Round four of Monster Energy AMA Supercross in Glendale, Arizona, was a great race for sure. Triple Crowns are fun and, man, I thought the track was great. In fact, I thought all the tracks this year have been pretty good. Some big jumps, challenging whoops, and it’s like the track builders/designers have been reinvigorated this year. Good stuff.
Now having said that, in talking to the riders after the race it definitely seemed like maybe they went a bit far with the big jumps, combined with the hard, Arizona track surface. There was a small roller before the finish during qualifying where the guys could land on, but it was taken out for some reason. I’m guessing the powers that be thought it would discourage the riders from launching off the wall, but launching off the wall was faster, and these are professional dirt bike racers so they’re going to do what’s faster.
So, a lot of sore ankles and wrists and egos in the pits afterward, not to mention bike issues. Dylan Ferrandis told me he went through three rear axles, HEP Suzuki broke bearing races, and the Beat guys had issues also. Again, I liked the track and the action, but when we’re having issues like the above, yeah, something’s not right. I’m sure Mike Muye, Director of Operations – Supercross for Feld Motor Sports, got some phone calls this week on the track and obstacles.
Jett Lawrence’s ACL injury was bad news for Jett and the sport, but good news for a bunch of riders because to me, Jett was just going to get better and better. He’d gone 2-2 to start the two motos at Glendale and the bike was a bit better this week also. So now we wait and see if he can make it back for motocross and if not, the SMX Playoffs. The kid rides so clean, so effortlessly, it’s hard to think of him as someone who could get hurt. But then you see the little leg dab in Glendale, and it brings you back to how tough it is to stay healthy in our sport. And you know what? Lots and lots of racers come back from ACL’s and are fine, but every time you get surgery and miss time, you just never know.
So now, with the wonderkid out, this 2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship is going to be fire. Chase Sexton, Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen, and Cooper Webb’s eyes just got a little bigger as they began to think about one less obstacle out there to win this thing. Sextons got the red plate, but his starts haven’t been money, Tomac’s starts have been all over the place, while Roczen seems to have some momentum he’s not had before. And then there’s Webb, just lurking like he always does.
I’d rank them like this:
Speed: Tomac, Sexton, Roczen, Webb
Starts: Roczen, Webb, Sexton, Tomac
Smarts (on track): Webb, Roczen, Tomac, Sexton
This is going to get great!
Weege [Jason Weigandt] got mad at me for this list, but there were some very interesting storylines in the 250s at Glendale and I rank them as this:
1-Beamuer threw away two wins with first-lap crashes, while leading
2-Jordon Smith won and is just two points out of the lead
3-Haiden Deegan looks more and more vulnerable
4-Cole Davies won the first two Triple Crown mains and is, uhhhhh, amazing right now
I watched Deegs’ fast lap in qualifying and was like ‘Well, it’s not possible to ride any better than that for one lap,’ as he was close to perfect and looked great. And then I missed Julien Beaumer beating that time and going to #1. If he loses this title, Glendale might be the race that keeps him up at night.
I know Deegs just says things to say things and get a reaction, but him telling Weege on the Weege Show that he was only riding 75 percent and doesn’t really know how fast he is going because the really fast guys are in the east is, well, just another regrettable thing he’s said. He does know he’s third in the points, right? He’s got one win in four races? Someone should tell him his strategy of 75 percent isn’t really working right now.
Also, it’s Deegs and it’s Star Yamaha. If Davies keeps beating him things will get weird over there. That is something you can stamp. Should be interesting to watch.
There’s been plenty of bad news for Kawasaki with the injuries to the Pro Circuit squad and Jorge Prado getting hurt, but the good news is, I got the ‘2018 450SX Title,’ intro back into Jason Anderson’s opening ceremonies video! That should give me some street cred with him. I’m just out here righting a wrong.
I don’t understand how Enzo Lopes, with the depth of this 250SX class, can’t go fast enough to make the top 18. I have no idea what happened there.
Cooper Webb was on the PulpMX Show Monday night and said his team told him ‘We’re not saying you have to jump that triple across the start straight but if you don’t, you won’t be on the podium,” so Webb decided to air it out on the parade lap before the first main! Welcome to big-time SX, everyone! He then proceeded to holeshot the first TC main and win the damn thing by jumping the triple every lap, whereas Jett couldn’t do it. Impressive rebound for Webb at a round [Arizona] where he hasn’t done that well before.
Webb also told us he spent two days at the test track dialing in his suspension for Glendale and found something he liked. Then after press day, decided to go back to his base setting. Ah the days of the suspension guy…
Poor Freddie Noren…dislocated shoulder for him. I had one rider tell me he’ll be back this weekend because Freddie’s one tough SOB.
Justin Hill decided to show up in Glendale and aired some big stuff out. Because of course he did.
Off track, this Lawrence family/Lucas Mirtl thing is going to continue to get weirder and weirder to figure out. Many people on all sides of this are my friends so it’s tough to get inside and know what’s what. The Lawrence lawsuit is public record and is out here. Mirtl is pushing back on all those claims, and I suppose the courts will settle this. Obviously, it’s clear Mirtl had access to the bank accounts of the Lawrence VIP program and sort of treated it like his own and I suppose the lack of oversight, to me, by the Lawrence’s or someone else is a bit startling. But hey, they’re all longtime friends, I guess. I think no matter what, those documents (I’m assuming there’s much proof about all that, it’s now in a court of law) show that Lucas, at the minimum, wasn’t a very good partner, that’s for sure. Can it rise to be a criminal issue? People who are smarter than me say yes it could because of what you would sign when you open up an LLC like that. Also, other people in the agency business tell me that WMG (Wasserman Media Group) would have insurance for an employee of theirs (Mirtl) taking funds and the family should be okay on that end.
