So are thumb injuries the new Epstein-Barr Syndrome of moto? It suddenly feels that way as three of the biggest stars in our sport—Lawrence and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammates Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb are all out with pretty much the same injury—and coincidentally MXGP star Romain Febvre of France is also out with a thumb injury. What a weird and unfortunate run of thumb injuries… And I’m not sure where or why we’re hearing this rumor that Jett Lawrence and his girlfriend are expecting, but they are not, and his agent Lucas Mirtl said he thinks it’s hilarious but absolutely untrue.

Back to reality: So for now we freeze the winning percentage in 450 Pro Motocross for Jett Lawrence: 16 starts, 15 overall wins. That’s like batting .9375 in baseball terms. Jett has a long, long, long way to go before he gets to Ricky Carmichael in all-time wins—Ricky won 76 premier-class nationals in 89 starts on 250s/450s. That gives him an .854 winning percentage. But let me throw a little wrench into this bench-racing argument: Ricky still got off to a better start on 450s that Jett. Remember, he rode 250cc two-strokes in AMA Pro MX from 2000 to 2003. Once he got on four-strokes 450s to start the 2004 outdoor series, Carmichael won the first 24 outdoor nationals he rode on 450s, all 12 in ’04 and all 12 again in ’05 before finally losing his first outdoor race on the 450 at Hangtown ’06. And of course, Hangtown is the site of Jett’s one and only 450 loss, ending his own streak at 12 in a row.

So now we turn our full attention to the other Lawrence brother and #4 Chase Sexton as they enter the second half of the season. It’s hard to make many comparisons because this is Hunter’s first year on the 450, but he’s been on the box in all 10 motos to date, with one moto win. Chase has been off the box three times, but he’s also got two more moto wins that Hunter. Last year in the 250 class Hunter’s two worst races were RedBud and Southwick (which ran in reverse order to this year), as he got caught in a first turn crash at RedBud and ended up ninth overall with 1-DNF scores, and then at Southwick he finished DNF-8 for 13th overall after a mechanical issue in moto one.

As for Sexton, he got hurt right after the opening round of Pro Motocross and did not return until RedBud, where he finished third. From there he would finish second to his then-Honda teammate Jett five times in the last six rounds. The year before that Sexton won three of the last four rounds, while Hunter won three of the last five rounds on his way to the 250 title, so it's really hard to make a proper comparison—this really is going to be a whole new series!

Not so much in the 250 class. Haiden Deegan continues to impress with his wins, his strength, and his absolutely-pinned riding style. The launch off that first big jump at Southwick to stay ahead of Levi Kitchen and the rest of the pack was pure Bob Hannah. In fact, reader Doug Dickason suggested we do a side-by-side comparison of that moment with the classic Hannah photo of him almost falling off the bike coming out of Unadilla’s “Gravity Cavity” in the 1979 250cc USGP, shot by the great Dick Miller and first run in Motocross Action magazine. I told him we would if we could find a cool shot of Haiden from behind, and then he shoots back a shot by Chris Conley (@chris.flicks.481) of the moment. As Doug put it, call it Hannah 2.0! The thing is, I have no idea what the situation was for Hannah when he got all squirrelly 45 years ago at ‘Dilla, but I was right there for Deegan’s launch, and he was on sheer just-send-it mode. It was a huge statement moment and I’m sure Dangerboy has a whole bunch of new fans in New England as a result!

It's hard to believe that just one year ago Haiden Deegan got his first 250 win as a professional, the RedBud National. Now he’s coming back in full control of the 250 class and the points lead. But his Southwick win wasn’t without a little drama. After the race his bike was to be tested for sound, but it had been smoking the last few laps of the race and then wouldn’t fully rev as the AMA officials were trying to test it again. Then it shut off completely. One official said that it might have oil leaked into the engine from whatever problem was causing the smoke. The problem is the team had failed sound tests with other bikes, and Max Anstie and Dax Bennick each lost their fastest lap in timed qualifying, and then Jordon Smith lost three championship points for being too loud after the second moto. Here's what Matthes explained in his Observations column:

Finally, I will close this long opening with a nod to 52-year-old Tony Lorusso, who was trying to become the oldest man to ever qualify for a Pro Motocross race. (I mistakenly said John Dowd was 43 that last time he qualified at Southwick but he was actually 48, my bad JD!) Tony missed directly qualifying by 1/2 a second, clocking in at 40th when they only take 36. And then in the LCQ he did not get the start he needed and finished eighth, missing that by four spots as well. I truly think that Tony should try again next year, as he has the speed, but I believe he didn’t really use his first timed qualifying session well, riding in too much traffic to get a good time. All he needed was a little bit more of a clear track and he would have had that half second!

