Monday Morning Coffee

By Billy Rainford

Good Monday Morning Coffee from…hold on, let me open Google Maps… Good Monday Morning Coffee from Camden, South Carolina, on I-20 about an hour east of Columbia and about an hour south of Club MX. The plan for today is to stop in there to check in on any Canadians who are still there putting in the work for the upcoming Canadian Triple Crown Series.

After a short stay there I want to zig zag my way east to the I-95 to see what’s up over at SOBMX where the Partzilla PRMX gang is calling home.

Yesterday, as I was looking for a place to call “home” for the afternoon and evening, I noticed a lot of dirt bikes in pick-ups and nice rigs all over the place in the Columbia area. Most had weird red backgrounds or other odd number plate combinations that I wasn’t used to. Sure enough, I could have gone to the GNCC Racing Round 5 event not far from here at the Camp Coker Bullet in Society Hill just above the I-20 between where I was and Club MX! Apparently, my logistics comptroller (I don’t know what either of those words mean) was on holidays!

Here are the results:

Check out our Canadian WMX competitor Jamie Astudillo grabbing 5th place:

WXC – Bike – Class Results
Place	Nbr	Name	Hometown	Brand	Laps	Elapsed
1	001	RACHAEL ARCHER	NEW ZEALAND, //	YAM	4	01:54:10.519
2	417	RACHEL GUTISH	TERRE HAUTE, IN	GAS	4	01:55:02.974
3	444	KORIE STEEDE	BELOIT, OH	KTM	4	01:55:50.559
4	204	PRESTIN RAINES	TRAVELERS REST, SC	YAM	4	02:05:00.213
5	862	JAMIE ASTUDILLO	GILBERTSVILLE, PA	KTM	4	02:08:59.932
6	217	KAITLYN LINDSEY	BEAVER DAM, KY	HQV	4	02:10:34.938
7	310	KAYLA ONEILL	GREENWOOD LAKE, NY	KAW	4	02:12:43.100
8	576	MEGAN BARNES	OKEECHOBEE, FL	HQV	4	02:25:56.590
9	483	ELIZABETH PEREZ	BARGERSVILLE, IN	HQV	4	02:26:41.139

And check out #886 Alexandre Gougeon from Quebec who will show up and run top 10’s in our Canadian MX Nationals from time to time:

XC1 Open Pro – Bike – Class Results
Place	Nbr	Name	Hometown	Brand	Laps	Elapsed
1	314	GRANT BAYLOR	HONEA PATH, SC	KAW	7	03:04:01.479
2	342	CRAIG B DELONG	MORGANTOWN, PA	HQV	7	03:04:38.519
3	530	BENJAMIN M KELLEY	HARWINTON, CT	KTM	7	03:07:02.718
4	001	JORDAN ASHBURN	LIVINGSTON, TN	HQV	7	03:08:32.669
5	017	JOSH V STRANG	AUSTRALIA, //	KAW	7	03:08:41.890
6	212	RICKY A RUSSELL	DUVALL, WA	YAM	7	03:13:57.970
7	969	JONATHAN GIRROIR	BOONVILLE, NC	KTM	7	03:14:18.939
8	514	STEWARD BAYLOR JR	HODGES, SC	KTM	4	01:56:51.616
9	125	BENJAMIN NELKO	ALIQUIPPA, PA	KTM	2	00:54:11.679
10	523	LAYNE C MICHAEL	BOONVILLE, NC	GAS	1	00:28:49.538
11	886	ALEXANDRE GOUGEON	CANADA, //	HQV	1	00:30:46.371

And finally, check out Team Canada ISDE rider Phil Chaine in XC2:

