REDBUDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!! When the first motos at RedBud were done, we were halfway through the 2024 AMA Pro Motocross Championship. It was a great weekend at a great venue, the track was mint, the weather was great, and there were a TON of fans there. That sound you hear is Tim Ritchie diving into his swimming pool full of cash.
Ritchie did screw up LaRocco's Leap… kind of. He blames it on the rain that hit Friday, and he may be right, but due to the soft conditions we had only like 2-3 250 riders who jumped it in moto one and then maybe 10-14 450 riders jumped it in moto one and two. I want my Leap to be done by 5-6 elite 250 riders and then most of the 450 guys. Again, maybe it wasn’t Tim’s fault. But maybe it was?
Wow. Life comes at your fast huh? Jett Lawrence’s crash after Southwick left him with a UCL thumb injury, which is the same thing Eli Tomac, Cooper Webb, and Romain Febvre have this year. So, yeah, this throws the 450MX series (and maybe the 450SMX series) for a loop, huh?
Look, pretty sure Jett comes back from this thumb surgery and is fine, but it’s his first real injury of his career. He was fighting through the shoulder thing from Hangtown too. You’re never the same after you miss time with an injury and the stacking of blocks stops immediately. He’ll probably be fine, but it’ll be interesting to see if he’s right back to peak form when he’s racing again.
Chase Sexton got fortunate to win the first moto with Hunter Lawrence’s crash for sure but hey, he knows a thing or two about crashing while leading so let’s give some back in the karma department, yeah? There was nothing about karma in moto two though as he took off for the lead in a dominant victory at a track he grew up racing on (he’s from Illinois). This race was a special one for Sexton, for sure.
“Yeah. It means a lot. I had a chill on the podium after that race. It was crazy. The crowd, I think this is actually one of the biggest ones they’ve had, ever. So, it’s pretty cool,” Sexton told me after the race.
He put ten points on Hunter, and he’s got the red plate now. And riders being riders, it’s hard to see Sexton not being full of confidence. He knows Jett is out (he’s never beat a healthy Jett in MX), most would think his top end speed is greater than Hunter’s, and I think he can springboard this to consistently being the best guy. At this point I’d like to make a note that after Sexton’s amazing Hangtown 1-1 rides, I predicted it would also be a turning point for him. Then of course he went 6-5 at the next round. So, keep in mind that we all know nothing!
Hard to not see Hunter’s day going completely differently had he not eaten poop down the hill in the first moto while leading. He was leading the race, was going to widen his points lead and set himself up for, most likely, a worst-case scenario of a second in moto two to at least tie Chase Sexton. Yes, Sexton caught him a few times, but he even admitted passing would have been tough.
But no, he went a bit too fast down the rough downhill, his bike kicked out and got cattywampus, and he went down pretty hard. Watching it back, he definitely hit his head as well. Props to him for holding off Justin Cooper for the runner-up spot even, as I’m sure he was hurting. Second moto, he didn’t get the start and lacked his usual speed/fitness and he offered up after the moto that he wasn’t feeling quite right after the fall. And just like that, a probable 1-2 or 1-1 day goes to 2-4 and he’s seven points down to Sexton.
One thing reported on the broadcast (by some guy named Jason Thomas) was that Hunter went away from the scoop tire for the second moto and it definitely hurt him out there. I was talking to Phil Nicoletti and Aaron Plessinger on the PulpMX Show Monday night about that decision. It seemed a little bizarre to me but both riders (BREAKING NEWS: they probably know more about this than me) said they understood it, the faces of the jumps were slick, and although they didn’t do it, they defended the decision.
Is there anything more American than Plessinger making the podium at Redbud? He didn’t look great in moto one when he went from second to fourth, but he rebounded in moto two for a runner-up spot and even looked to be making a run at Sexton at one point. All this and he missed time riding the week before with an illness!
“Yeah. It was unbelievable. You couldn’t have asked for a better day. I don’t even think it got warm,” he told me after the race. “I had chill bumps after practice, just kind of chilling. It was such a beautiful day. Good day for RedBud. I’ve never seen this place light up so much with fans. Good day for Red Bull KTM, too.”
