Jo Shimoda now has two overall wins in the last three rounds of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Shimoda started the season with four straight second-place moto finishes behind Haiden Deegan, then the #30 Honda was off the podium for five straight motos through the first moto at the Southwick National.

But now in the next seven motos, Shimoda has only been off the podium once—a fourth in moto two at the Spring Creek National. His moto finishes in that span are 2-1-1-2-4-2-1, and his overall finishes in that span are fifth at Southwick (10-2), then first at RedBud, third at Spring Creek, then first at Washougal. Shimoda usually gets hot around the Southwick/RedBud softer tracks and seems to carry that momentum through the end of the summer and this year that looks to be the case too.

Our Aaron Hansel asked Shimoda in the post-race press conference about his early race aggression. Has that been a focus for the #30?

“I don't know, like, I mean, during the week I try to put down some sprints, fast pace,” Shimoda said. “But, yeah, like I'm trying to find a better line early laps, which Haiden is really good at actually. And, yeah, I really need to look around and have better lines, I guess.”

“Well, when the team came to Florida, it was right after Southwick actually,” he added. “I went there one day to Dog Pound, worked on the starts, but other than that, same thing, super stoked.”

Shimoda said a few years ago he needed to be better in qualifying so he can start his day better with a better gate pick and confidence, both which could lead to better starts. Plus, throw in his early pass on Seth Hammaker in the second moto and it was an easy moto two win in Washington. His 2-1 day topped Deegan’s 1-2 day.