We did a story on PulpMX.com a while back about how the starts have seemed more important than ever before in SX. I think with what seems like easier tracks and nine, loader-built whoops, then add in the riders being closer than ever due to training facilities/bike advancements, and we have what some call “start-cross” and not “supercross.” So, I asked Nick over at MX Reference (a great follow on the socials BTW), to dig up the position of the racers at the white stripe this year in SX (much more accurate than the AMA’s position at the end of the first lap stats) and correlate them to their finishes. Some interesting info in here for sure: 

*Counting Triple Crown Races as the same for this (12 regular mains, 9 Triple Crown races).

Race Winners

Average starting position of race winners: 2.62
Lowest starting position to win a race is Cooper Webb, starting tenth in Seattle.

Riders with holeshots have a 42.86 percent winning percentage (nine wins in 21 races).

Sixteen out of 21, or 76.19 percent, of race winners have started in the top three. The five other instances: fourth place three times, sixth, and tenth.

Podiums

Average starting position of podium finishers: 4.10
Lowest starting position to podium is Ken Roczen, starting 12th in Anaheim 2, Triple Crown, first race.

Fifteen out of 21, or 71.43 percent, of riders who have holeshotted have ended up on the podium. The six instances they haven’t, the riders were: 

Jett Lawrence – 4th in Dallas (he crashed twice late). Justin Cooper twice, Jorge Prado, Mitchell Oldenburg, and Vince Friese.

So basically, if they are a top rider/former race winner they will podium with a holeshot unless they crash twice. Only three times has a rider started outside the top 10 ended up on the podium.

Laps Led

There are only two instances of a rider leading a lap while starting outside the top five:

Tomac at Anaheim 2, Triple Crown race three, started sixth. Webb in Seattle started tenth.

WHITE STRIPE AVG Position (Minimum 11 Starts)

Good stuff, thanks to MX Reference and yes, we’re very much having a “start-cross” season. I blame the nine whoops, but that’s just me. Back to Philadelphia.

Well, that was more domination from the Aussie kid huh? Last week The Jett (Lawrence) hung around and hung around early in the main before zapping the best SX riders in the world to grab the win and stretch out five points on Webb. This week he absolutely executed a perfect dive to the inside of some guy named Tomac and grabbed the holeshot, the lead, and led every lap to win again. All of us “experts” were like “OH NO HERE COMES Cooper Webb, HE’S THE ULTIMATE CLOSER AND JETT HASN’T WON IN THREE WEEKS AND THEY’RE TIED AND OMGGGGGGGG,” and yeah, Lawrence handily won the last two to quiet all of us. At one point I watched him out there and he was going wide in the turn before the whoops and tripling, he was going high in the berm before the sand to triple/double in, and it all looked like an effortless joyride to him. He did come VERY close to the tough blocks one lap in that jump-into-the-sand line, and he told me afterward that it was close to him also but in the end, Jett went Jett and everyone else was powerless to stop it. And what was tied two weeks ago is now a 12-point lead for the #18.

There was a mechanic change for Chase Sexton this week as Brandon Zimmerman, who he brought over from Honda, was let go and replaced with test guy Kyle Defoe. It had nothing to do with the bike malfunction from last week (wasn’t Zimm’s fault), and also had nothing to do with Chase himself. From people I talk to, it was just a case of Zimm not fitting in with the orange guys and I would expect Zimm to land somewhere good real soon.

When it comes to Chase himself, he had great race in Philly to come up and pass Webb, Tomac and Anderson to get second. At one point he was catching Lawrence as well, but as Jett told me, he did have some lappers and was watching the #1. But either way, Sexton’s race was great and although it’s been a trying year for Chase and the team, he’s riding well. Heck, you give him a podium last weekend and he’s in front of ET in the points and not that far behind Webb for the runner-up spot. I know, if ifs and buts were candies and nuts. I’m just saying, Sexton’s year has been so weird right? He’s only got that one mudder win and he should be third in the points but yet, because he’s Chase Sexton, he’s judged differently. I myself, look at the raw speed he’s lost this year and based on that, I think it’s not been a great season for the champ.

I ran into the Kawasaki guys Sunday morning at the airport like I usually do. Team Green flies with the great United Airlines like I do so I share a lot of flights with them throughout the season. I mentioned to them that it’s not a surprise that Jason Anderson has had two good rides recently on the two harder packed tracks, and they agreed. The New Mexican grew up on the harder-packed stuff and he’s better there. This week we had a “normal” SX (ie: where the track didn’t look like bombed out Baghdad in 1992) and Jason rode well. Even got an unsuspecting Webb in the last turn for the last spot on the podium. That’s got to hurt Coop big time. Jason rode really well out there and scored his first podium in eight (!!) races.

