Seattle was on the menu this week in Monster Energy AMA Supercross, and with that in mind, you knew we were going to A, get rain and B, have a soft and rutty track. We got both, although it wasn’t a mudder, if that makes sense.
“F**k this, my life this year has sucked,” one mechanic told me about the slog that has been 2024 SX. It’s not anyone’s fault, we have more open-air stadiums than ever before and have been hit with more bad weather than in recent memory. Add in that teams are now required to wash their bikes in designated areas in some cities and it’s just making life hard on the teams these days. San Francisco, San Diego, Anaheim 2 (somewhat), Birmingham, and this weekend have all been a lot of work for everyone on the teams, and they have my sympathies. It’s tough work!
When you talk to the riders after the races or after practice, if they’re not one of the elite dudes, they tell you how hard it is to even do the basics out there. I mean, Phil Nicoletti told us that after a few laps he was forced to double the whoops. That was all he could do and Phil’s a great rider. Go watch some of the IG stories of the track—most of us wouldn’t even be able to do a lap out there and we’re asking these dudes to send it for 20 minutes.
I can’t wait for this weekend in St. Louis. Great dirt, a domed stadium, and we’re going to see the guys be able to push/scrub/jump all throughout the night. I mean, Weege on our Racer X/Fly Racing review podcast had a point about the last “non muddy/rutty mess” race we had in Glendale and how that was a snoozer, but St. Louis will have better dirt and traction. It’s a Triple Crown also! Should be a good one, right?
Okay, let’s get to the results, shall we?
250SX Results
1 | #47 | Levi Kitchen
Now this is the stuff you dream about. In your hometown, you qualify fastest, you win the heat, and then win the main event by over 20 seconds. This was a dominant ride for Kitch and also, his first ever win at a non-Triple Crown SX. Afterward he admitted he had thought about that. Kitchen pulls out a bigger points lead in front of friends and family in what he said, and I agree with, was an “easy” win. He was that good. What a performance and look at that, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki holds both red plates. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
2 | #24 | RJ Hampshire
Props to RJ for admitting he didn’t have anything for Kitchen and that he needed to be better. But to pull off a runner-up finish when you’re not at your best isn’t too bad. Yeah, both in the heat and the main event he lacked that “RJ-ish” stuff that he usually has. Maybe it was the break and he’s got to get back into it?
3 | #30 | Jo Shimoda
Honda worked on starts with Jo during the break and it looked like it worked with the fake start and then the heat race, but not so much in the main. Everyone on the Red Riders is very happy with Shimoda’s riding this year but starts have killed him. It would’ve been a very Jo “thing” to have won this race.
4| #26 | Garrett Marchbanks
Garrett was very fast in Seattle, but he got, YET AGAIN, garbage starts. Remember, he made the podium in worse conditions than this earlier in the year, and so I asked the guy from Utah why he’s so good in this stuff. He explained that his dad used to flood a field and make him ride in the ruts. Well, okay then. Anyway, Marchbanks was great and had to be bummed when Jo got by him late to grab third. I wonder if Garrett finds himself back on a factory team next year, as they like to “work with speed”.
5 | #41 | Carson Mumford
Mumfy was very good in Seattle. He worked his way up from a ways back and sort of followed Marchbanks through the pack. He credited his 450SX race as sort of helping him develop the right attitude to fight through guys out there.
6 | #76 | Michael Mosiman
Not too many guys had a worse 2023 than Mosiman. Crashes, injuries, and probably some other stuff all squashed Mosi’s chances last season. He got dropped by TLD, he was on a privateer Honda team at one point (he passed me at GH one day), and then got the call to test ride a Star Yamaha. But then I heard his back was jacked so that chance was gone. Then we got a PR saying he’d signed a multi-year deal with the team. Oh, the ups and downs of Star and Mosiman! He was put into the B practice, which means he hit the track first, so with the help of great track condition, he qualified fastest in Seattle! This would make a great TV movie one day “As the Mosi turns…”. Anyway, he got a bit fortunate to get this spot in Seattle but it’s a good start for the talented kid.
