The final Triple Crown came through the desert of Arizona and although it wasn’t the most exciting of the Triple Crowns it did come to the last moto of the night in each class. Since I was busy getting ready for the most anticipated event of the year, Life Swap, I will keep this short yet fun to read.
Eli Tomac: You would think that the way Tomac rides that hard pack tracks wouldn’t be that great for #3 but with the long start straight in Phoenix, it helped having that YZ power get him near the front every race. These last few races will be great for Tomac, but Webb has been known to be good at these Speedway races so look for these two to battle next weekend. I do think Coop dug himself a little hole as Tomac now has 7 points on him, but Tomac still needs to win at least two more races and podium in the others to ensure this title. It’s going to be fun for us fans to watch ALL go down. Oh and Tomac hasn’t changed much to his bike for these hard pack races but we will see some soft tracks in the coming weeks so let’s see if the set up remains balanced for him in tougher to feel conditions. We know he struggled in Indy with the neck but also heard with some bike set up too.
Justin Barcia: Another rider that hard pack should not be kind to but holy hell Barcia has found something and he is absolutely shredding. Also, it is nice to hear RC comment about “homelife” on the broadcast and that is one of the reasons why Barcia is better this year. It is a real thing and when all the cards are aligned at home, you’re riding excels! Kudos to the Red Bull/TLD Gas Gas team for getting the bike dialed in for the over-rev master himself. Also, don’t be scared of a little mushroom tip silhouette as Barcia’s tight as sin TLD gear has been amazing all year. Why can’t us normal folk get some TLD gear to fit like this! Looks bad ass!
Benny Bloss: Benny got some new parts for his 2023 YZ450F and it has been improving his results. A HGS muller and a GET ECU has helped get Benny more conformable and even though the results on paper hasn’t been AMAZING, the riding is getting better. Oh and yes, I’ve tried the GET for the YZ450F and it is really good! I didn’t want to take it off!
Cole Seely: Seely still looks amazing on the bike but some of that raw speed is missing a little or the level has just gone up since he was racing. Probably more of the ladder, but nonetheless it’s nice to see him racing again and enjoying himslef. I am here for anyone that wants to return to racing because they just “WANT TO RACE AGAIN”. Between Seely, Hill bros., Rodriguez, etc. I appreciate the love they have for twisting the grip.
AC: He’s coming around folks! Slowly but surely he’s coming around! A lot of people tell me that Adam hasn’t lived up to the hype he had coming into the professional ranks but those people forget how tough our sport is and how many fast riders there actually are. And the fact that AC is great for our sport with his candid interviews and how well he speaks.
Pierce Brown: I have been hard on Pierce and so have a lot of other media members as well! A 4-4-5 is probably not what he wants but his riding was stellar in Glendale. Solid qualifying times and minimal mistakes in the mains put him on a nice trajectory to land a podium before the year is out! The dude has great technique on the bike and is one of the smoother riders in the 250 class.
Derek Kelley: I heard the Mitch Payton was sniffing around Derek’s area when they were looking to hire a rider for the injured team they have but Derek is here for the AEO/KTM team and is giving them great results. He was my most improved rider last year and has been backing that up this year. A 6th place is damn near his goal of a top 5 and to me that is not completely our of reach. His engine is almost the same as Vohland’s and I know his suspension is a great with a guy like Mark from REP doing it so look for Kelly to crack that top 5 before the end of the year indoors! Even though it would suck for Jeremy at AEO to lose a rider like Kelly, it would be cool to have one of the “major” teams give him a chance in 2024.Â
Hunter Yoder: AMA randomly tore down Yoder’s engine after the main… Weird… Maybe someone suggested the tear down to AMA? Just seems odd that a kid that got 16th overall is getting torn down. Hunter has been riding great and needs to finish these mains out with these great starts but it’s good to see him run the pace for a bit! This will help huge with his confidence and other teams to possibly hire him for 2024. Not bad for a kid who was almost ready to pack it up at the end of last year.
Robbie Wageman: My favorite Wageman! A top ten is great for the Bar X Suzuki team and Robbie! He’s done this before but it’s great to see the yellow brand up there in the 250 class! Robbie has a crap ton of talent and with a fe breaks and some added fitness he could be an asset to a team in 2024. I mean RJ is cool too, so relax.