The kid who was the fastest qualifier, Tom Guyon from France, was impressive, but then he had a hard time getting out of the first turn in both motos. This was the second straight year that a privateer coming out of the first 250 B practice set the fastest time, as last year it was Jimmy Decotis. Southwick is made for cool moments like that!

And if you’re wondering what the deal was with Ben Robinson in timed qualifying practice, briefly having the fastest lap and then disappearing, Weege actually dug in and found out.

Okay, the MX Sports Pro Racing Scouting Moto Combine is up and running at RedBud and there’s already news—New Zealander Cole Davis is now on the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team. Look for a race report later on from this development event right here on Racer X Online.

Wait, damn, one more thing—and it’s not good. I just got off the phone with my old friend and Dirt Rider boss Ken Faught and he told me that the rumor is true: Mike Healey passed away. He was found face-down in his bedroom, likely from a heart attack. Healey was a SoCal minicycle hot shoe-turned-125 SX winner-turned-Grand Prix star in Europe. He won several Grand Prix races and came very close to winning the 1991 250cc FIM Motocross World Championship. He was the playful bad boy on the GP circuit, a rock-and-roller who raced dirt bikes, but the years after his career ended saw him struggle for years with addiction issues before he ultimately went to prison. After he was out, he became a barber in Costa Mesa and was doing quite well, by all accounts. Ken was close to Mike as they grew up together and he helped him often along the way. We are very sorry to hear that he’s now gone. Godspeed, Mike Healey.  

JETT (Matthes)

With the news of Jett Lawrence's thumb injury still fresh, something I was thinking about was the length of time he's going to have before he has to start the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) series in Charlotte, North Carolina. Typical time frame will be six to eight weeks (as Davey mentioned) and so let's give him seven before he's ready to get on a bike. That gives him about two weeks on the bike before the opening SMX playoff round. And also, remember the points entering SMX round one are staged off your combined rankings through SX and MX. So, Jett's going to lose two, maybe three positions before Charlotte starts so he might be five points down, maybe seven to start the series. Add in the rust and, hey, this SMX thing might not see a 100 percent ready Jett Lawrence. Or maybe he's fine and he whups up on everyone anyways and wins the thing going away. I just think that looking at the surgery, timeline, etc., it's getting close for the Aussie to be ready for SMX.

Larry "Supermouth" Huffman, R.I.P. (DC)

The motocross world was saddened by the news that Larry Huffman passed earlier this week. Huffman was the talented, hilarious, bombastic voice of supercross from the get-go—Mike Goodwin hired him to be the announced the first Superbowl of Motocross at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1972. A radio disc jockey by trade, Huffman fell in love with motorcycling while announcing big Southern California events at places like Costa Mesa Speedway, Ascot Park, Saddleback, Carlsbad, Angels Stadium, Lions Drag Strip and more. He often did these races wearing a tuxedo, which fit right in with Goodwin's notion that supercross was "taking motocross downtown." His one-liners were the stuff of gold: "He's on him like a cheap suit! Wardy is tougher than a two-dollar steak! Those whoops are so deep I saw German helmets popping up between them! Friday, Saturday and Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!" And for those of us who did not grow up on the west coast, there was also Larry's star turn in Winners Take All.

Just as the late Art Eckman's was the voice you heard when you thought about supercross on TV, Larry Huffman's was the voice you heard when you thought about going to sit in the grandstands for supercross (though he did a lot of TV in the early years as well). He was also an incredibly kind man who did a great deal to promote and support the growth of motorcycling across a wide spectrum. He was recognized for his efforts when he was inducted into both the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame as well as the Trailblazers Hall of Fame. He was such an indelible part of the early years of supercross that it's probably the reason he got the nickname "Supermouth" though he could also articulate an astonishing 300 words a minute!

Huffman had struggled with problems with his foot that needed countless surgeries and became infected. He passed away at his home in Palm Springs. It's safe to say that he did not go quietly—that just wasn't his style!

STUFF (Matthes)

RIP to Larry Huffman, whose familiar voice I use in my cell phone voicemail greeting. I did a a couple of podcasts with Larry over the years and gotten along with him nicely so when I asked, he was more than happy to do it for me. Here’s the first one we did back in 2008. 

