Well, well, well—that took a turn, huh? The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship was looking like it was going to zag one way when it absolutely zigged the other way. Let's get into Detroit SX and all that went down there.
I wasn't at Detroit; I went to the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship Loretta Lynn’s Area Qualifier at Glen Helen Raceway, and yes, my back still hurts as I type this out. So, I'm basically doing this pretty beat up from my three motos (I skipped the fourth, sorry not sorry, I didn't need it to qualify) and from the couch.
I thought I would do some winners and losers from Detroit. Remember, everyone, if you're on the loser list, we still have six races to go, so there's lots of time for things to swing one way or another.
WINNER—Ken Roczen
I mean, duh, he won the race! Roczen won more than one race for the first time in years with a great ride. I was sitting on the couch at Kris Keefer's (after some fabulous pizza), and when #94 got by Jorge Prado, I'm like, "He's gone" to everyone there. With Eli Tomac and Hunter Lawrence back in the top ten on the opening lap and the track the way it was, it reeked of a Roczen win. And he did it; he's had a real renaissance this season—cool to see, and he pulled to within 14 points of the lead. Can you imagine if he pulled this off?
WINNER—Cole Davies
The kid from down under (can you say that about Kiwis? Or just Aussies?) won his second-straight race, this one a little more legit than last week (I mean, the record book will show this as three-straight but we all know what happened at Birmingham). In Detroit did it with ease as he came from sixth or so right by everyone. [Editor’s Note: He was actually 14th at the holeshot stripe but close enough!] His advantage in the whoops is ridiculous and has to have other team managers yelling at their guys to "just do what he does!" but it ain't that easy. Ask Phil Nicoletti. It's not just the whoops where he shines; he's great everywhere, and what a confidence boost for him to do what he's done even with not-great starts.
WINNER—Chase Sexton
Although the #4 Kawasaki rider didn't seem overly excited about his bike still on the PulpMX Show Monday night, he still won a heat and got second in the main, right? That's good, right? He said on the show he's "happy," although I couldn't tell if he was getting held hostage or not on the other end of the phone line. Is he back? I would say yes upon seeing his results on paper, but watching him and talking to him, I'd say not yet. It's better for SX to have Sexton back, though.
WINNER—Malcolm Stewart
He's been through hell and back this year, and it all started at Anaheim 1. Great to see Malcolm back on the box and his happy attitude as well! His training partner, Aaron Plessinger (who is out with an injury) has to be encouraged to see the work his buddy has put in and how it can indeed turnaround from the deepest depths of desperation. Stoked for Stewart!
WINNER—Justin Cooper
He's been better since Daytona, and in Detroit, he went from 14th to fourth in a good ride. I've liked most his looks this year but I didn't like his gear this week; it was like My Little Pony fell into a vat of M&M's, but everything else about his ride checked out great.
WINNER—Dylan Ferrandis
It's been a bit of a "meh" season for the new Ducati rider, but he turned the corner at Daytona when he got a "special part" that he'd been waiting on (AKA a new Akrapovič header pipe). He looked much better there all day before hurting his thumb in the heat and DNF'ing the main. So, this was his first race back with his special part, and he qualified better and got a season-best main ride as well. Which, considering the time missed, is encouraging. Let's see how this goes from here.
WINNER—Devin Simonson
The ClubMX Yamaha rider has been the breakout rider of the 250SX East, and he's a PulpMX athlete at that! Devin's a good kid; he's riding for free for ClubMX but might not be for long with the way he's going. He qualified P3 in Detroit and was moving forward when he was, uhhh, aggressively moved over on by his teammate. That led to some X Games FMX shit into the next lane that we all saw, but somehow, he saved it! What an absolutely wild ride! Eventually, he crashed out though the whoops, which ended his night. But all is not lost; Simonson did tell us he got a ton of new followers after the move, more so than if he had made the podium, he figures! #kids
WINNER—Evan Ferry
After a lot of starts and stops due to injury, health, and team stuff, the son of the greatest SX/MX rider ever seems to be getting some momentum here lately. Ferry ran top ten most of the main before dropping to 11th; he qualified well, he almost made the main at the East/West Showdown last week, and all in all, there's...something here? Maybe I'm biased, but it's good to see! Staying injury-free is the key to a good career, kids.
IDK MAN—Eli Tomac
I know I said that there would be winners and losers in here, and I know ET took back the points lead, so that would make him a winner, right? But it's obvious he's battling some sort of injury and isn't close to the same guy he was earlier this season. I mean, Justin Cooper jumping whoops by him late in the race was a shock to see for sure. So, yeah, he would be a winner normally, but if he's not better by this weekend, Hunter Lawrence will either be back in the lead or close enough to getting the red plate back. Maybe he'll be 100 percent this weekend, maybe not—nobody knows, so it's an IDK man.
LOSER—The Fans
Look, everyone has the right to keep their health secret, and I respect that. But the fans of the sport are on the losing end as we watch an all-time great struggle the last couple of races, and NO ONE outside of Eli's tight circle has any idea what's wrong with him. Frankly, it sucks for the sport. The team is putting out BS PRs ("I just haven't had the best success at Detroit lately and maybe I've been in a bit of a mid-season slump" is what the team put out, which is laughable.) Eli's not saying anything, and we all sit here and scratch our heads. Would it be so bad to at least acknowledge a superstar of the sport is struggling with...something? No? Sit down and shut up? Okay, fine.
LOSER—Hunter Lawrence
Man, Hunter did the one thing I didn't think he would do, and that's throw a race away with that big crash in the whoops. To be only four points back is pretty fortunate as well. The whoops in Detroit were big and weren't for the faint of heart, but it's still surprising to see Hunter make a mistake like that. To me, when he was on TV, Roczen looked to be sort of cruising a bit in the whoops while Hunter was pushing to get Chase Sexton. Seriously a hard hit as well for H-Law! Just when you think you know a guy...
LOSER—The Rest of the 250SX East Class
Jo Shimoda, Seth Hammaker, and anyone else that had hopes of winning this 250SX East title have to be feeling pretty defeated these days after the last two weeks of the Godzilla named Cole Davies rides. But hey, we all thought Hunter Lawrence had this thing in hand also, right? The second showdown is this weekend, Davies is still relatively inexperienced, and if you're Seth, you only lost just three points to him. So, cross your fingers, I suppose, but man, that's a tough look to see your competition zoom by you and drop you.
LOSER—Triumph
It's been a tough season for the UK brand. Look, Jordon Smith's been fine; he led laps in the heat race and has been finishing around the top ten in 450s, but they have lost their 250SX riders or whatever class Austin Forkner is supposed to be in. Jalek Swoll's run of Achillies injuries has been terrible for him. Decon Denno won SMX Next in Daytona, which is good? But one wonders if they take a swing on Justin Cooper or Aaron Plessinger next year for the 450 class and then hire a few more 250 guys.
LOSER—Caden Dudney
There are a lot of people hyped about Dudney's potential, and he's really young. He surely has speed. But this ain't good—13-11-17-13-18 to start his SX career makes me think he might need a reset. Nothing is settled here; he's got way too much potential, but with this team, Dudney might want to look up Kyle Peters or Nick Romano or Jarrett Fye's Vault results. Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing doesn't always wait around for you to figure it out.
Thanks for reading OBS this week; we're all the winners for doing it, I think! Appreciate the support; we're back to St. Louis this weekend, which sees another showdown. Email me at matthes@racerxonline.com if you want to chat about this or anything else.
