What a night of racing we had in Seattle! The weekend had a little of everything, from a very short window to build the track, to great racing between rivals, and another win for Eli Tomac. It left us with plenty of questions, which we promptly shipped over to former pro and NBC on-track analyst, Jason Thomas.
The track crew had a single day to get things ready. Was there anything about the track build that looked like it was the result of having so little time?
Had this been a round not named Seattle, I would say yes here. However, Seattle’s layout is almost always a bit less technical than hard-packed rounds of the series. The SMX track crew knows Seattle is going to have softer dirt, and weather will be a concern. To help counter balance that challenge, the track design is typically a bit less complicated. The jumps don’t have the steepness to them because of the inevitable transition deterioration. The whoops aren’t monster sized, knowing there will likely be moisture accumulation in between each whoop. With all of that being typical Seattle dynamics, the crew did an amazing job of presenting a track that resembles every other year in less than half the normally allowed time.
The track was pretty soft to start the day, but the sun came out later. How did the dirt evolve throughout the day, and what was it like for the main events?
Per usual Seattle, the Friday rains left the transitions between jumps and the start straight a bit wet. As qualifying rolls on and maintenance occurs, that moisture is worked in and soft spots are accounted for. The trickiest part of the main event is everything is rut infested by halfway. The track work in between main events only helps for so long. When you see the best riders in the world start missing basic rhythm sections, that’s the cue that things have gone sideways.
There seemed to be fewer attempts at fast laps in Seattle than we’ve seen at the other rounds so far this year. Is this accurate? If so, is it because the track was treacherous and guys just weren’t willing to hang it out for another tenth of a second?
The reason for this is that the track deteriorated very fast in the qualifying sessions. If riders didn’t get their lap in early, the track didn’t allow for a faster lap at the end of the session. Knowing this, riders would get their lap in and then just sort the bike out in the late laps. Trying to put in a heater lap on a track that has gone south is a waste of time at best and a recipe for a big crash at worst.
In the first 250SX heat race Parker Ross was in a qualifying position, but still put an aggressive pass on Reven Gordon, pushing him wide and putting him on the ground. Why would he risk taking himself out with such an aggressive move in this situation? Is it possible he didn’t know he was in a transfer spot?
I think you nailed it in your assessment. In those final few transfer spots, it’s very difficult to know where you are. The goal is to get real time updates from the pit board but if a rider is coming from a first lap crash, they may not see the message or in traffic, the board can be blocked by other riders. If you think you’re tenth and it’s the last lap, all bets are off. This is not a move we have ever seen from Ross, so my bet is that he was unsure of his positioning and wasn’t going to leave it to chance. It would be interesting to hear Ross’s side of this and I’m sure that will be forthcoming
The 250SX main event was tremendous! Levi Kitchen hasn’t been able to compete with Haiden Deegan all season, but that was not the case in Seattle. Is Kitchen just good in these types of tracks, or are we underestimating the power of the hometown crowd?
I would argue that Kitchen was on this type of level in Glendale, too. Kitchen’s start didn’t allow for him to be in the fight but his riding was on par. The point that Kitchen rides these conditions incredibly well is valid, though. He dominated this event in 2024 and has said often that he likes high traction, rutty environments more than slippery, flat cornered ones. There is likely an element of hometown adrenalin in there, too, but I think the conditions are more likely the catalyst.
After the race Kitchen said the crowd was so loud at times he couldn’t even hear his bike, and as a result he accidentally hit the whoops in the wrong gear once. How distracting is it when a crowd gets that loud?
It’s distracting for everyone! I would be in 12th or whatever and hear the crowd go bonkers for the lead battle and it would snap me out of my concentration. I can’t imagine what it’s like for the actual leaders. The good news is that most of the track is either first or second gear on a 250 so there isn’t too much to think about. Further, with SX gearing, the engines rev out quickly so he would “feel” that and shift. Still, his point about crowd noise is true. It’s noticeable for everyone on track.
Jason Anderson and Christian Craig both went down hard in the first turn in their heat race. What triggered this crash?
The first corner is always chaotic. Most crashes are caused by one of two things—either handlebars tangling or riders’ front tire catching another rider’s rear tire. Almost every crash can be sourced back to one of those two dynamics. When riders get caught in someone’s rear tire in front of them, they typically high side over them and things get violent as there is a lot of energy unleashed. This was why Anderson’s bike was cartwheeling through the first corner.
Eli Tomac was the fastest in the second 450SX qualifier, but he wasn’t dropping jaws in qualifying or in his heat race with his speed either. But in the main event he was extremely strong. Is this a result of him learning the track, or was it a team effort with the team in getting the bike where he needed it to be?
In the SMX Insider Post Race Show, John Tomac said in his interview with Will Christien that they got a setting wrong in the heat race and Eli just had to cope with mediocrity there. They then changed course and got it right for the main event and that’s where the speed returned. It’s always difficult to guess what the setting change would be but typically with Eli, it’s a chassis change that effects the ride height of the motorcycle.
Hunter Lawrence found his groove toward the end of the 450SX main, but unfortunately he got into Ken Roczen in the sand section, taking them both down. Break down this incident, because this isn’t something we normally see Lawrence do.
Hunter had innovated a great line where he was entering the inside of the sand and jumping over a whoop to the outside berm. This allowed him to cut off ten feet of track or so by not entering wider (Roczen’s line). Roczen had no idea that Hunter was doing this which is a coup for Hunter if he could time it right. Unfortunately, Hunter made a small mistake exiting the prior corner which widened the gap between the two. The smart play in hindsight would have been to recognize the gap was too wide to execute his line and arrive at the outside intersection before Roczen would be there. Hunter went for it anyway and with the bigger gap, they arrived at precisely the same time and made contact. Roczen was completely unaware that Hunter would be there and Hunter thought he would be there early enough to signal the move. Racing can be down to literal inches at times and this was exactly that. If Hunter is closer to Kenny entering that corner, he jumps inside, Kenny feels and hears this and checks up, knowing he’s cooked. Once Kenny commits to the outside at speed, though, especially not having any idea Hunter is incoming, this contact is inevitable. This one was on Hunter and he knows it. This wasn’t a takeout attempt, just a pass attempt mistimed. I doubt that makes anyone wearing yellow feel any better about it but that’s how things go.
This might have been the best we’ve seen Cooper Webb race all season, even though he took second. What was he doing that made him so effective in Seattle?
He’s good in Seattle every year so this wasn’t shocking to see. Coop likes slower, more methodical racetracks. He wants to be able to use inside lines and shorten the racetrack. The whoops also break down and he can pick between blitzing and jumping. All of these dynamics lead to better outcomes for the #1.
