Steve Matthes’ Observations From Nashville

We had Justin Hill on the PulpMX Show and he said that A) the quad he busted out in the main (only guy I saw do it) was “easy” and B) he really doesn’t like the tracks with the super soft dirt. He also thinks, like I do, that they should bring the lime back. He seems in a happy place and in a way, as talented as he is, whenever I talk to Hill he seems too introspective to be a great dirt bike racer you know? You gotta be a bit DGAF to be truly great IMO.

Anyways, it speaks to Hill’s respect level for his talent that when he was up there battling for a podium no one was like “Oh WOW, look at Hill” it’s more like, “Yup, Justin Hill is feeling it today and you go son…”

Here we are, another episode of “As the Eli Turns…”

I thought he was back this weekend! ET put the scoop tire back on and was on fire for most of the day. The track was hardening up throughout the day, but he was still ripping out there. Fastest qualifier and heat race win indicated that he was going to rip this red plate back to him and him only.

And then the main happened. A bad start led to him riding sort of lackluster, Chase Sexton passed and left him and later on, he fell before the finish. That fall wasn’t scoop tire related but I couldn’t help but think that as we had a delay for timing and scoring and as the sun came out, maybe the track was way different from earlier and once he got the bad start, he wasn’t going to push it on the soil?

So, I was leaning to blame his tire choice for this (but also, ET has absolutely looked amazing on harder packed tracks than Nashville so that cancels that out but that was on a Yamaha so that’s different? IDK man!) because how else can you explain the difference in speed? I get it, bad start equals uncertainty and all that, but Sexton made it to fourth and even without the crash, Tomac wasn’t getting there.

So, we’re left with more questions than answers but according to Tomac, he’s fine and all the conjecture about his sub-par riding is a nothing burger.

Also, I get it- SX is not a team sport but with the second pick of gate Eli went pretty far inside. It’s easy to Monday Morning Quarterback that pick-if it worked, it was brilliant- but to me someone at KTM should’ve maybe told perhaps the best starter in the sport right now, Jorge Prado, to not go right next to ET? Going inside is generally a boom or bust thing and now you have a dude that 90% will outstart you next to you?

Huge blow to Tomac’s title chances with just four to go. Can he jump two riders being 15 points down? Doesn’t look good but again, he was THE FASTEST MAN in the series not that long ago.

We had Joey Savatgy on the PulpMX Show and of course, because everyone gets asked about Eli Tomac, we asked him about Eli Tomac. And like our co-host Kris Keefer, he didn’t think the paddle tire choice was that bad. He said in the whoops when you tried to skim it wasn’t good (Joey mentioned when Eli lapped him-he had crashed with Malcolm Stewart earlier- that Tomac’s bike was all over the place when he tried to skim) but other than that, it wasn’t that bad. The works paddle tire has come a long way the last few years. Also, Joey broke down some possible reasons why Eli would’ve chosen that far inside gate in terms of how the first corner was constructed.

As far as Savatgy is concerned, his foot is better now and he can shift! A few weeks ago, he could only shift once a lap after his foot started hurting. Now he’s better but he hasn’t been practicing as much and thinks his speed from earlier in the year is down.

By the way, not to look TOO far down the road but can we agree right now it’s not looking like Chase Sexton or Tomac will be on their best form when it comes to 450MX right? We know the Lawrence brothers will be great, Deegs looks pretty good right? I’m just saying that a couple of bad ass 450MX dudes might find themselves wondering WTF has happened come Pala.

Speaking of Sexton, his day started off horribly with a crash jumping into the sand, and didn’t go much better in qualifying or the heat race. This led me to think that it was going to be another edition of “Sexton Corner” on the review pod and also, his garbage start in the main made me cringe for what we were about to see on a track that’s not easy to pass.

Except…Chase rode well! He didn’t look special like he has at other times in ripping through the pack, but he rode steady, he didn’t make any mistakes, and he worked his way to fourth by the end. He passed 13 riders in all and again, it was a great ride! There’s something here! Again!

But man, what is going on with his starts? They’re horri-awful.

Dylan Ferrandis rode very well and even with the penalty for cutting the track, he and the team were very happy after the race. He was also way back off the start and just slowly picked guys off to end up with a season best sixth (fifth before the penalty which didn’t help him get any spots BTW). He credited some testing on the bike and just getting a bit healthier as well. I’ve not been around Dylan that much over the years but this was the happiest I’ve seen him after a race in a long time. Troy Lee, Antonio Cairoli and everyone over there were stoked!

As far as the 250SX class is concerned, it leaves me a bit bland because Cole Davies is running away with it, Seth Hammaker is trying VERY hard but it’s not working out and it’s cool to see Devin Simonson emerging as a “guy”. Yes, there have been some injuries, but Simonson grabbed third after a penalty to Seth and continued to be the cool story of the 250SX east.

I said to someone in the press box that finally Dax Bennick’s streak of only making the podiums at the openers is over at least. Because he seemingly had control of a podium spot. Late in the race though, here came Seth Hammaker but hey, Seth was probably going to get him but at least Dax was gonna get third, right?