7 | #929 | Julien Beaumer
JuJu was up there early and drifted back a ways. He’s from Lake Havasu so I imagine there wasn’t a lot of practicing on tracks like Seattle for him in his life. Maybe his dad needed to flood a field?
8 | #100 | Anthony Bourdon
Four top-tens for Bourdon in his six 250SX races this season and he sits sixth in the points as well. Not too shabby for Toyota of Redlands/BarX Suzuki and the Frenchman.
9 | #57 | Nate Thrasher
This was not good. I don’t know man, maybe it was a bike problem? Nate was on the move up and looked good to get a fourth at least when he started going backwards.
UPDATE: Nate put on his social that he had no clutch, which explains a lot.
10 | #71 | Cole Thompson
Never noticed him.
11 | #36 | Phillip Nicoletti
Phillip was extra angry in the media scrum after the race in what he said was “the worst race of my career,” as he got good starts in the heat and main and then was basically a turnstile. But Phil, as usual, was wrong. He’s had way worst races than Seattle in his career. I can vouch for this.
12 | #73 | Robbie Wageman
Wageman’s not a mud guy so he’s got to be wondering what he did to have so many crappy races so far in 2024. Not much fun for a guy like him.
13 | #34 | Ryder DiFrancesco
Oh no! Ryder D was eighth with one lap to go and crashed. He picked himself up and finished 11th. But then he was docked two spots because he cut the track making his way to the finish. This really sucked for him and my fantasy team. Come to think of it, he also hurt my team in Glendale when he crashed out. There might be a Ryder D ban on PulpMX Fantasy.
14 | #31 | Jordon Smith
Well, the one thing that’s hurt Jordon in his career has been crashes and it’s been impressive to see him hold it together this 250SX west series. But remember, in Glendale he crashed twice in the main and this week he had a big one when he was in second. Then he had a bunch more small ones where he looked a bit out of it. Is he out of this title fight? No, not yet, but he’s got to win this weekend and then win or get help at the showdown.
15 | #35 | Talon Hawkins
Hawkins looked like he had a rough practice where he crashed approximately 47 times, but he brought it home in the LCQ behind his teammate to put it into the main.
16 | #85 | Hunter Yoder
Yoder had a pretty good practice crash that left him on the side of the track for a while and I wasn’t sure he was going to race, so this was a good result, considering that.
17 | #473 | Lux Turner
There’s a lot of low-key “Lux” hype in the industry from people who see him ride during the week, or who know the AEO guys. I mean, I went with it and picked him for fantasy just based on the hype and he won the LCQ to somewhat justify that? I also think “Lux” is a cool name.
18 | #116 | TJ Albright
TJ’s been a top privateer this season and got into the main on the last turn of the last lap in the heat race when Max Miller decided, for some weird reason, to go wide in the turn. Whew! TJ got in that way and Miller got a bad start in the LCQ and DNQ’d. Tough break for sure.
19 | #245 | Matti Jorgensen
Jorgensen rides at the Lawrence compound and you knew being Danish, he’d be good in the Seattle slop, which he was. He was good at the full mudders earlier this year as well.
20 | #78 | Joshua Varize
Not that long ago Varize was on his way to being a guy. He filled in on the factory Husky team, he got some special parts for his KTM as a privateer, but then yeah, injuries and some sub-par rides and here we are. This sport is not easy.
21 | #162 | Max Sanford
Sanford is quietly underrated. He gets it done most weekends.
22 | #88 | Dylan Walsh
Walsh jacked himself up at Anaheim 1, and this was his first race back since then, so to get into the main is impressive. As to what happened in the main, I don’t know.