‘Merica. AP.
Chance Hymas has been a revelation this MX season and he just completed the, “Hymas 2025 250MX champion, maybe?” Racer X preview show with a win at Redbud. This has been brewing for a while now with laps led and motos won. Truthfully though, I was a bit bummed to see him lead, checks notes, nine laps and end up fourth in the first moto. He looked like he was out of gas out there (physically, not literally) so it was great to rebound for a wire to wire second moto win and the overall. Great story here for a nice kid and family. He's second in the points, by the way. No one, not even Chris Hymas, his dad, thought Hymas would be where he is right now with over half the series down.
Maybe Chance has a chance? Too soon?
Okay, I’ll be fully transparent here and admit that, halfway through SX, I sent a text to Lars Lindstrom, the Honda HRC team manager asking what was going on with Hymas and if he is happy with these rides. I know it’s only Hymas’ second year but he’s on factory Honda and trains with the Lawrence’s. That’s a situation that comes with lofty expectations. Hymas had led some supercross laps and maybe he had won a heat at that point, but 10-7-15-10-8-12-8-5-7 finishes for eighth overall isn’t great. Lars had his back and threw it back to me asking who I would hire, to which I couldn’t come up with anyone other than Nate Thrasher, who hadn’t signed yet and wasn’t really a better pick. He’ dwon some races but also had more experience and was pretty up and down.
More on the Hymas front is that he’s been auto renewed at Honda now for the next, I think, two years. Usually contract renewals for riders are done with final season ending points standings incentives but Hymas’s was specific moto finishes, I’m guessing podiums. Whatever it was, he met the conditions and got a new deal with a raise as well.
Jo Shimoda’s second moto was great. His start doomed him in moto one, but like Southwick last week he made the best of what he could. Second moto he followed Hymas around to get second in the moto and third overall. The two Hondas out there in first and second reminded me of Doug Henry and Steve Lamson back in the day. One of the guys even had Fox gear on!
You guys know we’re getting set up here perfectly for Shimoda to get second in the points to Haiden Deegan, right? And then we have the off-season to talk about Shimoda’s title potential. Did you know Jo rallied with a 1-1 at the Ironman finale last year and nearly picked off Justin Cooper for second in the series last year? He’s 26 points back of Hymas with ten motos to go. Get ready for it.
What a story for Ty Masterpool. He won the first moto and then quickly sliced and diced his way through the pack in moto two to third and the overall win. It was there for him! Unfortunately for Ty, he got tired and slipped back to fifth, which gave the win to Hymas. Ty was still very happy with his day, and it was the second moto that made it so good for him, even though he gave the overall win away but he explains here:
“Overall, a good day. I was a little bummed, but a lot of positives to take from the day. Second overall and feeling good. That second moto was honestly a big confidence booster. I felt I had the speed past most of them. Looking forward to it. Stamina is only going to get better from here on out.”
Mitch Payton has a spicy meatball on his hands here for next year. I mean through six races, Masterpool-who didn’t even RIDE the bike until two days before Pala, has won an overall, and now another moto for the team. He’s done better than Levi Kitchen! It’s a cool story, BUT Payton has five (Seth Hammaker, Cameron McAdoo, Levi Kitchen, Garrett Marchbanks, and Austin Forkner) guys for next year (Forkner doesn’t have a deal yet, but everyone expects him to sign up) and can’t really handle six. But I mean, as I told him Saturday morning, doesn’t he HAVE to find room for Ty somehow? But I’m not the one who has to get parts for six race and practice bikes, a mechanic, expenses, etc.
I think Masterpool’s SX skills in 2024 on the 450 (four mains in ten races) were good enough to be a 3-8 guy in 250SX on that bike/team and then, maybe be a title contender (shoutout to Weege!) in 2025 250MX?
