The Indianapolis Supercross was not a very easy race for anyone but the two winners. Or at least it seemed that way to me. Vicious ruts formed and changed on each lap, making the simple act of doing the jumps a real challenge for the best riders in the world. Sometimes when I see a track, I think to myself, "Man that looks like fun," but not this weekend, oh no.
I would love to take the average fan that rides and races on the weekend and send them out to walk the track after the 450SX main event last Saturday. I seriously think a lot of us would have trouble even riding around the track, never mind tripling stuff. Indy’s dirt is always soft (some riders told me it was actually better this year) and the SMX track crew did a good job of trying to fix things as the night went on but holy crap, it was treacherous.
We had Phil Nicoletti on the PulpMX Show Monday, and he said 450SX main event winner Cooper Webb told him it was maybe the easiest win of his career in Indy. And yeah, I get that for sure. Webb grabbed the lead from Justin Barcia before the end of lap one and really went unchallenged the rest of the way. It was a riding clinic put on by Webb and he extended his lead to 15 points.
He was early on jumping out of the sand over the wall there and that was sweet. He was super quick as he pulled away from Barcia, and everyone else, early and settled in. Webb has now gone 2-2-1-1-2-1 in the last six races and checks notes, yeah he’s heating up as the series goes east. Who would’ve ever thought?
Justin Cooper got a career best second on the night and he’s heating up like his teammate lately. He’s gotten, like, 83 fourth places this year but broke that string with this second. Great ride for sure. We had him on the PulpMX Show Monday night and a few notes from that include:
- Yes, his contract is up end of this year but after our co-host Phil Nicoletti basically said he was underpaid, Cooper explained that money isn’t everything and having a good bike and team (like where he is now) so he can perform better is just as important. I know the Beta guys were after J-Coop this past off-season and I’m sure there will be more.
- He likes the way he looks in the HJC helmet and O’Neal gear this year which is all new for him.
- Phil thinks he should show his personality more and I agree. Cooper is a nice guy and a good interview, but I know he doesn’t give you much personality. Phil thought he should get a Vlog and J-Coop seemed to agree.
- Yes, he knows whoops are an issue for him and he’s going to address it with some work with the great Justin Brayton at some point. I pointed out that he was good in whoops on a 250 but he reminded me that it’s a lot different on the bigger bike.
Chase Sexton really needed to beat Webb this weekend to get that 10-point gap down but hey, at least he was gonna limit the damage by moving into second and *only lose three points to Webb in the title fight. Oops, spoke too soon, as Sexton crashed in the sand section (to be fair to Sexton, the sand section got about 48 other riders throughout the day) and ended up third. He doesn’t get my ‘I dunno man,’ award for the fourth week in a row though, he rode well! He got on the podium! But yeah, in the end it WAS a mistake by Sexton, and Webb didn’t make one. Five more points gone to the “closer” in the series isn’t ideal for Sexon.
But in the glass-half-full department, Sexton is the guy in the class that could reel off four to five wins at any moment. The problem with that is how, in this field, and with the way Webb is riding, does Webb not end up second at the end of the night? So, five straight wins for Sexton with Coop taking second means that he’s only tied with Webb! That’s not very realistic either but it gives you the sense of what Chase is up against, as well as the lack of races remaining.
Also, JT, Weege, and I were discussing the sand section with Webb jumping out over the wall and that was indeed sick but so was Sexton going Mach four around the outside of the sand and then taking a three-inch line on the far, far right of the sand to stay higher than others and clip the wall on his way out. Yes, Webb’s line was great, but he had to slow up, get square, and then go over the wall. Sexton could pin it around and almost clear it. The other guys were saying Webb’s line was way better and I wasn’t sure about that but in the segment with the sand and then ended at the take-off of the next jump, Sexton was indeed faster than Webb (Sexton second, Webb third, and Jason Anderson first). Both lines were sweet and both were fast (and both went away soon after the main started), but as I suspected, Sexton’s line was quicker around the whole sand section.