XC2 250 Pro – Bike – Class Results
Place	Nbr	Name	Hometown	Brand	Laps	Elapsed
1	014	RUY BARBOSA	CHILE, //	HON	7	03:08:14.219
2	118	MASON SEMMENS	CLAREMONT, NC	KTM	7	03:09:28.698
3	990	CODY J BARNES	STERLING, IL	HON	7	03:10:04.252
4	010	RYDER LAFFERTY	DOROTHY, NJ	GAS	7	03:11:15.038
5	035	ANGUS RIORDAN	AUSTRALIA, //	KTM	7	03:11:27.738
6	328	JESSE ANSLEY	MYAKKA CITY, FL	KTM	7	03:13:48.850
7	282	MICHAEL WITKOWSKI	TRAVELERS REST, SC	HON	7	03:14:55.179
8	347	EVAN SMITH	JEFFERSON, GA	BET	7	03:17:19.860
9	981	JONATHAN T JOHNSON	LANDRUM, SC	BET	7	03:18:54.859
10	198	LIAM DRAPER	NEW ZEALAND, //	YAM	7	03:24:53.331
11	360	PHILIPPE CHAINE	CANADA, //	KTM	7	03:26:15.819
12	235	BRODY JOHNSON	LANDRUM, SC	HQV	7	03:28:41.053
13	178	LYNDON SNODGRASS	AUSTRALIA, //	KAW	7	03:30:28.599
14	116	ZACH M OSBORNE	CLERMONT, FL	YAM	6	02:58:31.499
15	560	KYLE A MURDOCH	WINCHENDON, MA	HQV	6	03:07:26.012
16	355	STEVEN NICHOLAS	PULASKI, TN	KTM	4	02:03:06.496
17	922	GRANT W DAVIS	MESHOPPEN, PA	KTM	1	00:29:06.390
DNF	053	NATHANIEL TASHA	FULMOUTH, MA	KTM	0	00:00:00.000

You can scroll full results HERE.

I can’t believe I was this close to a GNCC with time to spare and missed it! I’m doing an imaginary Chris Farley right now.

Round 6 – Hoosier at Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Illinois – May 7

Kate Kowalchuk is over in Europe with Boston Calder and has been hitting the MXGP circuit and sending us reports. SHe’s been doing a great job and capturing some classic shots!

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She was in Italy this past weekend and will have a photo report over to us ASAP. She’s also living #vanlife right now albeit it a van slightly bigger than my minivan. It was also a pretty historic day at ARCO, so she’s got a little something special planned, so watch for that too.

Here are the results from Round 4 of the MXGP series:

MX2 – GP Classification

Pos Nr Rider Nat. Fed. Bike Race 1 Race 2 Total 1 80 Adamo, Andrea ITA FMI KTM 22 22 44 2 72 Everts, Liam BEL FMB KTM 20 20 40 3 93 Geerts, Jago BEL FMB YAM 25 14 39 4 516 Laengenfelder, Simon GER DMSB GAS 12 25 37 5 74 de Wolf, Kay NED KNMV HUS 16 18 34 6 198 Benistant, Thibault FRA FFM YAM 18 16 34 7 39 Van De Moosdijk, Roan NED KNMV HUS 15 15 30 8 96 Coenen, Lucas BEL FMB HUS 14 12 26 9 24 Horgmo, Kevin NOR NMF KAW 10 13 23 10 253 Pancar, Jan SLO AMZS KTM 8 11 19 11 44 Elzinga, Rick NED KNMV YAM 9 10 19 12 11 Haarup, Mikkel DEN DMU KTM 11 8 19 13 517 Gifting, Isak SWE SVEMO GAS 5 9 14 14 125 Weckman, Emil FIN SML HON 13 0 13 15 912 Rizzi, Joel GBR ACU HON 2 7 9 16 22 Braceras, David ESP RFME KAW 4 4 8 17 579 Bruce, Bobby GBR ACU GAS 1 6 7 18 401 Stauffer, Marcel AUT AMF KTM 7 0 7 19 51 Oliver, Oriol ESP RFME KTM 6 0 6 20 67 Martinez, Yago ESP RFME KTM 0 5 5 21 338 Olsson, Filip SWE SVEMO HUS 0 3 3 22 17 Toendel, Cornelius NOR NMF KTM 3 0 3 23 64 Ciabatti, Lorenzo ITA FMI KTM 0 2 2 24 696 Gwerder, Mike SUI FMS KTM 0 1 1 25 313 Polak, Petr CZE ACCR YAM 0 0 0 26 505 Lüning, Arvid SWE SVEMO GAS 0 0 0 27 18 Voxen Kleemann, William DEN DMU KTM 0 0 0 28 56 Corti, Lorenzo ITA FMI HUS 0 0 0 29 511 Krug, Jan GER DMSB HUS 0 0 0 30 12 Chambers, Jack USA AMA KAW 0 0 0 31 31 Bassi, Francesco ITA FMI KTM 0 0 0 32 931 Zanotti, Andrea SMR FSM KAW 0 0 0 33 817 Meuwissen, Raf NED KNMV YAM 0 0 0

