I had the pleasure of riding Unadilla back in 2012, but not at the national, after the national! That’s right, I got the chance to ride like six different factory bikes the day after the national and I still have nightmares about how gnarly the track was. I have never seen so many ruts in my life! Not only how many there were but how long each one was as well! It was like the whole track was ruts. The only part that didn’t have ruts was the start straight area. I think Unadilla is the most underrated toughest tracks we have on the schedule. After hearing from some riders after the race, it sounds like nothing changed in 2021! Here is Daytime Program served up a little different this week!
450 Class:
Best Day: Not that hard to figure out that Roczen had the best day. I mean the dude is insane to watch ride and it’s awesome that he barely sticks his legs out in these monster sized ruts at Dilla. He keeps his feet up and on the pegs for efficiency and I can relate as I have been riding with my bad leg up for quite sometime. It’s not easy folks! Oh and the fact he basically worked everyone both motos proves to me I was right this whole time! POSSUM! No, but seriously I knew he would be good this year even though he thought he might not have been. Good to see Kenny back up there and winning races like he did when he was at RCH. I bet you Webb feels like Kenny did this year in Supercross right? It’s like he can go anywhere and pass Coop without an issue right now.
Worst Day: Aaron Plessinger gets this title with the loop out at the finish line. How many memes are we going to see from this one on social media. Poor AP! From what I have heard from the inside of the team is that AP simply had misjudged his body weight when he landed and that forced his right hand to grab a metric shit ton of throttle. We all saw the aftermath. Hopefully AP is just banged up and not screwed for next week’s race. He did look really good up until that point and although I don’t think he had Roczen covered, I do think he was the second best guy Saturday.
Most Surprising: Schock the monkey! That was a good song and Coty Schock had a great day! A 10th overall for basically a stock bike! Oh, but what about praising his engine guy too! What a concept! Chad at XPR does amazing work and even though there isn’t a lot done to Coty’s engine, the ECU and the small pieces Chad does add, makes for a great bike for Coty to get these top 10s on. Coty has been exceptional all year and Unadilla proved that this kid deserves a factory ride somewhere. I mean when you qualify in the top ten and then finish in the top 10, in a 450 national, you’re a bad MOFO! Coty is a great human being and has a bright future! Congrats to him as well as his mechanic Tony Archer for busting their ass and showing our industry that these two should be getting paid! I think Honda is going to be digging into their own pockets next year to pay Coty’s salary instead of dipping into the Chaparral team’s budget. That’s a great thing as Honda is recognizing Coty is putting in some solid rides. Maybe a fill in for net year as well? My sources say, possible!
Least Surprising: Dylan Ferrandis takes this title because he has just been solid all year. If he doesn’t have the speed to win, he doesn’t freak out, he just rides consistent. That consistency is good enough for podiums on his bad days! I think he holds the red plate all the way through Hangtown! If we have a Hangtown!
Best Dressed: Chase Sexton gets the nod for the cleanest look as well as the most put together from head to toe! Great job to Alpinestars!
250 Class:
Best Day: Remember when I said Jett wasn’t fun t watch? Yeah, I was a dumbass! The kid is insane with his legs and is so fluid on the bike, it’s unreal! The only other younger kid that is close to this is Jo Shimoda, but he simply doesn’t have the speed The Jett has. To be able to pass the fastest guys in the 250 class on a track that was kind of hard to pass on means Cooper better start watching his six a lot more! If Jett gets decent starts (top 5), at this stage of the series, I think he’s in Cooper’s head a little now. This may cause Cooper to make some mistakes and score up his points lead (although small). The first moto you could just see that Jett was like “Oh ok, I will take a second in the first moto, but in the second moto I am going to smash the crap out of these dudes. Great technique, bike set up looked good and starts were also huge for him at Unadilla.
Worst Day: Austin Forkner has got to be wondering WTF did I do to the moto gods?! The kid has the ability, but pending a nagging injury we may not know about, what is up? Is it because he lost his spleen? I mean that has got to hurt your immune system right? When you have some bad internal organ injuries the sport gets even harder. At this level you have to be in the upper echelon of elite fitness. When you have had injuries like Austin, it has got to take a toll! Yes, I know he crashed at Unadilla, but the injuries leave marks and there is only so many marks one can have before something has to give. No it’s not his chic, so everyone calm down.
Most Surprising: I guess we would have to say that the 12-7 score of Levi Kitchen was surprising right? Or maybe it was Max Vohland’s 6-5? Either way both of these dudes surprised me with their overalls as well as there consistency at tracks they have NOT been to before. Impressive.
Least Surprising: Justin Cooper getting second was the least surprising to me as I expiated him to win or get second at this stage in the series as well it being his home race. Not being able to go 1-1 yet this season has got to be driving him crazy, but it seems these second motos are a little hard to get done. Is it fitness? Lack of concentration? Both? Let’s dissect this after Budds Creek.
Best Dressed: Jo Shimoda and Fox Racing take the cake in Unadilla. I loved Washougal’s set up from the PC Race Team and they did another great job in New York! There is only a few companies that I think have some great looking 22 gear and Fox is one of those.
