As far as the 250 class goes, here’s a cool little factoid: Winner Seth Hammaker did something that I’m pretty sure has never been done in Monster Energy Supercross or the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. No, he’s not the first guy from Eastern Pennsylvania to win—that would be Tony DiStefano—and Hammaker himself won has won before, back in 2021 in Arlington, Texas in what was just his third professional race. So, what did Hammaker do that’s never been done before? He won wearing #56.

Yes, in the history of AMA Pro Motocross (established in 1972) and Monster Energy Supercross (1974) no rider had ever won an outdoor national overall and a SX main event in either class with the #56 on his bike and jersey. Over the years I’ve been keeping a running total of this little factoid, which got really interesting about 10 years ago when Martin Davalos got #49 its first win at the Atlanta 250SX and then just three weeks later Malcolm Stewart got #50 its first win in Detroit. As I’ve mentioned before #54 remains the lowest number never to win in SMX, with #55 a close second. The #56 was third until last Saturday night, but thanks to Hammaker, it’s finally got a win on the board. (And if you’re wondering, #57 Jim Pomeroy won the 1972 Saddleback National.)

Read Mitch Kendra's cool stats post on Hammaker for a look at the Pennsylvania native's 250SX results to date.

And if you can’t make it through the weekend without some racing on your screen, then tune into the 2024 SX Marathon this Sunday on NBC Sports NOW: Detroit, Daytona, Birmingham, and Indianapolis Starting at 1 p.m. Eastern.

And speaking of supercross, congratulations to Chad Reed, as well as Ellie and the kids, on his induction into the Australian Motorsports Hall of Fame! We’ll let MrsTwoTwo herself tell you all about it:

And while we’re at it, Ken Roczen and his wife Courtney and their kids also got some good news, congratulations!

Enjoy the off-weekend, just like Jason Thomas is-sorta.

Pro Perspective (Jason Thomas)

Ah, a weekend off! Not for me! I’m writing this from a very rainy, cold round two of the FIM Motocross World Championship (MXGP) in Spain. The second edition of the Cozar venue is here and coincides with round two of the world championship. My shoes might disagree by the end of the weekend but I’m excited to be here and take in some culture. I’ll have a glass of Spanish wine and pretend I’m off this weekend, too. (You can watch JT as he teams up with Paul Malin for MXGP-TV.com’s coverage of this weekend’s race.)

As for everyone stateside, the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) series gets a much-needed breather. Riders likely put in a full week this past week, maybe even throwing in some testing for the upcoming Pro Motocross Championship. They will back that down for the weekend, though, and truly get a couple of days off. I always tried to pretend racing didn’t exist once Friday evening arrived and then lock back in on Monday morning. Disassociating is good for the body and mind, and can energize riders for the home stretch. For some, they’ll focus on getting their body back to 100 percent. Others will just enjoy a break from the grind. One thing is for sure, everyone is happy for a moment to gather themselves.

MOTOCROSS (Matthes)

We just finished a grueling nine races in nine weeks in supercross and now, finally, a week off for the teams and the riders. Well, for most of the riders and teams it will be two days off because now is a perfect time to get some motocross testing in! Yes, as JT mentioned, that's what a lot of the factory teams are doing this off week. Get some riding in to see where you're at with the bikes when it comes to the switch to motocross. I saw on social more than a few riders pounding out some laps, including current 450SX points leader Cooper Webb. The grind really doesn't stop for everyone involved in the series. Here’s one those videos, from the Deegans Unleashed:

Deegan, Webb, Chance Hymas, and Jo Shimoda were some of the riders who got into some Pro Motocross testing this week.

A few other thoughts here on the off-weekend:

-I don't think I gave defending champion Tom Vialle enough credit to start the series. He's got the red plate after three 250SX East Division races, granted without a win, but his starts and everything else he's got does make him a tough package to beat. Do RJ Hampshire and Max Anstie probably have more speed than Tom? Yes, I would say so, but they also make more mistakes. Vialle has been solid so far and maybe he does pull this off? (And if he does, he could become the third Frenchman to win back-to-back titles in this class, as Mickael Pichon did it back in 1995 and ‘96 and then Christophe Pourcel did it in 2009 and’10.)

