Millville is the best track on the circuit in my opinion but also, I’m incredibly biased because I’ve raced there a lot and been going to the pro national there since 1989. But in my defense, Millville’s got it all; hills, sand, great dirt and the district 23 people who are great people. Sorry not sorry you RedBud fans, Millville is #1.
I do know that Alex Martin (who basically runs Millville now) would like to host a Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations there and I do agree that would be epic but I’m not sure about the parking there for the pro pits? The MXoN event is huge with infrastructure so not sure that would work. Track probably needs to be wider in some spots also but they’ve cleared a lot of trees to help with spectator viewing, that’s improved. The track itself is great. It’s also 400 percent better than something they’re going to build at a car track or whatever next year in Holland. RedBud and Ironman had their turn…MILLVILLE FOR MXDN!!!
Speaking of Millville, they changed Mt. Martin and imagine this, the riders' opinions were mixed. Most of them didn’t like the chicane added to it to slow it down beforehand but after the race, I had some guys tell me it was okay and they admitted that the old downhill, which was basically a downhill rollercoaster with bumps, was a little sketchy. But it was a place you could make up time in. So, I’d say while the change wasn’t a home run, it also wasn’t a disaster. Also, still, it’s hard to get riders to put aside their own performances on the day as to a factor on whether they liked a track or not.
Except for Garrett Marchbanks of course. Win or lose, he doesn’t like the track.
You watched the race, you saw the results so here are some general thoughts on general topics emanating from Millville, okay?
Hey, so we’re seven rounds down and have four to go in this championship and is anyone other than a Lawrence going to win a moto? It’s not looking like it, right? This week in another episode of “Which Lawrence will win” it was Hunter going 1-1 with an absolute heater of a ride in moto 1 and then a bit of luck in moto two with the other Lawrence going down while he was leading.
After ping ponging back and forth for the red plate, Hunter’s win gives him a bit of an edge with a ten-point lead. Enough that he can breathe…a little. Although Washougal has not been a great track for him, just two fourth overalls in his last two visits. I’m betting he changes that this year.
Despite SOME people *cough JT* not being concerned with the Lawrences crashing a bit more, I’ll say that Honda HRC Progressive team manager Lars Lindstrom told me he was as well. Some of Hunter’s have been flukey for sure but Jett’s have been way more frequent than anyone has liked. It’s simple math, the more you hit the ground, the more chance you could get hurt. Jett’s riding just once a week and Lindstrom thinks that maybe he’s just not able to stay sharp enough and so when he’s pushing it, a mistake creeps in here or there. Jett had three crashes on Saturday alone.
Jett’s second moto was as impressive as Hunter’s first and it looked to be a done deal until that crash. Anyways, another week of Lawrence domination and no, I don’t believe they lose a moto the rest of the year, ICYWW.
The 250MX class is drunk. No one wants to take control of this thing although Cole Davies is trying! He was taken out by his teammate this weekend and with a hole in his gas tank, ran out of gas in moto one. Second moto he crashed, and it was a tough day for the Kiwi.
Levi Kitchen was collected in the huge crash and rode great to come back for an overall podium on the day. He took the red plate back and has a nice 24-point lead at that.
But sorry not sorry Levi, I do NOT think this is just a pre-curser to him cruising home with the title. As I said, the 250 class is drunk. And yeah man, Kitch tends to not be that rock solid so until he’s standing there at Ironman with the #1 plate, I have my doubts this lead stands.
You know who IS back in this thing? Julien Beaumer, that’s who! What a first moto in working up to take the lead from Michael Mosiman with half a lap to go. His fitness was great in that moto to take his first ever moto win.
But what was more impressive maybe was his second moto in that he started okay, things looked okay but then his times went from 2:05’s to three laps in the 2:07 or higher. And this was in the middle of moto two after a strong push in moto one. I thought “well, he’s smoked and there goes the OA” but oh no. Our guy Beaumer regrouped, got back down into the 2:05’s, set his fastest lap with 2:04.3 and got his mojo back!
Impressive regroup, impressive race and Julien Beaumer is now a Pro Motocross winner less than a year after breaking his back badly. Who knew?
There were lots of talk in my shows and group texts about how Cole Davies, with 38th pick, was able to line up for the second moto beside the guy that got ninth (Hymas). It really shouldn’t have been possible. Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 250 team manager Wil Hahn says nothing weird happened and he couldn’t believe no one took that gate either. Mmmmm, hmmm. Look, Star is known to push the boundaries with stuff so pardon me if I’m a bit skeptical of my buddy Wilbur’s protests.
