So, the shoulder bothered him in the second moto?
No, not shoulder, shoulder I think was good. When he got hit in the leg, and you can see where the teeth of the footpeg imprinted into his leg, he got like a dead leg. Kind of like when [Justin] Barcia hit him in Saint Louis, and he couldn’t move it there for a bit. Once that came around, he started going again and, he hit the ground hard, I think everything caught up to him. Luckily Doc G [Dr. H. Rey Gubernick], who is awesome, was able to fix him up between the motos and ready for the next one. And he said he felt good for a while there when he got into second and was going. And then he was like, “Dude all of a sudden it just came back, my leg was hurting, my body was hurting.” And he just ran out of energy, and he couldn’t pull it off.

It's weird to see him lose a moto and get passed. And Hunter's day?
Hunter’s day was pretty damn good, he got second [overall]. But I don’t think he was too happy with it because… the second moto wasn’t that great for him.

When you’re him and you are in second, and you had a good first moto, you don’t give up second. That’s when they get pissed.
Right. He was there at the beginning of the race and then J-Coop [Justin Cooper] pulled away the first couple of laps and he couldn’t get him back, and [Jason] Anderson was there for a while. And he wasn’t super happy with the bike, and to be fair, last week we tested with Jett all week and he went home. And then we came here, and he basically got Jett’s settings from this week. So, he never really had a lot of time to get used to it and ride it, but we tinkered with it and they were really confident that it was better and I’m not sure that it was. Maybe it was in certain spots, but it came down to he just didn’t have enough time to get used to it.

Chance Hymas, man, another impressive day. Didn’t get on the box but was right there. There are four guys that were the class of the field, and he was in that.
Yeah, he was in a similar situation to Hunter where he was tied for second with three guys and just needed one guy to do whatever, and it didn’t work out. Either way, super happy with him. Super stoked on his holeshot which is super difficult to do in the 250 class, and then his ride was strong. Second moto...he put a lot of energy into that first one, he had [Levi] Kitchen on him the entire race and he didn’t give it up, which is big for him. That’s a huge box checked off. So, the second moto I don’t think he had as much energy as the first, but still I told him after the first moto, “You’re one of the guys now.” He was bummed after the race and I was like, “You’re bummed on a fourth, that’s pretty cool.” He has finally come into what we thought he could be and it's cool to see him grow.

Levi Kitchen | 3-3 for third overall

Racer X: All right, Levi Kitchen, I don’t know what you normally think of Hangtown, last year not so great. But third overall today, you’ll take it?
Levi Kitchen: For sure, that was a little bit of a win for me, I think I got 12^th here last year. And I didn’t really feel comfortable all day, like practice I think I was like 16^th in the first one. It was just so fast. And I need to remember that I grew up racing here and it was slow. They would put a bunch of rice on it and it would be really slow, and lately it has just been extremely fast. I need to be a little bit better at that, send the outside berms and ride like that.

I need to look at your lap times but I feel like you had a lot of variance in your lap times. You had some really good laps where you were catching Haiden [Deegan] and it was good, then all of a sudden you would do a 2:04 and then a 2:01. I’m not sure if you were making mistakes or getting caught up with lappers, but it seemed like your laptimes were hot and cold.
They were for sure, and that was just being uncomfortable, I don’t really like riding... I don’t know it just wasn’t in my comfort zone, the way you had to ride this track like that. So yeah, I would do it and then I’d just be like, “I just don’t really like doing that, man.” I am just really looking forward to getting on some… who knows how they are going to prep the tracks actually now. Colorado is like the ruttiest track ever and I frickin’ love it so I hope it's like that.

Well last year, or the year before it wasn’t, so you are right, who knows how they are going to turn it.
Last year it was rutted, and I did well but I did well there too when it was not super rutted. I don’t know, I like it there and I feel like as we get more towards the East Coast the tracks slow down and they’re gnarly.

Yeah, coming down those hills it looked like for a few guys, even [Chase] Sexton in the 450 class, it was getting away from them. Scary moments.
For sure you saw Jett crashed, I’m not sure if he brain farted. Even Haiden, he was trying to push the extra edge, he crashed. It's just one of those tracks like, are you willing to do it or not? I was just like, “Dude, third for me, I am okay with it today.” I guess I just gotta grow some bigger balls, I don’t know.

As long as you grow them this week. We just saw Sexton go from 40^th to first, unbelievable.
Yeah, I am really happy for him. Obviously, we train together a little bit, and he needed that. I would be pretty worried if I were the rest of the 450 class honestly, because mentally he can be a little crazy so if he does that? Yeah, it's gonna be gnarly.

Good job, good start to the season, four motos down, you’re happy?
Very happy. Obviously, the goal, I want to be there at the end, and if I can score 40 points or more every weekend I think I am going to be in it at the end, so that’s my game plan.

Casey Cochran | 12-12 for tenth overall

Racer X: Casey Cochran, I wrote about you last week, I thought you rode great at Pala. No one would know because you were dead last. And you carried it over to here. First of all, did I hear you say you have never been here and then you qualified the quickest?
Casey Cochran: Yeah never been here, first time and then the fastest.

Dude that’s pretty good.
Yeah, I surprised myself. But the track this morning it was just coming to me so nicely. It was like you get in that flow state and you can’t be stopped and that’s what happened this morning.

I mean you had it and then Joey [Savatgy] took it away and then you laid down another heater and took it back. I mean you can do it once you can do it again, right?
Yeah that’s what made it feel good, I went to the top, went back to second and then went to the top again. So, it wasn’t just like a hero lap. It was good.

And what did you think about the motos for you today? Top ten?
Yeah, I got tenth overall. First ever pro top ten. It's a stacked class out there, I think we got 18 factory guys. So top ten at my, technically fourth pro national, but second this year. I am happy with it, building, and gonna look to improve every weekend.