To talk about Larry's passing as well as his memories of Art Eckman who we lost earlier this year, I called up SX and MX champion David Bailey to give me his thoughts and DB got choked up thinking about the last time he saw hie friend Art a while back. We also talked about whether Honda's dominance makes him happy inside (it does!), Jett's riding style (pre-thumb injury news), Deegan, and more. Listen to the Bailey podcast here.

I talked to Cullin Park about his season so far, coming back from a bad injury in SX, riding at the Lawrence compound, training with Chase Sexton and more. Listen to the Park podcast here.

Seth Rarick, Weege, and I talked about the epic 1994 Millville National where privateer John Dowd, who had gotten a factory Yamaha bike when they let Mike Craig go, went 2-1 for the win over a hard-charging Mike LaRocco. We even got Dowd's long-time mechanic, Brian Berry, on the line to give us memories of that day. Give that a listen here.

Plus, JT and I did a quick Renthal Reaction Podcast to the Jett Lawrence news.  

Lombok Doubleheader (Mitch Kendra)

The FIM Motocross World Championship (MXGP) remains at Lombok for the second race of its doubleheader in Indonesia. At the MXGP of West Nusa Tenggara, Kay de Wolf (Husqvarna) won his first overall race since April in Italy and gained points on his championship rivals. De Wolf started the season with three straight overall wins then finished 4-4-4-2-2-4-7 until his fourth win of the season came in Indonesia, breaking the winning streak of all those fast Belgians, the Coenen brothers and Liam Everts. While De Wolf has a 65-point lead over his teammate Lucas Coenen (Husqvarna), Lucas and his brother Sacha are both capable of winning races. If De Wolf runs into trouble again like he has recently, his big lead could lessen—especially with the qualifying race on Saturday awarding ten more points to the race winner.

In the MXGP Class, Jorge Prado (GasGas) bested Jeffrey Herlings (KTM), Tim Gajser (Honda), and the field for his seventh overall win of the season, which cut Gajser’s championship lead over the defending champion down to 22 points. Herlings is starting to get back to form here and Prado is back rolling again after his tough day in Italy, which means we can expect them both to fight Gajser for the championship. Although remaining in Lombok for the second race in a week, this time the track will go in reverse order for the MXGP of Lombok. Let’s just hope the track does not get unnecessarily over-watered for the second motos this go round… Yes, the action in the U.S. AMA Pro Motocross Championship has been awesome each week and has fans on the edge of their seat literally each moto due to the great racing we have been fortunate to have, the MXGP series is having some fantastic battles as well. Although the live points-paying motos will air overnight here in the U.S., catch the second motos on CBS Sports on Sunday starting at 2:30 p.m. Eastern/11:30 a.m. Pacific.

RedBud's Retro Man (DC)

The Michigan Motocross Mafia and RedBud itself are very lucky to have had a young Werner Straube take up photography. Werner lives in Michigan and documented much of the glory days of the Michigan Mafia, from the late Dick Robbins' rise to national stardom, the mercurial Mike Hartwig's brief career as a Yamaha and Husqvarna factory rider, to the dominance at the youth and amateur level of Team Dynamic, as well as the Hinkle brothers and Lisa Akin-Wagner, through to Jeff Stanton, Brian Swink and more. Strobe's posts many of his old photos from various Michigan tracks, as well as RedBud, Mid-Ohio, the Pontiac Silverdome, and even the very first year of Loretta Lynn's AMA Amateur Nationals. His photos are a visual record of so many big races, fast riders and just the general Michigan moto scene. Here are a few from RedBud's National, going back to 1974 when Bultaco man Kenny Zahrt won on a 250 Pursang! 

Hey, Watch It!

Now this is just cool.

SMX Insider – Episode 77 – Lawrence Injury, Deegan Dominance

Head-Scratching Headline/s of the Week

“Pittsburgh’s Anthrocon 2024 expected to be biggest furry convention yet”—WPXI

“Hydration key as furries unleashed on Pittsburgh for first day of 4-day Anthrocon”—Trib Live

“Marijuana No Longer Banned for Some NCAA Athletes””—Inside Higher Ed

“GALA DINNER BREATHS FIRE INTO THE MXGP OF LOMBOK WEEKEND”—MXGP.com

Random Notes

Our friend in Europe, “MXGeoff” Meyer, is actually in Indonesia right now, but he did a cool article on the history of the CZ brand that’s a good read for the weekend.

Here’s the thing: Last week when Nick McCabe and I went to Hogan’s Cycle Shop in Agawam, Massachusetts, there was a 1992 CZ 125 motorcycle in there that is one really, really rare bird. It was pretty much the end of the line for the once-mighty Czech brand and I have to admit I had never seen one in person until last Friday!