MX2 – World Championship Classification

Pos Nr Rider Nat. Bike Total ARG SAR SUI TRE POR ESP FRA LAT GER INA INA CZE BEL FIN SWE NED TUR VIE GBR 1 93 Geerts, Jago BEL YAM 205 10 25-25 10 22-25 8 14-20 7 25-14 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 2 80 Adamo, Andrea ITA KTM 183 9 20-20 3 16-15 6 20-22 8 22-22 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 3 198 Benistant, T. FRA YAM 182 6 22-13 7 18-20 10 18-25 9 18-16 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 4 74 de Wolf, Kay NED HUS 173 5 15-11 9 25-22 9 22-18 3 16-18 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 5 516 Laengenfelder, S. GER GAS 158 8 13-16 8 20-14 0 16-16 10 12-25 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 6 39 Van De Moosdijk, R. NED HUS 147 4 18-14 2 13-16 7 25-13 5 15-15 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 7 72 Everts, Liam BEL KTM 140 7 16-8 5 12-13 5 13-15 6 20-20 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 8 24 Horgmo, Kevin NOR KAW 119 2 12-22 6 14-12 0 12-14 2 10-13 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 9 96 Coenen, Lucas BEL HUS 102 3 0-12 4 15-18 0 15-5 4 14-12 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 10 253 Pancar, Jan SLO KTM 85 0 11-9 0 9-11 3 11-12 0 8-11 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

MXGP – GP Classification

Pos Nr Rider Nat. Fed. Bike Race 1 Race 2 Total 1 61 Prado, Jorge ESP RFME GAS 25 20 45 2 959 Renaux, Maxime FRA FFM YAM 22 22 44 3 84 Herlings, Jeffrey NED KNMV KTM 12 25 37 4 70 Fernandez, Ruben ESP RFME HON 20 14 34 5 101 Guadagnini, Mattia ITA FMI GAS 18 11 29 6 259 Coldenhoff, Glenn NED KNMV YAM 13 15 28 7 3 Febvre, Romain FRA FFM KAW 9 18 27 8 92 Guillod, Valentin SUI FFM HON 14 10 24 9 10 Vlaanderen, Calvin NED KNMV YAM 15 9 24 10 303 Forato, Alberto ITA FMI KTM 16 6 22 11 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI FMS YAM 5 16 21 12 919 Watson, Ben GBR ACU BET 10 8 18 13 32 Van doninck, Brent BEL FMB HON 0 13 13 14 77 Lupino, Alessandro ITA FMI BET 6 7 13 15 189 Bogers, Brian NED KNMV HON 0 12 12 16 161 Östlund, Alvin SWE SVEMO HON 8 4 12 17 6 Paturel, Benoit FRA FFM YAM 11 0 11 18 57 Goupillon, Pierre FRA FFM KTM 7 3 10 19 811 Sterry, Adam GBR ACU KTM 4 5 9 20 226 Koch, Tom GER DMSB KTM 2 2 4 21 87 Brumann, Kevin SUI FMS YAM 3 0 3 22 97 Ivanov, Michael BUL BMF HUS 0 1 1 23 2 Jasikonis, Arminas LTU LMSF GAS 1 0 1 24 45 Kohut, Tomas SVK SMF KTM 0 0 0 25 200 Zonta, Filippo ITA FMI GAS 0 0 0 26 75 Roosiorg, Hardi EST EMF HON 0 0 0 27 771 Croci, Simone ITA FMI HUS 0 0 0 28 71 Spies, Maximilian GER DMSB KTM 0 0 0 29 499 Alberio, Emanuele ITA FMI HUS 0 0 0 30 53 Jost, Simon SVK SMF KTM 0 0 0 31 644 Guarise, Ismaele ITA FMI KTM 0 0 0 32 212 Adamson, John GBR ACU GAS 0 0 0 33 124 Teresak, Jakub CZE ACCR KTM 0 0 0 34 991 Scheu, Mark GER DMSB HUS 0 0 0 35 766 Sandner, Michael AUT AMF KTM 0 0 0 36 848 Nava, Giulio ITA FMI YAM 0 0 0 37 491 Haberland, Paul GER DMSB HUS 0 0 0 38 16 Grimshaw, Tom GBR ACU GAS 0 0 0 39 520 Clochet, Jimmy FRA FFM HON 0 0 0 40 211 Lapucci, Nicholas ITA FMI HUS 0 0 0