We had Seth Hammaker on the PulpMX Show Monday night, and he mentioned that this win (second of his career) meant more to him than the first one because that was just his third SX ever and the trials and tribulations he’s been through since with injuries makes this win extra special. And yes, he had one big moment but man, getting a holeshot on a track like Indy and being able to go where you want to go, getting into a flow is huge. That’s what Hammaker did out there and outside of Michael Mosiman holding him up while being lapped, and the almost a big one, the main was pretty stress free for Hammaker.
Hammaker is definitely an underrated rider. He’s been hurt a bunch so we haven’t seen his full potential (and Phil thinks he should also start a Vlog!), but maybe with this move to the Lawrence compound with Michael Byrne helping him out, will change things. I’m kind of a believer of, “You ride the way you ride,” (Webb is also, BTW) but Hammaker said that Byrner and Darren Lawrence are trying to work on him changing his style to not crash and hurt his shoulders so much. They think they have pinpointed some riding style changes to help that and yeah, let’s hope so.
Hammaker is one bad piece of chicken (he got food poisoning from the team food in Detroit) from maybe being in the points lead here. He’s 11 back, but there’s a lot of racing to go.
Tom Vialle hasn’t been talked about much, but the defending champion has the red plate again after his second place in Indy. Sneaky Frenchman out there in the ruts and slop, just jumping around and being so technically good. His similarities to another French KTM rider named Marvin, who just retired, is nuts. Yes, I know Musquin is helping Tom out.
Some other news and notes:
Justin Barcia was back! Well, he ran top three for a long time before finishing fourth. Barcia was telling me earlier this year that starts were a problem for him and whaddaya’ know, he holeshot Indy! And he ran the pace, which back when he told me about the starts, he said he could do. After the race Bam told me that with some of the bike changes he made, he’s more comfy and what we saw at Indy should be more the norm.
I know that on paper Dylan Ferrandis’s eighth place just looks like more of the same that I wrote about last week but trust me, he was spicier this week in qualifying (seventh), in the heat (third) and then in the main he was in the mix with Cooper and Aaron Plessinger for a long time. Yes, an eighth is an eighth but he was better!
Speaking of better, Shane McElrath scored a top ten and was like, fourth for a while in the main. Good step up for the #12.
Jett Reynolds’ pick up pass on Hunter Yoder in the heat was…errr…something else. Jett has probably never had to pass someone like that in his life so maybe he could be forgiven for not being good at it. Anytime you knock yourself down, the pass wasn’t there, bro. Yoder was not stoked, ICYWW.
Jason Anderson went down in the first turn and then again later in the main. After scoring a podium in every other race to start the year, he’s gone four races where he hasn’t been close. He’s definitely better than what he’s been showing lately.
Deegs has gotta work on his starts, and he almost had a big one out there while doing this quad that like, two other riders did. Starts, starts, and more starts should be on the table for him.
RJ Hampshire came from 17th to fourth in a great ride. All day long Hampshire had us glued to him—he’s exciting! I feel like I owe him money for the thrills he gave me all day, including the crashes, the near crashes, the speed, and the skill I observed. I needed a cigarette at the end of the night after watching him.
Cole Davies was, like Hampshire-level exciting. He fell early and tailed Hampshire through the pack. I said this a few weeks ago but Davies rides like a 17-year-old kid who’s not had a huge crash in his life yet. Oh wait, because he hasn’t! No fear at all for the Kiwi, that’s for sure.
Austin Forkner qualified better this week, which was good, but he had to go to the LCQ. He crashed, I think, three or four times in the night show, and it was more of the same in the main event. Just haven’t seen the old Forkner yet and I fear the longer this goes, maybe he can’t get “it” back?
Malcolm Stewart was fast all day and won another heat race. In the main event he was moving forward before he tightened up, according to team manager Nathan Ramsey, and his momentum stopped. Still, since his win in Tampa he’s been closer to the front in qualifying, heat races, etc., and it’s been a step up from before.
Thanks for reading OBS from Indy! We’re onto a week off where a lot of the riders you have read about here won’t be relaxing. Nope, they’ll be riding some outdoors! Ain’t life fun for a factory rider? You can email me at matthes@racerxonline.com if you want to chat about this or anything else.
