The ninth round of the 2024 AMA Pro Motocross Championship went down on Saturday at the MotoSport.com Washougal National in the Pacific Northwest. The racing was as hot as the weather too, with both Chase Sexton and Haiden Deegan coming through a bit off traffic to claim overall victories. Other riders had fantastic performances too, so to make sense of it all we tapped former pro and current NBC reporter, Jason Thomas.
The Washougal dirt is typically deceptive and slick, but this year several riders mentioned it was ripped deeper than normal. Did that make for more traction than normal, or was it the racing surface as tricky as ever?
I believe it did early in the day but if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it’s usually a duck. Washougal is a hard packed, slippery track. It will likely always be. I very much applaud the efforts of the Huffman family and crew to improve the conditions. Tracks will never be perfect but effort goes a long way for me. Washougal is a unique track that is probably going to retain most of those traits regardless of what dirt is hauled in. But effort counts in my book. Always will.
With temperatures in the high 90s on Saturday, it was a bit hotter than normal for the Washougal national. Did that have an impact on how the track developed later in the afternoon?
It didn’t help in that regard. There have been years with heavy cloud cover and that undoubtedly kept moisture in the track longer. This year was not that year. Hotter temps and especially earlier sunshine create harder surfaces earlier in the day. It’s just that simple.
Washougal is never an easy track to pass on, but did that seem even more pronounced this year?
I spoke with a few riders on this and that was a thing. Their take was that the moisture early on created ruts that when hardened, made it more difficult to “move around” on the racetrack. Cutting down in corners and changing angles becomes problematic when there are solid ruts in place.
The chicane at the bottom of the drop-off jump was a split lane section. Did that work as a passing area? Why or why not?
It did and usually does. Riders could push harder from the drop off and simply outbrake riders into that line or they could try to outcorner their competitor in the left/right and be ahead of them on the exit. Two different ways to pull it off but that section has long been a passing zone. If you’d like an extreme example of this, go back and watch Bradshaw just violating the field in this section circa 1996.
Chance Hymas, who came into the weekend with a severe ankle sprain from a crash at Spring Creek, wasn’t even sure if he was going to race or not. He did though, and managed an 8-12 for ninth overall, despite a crash in the second turn in moto two that left him in obvious pain. Is there any explanation, other than adrenaline, for him being able to gut out this performance?
Sure, there are reasons. He did nonstop therapy all week. He didn’t ride in order to let it heal as much as possible. He taped it and applied as much stability to it as possible. Manageable injuries like this are all about behind-the-scenes actions taken to help perform. Had he just sat around and let it do its thing, I can almost promise you that he isn’t able to race. Modern medicine and therapeutic practices are an amazing thing. He’s likely a very sore individual as we publish this but with two weekends off, that’s a small price to pay.
We’ve seen Haiden Deegan track down Tom Vialle many times this summer, so when Deegan got behind him in the first moto it seemed like that was inevitable. But Vialle held him off, then gapped him. What’d you see in Vialle that was different in that first moto?
Honestly, I think it was more Deegan than Vialle. Haiden didn’t look comfortable in that first moto. Yes, he still got second, but he wasn’t able to push to his limit. As soon as he tried, he almost crashed. Vialle did his thing and should be commended but I truly believe that he was able to win because Deegan couldn’t go when he wanted to. The other side of that coin is that Vialle capitalized on the opportunity in front of him where he hasn’t recently. Vialle deserves credit but if it’s a simple question of “did Vialle answer the bell or was Deegan unable to do his bidding?”, I will take door number two.
The second moto, he was much more like 2023-Washougal-Deegan and it showed. He said he made some bike changes. He was aggressive and when he needed to, he could just go to a place no one else could. The kid is special. I was hesitant to come around to it but I’ve seen enough.
Ryder DiFrancesco was noticeably better at Washougal, and it showed in the results, with him going 4-6 for fourth overall. Did you see anything about his riding that could explain this boost?
Wow, he was much better! Ryder D has been great at starts for a long time. The trouble is, he hasn’t been able to sustain that positioning. I don’t know if it’s the move back to Bakersfield or the conditions of Washougal but this was a gigantic step up. Whatever he’s doing, by all means, keep doing it. That type of day is why he’s had a factory ride from the jump.
Levi Kitchen went 12-4 for sixth overall, which is in stark contrast to his perfect day at Spring Creek. What do you think the problem was?
The first moto was all bad. Bad start, deficient pace, lackluster finish. He is better than that on all fronts. The second moto was respectable but probably in line with his overall feelings of his hometown race. He mentioned that he didn’t rest enough this week and felt tired even before the race started. He will learn from it. Kitchen is the real deal but there is always learning to be done.
After the race Jason Anderson explained that he noticed on the site lap that the inside after the top of Horsepower Hill had changed enough that it turned into a viable line, which he used on the first lap to go from third to first. Do you think the other riders just didn’t notice that, or were just sticking to the lines they’d been using?
Your last point is the right one. Anderson noticed that line developed and others hadn’t. The parade lap is so important. Some riders use it as a warm up and go really fast but I never subscribed to that. I would go very slowly and try to rethink my approach to the track. What lines have come into play that I hadn’t previously considered? How can I avoid the roughest sections, especially late in the coming moto? When I start feeling fatigued, how can I change my lines to save energy? None of those questions can be answered without careful dissection on that parade lap. Anderson used this to perfection.
Chase Sexton is on a roll, but it seems like he really starts rolling around the twenty-minute mark or so in each moto. Is this an accurate assessment in your opinion, and if so, is this something he’s doing on purpose?
Yes, and he’s relying on it. Could he go faster, earlier? Sure. But that comes with risk and in the current dynamic, it’s unnecessary. He knows that as long as he keeps the field reasonably close, he can rely on his fitness and speed bursts to rocket up the leaderboard when needed. He’s beaming with confidence right now and trusting his strengths. Good luck to everyone beating this guy as we steam towards Charlotte.
Hunter Lawrence didn’t seem like himself at Washougal, going 5-4 for fourth. What do you think the problem was? And now that he’s 28 points back of Sexton, does that change strategy at all going down the stretch?
I asked his father that very question during intermission and he explained that Hunter wasn’t riding the track very well. He mentioned technique and body positioning. I love that he gave me real answers and didn’t blame bike setup or anything abstract.
As far as strategy, he just needs to go win races. Forget the points or being consistent, just focus on the start and trying to gap the field early. Racing is a funny thing and assuming is usually a bad idea. Winning races fixes the hardest of problems. So much of this season has been about red plates and consistency, this championship will now come down to winning. Win a lot? You have a chance. Stay consistent and hang around the podium while down 28 points? You’re likely not the champ.
