Unadilla! A classic, old-school track that really challenges the riders was on the docket this week. First of all, props to the track crew for sealing it and making it as good as possible after some big rain fall on Friday night. It shaped up pretty well and even had that classic, “This track is a man’s track,” vibe, and simultaneously looked like it was no fun in the second moto. Which meant the rain didn’t affect it at all really, because that's typical Unadilla. It turned out pretty nice, all in all.
Chase Sexton’s moto win streak came to an end in moto one, but he made sure in moto two to let everyone know who the boss is. Sexton got his first holeshot of the season (?!?) and absolutely destroyed the field on his way to the overall win. The track was nasty also, yet Sexton looked about as good as you could out there (what little they showed him on TV, as he was gone) in getting another win.
My guy Kris Keefer knows a hell of a lot more about testing dirt bikes than I do, that’s for sure. He even had a small hand in developing the 2025 Honda models, which made their 450 debut with Hunter Lawrence this weekend. In the previous generation bike, the Honda team welded a brace onto the frame in the front and used that the last few years (heck, I even rode the bikes!) to help get the flex out. From what my buddy Keefer told me, the 2025 frame is the same as the older models once the older models have the brace welded in.
So, I know the broadcast was making a big deal of the 2025 debut and Lawrence riding great all day (won the first moto, breaking Sexton’s streak!) and that’s great but, like, Keefer is confused when Hunter was saying the 2025 was so much better. As in, the 2025 is close to the 2024 once the 2024 has the brace welded on. But hey, whatever you want to say, whether it’s the mental boost from being on the new bike, the two weeks off, whatever it was, there’s no doubt Lawrence was back to being as good as he was in the beginning of the series.
Maybe there were some more changes than just the frame, but as we know about riders, they’re mental basket cases so hey, whatever man. I don’t know what happened to Team Manager Lars Lindstrom and pushing the “holeshot” button on his phone, but he missed the mark there in moto two and Lawrence really had to work for it to get into second. Great day for Hunter!
Levi Kitchen had a great day in Unadilla and as Weege pointed out in the review pod, had he not had a poor day at the track in his own hometown (Washougal), we could be looking at a nice little run for Kitchen here as he won Millville also. A 2-1 on the day with two holeshots and 16 laps led is not a bad day. I know he’s ridden well at Washougal before and he’s done well at Pala also, but to me, Unadilla and Millville share some similarities so maybe The Chef just shines more in these ruttier, softer conditions?
Also, with the two weeks off, I’m sure Kitchen and a lot of guys were feeling much better out there, which had to help. Definitely showed with Hunter as well, obviously. Kitchen won a moto at Unadilla before so it’s obvious that it’s a good track for him. It looks like he’s got a nice hold on second in the points as well because of this momentum. Two national wins on the year also moves him into the second-most in the class.
Leading the series, however, with five wins and a 1-2 finish at Unadilla is Haiden Deegan, who did his typical 20-minutes-in charge to the front in moto one and then sort of looked like he cruised it home in moto two to a second (helped by a late crash from Jo Shimoda) to tie Levi in points and take second overall. He’s got a huge points lead, is going to clinch next weekend, and after a bunch of other dudes went down, he was probably looking around at the sketch track thinking that a second was good enough on the day.
Jalek Swoll! The Triumph rider got a little luck on his side with the 6-4 moto scores getting him third overall but hey, a third is a third, right? Triumph’s first AMA Pro Motocross Championship podium! The gremlins have been out for Triumph here in Pro Motocross with Jalek and Joey Savatgy but still, Swoll sits eighth in the points and has been pretty solid.
I’ve made a few jokes about Dylan Ferrandis being sort of invisible this year out there on the privateer Phoenix Honda but Unadilla, that’s his spot. He won there twice in the 250 class, he’s made the podium there another three times, and it was his best race in a not-as-good-as-he-liked season last year. In short, he loves himself some ‘Dilla. And this was his best national of the year by far as he only lost the overall podium on the last lap when Lawrence passed him. Still, he rode great and if you’re Phoenix Honda, even though it’s late in the year, you’re hoping this is a turnaround, as Ferrandis has been clearly off the pace of the top two groups (group one being Sexton and the Lawrence brothers, and group two being Aaron Plessinger, Justin Cooper, and Jason Anderson). Myself, I think it was just a Unadilla thing, but it was still a cool thing to see the #14 back and fighting toward the lead group.