MXGP – World Championship Classification

Pos Nr Rider Nat. Bike Total ARG SAR SUI TRE POR ESP FRA LAT GER INA INA CZE BEL FIN SWE NED TUR VIE GBR 1 61 Prado, Jorge ESP GAS 201 10 25-15 10 25-15 10 25-20 1 25-20 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 2 959 Renaux, Maxime FRA YAM 184 8 20-12 0 18-20 6 22-25 9 22-22 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 3 84 Herlings, J. NED KTM 175 1 18-22 8 22-22 8 15-18 4 12-25 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 4 3 Febvre, Romain FRA KAW 166 6 22-16 6 10-18 9 20-22 10 9-18 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 5 70 Fernandez, R. ESP HON 136 7 16-25 5 0-10 2 16-13 8 20-14 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 6 10 Vlaanderen, C. NED YAM 125 5 10-11 3 20-16 4 18-14 0 15-9 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 7 259 Coldenhoff, G. NED YAM 120 4 14-7 9 16-25 1 13-1 2 13-15 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 8 101 Guadagnini, M. ITA GAS 108 9 11-13 2 11-9 0 12-9 3 18-11 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 9 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI YAM 107 0 4-20 4 15-14 5 1-16 7 5-16 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 10 303 Forato, A. ITA KTM 98 0 12-8 0 13-12 7 9-15 0 16-6 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 11 92 Guillod, V. SUI HON 84 2 7-9 0 4-3 3 14-12 6 14-10 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 12 919 Watson, Ben GBR BET 69 0 9-6 0 7-8 0 10-11 0 10-8 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 13 32 Van doninck, B. BEL HON 68 0 13-0 7 12-13 0 5-0 5 0-13 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 14 6 Paturel, B. FRA YAM 62 0 8-10 1 8-7 0 11-6 0 11-0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 15 41 Jonass, Pauls LAT HON 56 3 15-18 0 9-11 0 0-0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 16 189 Bogers, Brian NED HON 51 0 5-14 0 14-1 0 0-5 0 0-12 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 17 77 Lupino, A. ITA BET 41 0 0-4 0 2-6 0 6-10 0 6-7 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 18 161 Östlund, Alvin SWE HON 38 0 6-5 0 5-4 0 4-2 0 8-4 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 19 38 Rubini, S. FRA HON 15 – – – – 0 7-8 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 20 226 Koch, Tom GER KTM 15 – – 0 6-5 – 0 2-2 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Round 5 – April 30 – MXGP of Portugal Agueda

After missing the past couple rounds out west, I made it to Atlanta for my first visit to Atlanta Motor Speedway for Round 11 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series.