450SX Results
1 | #2 | Cooper Webb
The Webbaissance continued with Coop getting his third win of the year. What he did was his typical thing—he rode close to the leader and got them late. Only this time he almost threw it away with some mistakes of his own after he got Sexton when Sexton made mistakes. Look, this track was tough on everyone! Webb was using the wall-jump in the sand to his advantage early in the race, and he was, as usual, turning pretty low in many turns out there. He made up five points on the #18 with six races to go so that’s great. He also gave us an all-time podium quote in his true DGAF style.
2 | #1 | Chase Sexton
Sexton did about all one can do but win a race. He led 16 laps and pulled away before making mistakes, and then also pulled up to Webb at the end when he needed to. He seems to be back to a better form after the hand injury and happier with his riding. He had a rear brake-pedal issue also from tagging a TuffBlock or a rut and he stalled it as well. On the PulpMX Show Monday, Chase said he’s having fun again riding, is happier with his bike, he’s injury free now, and so we should look for a better Chase Sexton to end the SX season. A lot happened to Chase Sexton in this race and he still almost won on a track that was destroyed.
3 | #18 | Jett Lawrence
Well, we have the blueprint to beat Jett. All that needs to happen is a crash, stall, and then get stuck behind a lapper. That’s it. No big deal. After that he's beatable. The #18 was seriously impressive and I thought he had the win in the bag until, yeah, a multitude of mistakes kept him to a third. His best time was still almost a second a half better than anyone else, he was getting the rhythms better than anyone else in the main, and of course, we saw the sand wall. Ridiculous speed.
4 | #7 | Aaron Plessinger
AP was not happy with his riding last week, but he turned it around seven days later with a very good ride from outside the top ten to being all over Jett by the end. He admitted that Jett was cruising at the end, so he wasn’t going to hang his hat on catching him, but man, he did get better and better as the race went on.
5 | #94 | Ken Roczen
Roczen had a tough day, he crashed in the first practice, he couldn’t get a decent time in second session, he crashed in the heat, went to the LCQ, won that, and then his goggle strap broke on the line while the 30-second board was up! He also said he wasn’t feeling the greatest coming into the weekend. Considering all of this, it's not surprising that afterward he told me might’ve been the best fifth of his career!
6 | #3 | Eli Tomac
ET was great all day long until it came to the drop of the gate in the main event. He got a garbage start (continuing his trend of garbage starts form last week’s Triple Crown) and had to work up but on this track, there was only so much you were going to do. I thought this could’ve been a Tomac win or even a podium had he started with everyone else, but instead, it’s another race where he’s not on the box or even in the top five. Three straight weeks without a top five is strange for Eli Tomac.
7 | #96 | Hunter Lawrence
Hunter had a good night despite this seventh. He won a heat! This is the first time I would guess brothers ever won heats in 450SX in the same night, and then in the main he put in a great charge late in the main and picked off a lot of dudes as well. He set his fastest lap of the night on his second-to-last lap as well. He was on it late and the heat race win is a step in the right direction. Good night for Hunta’.
8 | #32 | Justin Cooper
J Coop was steady and solid all night long. He’s a very start-dependent guy, as we’ve seen he can rip off a lap as good as anyone out there, but he’s not elite enough (*yet) to go that much faster on a beat-up track to pass the top guys.
9 | #51 | Justin Barcia
BamBam is happier with his bike, which is a good thing. Now he’s got to work on getting some of his old spice back. I mean, we haven’t had one damn Barcia controversy and it’s already round 12! WE ARE NOT ENTERTAINED!!!!
10 | #21 | Jason Anderson
Man, Anderson has pulled some good starts the last four mains (last week’s Triple Crown and this week) but he has been getting passed more than I bet he would like. It’s not been an easy time for JA. I wonder if getting back on a “normal” track this week might be better for the New Mexican? There’s also a theory I’m working on where he started at ClubMX about a month ago and his results haven’t been good for about that long and I’m thinking a transfer of power happened with a Mr. Phil Nicoletti? Hmm, well at least Jason didn't resort to doubling the whoops. I'm still researching this theory, BTW.
