There were a myriad of curveballs for the riders at the Cleveland Supercross, and not everyone was able to connect. First Eli Tomac went out after crashing in qualifying, then Hunter Lawrence crashed several times in the third Triple Crown race and was forced to ride with fuel spilling all over him. Those incidents, and plenty more from Cleveland, left us scratching our heads so we fired off questions to former pro and NBC on-track analyst, Jason Thomas.
Rain was expected in Cleveland and it showed up! Combined with the extra wear on the track due to the Triple Crown format, the track was brutal. What sections were the most treacherous, and how did the moisture affect the racing?
The toughest parts were the more clay based sections. There were two different types of dirt used to comprise the Cleveland track, one much more sand based versus the “lighter” clay. The rhythm sections were comprised of clay and much more impacted by the rain. The softer sections were rutty, sure, but not all that impacted by the rain. The clay sections were very slippery and called for a lot more caution.
The long rhythm along the sidelines was changing all day and riders were having a hard time locking in consistent lines through it. Who had the most consistent pace there, and who excelled via excessive risk?
It was a bit of a moving target. Hunter had this section dialed in the first race and when Kenny missed it a couple of times, Hunter excelled. In the final 450 race, Kenny put a triple together in the opening laps and built a gap that would never be closed. For the most part, it was a bit of the same from everyone with avoiding mistakes being the key.
The track presented a few pretty unique passing opportunities. Who’d you see getting creative out there with passing lines?
Most of the passing was in basically parking yourself in front of where the other rider wanted to go. The rhythm after the “double” (where the triple would be), riders would dive to the inside and block the pathway of the rider going outside. There were also passes made in the whoops but often it was due to a mistake versus a planned pass.
There was a big pileup in the 250SX race involving Drew Adams. How’d that get started?
This was the prototypical crash when a rhythm section goes wrong just after the start. Riders are in different cadence through the jumps and one rider is landing on the takeoff for another rider. That mismatch of timing can be catastrophic if real estate becomes scarce. All it takes is the slight touch of wheels or handlebars and the rest takes care of itself. This one will put Drew back on the sidelines for a while. Poor kid can’t catch a break.
Watch the incident at the 0:57 mark in the highlights below.
Cole Davies has been on fire lately, but he had a couple hiccups in the first two 250SX races in Cleveland. What was he struggling with?
He just made critical mistakes and I would think it was lack of patience to get to the front. He was forcing things a bit on a track that would penalize mistakes harshly. Cole wants to win and anything less is unacceptable, which can lead to pressing even when it’s unwise.
What happened to Seth Hammaker in that final 250SX race?
Yeah, he went down on the start, but then circulated in seventh for a while and ended up failing to capitalize on an opportunity to get some points back from Davies.
Hard to say but his last three laps were a bit off the pace. Had he been able to hold the 49-50 second lap time, maybe he moves forward one more spot but the track was breaking down badly, too. He may have surmised he wasn’t going to get another spot and settled instead of taking big risks and throwing it away.
The 250SX East Division Class is pretty decimated right now, but that presents a solid opportunity for other riders to nab great results. Who took advantage of this power vacuum, and who missed out?
Nate Thrasher and Landen Gordon were the big winners here. Thrasher had been working on a little something in the last few weeks so this wasn’t a total shock. For Gordon, though, this came out of nowhere. He showed flashes in qualifying practice and a solid heat race but a second overall is a different thing entirely. I didn’t see this coming, to be completely honest. On a team where there is not a lot of patience for mediocrity, this was a huge step. Congrats, kid!
Well, that’s it for Eli Tomac, who crashed hard in qualifying and didn’t line up for the main events. What happened with his crash?
Those whoops were absolutely treacherous. There were many crashes and even more close calls so seeing him go down wasn’t all that surprising. Some will point to the tire choice (scoop), and maybe that was a factor, but those whoops were sketchy on a level we don’t often see. He was still blitzing when many others realized that was a fool’s errand and it bit him. If anything, I would say that once things went a bit wonky, the tire makes it less likely to be able to reel it back in. The “feel” and “control” of that tire is less friendly so it can get to crazy town more quickly than a standard tire.
Things couldn’t have gone much better for Ken Roczen, who took the overall and moved to within a single point of Hunter Lawrence for the lead. How much does the pressure ramp up for Roczen now with just three races left?
I don’t know if the pressure is more on Ken now than Hunter. Ken seems like he is enjoying all of this so much. This is the most relevant he has been in a championship, this late, in a very long time. If he can stay loose, he’s taking this to SLC.
Speaking of Lawrence, things came unraveled in the final 450SX race. After his first crash he was dealing with race gas splashing all over him. How does something like that cut into a rider’s focus?
It had to be a horrific experience. Wearing fuel is not a comfortable existence. Trying to keep it off his goggle lens, and also wondering if he has enough fuel to finish the main event… none of those things are enviable. Further, he knows he’s losing massive points in the championship. Pardon the pun but it was a “when it rains, it pours,” situation. Give the man a lot of credit for his composure, though.
Garrett Marchbanks took a look back at Lawrence when Lawrence was coming up the outside of him in a rhythm lane before the two collided in the ensuing corner, with Lawrence going down again. Did it look like Marchbanks purposely moved over a little on Lawrence? If so, why would he do that? Do the two have beef we don’t know about?
I think Garrett was measuring the distance he had but it caught Hunter completely by surprise that Garrett went deep into the corner before pivoting back right. I would have been surprised by this, also. Garrett has to know there’s no room for that and also you’re dealing with the points leader. I wasn’t very impressed with Garrett’s move, honestly. I don’t think it was intentional but it also wasn’t very savvy, either.
Cooper Webb has zero quit in him, and even though he’s way back in points he is not cheating anyone on effort. It paid off in Cleveland too, where he took second overall, just one week after taking second in Nashville. At this point do you think he still has championship motives, or is now just about finishing the season strong?
I think he’s leaving the door open to chaos but he knows it’s very unlikely. All he can do is go chase race wins and let things unfold. He loves a nice bonus check, though, and that’s plenty of motivation for now. With these riders making upwards of 150-200K for a win, why wouldn’t you stay locked in?
