The 16th round of Monster Energy AMA Supercross took place over the weekend in Denver, Colorado. There’s plenty to get into as well, from the track to the action in the 250SX Class, and everything in between. To better understand it, we tapped former pro, and NBC pit reporter, Jason Thomas, to break down the action from Denver.
The dirt in Denver is tricky to keep in good shape, and the wind made it even more difficult to get it to hold moisture. How’d the dirt develop, and who benefitted from its condition?
Denver’s dirt is inherently hard and slippery. The SMX Track Crew put in a Herculean effort to add some texture to it by adding sand and watering nonstop for days leading up to the race. With the aforementioned wind, though, it was always going to be an uphill battle. Between the elevation and hard-packed surface, riders were put to the test. Finding a balance between wheelspin and a lack of intensity is a literal slippery slope. I always feel that riders who grew up in conditions like Denver’s held a unique advantage. Jason Anderson’s pace was a good example of that.
The track was a lot drier and slicker for the second round of qualifiers, but the times were faster. How does that happen?
The first qualifying session had sticky ruts in all of the rhythm sections that forced riders to meticulously pick their way through. The track crew worked those ruts in for the second round and riders were able to carry much more speed through the corners and down the rhythm lanes. The traction may have been a bit less but the available momentum and overall speed was much higher.
The track always changes from what it was like during qualifying to the night program, but in Denver it was wildly different for the main events than it was in the morning. Is it hard to get a handle on different sections when the track surface changes so much?
Most of the riders have experience with changing conditions like this. If nothing else, 2024 has provided several opportunities to learn how things will develop. The biggest key is for riders to understand that the track in the night’s racing will change again and again. The heat race conditions will be much better than the main event and the first lap of the main event will likely be much better than the last. Conditions deteriorate as more and more laps are logged. Knowing when the track will accept aggression and when it won’t is all part of the racecraft required to succeed at this level.
The long rhythm lane was tricky, and it seemed like most of the guys had a hard time getting through it cleanly and consistently. What was it about that section that made it so tough?
I really think it was a lack of power in many cases. Riders were visibly laboring to clear obstacles that would be basic at sea level. The 250 riders were lifting with their arms and legs to step off the tabletops and clipping obstacles they would normally get over with ease. The sections themselves were nothing extraordinary. The lack of torque at 5,000 feet, however, is.
Eli Tomac looked spicy early when he passed into third, but then he went down and just didn’t have any speed left. How does he go from challenging for a podium to finishing tenth?
That crash had to be mentally crippling. He was already dealing with a sore wrist and then the emotional letdown of that crash had to be hard to swallow. There was so much expectation for Tomac to put in a heroic effort in his return to Denver. That expectation was probably unfair but no one ever claimed this was going to be fair. He didn’t have a good day at all, honestly. He struggled at every turn both day and night. [Note: Later we also learned that Tomac strained his thumb when he crashed in the main event]
Down goes Tomac! 😮
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Jett Lawrence took the win, but his brother, Hunter, might have had the ride of the night, taking second. Before Denver, Hunter Lawrence didn’t have that kind of speed. What was different about him?
I wish I knew! This type of ride had been building though. He was hovering around podium finishes as of late, was the fastest qualifier in Philly, and seemed poised for a breakout. The holeshot and early pace had to be a big boost in confidence for Hunter. I was more impressed by his ability to pick his pace back up as Anderson challenged during the middle of the race. A less confident Hunter falls into the grasp of Anderson. Kudos to #96.
Levi Kitchen’s boot buckles came loose during the main event. Have you ever had that happen? How much of a difference does something like that make when you’re battling at the highest level?
I have and it’s not much fun. I actually lost my boot entirely in the first turn at Washougal once but I was able to put it back on and race the moto. The hardest part is in maintaining concentration. Having his bottom two buckles intact helped, but surely he lost the ability to grip and squeeze the motorcycle in the way he needed to. Had those bottom buckles come off, it would have been catastrophic to his title chances. Best case, he stops and re-buckles them but I would guess he loses 10-15 seconds in that scenario. Luckily for Kitchen, that was not the case.
Jo Shimoda was awesome all night. He won his heat race and took his first win of the season. Where’d that come from?
Is it unfair to say that this is what Jo does? Looking at Jo’s results, he is always his best late in the season. He has more speed, better starts, and better results. The data doesn’t lie. The real question is, why? He has the ability, equipment, and experience to win at any point. Why can he not execute earlier in the year? My guess would be that it’s a mental battle and not a physical one. To take the next step, though, is a battle he needs to conquer.
RJ Hampshire, try as he might, wasn’t able to catch Kitchen, although he was slowly inching up on him. What parts of the track was he using to make up ground on Kitchen?
It seemed more like a yo-yo effect of small mistakes. Both riders were on the edge and that leads to slip-ups here and there that can cost a second here, or half a second there. It was very difficult to put in perfect laps with a lack of power and traction, coupled with both of them red-lining their limit. I asked RJ about it just before his podium interview and he said he simply couldn’t find an edge. Shimoda, Kitchen, and RJ were all turning the same lap times and were doing the same things. The only edge RJ could muster was in the whoops (Kitchen started jumping due to the boot issue) but he was very inconsistent there. Track position on the first lap was the story of Denver.