Our guy Phil Nicoletti had an eventful first moto. He got a bad start (which he blamed on Harri Kullas—that's Phil's typical liberal attitude of blaming others, of course) and then Dylan Ferrandis accidently took him out, which made their bikes lock together. Ferrandis sort of tried to get them apart before Phil jumped in and they started 38th and 39th and about 15 seconds back of 37th. Poor Phil, here’s what he told me afterwards:
“He said he tried (Ferrandis on getting the bikes apart). I’m like, “Motherf**ker. I did all the f**king lifting, dude.” Typical Frenchman. Letting the American do all the f**king work for him. It’s just a bummer. Then just a bad start. I don't know what the fuck happened. Got pinched. Kullas kept going straight. He blamed [Grant] Harlan in the first moto. I’m like, ‘Dude, just fucking turn right. I don't care if there’s someone there or not.’”
So just to clear everything up, first it was Kullas’ fault for his bad start and then it was Ferrandis’ fault he crashed. Never change Phil.
Kyle Webster fell on the first lap of moto one and was way back. The Aussie got up, and on a track I was told was hard to pass on, got 18 guys or something like that to get a tenth. In the second moto he got the holeshot and led for a bit! How cool was that? We were told he was a sand guy so last week’s good ride was somewhat expected, but this week, he was even better. 10-9 on the day, the ninth in moto two was because of a bike issue, and hey, the first four motos he’s had in America weren’t too bad, right? Maybe Firepower Honda wants to bring him back in 2025?
“It was good. I was really happy with today, honestly,” Webster told me after the motos. “Felt like I went from one end to the other. I started way back in the first moto and then right at the front second moto. So, it’s just riding at that pace. I think it’s something you’ve got to get used to, riding with those guys and how fast they’re going at the moment. I’d love to come back and do it again at some point.”
Garrett Marchbanks came back last week and had two solid motos even though he ran out of gas in moto one like 30 feet from the checkers. It was impressive and this week he went 7-8 and was just outside those top five factory guys. He continues to impress. The injured Dean Wilson told me while we watched the motos that in practice when Wilson came around, Marchbanks was laid out before the leap. Wilson seemed to think it was a good crash, so I asked Marchbanks about it afterward:
“I had the gnarliest Charlie horse in both my ass cheeks and my tailbone. My legs went numb for a second. I was like, ‘Oh, my ass.’ I guess I came out of the turn and was behind AP, trying to put in a hot lap because I suck in qualifying right now. Just all of a sudden, the front end crawled out, went down, and then threw me up over the bars and I see dirt, sky, dirt, sky. I was like, ‘When am I going to hit the ground?’ Then it was right into the blue groove with my ass. So, I just laid there for a minute and was like, ‘This hurts.’”
Watching Marchbanks try to get enough points to get inside the top 20 for the SMX races should be interesting. It’s going to be close.
If there’s an underrated story of the 250MX class, I think it’s the ClubMX duo of Mark Fineis and Jett Reynolds. Both kids have been chipping away at the results and getting closer to the top ten with Fineis gathering a couple of 11ths so far, and this weekend he was top ten overall. Reynolds had an 11th also this weekend in the second moto. Reynolds, we know all about, he was a highly decorated amateur who, in the words of one amateur MX expert I know, is a “Can’t miss kid who missed.” Fineis I don’t know much about, but honestly, in SX Futures with GasGas or with ClubMX, he never stood out. But they’re grinding away here this summer and catching my eye. Reynolds, who is currently in the longest stretch of staying healthy he’s had as a pro, told me after the race:
“At Club MX, we kind of have everything. I wouldn’t call myself that (a sand rider), but now I do. I feel like I ride sand really good. I’ve had a really good, I’d say almost a solid month now of riding after the break, figured some things out with myself. Also did a bike change and kind of from there on, I’ve been on another level for myself.”
Matthes: I feel like fitness, too. Your teammate. You guys have really opened eyes, both of you. I feel like you’re kind of pushing each other a little bit.
Reynolds: Yeah, I hope so. We’re opening eyes. We’re at Club and we put in the motos together. We try our asses off and we try and get better. We’re able to start putting it together at the races, so it feels pretty good.
As far as Fineis, props to him for being the only 250 rider I saw try The Leap in practice. He came up horrifically short but rode it out. We salute you sir.