As soon as I saw the track I was impressed. This was a big, tough track and I think riders loved it. If Daytona isn’t careful, this track and layout may takeover as the premiere outdoor Supercross on the circuit!

We only had one Canadian to keep tabs on and, unfortunately, that didn’t last long, as RRCZ KTM rider #551 Guillaume St Cyr from Quebec crashed hard in a tricky rhythm section early in the first 250 qualifier and took a trip to the local hospital.

As we all stood there on the side of the track watching as the Alpinestars Medics looked after ‘Guac’ we all feared the worst but were hoping for the best. I thought maybe he’d just had the wind knocked out of him but then it became pretty obvious that it was a hard hit to the head that was causing the concern.

His girlfriend Anna was still standing in the mechanics area so I told her to just walk over and give him a familiar face and voice. She was worried they didn’t want her over there but I said, “What’s the worst they can do, ask you to leave?” Fortunately, they let her comfort him as they continued to work away.

I went over to them as they were getting him sorted out and loaded into the ambulance and he was swearing like a longshoreman. He seemed to be pretty clear-headed but when I spoke with him later in the day he admitted he didn’t remember any of that.

Here’s his IG post summing up the situation:

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A post shared by Guillaume St-Cyr (@guillaumestcyr55)

I did a summary column right after the races that you can check out, if you haven’t already:

Photo Report | What Happened at the 2023 Atlanta Supercross

By Billy Rainford

2023 was my first trip to Atlanta for the Supercross held at Atlanta Motor Speedway. I’ve been to both of the stadiums before but never the infield of the big NASCAR track southwest of the city. To say traffic was “snarled” in downtown Atlanta would be an understatement. With the 3 right lanes closed on I-75 in one of the busiest sections of city highway in North America, the chaos it created meant I was going to be late to the track and miss free practice. 

I rolled in and could hear the bikes on the track. I never like showing up late. Truthfully, I pulled over for a nap in the #DMXVan last night at 2am and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out before I had a chance to remove my glasses or set an alarm. I was an hour away from the track and free practice was up in 30 minutes. There was no way around it, I was going to be late.

When I finally made it out to the track, I liked what I saw. The track was long, tough, and had more than a few sections that would separate riders: 2 sets of whoops – check. A wall jump – check. An over/under – check… this place had it all.

On a track that somehow looked more Daytona than Daytona, our Canadian hero RRCZ KTM rider #551 Guillaume St Cyr from Quebec was coming out of the pits and lining up to head out onto the track for his first qualifying session in 250 Group B. Unfortunately, he hit the ground hard in a rhythm section and was out for the day. 

He ended up on top of the on/off section and was in obvious distress. The session was red flagged and riders headed back to the starting area while Guillaume received the care he needed. 

They put him on a back board and loaded him into an ambulance for a trip to the local hospital where he would get further evaluated. Fortunately, nothing was broken but he did receive a pretty bad concussion and will need to be further evaluated before he hits the track again. At this point, he’s hoping to be back on the line to close out the 250 East in Nashville in 2 weeks time.

On a track that looked like it would perfectly suit a throwback to the bar-to-bar racing from the summer of 2022 between #1 Eli Tomac and #23 Chase Sexton, the pair held up their end of the bargain. Eli was quickest in Q1 and then Chase was fastest in Q2 to take the 450 top pick.

In both sessions, #9 Adam Cianciarulo looked to be coming into form and sat atop the board for much of Q1 and then bettered his time to take 2nd spot in Q2 and combined. Was this to be the night the former child prodigy came through in the top class?

For some reason, I always pay attention to who gets the loudest cheer from the crowd during opening ceremonies. The top 3 are usually Eli Tomac, Aaron Plessinger, and #94 Ken Roczen. That was the order as I saw it again here from the mid-afternoon Georgia crowd. 