I don’t know what it was about Philadelphia and the BluCru guys but both Webb and Tomac didn’t have days they want to remember anytime soon. ET went from second to fifth and Webb went from second to fourth. It’s funny because I thought Tomac looked great in qualifying but was only fifth-fastest, Webb qualified second (it took Hunter Lawrence on the very last lap of his session to dethrone Webb from getting his third pole position of the year) and they started two and three. Everything looked set up!

Then it wasn’t. Weird races by a couple of all-timers. Webb wasn’t happy, and both guys are probably pissed off all week long. Eli going into his home race is a heavy favorite, BTW.

Max Anstie got a win last season for the Firepower Honda team, but it was in extremely muddy conditions in New Jersey. It was awesome, he killed it, but it was always the “Ehhh, it was a mudder” thing. Even though Mad Max has won heats, got on pole position, and his obvious speed was, well, obvious. This weekend in Philly he got the dry win that he said he also sort of needed. Again, Anstie is fast, we can see that, but in Philly he stalked Seth Hammaker for most of the main and then made his move. It looked all rather easy for Max who seemed to be able to close any gaps on Hammaker after about five laps.

Great work for Anstie, who by all accounts is going back to Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing for next year. He rode there in 2010 so yeah, I’m pretty sure 15 years is some sort of record for the gap between signing with the same team.

I was on the privateer Moto XXX team in 2002 working for Nick Wey and at Washougal that year, Kyle Lewis and Larry Ward made the podium in their classes while Wey got a fifth. It was incredibly cool for me and everyone on the team that this little team could do that well against the factories. And the guys at Firepower Honda should be proud of what they’ve done. To win a race, especially against the factory guys in the 250 class. Great deal! Congrats to Yarrive, Marty, Nate, and everyone there.

Tom Vialle and Haiden Deegan were awesome in Philly. Somehow, the top two riders in the series both absolutely blew their starts and were forced to come from outside the top ten to second and third. Man, that was intense watching them because you knew Deegan needed to get a bit aggressive with Tom if he could get him. Vialle was on rails man, it was impressive to watch him rail the inside ruts and carry so much speed. Deegan would yo-yo with him for the whole main and just couldn’t get Tom into the Danger Zone. The way the two worked through the field and yes, they got some help, was, for me, the race of the night day.

Great rides by both of them and Vialle has a 15-point lead going into the showdown in SLC. I think that’s enough for Vialle. He’s a great starter and will put himself into the right position to do enough. That is, if Star Yamaha doesn’t surround him with their other six riders and make his life miserable.

The Seth Hammaker/Jalek Swoll thing was interesting. Look, both riders won their heats (great work for Hammaker to do that in a return from injury, and great work for Swoll to deliver Triumph its first heat race win ever), so that was cool, and I think their collision in the sand was really a racing incident. Hammaker said that Swoll was not having that, he was very angry after the race, but then apologized. But I watched Swoll’s SwapMoto interview and, yeah, he didn’t seem to me to be thinking it was a racing incident. Both guys were going for it and taking different lines, and hey, they came together. Hammaker shouldn’t have slowed up because as Swoll said, he showed him his wheel. How is Hammaker supposed to know Swoll didn’t make a mistake earlier and was further back than before? And Hammaker said he didn’t see this “wheel” of Swoll’s, but like I said, he’s not going to assume Swoll is as close as he was. The way I look at it is, the guy behind ran into the guy in front and the guy in front doesn’t have eyes on the back of his head. Hammaker was fine with it when IMO, if anyone was mad, it should have been him.

I think regardless of this, both riders rode very well, and it was eye-opening for both of them. Swoll is doing as well or better on a new bike than he did on a very established brand and Hammaker, although it’s been up and down, has shown you that Mitch Payton can work with speed. BTW, on the PulpMX Show Payton confirmed that he has re-signed both Hammaker and Cameron McAdoo to new deals for 2025.

Other news and notes:

Hunter Lawrence has a 450SX heat race win, he’s got a 450SX podium, and now he’s got a fastest qualifier award also. Little tiny steps for Hunter in the premier class. His main event battle with Barcia was awesome to watch, including a feet-off-the-pegs whoop pass which even Barcia seemed to appreciate.