-Justin Barcia has been quiet this season so far right? Bam Bam hasn't even bam-bam'ed anyone and we're nine rounds down! WTF? But he just got the holeshot in Indy, rode up front for a ton and got fourth—his season best. Afterwards he told me that he's much happier with his bike now and how in Daytona he and the team went the wrong way but other than that—he thinks he should be much better from here on out. And when he's happier with his pace and riding, well, then maybe we'll see some of the old Bam Bam come out.

-We had our Fly Racing PulpMX/Racer X live show Friday night before Indy and Weege had put up a post on IG about how you never quite know how these shows are going to go or who was going to show up. Hence last year when we somehow got MXGP boss David Luongo to come on stage! (You’re welcome, Matthes.) Well, it happened again because 10 minutes into the show up comes six-time SX and MX champion Jeff Stanton to the stage unannounced! Pretty funny. Jeff said he took Weege's post literally and brought Triumph president Rod Lopusnak out with him also.

Anyways, always good to bench race with Stanton about the sport and I compared him a bit to Cooper Webb right now in that there's nothing really flashy about either of them and sometimes the fans and media get captivated by more flash (Damon Bradshaw then, Chase Sexton now) and we overlook the guys that just always seem to be there to grind out the wins like he and Webb (although there was nothing  about Webb's win the next night where he grinded, he was just  the fastest dude, period).

Good to have Stanton on stage with us and it was funny to talk about how serious he was back in his day to how he is now to which Jeff agreed and led us to another discussion from there. If you’re into both adventure rider and one amazing chance for an epic bench race with Stanton yourself, check out his “Pure Michigan” adventure tours.

Home Made Ripper In The Wet Dez (Keefer)

We finally have some rain in Southern California which means I get to ride/test from the house more. The wet dez also means that we get to bust out our "ghetto ripper." My buddy and I basically rigged up a corrugated steel ripper that attaches to the back of my wife's Jeep (yeah, she's not stoked) via hitch receiver for transportation. Once we are out in the middle of BFE and are ready to start our "prep," so we take the ripper off the of the receiver and drop it to the ground and attach it to the rear of the jeep via chains. In order to get the ripper to set into the dirt more we get two or three friends to stand on the back of the ripper to allow the teeth to dig into the wet desert terra firma. It's not ideal but it works pretty damn good! In the dez, it's not pretty (I mean, look at me) but we make do with the crap we have laying around the yard. Nothing to see here folks, just some grown ass men acting like teenagers for some optimal dirt for their dirt bike addiction. As you can see from the photos, looks like dirt bike heaven to me! #KeepEveryoneOnDirtBikes

SUPER STATS (Matthes)

Our guy MX Reference took a look at riders average qualifying positions (since 2007) and correlated it to their finishes in the race. Some interesting stuff in there including when Ryan Villopoto took a pole position, he tended to win more of his races. Others, like Ken Roczen, didn't really need to have a good qualifying time in order to win that night. You can read all about it on PulpMX.com.

Win Ads (DC)

Lots of win ads in this week's Cycle News as Yamaha was on top in 450SX, Kawasaki at both the Indy 250SX and the GNCC at a very muddy Talladega (and KTM's Grant Davis won XC2 Pro and earned second overall). Also, a nod to Paul Buckley, who's epic photo from the 1993 Gatorback 125 National of Honda of Troy's Erik Kehoe launching the finish line just ahead of overall winner Jeremy McGrath, made yet another appearance—it's a photo we never get tired of seeing, and is truly a motocross classic! 

Technique Drills For Vet Riders (Keefer)

If you're an older rider and maybe are lacking some of that new age technique, here are three easy to do drills that you can try when you're at the track. Being a kid from the ‘90s, working on technique wasn't something I did but as I got older, I wanted to be more efficient and safer on the bike. Here are three things that can keep your riding fun without having to work about going fast. 

Hey, Watch It!

After a week off the Blair Matthes Project is back on track with Steve and Daniel going over the week that was:

DAYTONA UPDATE... | Levi Kitchen YES CHEF

Tim Gajser's GoPro from the opening round of MXGP in Argentina:

Chapter 12: Shane McElrath on "the deepest ruts I've ever ridden."

Indianapolis Colts player Kenny Moore II's video on Instagram after being Grand Marshal for the Indianapolis SX.

And here’s Tom Journet’s Infield Access RAW film from Indy:

Finally, a deep dive on the history of Australian Motocross that’s worth the 42 minutes: