Do I have some regrets about things I said to Lawrence, Trey Canard, Lars Lindstrom, and others? Yes, yes, I do. But it was fun; a good time was had by all, right? Thanks again to the Honda guys, Tommy Tenders, MX Sports, Ryan Huffman, and everyone else for helping pull this off. Congrats to JT on the win also; can’t believe he got that lucky three straight times.

Okay, you all saw Washougal, so let’s get into an overview of the series after eight races with what I thought was going to happen and what is actually happening:

450MX

What I thought: Jett Lawrence was going to win the 450MX title.
What is happening: Jett’s going to win the 450MX title for sure (barring injury), but I didn’t think, coming off ACL surgery, he would be this good. He did just lose his second-ever 450MX overall (but he fell), and he has lost four motos this year (fell in two of those), but he’s been as good as ever. Welcome to the next five years, everyone.

What I thought: Hunter Lawrence was going to be really good.
What is happening: Hunter Lawrence is really good. He’s maybe been a bit better than I expected, but last year I was so surprised by his 450MX rides that I just figured he would be the same or better. And he has been. Super strong outdoor rides from Hunter. Next year, 450SX win, right?

What I thought: Eli Tomac would win some races but also be up and down.
What is happening: Eli Tomac has won some motos and also been MORE up and down than I thought. We’ll chalk Millville up to a bad test day coming in, but even still, there have been motos at Southwick, High Point, and Pala where he’s been fast but can’t seem to close the deal like the old Eli Tomac. He’s 32 years old, man! But also, he’s won two motos, but I think this is what we’re going to see more of at the last three rounds. Sorry ET3 fanboys, I know this hurts you, but age is creeping up on ET3.

What I thought: Justin Cooper would be solid and a top-five guy pretty much all the time.
What is happening: Yeah, pretty much that. He’s got two overall podiums out of the right races and has been solid. He’s also leading the SMX points, which is a pretty big help come those races. Maybe his starts haven’t been as good as usual? IDK man, he’s Justin Cooper!

What I thought: RJ Hampshire was hurt coming into the nationals and then he was gonna “RJ” himself, and holy smoke, it could get rough.
What is happening: RJ was hurt, but he’s DGAF about that, and he’s been really good; there’s been no “RJ’ing” at all. Dude is solid, and he’s gonna get on the box here soon, methinks. Missed the mark on this guy!

What I thought: Chase Sexton was gonna battle Jett for overalls and wins but, in the end, finish second...a lot.
What is happening: Well, Chase got “banged up” at the opener and missed a bunch of races. He’s come back and was “okay” at RedBud, got smoked at Millville, and then won Washougal. I expect him to battle Jett for overalls and wins but, in the end, finish second...a lot at the last three rounds.

250MX

What I thought: Haiden Deegan was the clear favorite to repeat his 250MX title from last year.
What is happening: Deegs is probably better than I thought he would be. Obviously, the crash at RedbBud affected him, but from the last two supercrosses all the way to Redbud, he was at a new level.

What I thought: I…I…didn’t have many thoughts on Jo Shimoda, to be honest. Like, solid rider, would do okay, top-five guy. Moving on.
What is happening: Shimoda’s reached a new level here and should be on a three-race winning streak (the moto gods loved Jeremy Mart too much!). Super awesome summer for Shimoda, and now he’s gotta keep this up. Does he stay at Honda? He’s being a bit coy about it, but I mean, he gets to keep energy drink money/gear money at Honda, and he’s on a great bike/team—like, why WOULDN’T he stay?

What I thought: I guarantee if you go through my pre-season MX PulpMX Shows/Racer X Preview show video for the words “Garrett Marchbanks,” there might be, I don’t know, maybe 5 seconds of mentions? Maybe less?
What is happening: “G Money” got his first podium in MX at Washougal; he’s passed 7000 riders after his predictable bad starts, and he’s got no contract for next year. Life is good for Marchbanks right now; his price is going up and up.

Related: Garrett Marchbanks Lands First Pro Motocross Podium at Washougal National

What I thought: Levi Kitchen would win motos, races, and be Deegs’ biggest challenge for the title.
What is happening: Kitchen has not won anything this summer. Coming off a big crash at Daytona, maybe he’s struggling a bit with that, but his starts have been all over the map on the new bike. He’s had some podiums and charged hard, but in my opinion, he’s fourth in the points, but it’s been worse than that to watch, you know?

Levi Kitchen's Washougal National Results to Date

What I thought: Mikkel Haarup would be very solid all year in his first year in the USA and get a bunch of top-five finishes.
What is happening: He’s been very solid all year and has been getting top-five finishes. He’s been getting better here lately and is impressive in his first year of learning everything. The Triumph has been getting better also with the switch to the GET system, a second injector, and some sort of swingarm adjustment they made to help with starts.

Okay, a few tidbits that are Washougal-related before we go:

-Shout out to Dilan Schwartz, who we’ve all said, “man if he only got a start,” a bunch of times. Well, he got one! Baby steps, though, because it was only one moto, but what a moto it was! The Bar-X Yamaha rider ran third most of the first moto before Marchbanks got him late. Career-best moto finish of fourth for Dilan, and he’s been riding well lately.

-Max Vohland told me after the races that this was the first track that was harder packed, so his hand brake was giving him serious arm pump. You see, he uses the softer dirt to help him slow down normally, but at Washougal, he was pulling that thing in hard. Ran top ten in both motos for his season-best finish, and he also told me because he’s a NorCal guy, he’s always done well at this track, although he doesn’t like it that much.

-Jorge Prado had maybe his worst race of the year, and that’s saying something after what we’ve seen this year. Gotta feel for Prado and the Kawasaki guys, as I’m sure tensions are high there. Jorge seems like a good dude, but I do think he should probably share more “blame pie” for his rides with himself, but that’s just me. In Washougal, he went backwards super fast. In the second moto, I heard the dust freaked him out a bit, but he went from top ten to outside the top 20! Like, I didn’t think someone of his caliber could actually do that without crashing? Huge IDK, man. It’s so bad right now; hopefully, these two weeks help everyone, or SMX is better, or...? I can’t believe he’s doing this poorly; whatever is wrong, there’s nothing positive going on right now.

-Yeah, Mitchell Harrison! Best ride of the year with a top ten overall, and he told me afterwards there’s no love from him about Washougal; it was just a matter of sending it in qualifying, getting a good gate pick, and setting himself up for a good day right from the start. A couple of did-you-knows here…did you know this is the third time he’s gotten 10th overall at Washougal? Kind of random, right? And did you know this is Harrison’s first attempt at the nationals in five years? Yeah, me neither.

-Shout out to John Short, who came from 38th in moto two to 18th on a tough track to pass. Marshal Weltin also passed 13 riders in the two motos for a good day as well.