250 Heat 1

Holeshot to the young phenom #238 Haiden Deegan ahead of #128 Tom Vialle, rookie #339 Talon Hawkins and points leader #96 Hunter Lawrence. 

Haiden messed up in a rhythm section (he stated at the Press Conference that he scrubbed so hard he put his bike into neutral) and dropped back to 4th place as Lawrence made passes to get to the lead. #30 Jo Shimoda was back in the pack early but was putting in fast laps and worked his way up to 5th and was closing on the group ahead. 

In the end, Lawrence looked comfortable in the lead ahead of Vialle and a very impressive 3rd place finish by young Hawkins. Deegan held on for 4th with Shimoda in 5th. 

As always, one eye needs to be kept focussed on the battle for the final transfer position in 9th place. This time, that battle included #116 TJ Albright and #86 Josiah Natzke. Natzke made to pass with less than a lap remaining but Albright fought back and took the position to move directly to the Main with Natzke to the LCQ.

250 Heat 2

Holeshot and a wire-to-wire win for #29 Nate Thrasher in this one. Early on it was #6 Alex Martin in 2nd and then #58 Jordon Smith chasing him in 3rd. #63 Max Anstie was next ahead of #57 Chris Blose. 

Smith got around Martin to take 2nd with Alex 3rd. 

450 Heat 1

Holeshot to Cianciarulo in this one and he looked good until he made a mistake and crashed at the end of the first whoops section, handing the lead to #2 Cooper Webb who had #94 Ken Roczen closing in on him throughout this one. 

As these two battled at the front, #751 Josh Hill was very impressive in 3rd place with #45 Colt Nichols behind him followed by #44 Benny Bloss, #47 Freddie Noren and #15 Dean Wilson. 

Roczen tried to make a move on Webb on the last lap but they would stay in order with a big gap back to Hill in 3rd. 

450 Heat 2

#1 Eli Tomac headed into the first turn with the edge until #51 Justin Barcia made his presence known and took the position from the inside and took off with #21 Jason Anderson in tow. 

Behind them, #46 Justin Hill was holding off defending champ Tomac like his life depended it. The two put on a great show until Tomac made the pass stick and moved ahead. 

#23 Chase Sexton was the rider on the move and he closed in to join the battle for the win on the final lap. In fact, the 3 riders were in the final corner together and then headed down the final rhythm section to the flag where Anderson held off Barcia and Sexton. 

250 LCQ

#285 Coty Shock, #67 Cullin Park, #602 Gage Linville, and #330 AJ Catanzaro moved on with #483 Bryton Carroll just 2 seconds out in 5th. 

450 LCQ

This race is always one to keep an eye on as the battles and energy are always at maximum levels; this one was no different. 

#7 Aaron Plessinger ended up in this one after bike issues in his heat race left him needing to line up for a rare LCQ race, much to the disappointment of the rest of the line. He had to make a few passes off the start but then this one was all his as he enjoyed the energy from the crowd. 

Behind him, moves were being made that had #68 Cade Clason moving up to 2nd, #519 Josh Cartwright taking 3rd, and #412 Jared Lesher moving up to pass a few riders and move on in 4th. #219 Chace Marquier was up in a qualifying position early and looked good but ended up in 6th place and missing the Main. #90 Tristan Lane is back after a hard crash and moved his way up through the field but came up just short in 5th, 1 second off the rear wheel of Lesher’s 250 2-stroke. 

The positive energy of the riders and their mechanics after this one was taken up a notch as arms were waving and fists were bumping everywhere. 

250 Main

Most of the top riders seemed to think the hot gates were now located a little farther to the outside heading down this long start straight into a box left-hand corner. #238 Haiden Deegan held on the gas a little longer from outside of the other top riders and came into turn 1 with the lead and managed to shut it down and hold it with Lawrence behind him and #58 Smith in 3rd. Lawrence would make a pass and takeover the lead early but Deegan would immediately take it back. 

