Absolute Dominance
We’re used to seeing Lawrence dominate at Fox Raceway in Pala, California, and last Saturday it was more of the same. But this time it was Hunter, not Jett, who dispensed the beatdown, going 1-1 after laying down the fastest qualifying lap of the day. Who thinks we see more of the same from Hunter at Hangtown? -Aaron Hansel
Handicapped
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Jett Lawrence race motocross and not be battling for the win, but that’s what happened last Saturday at Pala. Clearly the champ is not back up to speed after suffering a bad injury to his ankle and foot in December, but he’ll improve as the season goes on. The question right now though is, when will we see him be able to start pushing the pace again? Will we notice an improvement as early as Hangtown? -Hansel
- Motocross, WMX
- Race Day Live (Qualifying)LiveJune 6 - 1:00 PM
- Race Day Live (Qualifying)LiveJune 6 - 1:00 PM
- MotosLiveJune 6 - 4:00 PM
- Motos (Audio only)LiveJune 6 - 4:00 PM
- Motos (Encore Presentation)June 7 - 4:00 PM
Round Two for Deegs
Normally a 5-4 for fifth overall at a rider’s very first race in the 450 Class would be phenomenal. But for Haiden Deegan, after joking about saying he was the new beast mode and wearing a shirt with a gravestone on it that read, “RIP Jett,” you might have expected more. In the past Deegan has almost always been able to back it up, but for now, that may not be the case. Will he tone it down, or step it up at Hangtown? -Hansel
The Arrival
Seth Hammaker tore a muscle in his back at the supercross finale in Salt Lake City, but you’d never know it judging by the way he rode last week. Hammaker was so good at Pala, going 2-1 for the first national win of his career, and he looked comfortable doing it too. We’ve seen breakout rides like this kindle a title run—can Hammaker keep it going at Hangtown? -Hansel
Up and Down
For Levi Kitchen, the good news out of the opener is that he’s got plenty of speed on top. The bad is that even with all that speed he ended up off the podium after getting caught in a pileup that started when Michael Mosiman and Hammaker got together. The result was 1-13 for fourth overall. There’s still plenty of racing left, but Kitchen can’t afford to have things like that happen too many times if he wants to stay relevant in this championship. Can he get some of those points back on Saturday? -Hansel
Notice Served
If you were wondering whether or not Julien Beaumer had lost a step after missing all of supercross with a serious back injury, wonder no more. He was ripping at Pala! A bad start led to an eleventh in the first moto, but in the second he led a bunch of laps and finished with an extremely strong second. If he can put a couple good starts together this weekend in Northern California, we might just see him on the box. -Hansel
Startlingly Strong
Those in the know with Caden Dudney probably aren’t surprised at his 6-4 for second overall at the season opener, but the rest of us can admit it caught us off guard. He was incredible! And while he did benefit from some inconsistency in his fellow competitors, it was still a shockingly good performance. We’ll see if he can back it up at Hangtown. -Hansel
Bueno
Finally American fans were able to see the real Jorge Prado ride a moto track at Fox Raceway, and the Spaniard impressed. This is what we were hoping to see last year out of him. The question is will he bring the heat again this weekend at Hangtown and be able to fight for this 450 Championship? -Sarah Whitmore
Consistency Pays
The talent in the 250 field is deep, so deep that riders were not able to make up many positions after a bad start or crash. Just look at some of these moto scores; Levi Kitchen 1-13, Julien Beaumer 11-2, and Ryder DiFrancesco 19-3. Starts and minimizing mistakes have never been more important than it is for the riders this summer. Seth Hammaker’s 2-1 secured a 13-point lead in the championship. That’s a hole that’s going to be hard to climb out of for his competition if he keeps up his good starts and they do not. -Whitmore
WMX
The women are back! Round one of the Women’s Motocross Championship kicks off this weekend with motos on both Friday and Saturday. WMX has not raced since the series wrapped up at Budds Creek last year, with Lachlan Turner taking her second straight title. Will she do it again or will the likes of Charli Cannon, Mikayla Nielsen, Kyleigh Stalling and more be able to stop her? -Whitmore