“I’ve always knew I had the speed. With Futures, I just couldn’t put it together. The way I trained on supercross, I was one of the fastest guys at Club when we were training supercross, but I just could not put it together during the race,” Fineis told me after the race. “But now, I’ve really had a “coming to Jesus” with myself for pro motocross and put it together. So, we’re definitely improving. Definitely learning. I definitely have more in me. Today, even though it is my best finish, it wasn’t my best riding. I was struggling on starts, struggling with bike setup. It was a bit of a struggle for me, but we got a top ten, so the only way from here is up.”
Some other news and notes:
Tough day for Team Triumph. Jalek Swoll had an electrical issue in moto two that knocked him out and Joey Savatgy, while in the top ten in moto one, crashed out and that was it for him for the day. Savatgy was a popular podium pick before the season, but he’s struggled to string together any momentum here lately. If I told you that through 12 motos Savatgy would have just two top five finishes, would you have believed me?
Haiden Deegan had his worst MX race of the year with 2-6 finishes. On a track he won on last year (although he didn’t win a moto), Deegs did his usual thing with charging hard late in moto two to almost get Masterpool at the checkers. Everything was lining up for moto two, but he got a bad start, crashed hard when he landed on a downed lapper (great bounce back though—oh to be a kid again!) and I think he might’ve tipped over earlier, as well. Tough second moto for Deegan but he barely lost any points [Note: Deegan didn’t actually lose any points on the day because Hymas was penalized five points for jumping on a red cross flag.] and he’ll be fine for Millville. Scary crash though!
I’ve been going to these races for 28 years now and have seen my fair share of horrific flagging. Deegan’s crash was another instance of that, as there was no yellow flag for a long time when the lapper went down, only a blue one to signify being lapped. With Feld Motor Sports and MX Sports working together so well, I think yet again it’s time to spend some money and get a more dedicated crew of flaggers. I know this also falls under the AMA, as well. Get a group of, I don't know, 50 guys around the country that are into it and know what they’re doing. It’s beyond time.
Justin Cooper had a weird day for sure. I think he crashed twice, maybe three times, in both motos and after that third in moto one, he finished an uncharacteristic sixth.
With Broc Tickle coming out of retirement to race, I’ll can now bring back one of my old phrases I used to use to describe him: Dylan Ferrandis and Malcolm Stewart have been like cheese pizza this outdoor season. See, as I’ve said before, there’s nothing wrong with cheese pizza. It’s fine, it’s good, and I’ll take it if there’s no other choice. But I’d prefer some sort of topping on it. To give you an example, out of their 24 motos they’ve raced this outdoor season, they’ve been between 6th and 9th in 19 out of their 24 motos. So, in other words, they’ve been those guys that you don’t watch cause you’re looking at the top five battle and then you’re like “Oh look at Freddie Noren there, he’s doing well!” They’re in that group of “factory riders” who fans want to take away their factory bikes. Yes, I’m aware that Dylan is a privateer, but you get my drift.
As for Tickle, yes he was back! Four years after his last race, he lined up on what he told me was basically Jason Anderson’s factory Kawasaki settings and did pretty well. He was so far back in the second moto that I could’ve swore he crashed but he told me nope, just got that bad of a start. Anyway, it was cool to see Tickle back and out there. Number 938, by the way. Did you realize 9+3+8 =20? He said he’ll race Budds Creek too, so he’s probably going to get a national number again. 12-15 wasn’t too bad in my eyes.
Grant Harlan had his best race of the year so far with great starts and a consistent, "Grant Harlan” type of day. You probably didn’t notice him, but he was dogging some factory guys out there. Also, don’t look now, but with Freddie Noren’s bad day, Grant is only four points back of “top privateer” and the honor of being the rider the online fans say should get a factory bike. Congrats on that, Har-Dog.
Thanks for reading OBS, we’re onto Millville everyone! Best track on the circuit and this 450MX title fight is going to continue to be great, methinks. Email me at matthes@racerxonline.com if you want to chat about this or something else.
