French Kawasaki rider Romain Febvre ended up second (2-3) and Slovenia's Tim Gajser was third (5-1). 

“I am super happy how everything is going right now," said the Spaniard after his successful start to the '24 MXGP season. "Honestly this weekend has gone so well - I feel good about the bike, and we made some key improvements from last year. I feel like a better rider now than I ever have before - and I’m super happy to leave Argentina with the red plate and the win. Starting the season on the right foot is fantastic. I want to say a huge thankyou to all my team at Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing, as well as everyone beyond me - my trainer, my family - everyone that is putting work into this! Let’s keep rolling and gain more results like this!”

Meanwhile, back here in the states, the rumor mill is chugging along with Prado's future a big topic of conversation. The most serious thread has him ending up on the Monster Energy Kawasaki team, with both Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing and staying-with-the-KTM Group on the podium. It should be an interesting silly season!

Stark Contrast (DC)

Last weekend in Argentina the FIM and Infront Moto Racing announced plans for a future Electric World Championship class that would run in support of five or six existing MXGP rounds, as soon as 2026. The hope is to use that class to help develop rules and guidelines for electric bikes, while also keeping them separated from ICE (international combustion engine) bikes and keep the current FIM Motocross World Championships continue as they are.

According to Infront Moto Racing CEO David Luongo (who will be a guest this weekend at the Indianapolis SX):

Stark, the Barcelona-based electric bike manufacturer, responded two days later with their own statement on the idea of a stand-alone class for electrics:

That sums up where we are now in this whole electric bike evolution: Segregation vs. Integration. The FIM and Infront are not alone at this crossroads. Anton Vass, CEO and founder of Stark, came to Daytona Bike Week on a fact-finding mission and met with Feld, MX Sports Pro Racing, AMA Pro Racing and the AMA on the eve of the SX race. He expressed their hope to integrate the Varg into traditional classes and listened to the concerns and ideas of the group, and together we came up with some next steps. Stark is being proactive on how their motorcycle's output can be regulated and monitored, but there's going to be a learning curve for everyone who has to add knowledge of how exactly the new technologies of electrics work. 

On Tuesday, as part of the vintage Ricky Carmichael Daytona Amateur Supercross (RCSX), a class was introduced for electric bikes and two-stroke and YouTube hero Matt Burkeen raced a Stark Varg and was flying around the tamed down course on it. The bikes are fun and open a lot of opportunities for riding in places that might otherwise be off-limits, and Burkeen had a big smile on his face. No one argues the fun factor of the Stark Varg, but where exactly they fit in with existing motorcycle classes is still a work in progress on both sides of the ocean.

New Bike News (DC)

As mentioned earlier, last Saturday night in Birmingham, Jalek Swoll very nearly put a Triumph on the podium, and down in Argentina Mikkel Haarup did exactly that in the MX2 class of the MXGP opener. Also, for the first time ever, there were two Beta motorcycles in a main event as teammates Benny Bloss and the just-returned Colt Nichols finished 13th and 14th, advantage Colt. Now we will see the first public competition of the Ducati Desmo 450 MX when Alessandro Lupino lines up for the first round of the Italian Nationals. Keep an eye on the site for results, as Lupino does qualifying tomorrow and the actual motos on Sunday. But don't expect to see a Ducati on track here in the states until at least 2026, unless it's for the 2025 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations.

WMX Is Baaaaaaaack! (Keefer)

The family and I just got home from the JS7 Spring National at Freestone in Texas. In case you didn't know, the WMX series is back and it is taking these ladies all over the country to race for a championship. Freestone was the second stop on the WMX series tour and boy was it fun to watch. I come from the era of JP$, Ashely Fiolek, Sarah Whitmore, Elisabeth Bash, Tarah Geiger, and more, so these new crop of ladies have a big legacy to live up to but from what I witnessed last weekend, they are doing just fine. There is young lady by the name of Lachlan Turner that is simply unreal to watch ride with her aggression. Usually, you can tell a woman rider by the way she rides on the bike, but I am here to say that these top girls like "La La" ride like young little teenage B class boys. Their posture on the bike as well as how they attack the jumps reminds me a lot of young men (that is a compliment by the way). Lachlan Turner, Kyleigh Stallings, Mikayla Nielsen, Sophie Phelps are all elite women racers and they put on a show. As I was watching both of the lady motos I also got to witness just how tough these racers were. Some of them took some heavy crashes and they kept dusting themselves off and kept getting up. I was really blown away! I was so blown away that I texted my kid from the track to tell him to come down here (from the pits) to watch these races! The WMX is set for an eight-race championship in 2024 and the third round is being held this weekend in Texas at Spring A Ding. These women will be showcased at two outdoor nationals this summer so make sure you get out there and watch some of the best racing you might see all day. Props to MX Sports for keeping women motocross around as I feel more manufacturers need to get behind some of these women for some sponsorship. These top women are influential and can help our sport grow as well as sell more motorcycles. And isn't that what we are supposed to be doing? Sell more bikes! Let's go ladies! #KeepLadiesOnDirtBikes

We’re Literally Giving T-Shirts Away

Click bait, baby! We literally tricked you into literally thinking we’re literally giving t-shirts away. 

Wait, what’s that? We actually are? 

Literally! Our brand department is running a buy-two-get-one-free shirt deal, which means they’re giving away a freebie. Just peruse our collection of men’s and women’s shirts and create your collection of three, and one will be free. It rhymes so you know it’s true. 

Also, if you live in a place where spring has not yet sprung, you’ll note that we’re still running our sale on flannels. That’s $17 off, people. Literally! 

SHOP ALL RACER X MERCHANDISE

Hey, Watch It!

The moment Danish rider Mikkel Haarup put a Triumph at the front of a Grand Prix for the first time since the mid-sixties, as he debuted the TF 250-X in Argentina:

Haiden Deegan's wild night, from The Deegans' point of view (though it leaves a few key moments out, including the deal with Seth Hammaker's bike after their heat race crash and the detour to the PC pits afterwards):

And here's Jett's night, which was much less dramatic than Daytona, where he nearly missed the start:

Between the Arrows: 2024 Specialized General GNCC Motorcycles

Here are the MXGP and MX2 highlights from the Grand Prix of Patagonia-Argentina last Sunday afternoon:

Nick Tomasunas’ latest video: Lap Time Battle! Stark Varg VS Yamaha YZ450F HONEST Comparison...

GoPro: Carson Brown Supermini Shredding at Day in the Dirt Down South

Head-Scratching Headline/s of the Week

"Does a gangster called Barbecue now control Haiti?"—Drudge Report

"The Boomers who tried moving to Florida and ended up in Appalachia"—The Wall Street Journal

“’The rats eating our marijuana, they're all high' | Chief says evidence isn't safe”—WWLTV 4 (Louisiana)

Random Notes

Aaron Plessinger on the cover of Cross Magazine.