11 | #27 | Malcolm Stewart
I don’t know man, I wonder if, like I do with Barcia, this might be the new norm for Malcolm now? Which is, he’s just "a guy." They’re both 31 years old and yeah, anything past 30 is typically when motocrossers start to slow down. Nothing wrong with what the guys are doing but they haven’t run up front in a main all year long. I’m not saying this IS what they are, but hey, father time is undefeated ICYWW.
12 | #67 | Benny Bloss
Benji was stoked on his ride as he came from way back to this spot. He said this was better than his ride in Daytona earlier in the year when he got tenth and his team celebrated like they had won. Considering he thought he broke his collarbone last week and would be out for a while, this is awesome. Also, late in the race, in the rhythm out of the first turn, he came up short on the triple, then bounced his way through the rest of the rhythm blitzing each jump(!!). It was something only a man with legs like the redwoods could’ve done.
13 | #55 | Mitchell Oldenburg
I don’t know which races MCR are doing or what’s going on (earlier this year manager Tony Alessi said they want to race the SMX series and do some nationals, but I guess, not all the SX races?), but whatever races they do go to, Oldenburg will be on a 450 for now on. He’s a great rider and now can maybe push a little more on the big bike, as opposed to before when he was sort of always saving himself for his 250 west series. One thing for sure, Mitch does not want to do any outdoor races!
14 | #9 | Adam Cianciarulo
AC is living life as a lapper right now and it doesn’t sound like he’s enjoying it much. Got to be weird, right? But that’s just where he is at the moment where, especially on tracks like this, he can’t ride loose. He told me he stopped on the track to let the leaders by and dudes who were legit behind him just zoomed on by.
15 | #125 | Vince Friese
It does seem that Vince has been a bit muted since his controversies earlier this year, right? He did get that Friese start in the heat, but man, his old whoop struggles were right back again, and he didn’t look very good there all night long.
16 | #12 | Shane McElrath
Shane’s just in that spot outside the top ten, ahead of the privateers who make the main each week, and you don’t notice him that much. Earlier in the year he got a fourth in the mud and he’s gotten some good starts here or there, but generally, he finds his spot and he does the laps. There are worse things to say about a racer, I suppose.
17 | #29 | Ty Masterpool
Sorry, I didn’t like the Tuxedo gear Masterpool was wearing. I mean, we are a professional sport, right? What’s next, sexy woman gear with big boobs or a chef apron on? Fake muscles? Sorry not sorry, and I know I sound like the old man yelling at the clouds, but can we do something about this?
18 | #52 | Derek Drake
I didn’t notice Drake at all. Like, seriously, my bad. I got nothing.
19 | #81 | Cade Clason
Cade looked great to start the year, then went into this horrific slump where everything went wrong, and he couldn’t make mains. Then he got into the Triple Crown last week, which is based more on speed than racing. But then he had that “thing” with Webb. This week he rode well in the heat to pass into the top nine, and I guess he’s just a main event guy again?
20 | #200 | Ryan Breece
Breece had an epic LCQ battle with Kyle Chisholm and Friese. It was like one of those wrestling promos where three men enter (the LCQ) and two leave. And also, Breece and Friese are not scared to get a little greasy, if you know what I mean. One thing I knew for sure though was that Chiz was gonna Chiz and get in. I mean, that’s just what he does right? Well not on this night, he went over the bars and crashed out and Ryan and Vince cruised into the main. Home race for Breece as well.
21 | #148 | Justin Rodbell
We didn’t have as bad of conditions like earlier this year when Rodbell was putting it into mains, but this wasn’t that far off, and the dude rode himself into another main event. The Winter of Rodbell might be coming back on.
22 | #82 | Mitchell Harrison
Harrison’s ridden much better lately than earlier in the year but in Seattle he crashed in the first turn (I think) and then crashed out of the race later on. Not a banner night for him.
Thanks for reading OBS this week from Seattle. We’ll be back next week in St. Louis this week to watch that race and hey, probably write something about it too. TRIPLE CROWN!!! Email me at matthes@racerxonline.com if you want to chat about this or anything else.