Teammates Smith and #29 Thrasher were in a dog fight over 3rd place ahead of #63 Max Anstie and #339 Hawkins, who I have to say may have been the rider who impressed me most on this day. #30 Shimoda and #6 Martin followed them. 

Lawrence would make another pass for the lead on lap 3 in the sand section and that was all she wrote in this one. However, Smith pushed hard the entire race and actually made up some time on the Australian out front as the race progressed. 

Blose, #66 Henry Miller, and Hawkins ended up in a nice battle at the halfway mark of the 250 Main ahead of Park who was rounding out the top 10 at that point.

Martin had some troubles and was just cruising around late in this one and then #62 Jace Owen pulled into the pits to collect his mechanic and head to the pits. 

Watching the action at the front had to make you wonder what the Monster Yamaha Star Racing practice tracks are like during the week because Smith, Deegan and Thrasher weren’t giving each other an inch out there as they fought over 2nd place. 

Thrasher would go down hard at the end of the first set of tricky whoops. They wouldn’t red flag this one, but he was taken off in the Alpinestars Medics Mule for further evaluation and everyone who saw the crash said it was a pretty rough one. 

At the flag, it was Lawrence 8 seconds ahead of Smith in 2nd who had 6 1/2 seconds on Deegan who came home 3rd. Shimoda had crept up on him and crossed the line just 4 seconds behind the youngster in 4th. Anstie rounded out the top 5 14 seconds back of that.

450 Main

Ken Roczen grabbed the holeshot in the 450 Main ahead of Sexton but Chase would takeover the lead on lap 1 with Anderson in 3rd behind Roczen. Barcia was sitting 4th, Cianciarulo 5th, then Webb, Josh Hill, Tomac, #15 Dean Wilson and #46 Justin Hill. 

At this point early in the race, we had 2 Hills inside the top 10 again.

5 minutes in, it was Sexton, Roczen, and Barcia dropping the field with Webb and Tomac starting to fight over 4th place. Behind them it was Anderson, Cianciarulo, Plessinger, Jo. Hill, Wilson, Nichols, #12 Shane McElrath, and Ju. Hill.

At the half, Plessinger had gotten around both Anderson and Cianciarulo to take 6th and started to look like he may have something for the Webb/Tomac battle. 

Anderson started fading off the pace and then we heard Lurch say over the PA system that he had retired from the race.  

Sexton was looking solid out front and mentioned in the press conference that they had his bike “pretty stretched out right now,” so it was feeling stable at the high speeds of this outdoor stadium circuit. Of course, everyone standing on the sidelines had the same worry that something could happen and he’d throw away another potential win, but he didn’t buckle under the pressure. 

Barcia was all over Roczen and mentioned he had some thoughts of pressing the issue but kept his cool and waited for his chance which came with 6:15 left to go.

The field was little spread out at this point back to the tense battle for 8th between Wilson, Jo. Hill, and Nichols. 

At the flag it was Sexton with an exuberant checkered flag celebration 7 seconds ahead of Barcia in 2nd, 4 seconds ahead of Roczen rounding out the podium. The three riders came together on top of the following jump to celebrate together. 

Webb and Tomac were wheel-to-wheel at times in this one for 4th but in the end Webb took the points with 2 1/2 seconds to spare. 

Plessinger would close in and then drop back and finished 14 seconds behind Tomac in 6th. 

Next round is at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ next Saturday and it’s a 250 East/West Showdown.

And what are your thoughts on this Justin Barcia take?

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OK, it’s time to head over to Club MX, so we’ll have to end it here for this week. I hope that got you through another cup of coffee, at least. Have a great week. I’m meeting Emily in Newark and we’re going to hang out in New York City for a couple days before the East Rutherford East/West Shoot…er, I mean SHOWdown this week.

I grabbed us tickets to the new Jimmy Chin documentary film WILD LIFE that will be showing this week at the Angelika Theatre in SoHo, so that should be cool on Thursday night.

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Have a great week, everyone.