We’ll see in the coming months what happens here. Mirtl appears to have held onto the Coenen brothers as clients, so he’s got that going for him. But what I more wanted to focus on here is the untangling of the business Mirtl and the Lawrence’s have together. Mirtl does, or did, represent Chance Hymas, Seth Hammaker, and Tiger Wood, and they all ride and train at the compound. So, for all those guys, it’s probably a thing where they have to pick a side. Then there’s the VIP side of things, which Mirtl was a huge part of. It’s not unusual for agents to put up monies to get back on future earnings to help athletes out, so maybe some of those guys owe Mirtl something. Then there are the issues with Quadlock sponsorship the Lawrence’s had last year and now don’t, and there’s the WMG aspect where I would imagine whole new contracts and agents have to be found for the guys that are staying.
The point being, there were so many strings holding the Lawrence family business together with Mirtl, and him with other riders and sponsors, etc, that simply put, this whole thing is a mess. Clearly, Mirtl is going to go down fighting (with already some ridiculous claims in my opinion), and holy smokes, this could get a lot messier before it gets cleared up.
I thought I’d take a minute here and look ahead to this weekend in Tampa where the 250SX east series is kicking off. Holy crap is this coast stacked! Let’s talk about the strengths and weaknesses of the guys in this coast.
Tom Vialle
Strengths: Well, he’s the champ on this coast. He should be better than last year, right? Also, has a defending champion ever been more overlooked than Vialle?
Weaknesses: Whoops (but there are only nine to get through and they’ll be softer dirt) and yeah, he’s better in MX than SX, there’s no doubt, right?
RJ Hampshire
Strengths: Last year’s West Region champ is a gamer. Experience and speed are what he’s got just leaking out of him.
Weaknesses: Not coming in 100 percent from this wrist injury, he just started hitting whoops last week. Will start slow and you hope his desire to win doesn’t overpower his right wrist.
Chance Hymas
Strengths: Emerging star, good bike and team, hard worker.
Weaknesses: He’s not coming in 100 percent due to some arm pump surgery he had. He’s been hurt more than he and Honda would like.
Cameron McAdoo
Strengths: Veteran race winner knows how to get podiums when he can.
Weaknesses: He’s coming in with a knee injury from what I hear, is due to another bike issue that caused him to crash.
Levi Kitchen
Strengths: Almost won title last year, he’s on the rise, he’s won indoors and out/ I put him as the favorite coming in by a slight amount.
Weaknesses: His sickness that caused him to pull out of A1 was real, then I heard he crashed again a couple weeks ago in a good one. But he should be ready to go.
Seth Hammaker
Strengths: Seth’s really good. He’s won a race before, he’s led laps, set the fastest time, etc. And this year he’s been training at the Lawrence compound so that would help.
Weaknesses: Well, it’s like this. Seth gets hurt. A lot.
Pierce Brown
Strengths: New bike, new team, and new attitude for Brown who shockingly won the Vegas SMX round last year. If he’s going to take a leap, it feels like now or never, right?
Weaknesses: He really doesn’t have many podiums for being on a factory bike for that long. He used to crash a lot, last year he didn’t but he got a lot of bad starts.
Max Anstie
Strengths: Max held the red plate last year as a privateer, he’s on a great bike, he’s got experiences and there’s been low-key buzz about him coming in.
Weaknesses: Well, his return to Star in MX last season was…(shrugs) okay, I guess? And it’s not like you would say, ‘Well, Anstie is a better SX rider anyway,’ right?
Daxton Bennick
Strengths: I don’t really know, it’s been a weird start to Dax’s career with a bit of a lucky third to start last season in Detroit and then literally, not one other ride that stands out.
Weaknesses: I don’t know if he can thrive in that Star Yamaha environment, and this is a pivotal year for him.
Nate Thrasher
Strengths: He’s Nate Thrasher, the rider with the weirdest RXI Vault in history. Will Nate go REALLY fast one weekend and win a main, and probably a shootout at that? Yes, he will. Will there be other weekends where he’s invisible? Yes, there will be.
Weaknesses: That’s just it. He can’t seem to be consistently fast every week. And again, like others, he seems to get hurt easily.
Austin Forkner
Strengths: Well, he’s got the most wins out of anyone in the class and he won a race just last year but, yeah, you know…
Weaknesses: Like others, he can’t stay healthy, and he’s been through a lot. Every time a rider misses time, it’s harder and harder to climb back up the mountain. And also, I wonder if he will gel with the Triumph after so long at Kawasaki.
Max Vohland
Strengths: Max has missed a ton of time, but I imagine his bike skills are all still intact. He can really look nice riding a bike.
Weaknesses: Well, I don’t want to be THE guy to bring it up, but it would seem to me that Max having a hand brake and clutch on his bike would be a lot to deal with on a SX track. I hope he can figure this out.
Thanks for reading OBS! Email me at matthes@racerxonline.com if you want to chat about this or anything else and let’s take this to the east side.