I’ve been down on the line a time or two and in this stuff, what usually happens is “someone” from a team sort of lingers around a gate and everyone assumes it’s taken so they move on. That’s a common move although the AMA has been tightening up their gate pick process over the years to stop this. But back in the day, it happened A LOT. How do I know? Well, I used to help do it! Hey man, if you’re a privateer three-digit guy, you’re really gonna tell Chaparral Yamaha’s Larry Brooks to beat it?
In Wilbur’s defense, they DID give the riders starting this weekend less time to pick a gate so maybe in the confusion, the guy with the 38th pick was able to get a gate that good?
Also, IDK man but the rider with the 23rd pick (Carson Wood) who has nothing to gain or lose at the race seemed to be way outside on the second moto (still pulled a good start). So perhaps the team that’s known to push the boundaries made the kid go outside while giving the title hopeful the 23rd pick which is, while still a bit odd, possible that he could get gate next to Hymas?
Stay tuned for next week’s episode of “Unsolved Mysteries!”
Few other notes and quick hits:
-Chance Hymas won moto two (250MX class is drunk!) and I think, although it’s been a tough summer for Hymas, this will propel him forward more. Not saying he’s gonna win motos again but also, not NOT saying that, you know? Our sport is all about confidence and I think Chance, a past winner, will get some from this moto win.
-My postrace interview with Hymas was great. He went deep into the psychological process of being a rider, getting hurt a lot, dealing with pressure and getting it all back. Good stuff from a young man and made me think about how, because I’m old as dirt, these guys are still not fully mentally developed adults, you know? Tough sometimes to be a pro athlete and be young.
-Antonio Cairoli ran fifth forever in moto one and that was awesome. He got sixth but he’s 40 years old, he’s retired and this is what he can do? Awesome man. I’m such a fanboy for TC222, he’s a legend, a class act and I hope he never goes away.
-Haiden Deegan’s first moto from 39th to fourth was impressive. He was absolutely sending it, and we got a Bam/Deegs battle also for a bit! You could read his side plates real easily out there coming down the hills as he was Hannah-esque out there. Great ride. But in the world we live in, I tweeted out “Deegan is sending it, Yikes. Great ride” and the bedbugs somehow thought “yikes” was negative. Sigh…
-Speaking of Bam, Justin Barcia had his best result of the season going 5-8. In fact, all three Ducati riders were in the top seven in moto one. I know Southwick is sort of their (Factory Connection) home base but maybe it’s Millville. Is Bam back? That would be cool.
-Thank Jesus Benny Bloss had a good week in going 10-10 for 8th overall. I was beginning to worry for his mental health. This week will be “Beta” for him, no doubt about it.
-We’re this far down in OBS and just mentioning the legend that is Eli Tomac came back this week! Yeah, that was about it for highlights for ET3 as it went…okay? Yeah, 9-12 can’t be his idea of a great return and I thought he looked a bit winded in moto two, there’s nothing like racing, right? The good news is last time ET came back late in MX season, 2024, he underperformed at his first race (Budds) but then was sort of right back at his next race. And Washougal is a great track for ET, should be cooler and smoother also. ET coming back this soon is great for Team USA, ICYWW.
-Kayden Minear has been figuring this out. The Aussie kid led laps in both motos and he’s been getting better. I think it’s been a bit unreported really in the hype of his teammate crushing it, Caden Dudney getting on podiums, etc. He’s been a mini-version of a Jeff Stanton really. Nothing stands out but he doesn't really beat himself, you know?
-Carson Mumford signed a new deal with AEO KTM last week and promptly went and got his first ever MX moto podium! At one point he caught up to Kitch and pressured for second! Mumfy’s always been a very skilled rider, but man has he jumped around a bit, some of it his fault. He’s comfy and gelling with the KTM. Great to see, it’s been a while since he’s done MX and he told me afterwards that he thinks it’s because he signed the deal last week that he got this result. Which is totally possible, right?
-Lost in all the Beaumer/Hymas/250 class is drunk/Minear/Kitch/Davies stuff was the fact that Drew Adams qualified fastest! He was #1 on pole, Kitch took it back, then he took it back! Drew’s return to the series has been a bit slow but Millville showed us something, right? He passed 19 guys in moto two to get seventh and went 7-7 on the day. That’s fine, passing 19 guys is good and qualifying fastest is great. Keep on eye on Adams.
-Lux Turner got a strong fifth in moto two. Good to see him appear to be back on form.
Thanks for reading OBS this week- lots to talk about with Millville and see you at the next USA MXDN! Email me at matthes@racerxonline.com to chat about that or anything else.