Ken Roczen came back to the nationals this weekend on a track he’s dominated on before, and although that wasn’t expected by anyone, it’s Ken Roczen—he could surprise any of us at any time, right? The dude is a stud outdoors and early on in moto two he showed that sprint speed early on in getting into second place. Anddddd that was about it for the #94. He started going backward from there and even got a face full of rocks from Lawrence at one point. Jumping into the nationals is tough, even though Kenny made it look easy last year.
Some More News and Notes
Grant Harlan everyone. Another good ride for the privateer, going 11-10 for tenth. If he hadn’t had a bike issue at Washougal, he’d be on a nice roll right now (he's gone 9-38-11-10 in the last four motos). Keefer said it best in his column on PulpMX: “Grant is a small little dude and doesn’t look like a motocross rider when you see him walking around the pits. He just looks like a bald-headed child that just got out of his science lab class from your local community college. No hate comms. However, when he puts his helmet on, this dude is a beast and is strong as hell!”
Cooper Webb came back to the nationals and joked beforehand that he really picked a hard race to jump into. Unadilla is tough! Webb was okay in moto one and in moto two he was up there for a bit before dropping back a bit and then crashing out. It sounds like he’ll be okay and didn't completely re-injure his thumb, but it did look like he was favoring his arm a bit and he’ll miss Budds Creek this weekend. In the case of Webb, Roczen and a-returning-this-week Eli Tomac, it’s really about gate drops for these guys to get ready for SMX. I don’t think these dudes are that worried about where they finish.
Chance Hymas was almost two seconds faster than anyone else in qualifying and then went from fifth to first in one lap in moto one. Then he opened it up to a six-second lead. It was like the ghosts of Rick Johnson, Ricky Carmichael, and every other Honda rider who’s won Unadilla got into him! Unfortunately, it ended for him when he had a wicked crash eleven laps in and appeared to have some tweety birds circling him. He tried to ride the second moto but was too banged up. We’ll always have those opening laps!
His teammate, Jo Shimoda, crashed late in moto two and broke his collarbone while in second. We are now robbed of the Shimoda late-season run to the checkers.
Shane McElrath was let go from Twisted Tea/HEP Motorsports Suzuki and picked up a MaddParts.com Kawasaki ride for the last three nationals. Colt Nichols joined the HEP team where, less than a year ago, he was getting help from, MaddParts.com Kawasaki for SMX. I’m so here for the Nichols versus McElrath showdown! At Unadilla, Nichols caught McElrath in both motos but couldn’t make the pass and in the end, didn’t have his outdoor sea legs to stay up there. Stay tuned! McElrath 1, Nichols 0, so far.
Garrett Marchbanks got fired from ClubMX (he had already signed a 2025 deal with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki) a couple weeks ago, so he and Mitch Payton just decided to start their next year this year! Marchbanks jumped onto the 250 with about five rides on it and went 5-5 on the day, moving forward in both motos. Impressive debut for Marchbanks, who I’m still kind of shook that he’s back there. Remember, Marchbanks was a big amateur star with Kawi but his first term with Pro Circuit didn't work out. Jason Anderson really vouched for him to Mitch Payton to hire him back. Garrett mentioned on the PulpMX Show Monday night that yes, he’s got to stay in California as part of the deal and yes, the bike he’s riding now seems better than the one he left before. More low-end and mid-range than he remembers from the PC bike he rode years ago. Nice debut for the man-child, Marchbanks, who’s very talented and just needs to figure out consistency week-to-week to be a real threat.
Speaking of real threats, Ty Masterpool could’ve been one at Unadilla to everyone else but in the end, his greatest threat was to himself. He was second fastest qualifier and ran second in both motos behind Kitchen before falling on the first lap of both motos. After picking himself up out of the top twenty he rode great to get close to top-fives (he fell again late in moto one), but oh what could’ve been for Masterpool had he stayed up.
Thanks for reading OBS, this column is dedicated to a buddy of mine up in Canada who was a huge moto fan and read and listened to a lot of my stuff over the years. We took a few moto trips together also, good times. I’m glad he’s at peace now after some tough years, RIP Fireman Ron!
Email me at matthes@racerxonline.com if you want to chat about Unadilla or anything else.
